On Friday night, Max, Jonathan's closest friend, confidante, father figure, and all around every man, drove the two of them to Rossoblu for the invitation only reveal of this year's Most Eligible Bachelors.

"Max, can we get a flat tire or something?"

"Mr. H., why would you want to do that? This is going to be a real swanky thing. It's worth going to for the food alone." Jonathan just shook his head.

"If you say so Max. Hey, I've got a great idea, maybe they should put you on the cover."

"Nah. Now if it was a poker magazine, sure."

They drove up to the front of the restaurant and got out. Max handed the Rolls Royce keys to the Valet, and he and Jonathan headed inside. Sharna wanted all the bachelors there early to go through the program and presentation. Jonathan had no idea why such a big deal was being made out of it. He was also not looking forward to whatever surprise Sharna had been goading him with all week. She kept telling him he would love it, which basically meant he knew he would hate it. He plastered a smile on his face and greeted her with the double cheek kiss he knew she expected.

"Jonathan, I'm so excited that you're here. I half expected you to find an excuse to not be."

"I won't lie to you; I told Max to get a flat tire on the way here." Sharna laughed, but stopped abruptly when she realized Jonathan wasn't kidding, which made Jonathan smirk. "You remember Max, don't you?" Sharna looked at Max with a warm smile.

"Of course I do. Hello, Max." She turned back to Jonathan. "Jonathan, this cover is a great thing for you. It's also a great thing for us. All too often we have to choose boring, sticks in the mud for this special edition. To have a man who is as handsome and charming as you grace our cover is a real coup. You're a mystery to many Jonathan; people want to know more about you."

Max motioned to Jonathan that he was going to head over by the bar. Jonathan nodded and continued his conversation with Sharna.

"I appreciate that, but you know that I like to keep my private life private. I'm not comfortable letting people know whether I'm a boxers or briefs kind of guy."

Just then, Sharna was called away with some sort of emergency.

"I'll be back soon and we can go over the program." Jonathan could definitely wait.

...

Jennifer arrived a little later than she planned; she wanted to be there before any of the other reporters showed up. She hoped to catch the elusive Jonathan Hart by himself and convince him that he wanted nothing more than an exclusive interview with her, but an accident snarled traffic and foiled her attempt at the one on one chat. By the time Jennifer got to the restaurant the party was in full swing. She thankfully hadn't missed the main reason for the occasion, but Jonathan Hart was surrounded by men she assumed were the other bachelors and guarded by the formidable Sharna Jones. As a fellow reporter, Jennifer knew Sharna's reputation at Forbes well and had a great deal of respect for the woman. Jennifer stood for a moment, took stock, and decided to walk right into the hornet's nest. For the second time in her evening, she was foiled in her attempt.

"Hey there, beautiful. How about we find a quiet corner and get to know each other better?" Jennifer tried to step around the obviously inebriated man, but he blocked her path.

"Excuse me, but I need to meet with someone." Again, she moved to go around and again she was blocked. This time he grabbed her arm. She looked down at his hand on her arm and looked into eyes which were bloodshot with alcohol. Tact was not going to be an option, even for a woman whose innate nature was to be polite.

"You need to take your hand off me." He stared back at her.

"Aww, c'mon. I'm just trying to be friendly." He started to walk toward a doorway, his hand still vised around Jennifer's bicep, but just as she was about to take action, she heard a voice behind her.

"Excuse me, it sounds like the lady asked you to let go of her." Her assailant stopped so abruptly that Jennifer ran into him. As she regained her balance, she spoke for herself.

"I appreciate the assist, but I've got this." She turned and looked into the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. He smiled as they made eye contact.

"You look absolutely capable of handling whatever comes at you, but I could never leave a lady alone in a situation like this." She smiled back at him.

"Hey, find your own pretty lady. She's mine." As the drunk tried to move once more, Jennifer grabbed a hold of his pinky finger and bent it back forcibly. He squealed in pain and let go of her arm.

"No means no. You need to go get some coffee." He made another grab for her, but her hero was quicker and grabbed the man's arm.

"The lady said no. Go sober up." With that, the drunken man got a hearty shove toward the door, and security took over and ushered him out. Jennifer turned to her benefactor to thank him, but he was staring at her arm.

"It looks like you might have a bruise from where he grabbed you. I can get you some ice if you'd like." Jennifer smiled and locked eyes with the man once more.

"No, I'll be fine. It's the curse of red hair and fair skin. Bruises always show up easily on me." Jennifer tried to laugh it off, but she was being stared at so intently, she could barely breathe.

