"My father won't be coming, but I'd like to send him an invitation to the party anyway. He'll obviously be coming to the wedding, of course," Jennifer said, writing her notes.

They were in the midst of putting together the guest list for their engagement party and their wedding. Jonathan had hired a company to do all the planning, but obviously he and Jennifer had to do things like this for themselves. And given the shortened timeframe—they had absolutely no interest in a long engagement—they were sending invitations for the engagement party and the wedding at the same time.

"You know," she thought aloud, "I think the family usually throws an engagement party on behalf of the couple."

"Usually the groom's family," Jonathan said. There was a hint of darkness to his tone that she did not like one bit.

"Well there you go. Me and Max are throwing the engagement party."

Jennifer had come to understand a lot about Jonathan in the weeks they had known each other. One of those things was the fact that his upbringing as an orphan affected a lot of his personality. He was strong and independent and ambitious and determined. He was caring and kind to everyone around him, but he used his friendly charm to keep attention off himself. He was not lonely, however, because he had Max and now he had Jennifer. And she could tell, already, that he did not have any missing piece of himself. He was not searching for a family. He had all he needed.

But there were moments, like now, where she needed to remind him of that. Because while he didn't need anything more than what they had, it was evident that he did feel like he was missing something, that he didn't have what he wanted to be able to give to Jennifer. Not having a family to tell about their engagement, not having parents to throw a party for her.

Jennifer certainly didn't mind at all. She wouldn't tell Jonathan just now because he'd protest and get upset on her behalf, but she was starting to see her lack of in-laws as a very good thing. After all, Jennifer Edwards was not exactly the kind of woman most parents would hope their son would bring home. She had a career, she was independent, she didn't like to cook and clean, she had no interest in producing children, and she had a taste for adventure that certainly didn't scream 'wife material.' Of course, Jennifer also knew that these were all things that Jonathan loved about her. So rather than worry about disappointing in-laws, she was happy that they were building their own family, just them and Max. They didn't need anyone else.

"And," Jennifer added, "that works even better for us having the engagement party at the penthouse, since Max runs the house." She didn't add that he'd hopefully soon be running a different house, but the hint of disdain did sneak into her voice.

"You really do hate that penthouse, don't you?" Jonathan laughed.

"I don't hate it," she protested. "I really don't. I don't want to live there forever, but we've already talked about buying a house somewhere anyway. The penthouse is lovely for now. And the bed is very comfortable."

"Well, that's the only thing that matters," he teased.

Jennifer felt a smile tug at her mouth. They'd certainly made very good use of that very comfortable bed. "It's not the only thing that matters, but it is important. Which, coincidentally, is why we also have to talk about this boat."

Because they had this chore to do in putting together the guest list, rather than just sitting at the table in the penthouse or going to Jonathan's office or a restaurant, Jonathan drove Jennifer out to the marina in his Ferrari so he could show off his boat and they could sit out on the deck off the coast a little ways and be all alone.

The idea had been very appealing to Jennifer, being all alone just the two of them in the middle of the ocean. But then she saw the boat. And she tried as best she could to hide her disappointment. She really should have expected this, and she felt foolish for not having thought about it before. This boat was almost identical to Elliot's. This was clearly the boat that Jonathan had used to beat Elliot in the LA to Honolulu race last year, and Jennifer had been on the boat Elliot had sailed for that race. It should have been obvious that the boats would be similar.

Of course, Jennifer had no intention of spoiling their nice day by getting upset about Elliot Manning. She and Jonathan were planning the guest list for their wedding. She wasn't going to open the can of worms that was Elliot Manning.

Unfortunately, Jonathan noticed right away that Jennifer wasn't as enamored with the boat as he'd obviously hoped she'd be. He gave her the whole tour and then waited for her to tell him the truth about what bothered her about it. Thankfully, there was a way to tell him the truth about why she didn't like the boat without actually going into the whole thing.

"We can't sail together when the quarters look like this," she had said, standing in the small bedroom area and pointing out the bunk beds.

Jonathan immediately understood. He took her hand and gave her a kiss and promised they'd find a new boat tomorrow. Satisfied with that, Jennifer thanked him and let him lead her up to the deck where they could sail out a ways and then anchor to work on their guest list.

