Fearless In Love (The Maverick Billionaires, Book 3) by Bella Andre, Jennifer Skully Read Free Book Online Page A

in, Matt made time to talk with her about the day.
    Her fantasies about him were only a dream. One that would never come true. But in her experience, dreams were often better—because no one left you in the end or threw you out when they were tired of you.
    And really, the nanny and the rich guy? It wasn’t just a fairy tale—it was a full-blown cliché.
    In the water, Noah threw one last burst of power into his arms to reach her. She scooped him up and held him high, her muscles straining. He was a growing boy and getting heavy. “You’re an amazing swimmer!” Setting him on the pool deck, she hoisted herself up beside him. “Okay, since we’re getting out, we can take the water wings off now.”
    “Yay!” He immediately pushed them down his little arms, then ran for the towels on the chaise lounge where Ari had left them.
    “No running by the pool,” she cautioned him, and was glad he slowed down to a fast walk.
    After drying herself off and putting on her terrycloth cover-up, she sat on the edge of the chair and helped Noah dry off his thick, curly hair. The late afternoon sun sparkled on the rippling water in the pool. She was in the most beautiful place on earth, with a thicket of live oaks just beyond the lawn and a row of flowering bushes. Nothing could be better.
    Then Matt unexpectedly stepped out of the house, and her heart actually stopped. Just bam! Her breath caught and her skin tingled, and it felt like all the stars fell out of the sky.
    In jeans, he was a masterpiece worthy of a museum. But in a black suit, his tie off, and the top two buttons of his white dress shirt undone… Sweet Lord, he was someone you could see only on a movie screen. Someone to gaze at and drool over but never touch, because he couldn’t possibly be real.
    Seeing his father, Noah squealed and squirmed away from her. “Daddy,” he shouted in his high, sweet voice as he ran along the pool’s edge. “Guess what I just did!”
    “Don’t run,” she called out, Matt echoing her words.
    But Noah was too focused on his daddy to listen as he cut the corner of the pool. Her heart in her throat, Ari started running too. But she wasn’t fast enough to stop Noah from tripping.
    Someone was shouting, maybe screaming—it could have been her. Then Noah’s little voice cried, “Daddy!” as he fell, his skull heading toward the concrete lip of the pool.
    The water exploded with a great splash as Matt dove into the shallow end just as Ari reached the edge. But Noah fell before she could catch him.
    She’d never believed in miracles until that moment, when Matt seemed to grab Noah right out of the air before he actually plunged into the water. He held the little boy’s body in his arms as though he were a rare jewel, while Noah squalled.
    Then she saw the splash of blood on Noah’s forehead, and her ears rang with terror, her voice dried up.
    “Call Doreen now!” Matt ordered. “Tell her we need to go to the hospital.”
    He might have shouted. She might only have been reading lips. Cradling his precious son in his arms as Noah cried, Matt slogged to the stairs. Water streamed from them both as he climbed out.
    Ari had already grabbed her phone. Doreen answered immediately, and Ari shouted instructions she couldn’t actually hear over the roar in her ears.
    “I think he hit his head.” Matt ran his shaking hand over Noah’s scalp. “It’s okay, buddy. Daddy’ll take care of you.”
    He carried Noah across the deck while Ari followed. Matt’s sodden suit left a trail over the sun porch, then the floor, and Doreen met them at the front door.
    “The car’s ready.” Matt’s driver took in Noah’s pale face and Matt’s ruined suit, then ran down the front steps to open the car door, her blond ponytail bouncing, so perky and out of place in the moment.
    They piled into the backseat, Noah in Matt’s arms and Ari crowded against them, her hand on Noah’s forehead.
    She couldn’t feel a lump, and she prayed he’d