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“I thought you were recommending men without secrets. Like a teacher.”
    â€œOh, definitely. If you want stability, avoid the bad boys.” Then she caught herself and frowned. “Sorry, I wasn’t including Johnny in that.”
    Marisa glanced down, eyeing her stomach, watching a small ripple pass across it. Her baby. Her touchstone. “Why not?” she asked finally. “Johnny was a bad boy. He liked danger. But he wasn’t bad with me, or at home.”
    â€œNope. Definitely not. He definitely worshipped you.”
    But not enough to give up the danger . The thought slammed into Marisa’s mind, and a tiny gasp escaped her. No, she didn’t want to think that way. Not about Johnny.
    â€œAre you okay?” Julie asked swiftly.
    â€œJust a little foot poking a rib. I’m fine.” And now she was lying to her best friend, keeping her secrets. But she sure as heck didn’t want to get into this with Julie. Not ever. In fact, she didn’t even want to think it.
    But the thought stayed in the back of her mind, refusing to go away.
    â€œSo,” Julie went on, “are you going to let him work on the basement steps? He seems to want to.”
    â€œI think so,” Marisa answered slowly. “They’ve been worrying me more and more often. Especially as ungainly as I am right now. One slip could be catastrophic.” She paused. “Funny how things change. When I first married Johnny, I charged up and down those steps without a thought. But over the last few months—well, I guess I no longer feel indestructible or immortal.”
    â€œActually,” Julie said gently, “when you married Johnny a fall might have meant a broken bone. A fall when you’re pregnant is a whole different thing.”
    â€œIt feels like it.”
    â€œIt’s curious, though,” Julie mused. “Ryker doesn’t hang for long, does he? He came over, then vanished as soon as he’d finished cleaning up.”
    â€œHe keeps saying he doesn’t want to impose too much.” She sighed and sipped cocoa. “Frankly, I don’t think he’s comfortable. When he walks in here, I get the sense that he feels like he’s walking into an alien world.”
    â€œProbably is. Which I guess makes him sad in a way. Where the hell does a man like that belong?”
    For once Marisa had no answer, because she had begun to wonder if Johnny had really felt he belonged with her. Oh, he’d loved her; he’d always come home to her. But belonging? Maybe it was different for him. He wasn’t just coming back to her, but to the town he grew up in. Ryker didn’t have that, not here. Maybe not anywhere.
    Julie was right. That made him sad, no matter how strong, dangerous or driven he might be.

Chapter Four
    T his time Ryker called before he showed up. Marisa appreciated the gesture but was a little surprised by her reaction. Now that her first shock and discomfort had passed, she was looking forward to seeing him again.
    A major change of pace, she assured herself. That was all it was. At this point she still distrusted him. Oh, she didn’t fear he might hurt her or threaten her in any real way, but as she had phrased it to Julie, he was another box of secrets. If she hadn’t known Johnny for so many years, she might not have been able to trust him enough to marry.
    Because when you felt that there were large parts of a person you could never know, how did you offer them trust?
    Not that that was an issue here. He’d stay for a little while, then go back to his secret world, and her life would resume.
    Sometimes bitterness overtook her, and she wondered what life, what future, but the baby never missed an opportunity to remind her. Little Jonni, as she had started to think of the child, was her future, and all that mattered right now. The important thing was taking care of Johnny’s final gift to her. Raising a daughter he would