"I do love this boat," Jonathan said, amused at how Jennifer had changed the conversation from her dislike of the penthouse to her dislike of his sailboat. "I won races in this boat, and it's always been comfortable for fishing trips. But I do agree that it's time for a new one."

"I'm glad you see it my way," Jennifer smirked.

He could see most things her way, he had found. Even after just a few weeks together, they'd gotten to know each other so well. They got along so well. Their tastes and their interests seemed perfectly aligned. And Jonathan had been delighted to find out today that she had some sailing experience. Max was a good first mate when they went on fishing trips together, but knowing now that Jennifer could help out when they went sailing was a great benefit.

Now, of course, he envisioned sailing trips just the two of them. And she was right about the boat. After all, how could he and Jennifer possibly go on sailing trips together when they would have to sleep in bunk beds? Even if she would have been fine with that, Jonathan certainly wasn't. He had absolutely no intention of ever spending a single night without holding her in his arms ever again. "Much as I would love to snuggle up together on the top bunk, I can't imagine that'll be much fun," he added.

"One or both of us will end up hitting out head," she pointed out. "I must say, that was my first thought on seeing those bunk beds down there."

"Your first thought?"

"Yes," she said, as though pointing out the obvious. "If we were on the top bunk and I wanted to be on top of you, I'd hit my head on the ceiling. And if we were on the bottom bunk, I'd hit my head on the top bunk. And unless you were on top and lying completely on top of me, you couldn't sit up and take me either, especially from behind."

Jonathan still wasn't used to the way she spoke sometimes. It was absolutely intoxicating, and he loved her for it more than he could say. But it still made him blush. And it made him aroused.

Jennifer either didn't notice or just didn't bother acknowledging the way he reacted to her. She just continued, "And I don't think we want to be limited like that. If we ever sail by ourselves, we'll be out in the ocean all alone, and I don't want to be stuck making love to you in one single position or else relegated to the deck or on the floor to do what we want."

"What do you say we test out that theory right now?"

She grinned. Clearly she did know exactly what she was doing to him. "We have to finish this guest list first," she reminded.

"Of course," he agreed. And it was probably good that they try and focus on this now. They were apt to get distracted and forget about it all together.

They went back to the task at hand, each of them going through their respective address books. They ended up with a very extensive list. Jennifer had aunts and uncles and cousins and friends from around the world she wanted to invite. Jonathan had employees and business contacts and friends that he wanted to invite. They each went through their lists together, giving a little introduction to each person. By virtue of meeting and getting engaged within two days while both of them were in a foreign country, neither of them knew many of the people in the other's life. Jonathan had met Jennifer's father, of course, and Jennifer had now met some of Jonathan's friends and colleagues. But they were both people with full lives to try and combine together. It was a lot to do in such a short amount of time.

"Alright, I think we've got a good list for the engagement party. We can fit fifty in the penthouse, I'm sure. The wedding will be a bit much, but that's why we got that venue."

Jennifer smiled. "I do love the Beverly Hilton. I love Beverly Hills, period. If we didn't want to have land, I'd say we should live there."

"It is nice there," he agreed. Jonathan filed the information about Jennifer's love of Beverly Hills in the back of his mind. It was true, they did want to have land somewhere, preferably so they could have horses as well as privacy. And that didn't exist in Beverly Hills. Oh the properties were big and lavish and close to everything she might like, but the kind of estate that Jonathan envisioned for their future home just didn't exist there. But he'd give it some thought. Somehow, they'd find something perfect.

"So we have the venue and the date and we've got planners to do all the hard work, and I think after the guest lists, we just taste things from caterers and pick flowers, is that right?" she asked.

Jonathan chuckled, "Well, darling, I've never had a wedding before, so I don't really know. I think you need to get a dress, don't you?"

Jennifer frowned. "Oh. I suppose I do. You know, I hadn't even thought about a wedding dress? I mean, I thought about what I'd wear, but not for the ceremony."

That didn't track for Jonathan. "What were you thinking of wearing not for the ceremony?" he asked.

Her expression brightened. "Well, the wedding night. Obviously."