1976

Jonathan felt Jennifer's presence beside him. He couldn't deny that. He had tried to ignore it over the last month that she'd been working with them, tried to pretend like he didn't feel this pull to her. Hell, he'd tried to ignore her very existence for fifteen years. But there was just nothing for the fact that she was sitting there, less than two feet away from where he stood, and there was almost a palpable warmth on that side of him. He knew Jennifer was there. So close and yet still—always—so far.

It had been even more noticeable these last two days since he had confronted her about not being a translator. She did wonderful work as a translator, but really, that didn't surprise Jonathan at all. He knew she spoke French thanks to her mother and Aunt Renee, and the other languages she'd picked up had obviously not given her much difficulty. And really, nothing had ever given Jennifer much difficulty. Except maybe chemistry.

But oh, to learn that Jennifer Edwards had grown up to be a journalist like she'd always wanted, to travel and do research and interview people and write articles, Jonathan had felt a powerful well of emotion in his chest the second she said she was a reporter. She had done everything she'd always wanted, it looked like. She had always wanted to be independent and respected, and now she was. Jonathan had been perhaps one of the very first people to know what a wonderful writer and interviewer she was. And those natural gifts had blossomed through hard work into a great career. He had absolutely no right to it, but he couldn't help feeling proud of her. Proud and just a little bit sad. Because she had accomplished so much, and perhaps much more than he knew about or would ever know about, and he'd not gotten to see her do it. There had been a time when Jonathan Hart looked toward his future and it had included being by Jennifer's side as she worked and met the milestones of a newspaper reporter and blew everyone away with her talent. He had wanted to be there. She just hadn't let him.

He gave himself a little shake to take his mind off that for the time being. Forever, if he could manage it. But he couldn't let himself get caught up in his personal feelings about Jennifer now.

"Arthur, Stanley, Deanne, could I have a minute of your time?" Jonathan asked the room.

Deanne looked up expectantly from her desk. Arthur finished whatever notes he was writing and then turned his attention to Jonathan. And Stanley shoved his papers aside and scrambled up to stand, poised for whatever Jonathan was about to say or do.

"Thank you. So, I have something of an announcement. Well, two announcements. The first is that we're going to be expanding the role for Miss Edwards here at the company. She's been a fantastic translator for us, but it's come to my attention that translation isn't her primary job outside of Hart Towers."

Stanley looked a little panicked. Deanne and Arthur shared a glance, both a bit confused. Jonathan chanced a look over at Jennifer, and she had a neutral expression on her face. He did notice, however, that her hands were fidgeting in her lap.

Jonathan continued, "Miss Edwards is a reporter. And since she's not otherwise employed by any news outlets at the moment, she's agreed to work as a press agent of sorts for us. Since the company is finally incorporated and expanding with out European financing as well as some exciting investment coming very soon, I've decided it'll help tremendously to have a little publicity. And who better to write about us than someone who's been here for a month to see it all come together?"

"A reporter?" Stanley said in surprise. "How did a reporter end up here?"

Jennifer chuckled, "It's a long story, Stanley. And if it weren't for you asking me if I was the translator you'd hired, I probably never would have been here in the first place."

"So were you spying on us to write a story or something?" Deanne asked. Her expression was full of hurt and accusation.

"No," Jennifer answered gently. She always had been so kind. "No, I was looking for a story, I'll admit, but I wasn't looking too hard. I was just curious about what was happening here. And then with the opportunity to work with you all and then the extremely generous offer to live here at Hart Towers, I just sort of…stayed."

"Speaking of which, Stanley, can you work with Miss Edwards and figure out her compensation? Since she didn't come to us through the agency we thought we'd hired, she hasn't been paid yet," Jonathan added.

Arthur spoke up. "Jennifer, welcome to the team. Again."

"Thank you," she replied.

"Jonathan," Arthur said, turning his attention from Jennifer. "You mentioned she's going to write about an exciting invesment? Am I missing something?"

"Well that's the second announcement I have," Jonathan said. He had been holding onto this for a little while now, waiting until Stanley finished the research that Jonathan had wanted. He was eager now to share the good news. "I had a meeting a few days ago with Elliot Manning of Manning Enterprises."

Arthur whistled in awe, clearly knowing the reputation of Manning and his company.

"Exactly," Jonathan agreed. "And Mr. Manning has done his homework about us and knows we're doing something amazing. He's made a strong offer to invest with us."

Stanley's research had uncovered what Jonathan had needed to be able to bring the offer to the rest of the team and to let himself be excited about the prospect. Manning Enterprises had a lot of fog around it, a lot of speculation and rumors and even some attention from the authorities, but nothing confirmed. A successful business that operates as swiftly and aggressively as Manning's was always apt to get some attention like that. Jonathan wanted to be sure it was just rumors. Nothing Stanley had found proved otherwise. And if Stanley couldn't find it, that meant it didn't exist.

