Jonathan's hands clutched her arms, gently and reverently, and he leaned in to kiss her. Fireworks exploded where he touched her, just like when he kissed her on that boat. Jennifer felt like she was going to burst with joy.

But before the kiss could get any more heated, a harsh cockney voice interrupted. "Flowers for the lady?"

They pulled apart and Jennifer could only stare at Jonathan. Her Jonathan. Oh that felt very nice. He was her Jonathan now. Now and always and forever after.

"Well?" he asked.

Jennifer realized she hadn't actually given him an answer. She hadn't said much of anything.

The wind blew through and rustled the paper in her hand. She was still holding her plane ticket. With a giddy smile, she said, "Have you ever been to New York City?" Jennifer didn't even look at the flower lady, just dropped the ticket on top of her basket.

The beaming grin on Jonathan's face gave her butterflies. Her own smile was threatening to split her cheeks, she was so happy. God, she didn't know she could be so happy!

Jonathan put his arm around her and led her over to the waiting carriage. A carriage! Jennifer giggled with her exuberant joy.

"Max, take us once around the park," Jonathan requested as he opened the carriage door for her.

"I sure will, Mr. H!"

Jennifer didn't recognize Max at first, wearing that costume and wig, but he grinned at them both. He was such a sweet man. Strange sort of secretary for a businessman, but Jennifer would be delighted to learn more about the man and what exactly his relationship with Jonathan was like.

The carriage started to move, and Jennifer threw her arms around Jonathan's neck. "Oh Jonathan, I love you!" she cried. There was a lump in her throat from the overwhelming emotion of it all. To think that only two hours ago, she'd been cursing him for breaking her heart, and now here she was, engaged to marry him.

Jonathan hugged her tight. "I love you too, darling," he murmured, kissing her cheek.

She sighed happily. "Darling," she repeated. "No one's ever called me darling before. Not like that, anyway."

"Well, you're the most darling thing in the world to me. And I'll call you darling every day if you want."

Jennifer pulled back so she could look at him properly. "I do want," she assured him, wrinkling her nose with joy. She pressed her lips to his again, but had to stop because she was smiling too much to be able to kiss him.

She started laughing again, because she hardly knew what else to do. Jennifer Edwards, career woman who never stopped in the search for her story, was now engaged to a man she met two days ago. And not only that, in those two days, he'd spent one of them not knowing her name and she'd spent another day being in mortal danger. And now they were going to be married.

"This is crazy," Jennifer said again, still overwhelmed with it all.

"Maybe," Jonathan conceded. "But I really am crazy about you. I want to learn everything about you. I want to be with you every day for the rest of my life."

Jennifer didn't think a man like this could be real. Those kind of romantic speeches didn't exist outside of a Jane Austen novel. "But what if I turn out to be a nightmare?"

Jonathan laughed. "We'll figure it out."

But now she had gotten to thinking. "What if I snore?"

"I'll get earplugs."

"What if I can't cook?"

"We'll go out to eat. And Max does most of the cooking."

"What if I want to keep my job?"

"So keep your job."

"What if I—"

Jonathan cut her off by kissing her again. When she was sufficiently silenced, he pulled back and said, "We'll figure it out. Together. Whatever it is, whatever happens, we'll figure it out."

It made no sense, and if this were happening to anyone else, Jennifer would have said they were being irrational and stupid. But this wasn't happening to someone else, this was happening to Jennifer. And when Jonathan said they'd figure it out together, she believed him.

"So," he said, satisfied that her incessant questioning was done for the moment. "Tell me everything about yourself."

Jennifer laughed again. "Well, what do you want to know?" she asked.

"When's your birthday?"

As good a place as any to start. "November 2nd. When's yours?"

"March 9th. What's your favorite flower?"

She grinned. "Roses."

Jonathan's eyes flashed with something she couldn't quite decipher. "Mine too," he said in a low, seductive tone.

"What did that make you think about just then?" After all, how was she going to get to know her fiancé if she didn't ask questions and learn the answers?

"Well, I still like the rose you left on the pillow, even if it didn't mean what I thought it meant. But I thought of how nice it would be to lay you down on a bed of rose petals and trace every curve of your body with a single red rosebud," he murmured in her ear.