"It's a pity to have marks like that on such lovely skin."

She swallowed hard and was able to squeeze a few more words out, while she offered her hand for a shake.

"I'm Jennifer. Thanks again for your help." He took her hand and brought it to his lips, all the while never breaking eye contact with her.

"I'm Jonathan, and it was entirely my pleasure." He wanted to say more to her, but Sharna's assistant came to usher him to the stage.

...

He was only half listening to what Sharna was saying about him as he stood behind the curtain with a couple of the other bachelors, waiting for his name to be called, his hand and lips still tingling from their contact with Jennifer. He almost missed his entrance entirely because he couldn't get her out of his mind. When he looked into her eyes, he felt as though he was drowning in the most decadent molten chocolate. He shook himself out of his fantasy when he heard the applause and stepped onto the stage into the blinding spotlight. Sharna introduced the rest of the bachelors and when they were all on stage, she started the rest of the program.

"Now, these men all know I have a surprise for them, but they don't know what it is. I'll start with Jonathan Hart. As we all know, the Mission Street Orphanage is near and dear to him, so as a special fundraiser, we are donating the proceeds from tonight's unique auction to this worthy cause." Sharna waited for the applause to die down.

"I see a lot of you looking though the program, but our auction items aren't listed because all of them are standing up here, next to me." Jonathan tried his best not to look like he wanted to throttle Sharna. Through his teeth and under his breath he said,

"What are you doing? Don't make me kill you later." To those in attendance, he just kept smiling. Sharna spared him a quick glance while continuing her speech.

"The highest bidders here tonight will win dates with their favorite bachelors with the proceeds going to their favorite charities as well. Our bachelors, however, will have the final say, so no trying to whisk them off to Vegas and a drive-thru chapel ladies!" The crowd roared with laughter while many of the women in attendance started checking bank balances on their phones. Jennifer was close enough to the stage to watch Jonathan's eyes ice over as Sharna went through the procedures for bidding. With her mind racing, Jennifer figured that perhaps her luck was changing a bit for the night. As long as no one outbid her, she could have Jonathan all to herself to get that interview. While she knew there was quite a bit of stiff competition in the room, she'd never been one to give up without a fight. As soon as Sharna took a breath, Jonathan whisked her behind the curtain and tried to keep his voice calm.

"What do you think you're doing? I'm not a piece of meat that you can throw to the dogs. I didn't sign up for this, Sharna." Jonathan's eyes were spitting ice shards. His ire didn't faze her at all.

"Actually, you did when you signed your contract, Jonathan. You can also consider your debt paid. Our auctioneer is set up. We need to get back out there." With that, she stepped through the curtain, and Jonathan just kept trying to remember that all the money was going to the orphanage.

Bidding started at $500 and went up steadily. Things started to slow down at around $35,000, and it came down to two bidders. They were outbidding each other in $500 increments, and it looked as though a bid of $41,000 was going to win. Everyone was so focused on the "bid war women" that no one noticed the woman in the back of the room. She'd moved so she could survey the whole room and was biding her time, waiting for the right opportunity. As the auctioneer's voice started to boom "going three times", there was a shout from the back.

"$75,000." With that the auctioneer banged his gavel and the auction ended. All eyes shifted from the front to the back of the room. Sharna called for the winning bidder to step forward, and Jennifer slowly made her way to the stage, never breaking eye contact with Jonathan. She was an absolute jumble of nerves, both from the way his gaze made her feel and from the completely spontaneous bid. Not one to deny his feelings, Jonathan realized he was utterly and completely smitten. Jennifer came and stood next to her "prize", and he took her hand. Again, the electric current ran between them. When the applause died down, Sharna told the couple that they would dance the first dance of the night with the rest of the bachelors and their "dates".

...

No one noticed the gentleman who left after Jennifer's winning bid. He dreaded placing this call.

"Do you have good news for me?"

"She hasn't had a chance to get near him. That editor has been with all the bachelors all night. I actually thought we might have a chance when they came up with this ridiculous date auction. I gave her a $50,000 limit, and it looked like she had it locked at $41 Gs, but this other woman put down a $75,000 bid. I don't think he'll be alone the rest of the night."

"I see. Do you know who the other woman is?"

"Yeah. Her name is Jennifer Edwards. What do you want me to do now?" The low chuckle on the other end of the phone sent chills up his spine.

"Nothing. This just got infinitely more interesting. I'll be in touch."