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Between Noah’s accident yesterday and the huge e If Irene had been standing in front of him, he would have yelled until she was reduced to tears, no matter how many times he swore he’d never do that She flitted in, created an uproar, then flitted out again, leaving hi about her that he could count on

And Noah was like Huain

"I’m sorry," Ari said "I didn’t realize how upset he’d be Poor guy cried himself to sleep He thinks she doesn’t love hiure out how to protect Noah from his own mother Matt had never wanted his child to feel unloved or unwanted the way he had But Irene never stuck around to see the aftermath of what she’d done, and when he told her, she simply rolled her eyes and said Noah seeize," he told Ari, his voice gruff as he worked to contain his fury at his ex "It’s not your fault I should have warned you about Irene" But he barely wanted to adirlfriends to himself, let alone tell his new nanny Especially when he’d been lusting after Ari despite knowing better

Yet she had clearly handled the whole situation well, calos Sometimes it took days for what he’d dubbed The Irene Effect to wear off

"Actually, that’s not all" He braced himself as she said, "She told Noah the reason she couldn’t take hio with her"

Damn Irene "I need to h his hair Because while he needed to deal with the mess Irene had left, that didn’t mean he could use it as an excuse to avoid Ari She deserved better than that "We need to talk about Irene after Noah’s in bed About last night too" He paused, trying to read her expression, but couldn’t get a better handle on what she was feeling than he had that"Is that okay?"

"Yes," she said softly "I’ll leave you two alone for now"

The last tione to bed, he’d lost control Ari was pure teht he vowed not to touch her He wouldn’t beg to kiss her He wouldn’t remember the softness of her skin or hoeet she tasted

No

Thankfully, Noah settled down by dinner, and at story ti with his father as though nothing had ever happened She marveled at how quickly--and deeply--the little boy had burrowed into her heart His happiness inable that Irene had chosen to give up Matt and her beautiful son for the freedom to hop private planes and attend fashion shows in Paris Ari would have done anything to have a family like them

Once Noah had fallen asleep, Matt and Ari headed downstairs together to talk In the living rooestured to the sofa while he went to the sideboard "Would you like solass of wine?" he asked as he poured hier of scotch

"White, please"

"I should have explained about Irene" He was obviously more ready to tackle the subject of his ex than what they’d done last night "But she hasn’t been here for ain"

Ari hated how carefully he avoided brushing her fingertips as he handed her the glass