Jennifer was immediately glad that he'd spoken quietly, since Max certainly didn't need to overhear him say that. But his words caused a shiver up her spine and a heat in her belly. She squirmed in her seat.

"Too much?" he wondered worriedly.

But a smirk curled over her lips. "Oh no, definitely not to much. I…I'd like that quite a bit," she told him, blushing.

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable if I say things like that though."

"No, you didn't," she assured him. "And we can learn that side of things about each other soon enough," she added teasingly.

Max turned from where he was driving the carriage to interject, "Sorry to interrupt, but we're getting close to the car, Mr. H."

"Oh great, thanks," Jonathan said. He turned back to Jennifer. "I hope you liked the carriage ride, but it'll be easier to take the Jaguar to our next stop."

She shook her head, confused. "Where are we going?"

Jonathan flashed that winning smile of his again. "Bond Street."

He assumedfrom the way her eyes widened that she figured out exactly why he was taking her to Bond Street. "I thought we'd browse a little. I want you to pick out whatever you want."

"What, like a watch?" she blurted. Maybe she hadn't actually figured it out.

"Like an engagement ring. I managed to arrange the banners on Tower Bridge, but I didn't have time to buy a ring," he explained. "And as we've established, we don't know everything about each other yet, and I'd rather learn what kinds of things you like rather than guess and get it wrong."

He wouldn't tell her today, but maybe he would someday, that the decision to propose to her and the subsequent plans he made to do so had made up some of the most stressful hours of his life. Jonathan had been like a man possessed. The second he was told that she was going to be getting on a plane to New York, he knew he had to do everything in his power to keep her with him. And what would keep her with him better than marriage?

Not that he wanted to keep her like a prize. Absolutely not. He'd known men like that over the years, especially now that he was in the upper echelon of wealth in the world. Rich men seemed to enjoy trophies, particularly women. Someone young and beautiful and glamorous to show off. Jonathan had never really understood that. Didn't those men get bored? Didn't they feel empty and guilty for ignoring a person for everything other than her beauty?

And while Jonathan had never treated any woman that way, it was especially not something he wanted with Jennifer. He wanted to keep her with him because he wanted to be with her and to love her. If he loved her, why not marry her? It felt like delaying the inevitable to do anything but propose to her today. He had always been good at knowing what he wanted and being able to get it. It had made him very rich, and now that he was engaged to Jennifer, it made him very happy, too.

The panic of her leaving for New York had spurred him into action. He knew he was going to marry her. And he'd been manic and single-minded in his planning for the surprise proposal. He knew he wouldn't be able to ask her himself. He'd tried to practice what he wanted to say to her, but it all came out like nonsense. He had so much to say, he just couldn't find the words. So the bridge seemed a good place to make a grand gesture that let him avoid having to say the words.

Jonathan thought—hoped—he'd done an alright job with what he had managed to say to her. After all, she'd said yes. He had never been so tongue tied than when he stood there with his heart pounding in his chest so hard, he thought he might pass out. He had watched her face as each of those banners unfurled. And he wished he'd gotten a ring so he could get down on one knee and present it to her. But it was better this way. He really wanted her to have a ring that she loved, and he just didn't know, yet, what she would love. All he knew was that he loved her and he wanted to give her everything, and he told her as much.

"You sure you want to buy me a ring? You don't have an old family heirloom to pass on?" Jennifer asked, once they were in the Jaguar on the way to Mayfair.

His blood turned to ice for a split second before he recovered. That wasn't something to talk about just yet. He would tell her later. He'd tell her everything, eventually, but not just now. So he just simply said, "No, nothing like that."

Thankfully, Jennifer didn't press him. "Which shop are we going to first?"

"Well, you tell me. I thought because we're American, we could go to Harry Winston and get a ring from an American jeweler. Or, because we met and got engaged in England, we could go to De Beers and get a ring from an English jeweler. Or we could ignore all of that and go to Cartier," Jonathan posited.

Jennifer chuckled at that. "You've really thought this through, haven't you?"

"Mr. H thinks everything through," Max informed her from the front seat.

Jonathan felt himself blush slightly. "Well, I try."

