“You know, this doesn’t exactly strike me as your kind of scene,” I said.

“Why not?”

“From all appearances, you seem to be just another rich, spoiled playboy.” Subtlety was another area where I was lacking. “Yet here you are walking through a park instead of some posh art gallery.”

“Oh, I’m all of those things,” Johnny said. “Rich, spoiled, a playboy. But I happen to like parks. Posh art galleries are so boring. Besides, you’re one to talk.”

“Oh?”

“You seem . . . different from the other women I’ve met in Bigtime,” he said.

“Different? Different how?”

76

J e n n i f e r E s t e p

He shrugged. “Like you’ve got more on your mind than what you’re going to wear to the latest society bash. Sometimes, you look almost . . . sad.”

Sad? My cool, haughty mask must be slipping. “Sad?” I forced myself to laugh. “I’m a fabulously wealthy woman who designs fabulous clothes. What do I have to be sad about?”

Just because my fiancé had been murdered by ubervillains was no reason to feel blue. Yeah right. Johnny stared at me with his gorgeous green eyes. “I don’t know. But I can see it.”

I didn’t respond.

Johnny bought two tickets for the Ferris wheel. We climbed on board and sailed up into the night sky. We went round and round and up and down. Finally, the ride stopped to let the lovers on board have a little private time with each other. Our cart was near the top of the ride, giving us a spectacular view of the park and the city lights. Everything looked fresh and clean from this height, and the lights resembled twinkling, colored stars that had fallen from the sky.

“It’s just as beautiful as I remember,” Johnny said. “My father, James, used to bring Bella and me here at least once a week to ride the carousel and visit the animals in the zoo.”

A sad, wistful tone crept into his voice. I remembered what Joanne James had said about Bella’s father dying. “He passed away recently, didn’t he? Your father.”

Johnny’s eyes hardened. “He was murdered. A couple of months ago.”

“I’m so sorry.” I put a hand on his arm. “I know what it’s like to lose someone you love so brutally.”

“Is that why you wear an engagement ring, even though there’s no fiancé around?”

Surprised, my fingertip sparked. I clenched my fist to keep it from igniting. “How do you know that?”

H o t M a m a

77

“I asked around. There’s no fiancé or boyfriend in the picture. In fact, no one even knows who you were engaged to, according to Bella.”

I dropped my hand from his arm and twisted the ring around on my finger. Nobody had known about my engagement to Travis because we’d thought it would be safer that way. But he’d still died. Travis deserved better than to remain some anonymous, faceless figure from my past.