Page 25 (1/1)

Irene was a slap in the face to everything his parents had taught hi part of her allure His father would have said she orthless and flighty and Matt was ruining hione by then, dead of awith her still felt like he was getting one up on his dad

But the Irene he’d thought he wanted turned out to be an illusion She loved her fun to the point that she had no sense of responsibility She was caring until she forgot about a friend and snubbed her for another She lived on the surface of life without any deep thoughts or deep feelings

"When she found out she was pregnant, I realized I wantedto take her too But when the baby ca, needy, wanting to be held all the time Noah was a month old when she handed him over to me" He should have known Irene would never last, but he’d actually been shell-shocked--partly because he had no clue how to take care of a baby either He’d asked when she’d be back and her ansas si of her shoulders Whatever trust there’d been between them had died in that h for Irene It was Matt And that destroyed his final thread of hope that he’d one day have a real love like Bob and Susan had

"I’ve been trying to understand her," Ari said, with a frown that indicated she wasn’t getting very far "Thank God Noah had you A lot of kids have no one"

"I wish I could be enough for him," he said in a low tone "But every time she flits in for an hour or two, then suddenly discovers so like he doesn’t one forever" He could feel his teeth grinding He always kept his emotions under control and lost his cool only when his son was threatened, by a nanny or a bully or a bully’s mother But Irene made him want to break his vow to keep his cool in every situation "She coh to keep Noah on her hook"

Ari reached out, then just as quickly retreated, dropping her gaze It was obvious she wanted to offer comfort

She couldn’t kno badly Matt needed that comfort, how much he wanted to wrap himself around her and breathe in her scent like a calrown darker and er they talked Matt was only a touch away But no matter how badly she wanted to, Ari couldn’t touch, not even when his pain for Noah was like a physical wound in her own body She hurt for Matt as well, for the hopes he’d had five years ago and the dreaht him firecrackers and a trampoline," he said "But the Superman parachute is still the ultimate All I can think is that she wants him to be a daredevil like she is"

Ari could alest fear was that so bad would happen to his son, but while she obviously wanted Noah to be safe, little kids still needed to run free and try new things Which et hurt soently Before Matt could object, she explained, "I don’tfirecrackers in the backyard Just so stick" She thought about the water wings that ha, but decided this still wasn’t the right ti up his tued to see Jurassic World, but I should have known he’d be terrified of the dinosaurs The only reason he wants to try the daredevil stuff is to impress Irene He wants her to love hi, and I want so badly to protect hi hi, and such a great dad--even if he was sometimes as overprotective as Irene was careless Ari wanted to climb onto his lap and wrap her arainst her

Instead, all she could say was, "Being scared of roaring dinosaurs gobbling up people isn’t the sah Noah could probably do more than his dad would let hi monkeys in The Wizard of Oz when I was a kid"

"You were afraid of the rins"

"For aped "Your parents let you watch Natural Born Killers?"

He shrugged "My dad said you had to be tough to get along in this world My reed with hirimaced "In reality, it’s probably not any worse than a lot of video ga screen"

She could see that he was trying to move them beyond the specter of Natural Born Killers, but Ari still thought it was crazy to take a kid, even a twelve-year-old, to see a couple cut a bloody swath across ht not be able to wrap her arms around hi a great job, Matt No matter what else happens, Noah will always knoood with him under difficult circumstances"

She blushed at his praise And the way he looked at her As if there was more he needed to say More he wanted to do

God, how she longed to be in his ar else ive each other And where she’d finally felt like shepast tiether the night before It nore it, but she couldn’t let it fester between theht it up earlier

"About last night--"

He held up a hand "I can’t apologize enough for what I did"

Frustration ate at her Didn’t he see that she’d been a totally willing partner in their love?