Jennifer kissed his cheek. "I love that," she told him. His whole face went hot when she said those words. But she paid no mind to that. She said, "I think since we'll be living in America, we can go to Harry Winston some other time, maybe in New York. And maybe we'll save Cartier for a trip to Paris. Have you been to Paris?"

"I have. But I bet I'll like it better with you. Have you been to Paris?"

"I used to live there. It's been a while since I was back, though. I think I'll appreciate the City of Love even more when I'm there with the man I love."

The feeling that burst within Jonathan's chest when she said that was unlike anything he'd ever felt in his life. It was one thing for him to be in love with her. And he was. He was head over heels madly in love with her. But to know that she loved him too, to hear her say things like that, it was all so much more than he'd ever dreamed. He realized, in that moment, that not only had he never been in love like this before now but he'd never truly been loved like this before either.

Jennifer slipped her hand into his, her fingers stroking his affectionately. "Let's go to De Beers. And if we don't find anything we like, we'll try somewhere else."

Jonathan smiled. He was probably going to have sore cheeks from the number of times he'd smiled in the last hour. "You heard the lady, Max."

"You got it, Miss Edwards."

"Max, you can call me Jennifer," she told him.

Jonathan whispered, "He's not gonna do that." Because ever since Jonathan had made it big and Max had gone on the payroll, he'd never called him Jonathan again. Max had been the first person to call him Jonathan, but he'd also been the person who taught Jonathan proper respect. And proper respect was to use proper titles for people you worked for. Max was on the payroll, so he'd call Jonathan 'Mr. H' as a concession for complete formality. He wasn't going to cut any corners with Jennifer.

"If it's all the same, I'll stick with Miss Edwards for now. And then we can switch to Mrs. H," Max replied.

"Told you," Jonathan muttered.

Jennifer looked from Jonathan to Max and back, her eyes bright with curiosity. "I guess that's another thing we can talk about later."

Jonathan realized that they would have to talk about Max. He was part of Jonathan, after all. Part of his life, certainly, but even more so a part of his heart.

But later. For now, they'd arrived at De Beers. They were greeted by the manager of the store who knew Jonathan Hart on sight, probably thanks to this morning's report about Kingsford Motors which included a photograph of Jonathan. The manager welcomed them and asked how he could help.

"We're looking for an engagement ring," Jonathan told him. "This wonderful woman has just agreed to marry me."

"Congratulations, Mr. Hart. And Miss…"

"Edwards. And thank you. I agreed to marry him, and I'd like to have something to show for it," she quipped.

The poor manager was mildly startled by that. "Of course, Miss Edwards," he stammered. "Right this way."

Jonathan gave a little laugh and playfully elbowed her. She grinned, wrinkling her nose at him. He could tell, already, that she was having fun with all of this. And that was very good to know. Jonathan would keep that in mind for the future.

He stood by quietly as Jennifer took the lead in asking to see various types of rings and trying out different styles. She was not out of place at a shop as fancy as this. She knew how to talk to people, how to be a wealthy woman in a luxury store. She was not nervous or uncomfortable in the least. She was charming and lovely. She was used to things like this. She was used to wealth. And Jonathan found that very interesting.

"I don't think I like the emerald cut," Jennifer decided. "What do you think, darling?" she asked, holding up a ring to him.

Jonathan felt a jolt at her calling him darling. "Anything you want, darling," he said back to her. "But I think the circle ones are much prettier." Jonathan Hart did not know much about jewelry, and it was starting to show.

Jennifer eliminated quite a few other rings as the manager kept bringing her more. At last, he tried some with more unusual cuts. "Jonathan," she said, holding up two rings, "I can't decide between the marquis and the pear."

"They're both beautiful. We could get both," he offered.

She glowered at him. "Don't be ridiculous."

"I'm not. If you like both, we can get both, and you can take turns between them."

Jennifer rolled her eyes. "Just because you're a millionaire doesn't mean that you should be frivolous with your money. And just because I agreed to marry you doesn't mean I'm going to be the kind of insane woman who has two engagement rings," she scolded. "No, I think you should pick between them and surprise me later. You decide, and I'll go wait in the car with Max."

She put the rings down and turned to kiss him on the cheek before walking out of the store without another word.

Jonathan was left standing there by himself feeling slightly dazed. He hardly knew what just happened. And that's what made it so fun.