He was throwing darts at the Forbes cover while he spoke to his associate on the phone. He'd already cut the picture of Jennifer and Jonathan from the interior pages and ripped it down the middle between Jennifer and Jonathan.

"We're going to Maryland for the weekend."

"Maryland? What's in Maryland?"

"Jennifer Edwards. She's heading home to visit her dear old dad. I think I'll pay her a visit so we can catch up."

"You know her?"

"Once upon a time, yes. Let's just say she robbed me of my happily ever after. Now I can pay her back and get what I want from Hart. Kill two birds with one stone, as the old cliché goes."

...

After dinner, both Jonathan and Jennifer had a bit of work to finish. Jonathan needed to go over the reports Stanley dropped off earlier, and Jennifer wanted to finish her story. She had to fly back to New York in the morning, and she'd promised Jonathan that he could give his input on the article she was writing about him, the Forbes cover, and Hart Industries. Jennifer came up behind him and rubbed his shoulders.

"Darling, let me know when you're done with your reports. I've finished the article."

"Hmm, I'm almost done. That feels really good." She continued kneading the tension out of his shoulders while he finished reading. Suddenly he closed the folder and pulled Jennifer around the chair and into his lap. She laughed at the gleam in his eye.

"Jonathan, this is exactly why we needed to finish work after dinner." He grinned at her and kissed her softly.

"All right, spoilsport." He removed his arms from around her waist so she could stand and get her laptop, then he joined her on the couch. "Let me read what you wrote." Jennifer watched Jonathan's expression as he read through her writing. In her article she talked about his younger years spent in the orphanage and meeting Max. She left out some of their more questionable activities, however, as well as some of the more personal memories, like Max introducing Jonathan to his first omelet and the ballet. Jennifer also wrote at length about Jonathan's grand idea of Hart Industries and how Max was the one to foster that idea, cementing his faith in Jonathan by loaning the young man some of the start up cash. As part of her section on Hart Industries, she outlined all of the charitable work their foundation did, helping fund places like the Mission Street Orphanage. Jennifer tried to keep as much anonymity about his personal life as she could but she absolutely pontificated on his prowess in the business world and what the employees of Hart Industries thought of him. She included quotes she'd gleaned from competitors and associates over the past couple of years, as well as quotes from various employees on what a great boss Jonathan was. He turned to her. "When did you talk to all these people?"

"Some of those quotes I've had for a while, but the ones from your staff happened today. You were on the phone, and I told you I needed to stretch my legs." He interrupted her.

"They're exceptional legs." She laughed and swatted at him.

"Getting back to my story, the employees at Hart Industries love you, Darling. They were all too happy to tell me how wonderful you are." He just shook his head slightly, embarrassed by the attention. She ended the article by talking about how Jonathan has been a consistent presence on the Forbes Fortune 500 list for the past few years, and how he just recently was honored as one of their Most Eligible Bachelors of the year. Her final sentence was, "It wouldn't surprise this reporter at all if he was chosen as Time Magazine's Man of the Year in the near future." Jennifer could tell he'd finished reading, but he just sat there for a few minutes. She could hardly stand the suspense and figured that if he was this quiet for this long, he was trying to figure out a way to tell her he didn't want her publish the story. She wanted to ask, but she didn't want to push, so she just chewed on her thumbnail as she waited. Finally, he closed the laptop, set it on the coffee table, and turned to her. She had one elbow on the back of the couch with her head propped against her hand, so he took her free hand and brought it to his lips.

"I knew there was a reason I could only trust you with my story." Jennifer took a deep breath.

"Then, you like it?"

"I think you might have been a little over zealous in your descriptions of me, but you told the story and let me keep my privacy. I still seem a little mysterious, which I like, but Hart Industries was sold as the solid, honest, built on the people who work for it type company that it is. Thank you." He leaned forward and kissed her.

"Mr. H., do you two need anything else." Max stopped short. "Oops, sorry, Mr. H., Ms. Edwards. Now that you two are together, I'm going to have to work on my timing." Jonathan and Jennifer laughed and Jonathan looked back at Jennifer with that look that made her tremble.

"No, I think we're just fine, Max."

"All right, then I'm headed off to bed. I'll be up to fix you breakfast before you leave for the airport, Ms. Edwards." Jennifer smiled warmly at him.

"Thanks, Max. That's sweet of you."

...

The next morning, Jonathan and Jennifer stood just outside of the security checkpoint at LAX. Jennifer's flight left in a little over an hour. Jonathan's plan was to fly to New York on Thursday and then he and Jennifer would drive to Maryland on Friday to spend the weekend with Stephen Edwards.

"Darling, it just doesn't make any sense for you to fly commercial when I have the corporate jet." Jennifer put her arms around his neck.

"Darling, it just doesn't make any sense for your pilot to haul me all the way to New York, only to turn around and do the same for you in 48 hours. He would hardly make the minimum down time before having to be in the air again." Jonathan wrapped his arms around her waist. "Besides, it costs you more to put your plane in the air than my ticket."

"That's very frugal of you." Jennifer laughed at him.

"Are you making fun of me?" He smiled at her.

"Just wondering why you're so thrifty today when you spent $75,000 on Friday for a date with me." She looked off to her left, then back at him.

"Jonathan, you're never going to let me live that down are you?" He shook his head.

"Uh-uh." He wanted to tell her she was adorable, but she stuck her finger in his chest and started her retort.

"Perhaps I didn't pay for a date with you. Maybe I just made a donation to a very worthy cause. Did you ever think about that?" He loved when she got sassy with him.

"Nope. Because you love me." He leaned in and kissed her. "You wanted that date with me." He kissed her again.

"I wanted an interview with you." She was enjoying their little banter quite a bit. "I wanted you to realize that I was the only reporter you wanted to talk to." She waited and wasn't disappointed when he kissed her again.

"You agreed to the date before I agreed to the interview." As he kissed her again he could see the wheels continue to turn.

"I wanted to see Max again." She got another kiss. "He's quite charming." Jonathan pulled back an inch and did his best to look hurt.

"You said I was charming." She kissed him this time.

"You grew on me." Jonathan couldn't hold back the laugh anymore and pulled her tightly to him. He kissed her by her ear and whispered to her how much he would miss her.

"I know it's only two days, but I can't imagine being away from you." She leaned back so she could look into his eyes.

"I'll miss you too, Darling. Give Freeway a couple kisses for me." She hugged him again. "These are for you." With that she pushed up on her toes and kissed him. He waved to her as she cruised through security due to her elite flying status. Once she'd been cleared, she turned around and blew him another kiss. He waited until he couldn't see her before he headed to the office. As he was getting in his car, his phone rang and her face showed up on his screen. Just seeing that made his heart smile.

"Hello, Darling. This is a nice surprise."

"Hi there. I just wanted to hear your voice and see you one more time before I get on the plane."

"Aww. That's sweet. I miss you already."

"I miss you too." He could hear them begin boarding her plane.

"Call me when you get home."

"I'll call you when I get to New York. Home is where ever you are from now on." His smile lit up his entire face.

"I love you."

"I love you too." She blew another kiss through the phone, and they disconnected.