Jonathan revealed Manning's offer to the team to the gasps and cheers that he anticipated. It was an incredible opportunity, and it got Stanley, Arthur, and Deanne just as excited as it had gotten Jonathan.

"So I take it we're all in agreement?" he asked with a smile.

"Jonathan, I'll write up the LOI myself," Arthur responded enthusiastically.

"Alright, great," Jonathan answered with a small laugh. "I'll take a look when you finish it up, and we can start moving forward."

Arthur got started typing furiously. Stanley and Deanne started talking excitedly about what this would mean. And Jonathan noticed that Jennifer was still sitting quietly at the table beside him.

He sat down in the chair opposite her. "Do you have enough to get started on things? I'm happy to answer questions, if you want," he offered.

Jennifer looked up from the notes she was writing on a yellow legal pad. Her eyes were full of some kind of hurt that confused him. She searched his face for something, pausing for an uncomfortably long time before she said, "No, I think I can get started for now. I might have questions later."

Jonathan gave a nod. "Just let me know."

She nodded back and then put her pen down, standing up. "I'm going to get some coffee. Do you want anything?"

"I'm fine, thanks."

Jennifer hurried off into the kitchen, and Jonathan went back over to discuss the new arrangements with Stanley. He could hear Max and Jennifer's voices from the kitchen sounding a little upset, but their words were muffled by the closed door, and Jonathan couldn't hear what they were saying.

The rest of the afternoon was unremarkable. Jonathan and Arthur worked on the letter of intent. Stanley made the compensation arrangements with Jennifer. Deanne continued to make sure everything ran smoothly. Soon enough, it was five o'clock, and they all started getting ready to leave.

Jonathan noticed that Jennifer was dragging her feet. She was writing notes and flipping through pages. Her eyes darted around as she watched Deanne pack up and go, then Stanley, and then finally Arthur. Jonathan was about to ask Jennifer if there was a reason for her delay when Max came out of the kitchen.

"See ya tomorrow, folks," he said.

Max was wearing a full suit, which had become a rare occurrence in Jonathan's experience. "You're all dressed up," he noted.

"Got a date tonight," Max said, grinning with pride.

Jonathan chuckled, "Well, you have fun. I guess I'll see you in the morning?"

Max nodded. "That's the plan. You might be on your own for breakfast, Mr. H," he advised.

"I'll manage," Jonathan answered with another laugh.

"G'night, Mr. H," Max said. "Miss Edwards," he added, looking pointedly at Jennifer.

"Goodnight, Max," she replied. She looked back at Max in a manner that looked significant to Jonathan, somehow.

And then Max was gone and Jonathan realized that he and Jennifer were all alone in the penthouse. She stood up and moved toward him. "I wanted to talk to you. Alone."

Jonathan's heart immediately sped up. Was it her nearness? The knowledge that they were alone? The prospect that maybe she did remember him and what they'd shared when they were young?

Jennifer visible took a breath to steel herself, and Jonathan held his. And then she said, "Don't trust Elliot Manning. I know the offer is incredible and unbelievable, and that's why you shouldn't believe him. I know him, and I know you shouldn't get into business with him."

That wasn't what Jonathan had expected at all. He frowned, "How do you know him?"

"He's my boyfriend," Jennifer confessed.

Jonathan felt his stomach drop to the floor.

She quickly amended, "Well, he was. I think I broke things off with him a few hours after you met with him, actually. It's complicated."

The memory of meeting Elliot Manning and hearing him talk about his difficult girlfriend who he was going to marry in Vegas came rushing back, and Jonathan worried for a moment that he was going to be sick.

Jennifer did not stop for Jonathan's feelings, however, and just added, "But regardless, I do know that he cannot be trusted and he will do everything he can to run Jonathan Hart Industries into the ground if it'll give him a tax write-off or some other way to hide his money. He's been investigated by the SEC and the FBI and who knows what other department, and he will destroy you."

"Why are you telling me this?" Jonathan asked. These were big confidences to reveal to a potential business rival. Elliot Manning was going to marry this woman, but now she was here spilling secrets to Jonathan?

"Because, despite everything, I don't want to see you hurt," she replied. Her voice was soft. It cracked slightly, as though she was trying as much as he was to stave off emotion.

Jonathan swallowed hard. "What do you mean 'despite everything'?" He hated the way his heart leapt in his chest, but he couldn't help it. The hope that exploded inside him was cruel and unavoidable.

Jennifer looked down at the floor for a moment and then back up at him, eyes beginning to well up. "I know you remember," she said. "Max told me."

She remembered. She had been pretending just as Jonathan had. She knew him, she remembered him. It wasn't all a wish conjured by his broken heart. Their past was real. For both of them. "Why didn't you say anything?" Jonathan asked her, his own voice cracking now.

"Because I thought you didn't remember. I didn't know for sure until I asked Max today. I thought you didn't remember me or what we had. Or that it didn't mean as much to you or…well, why didn't you say anything?" she countered.

"Because I thought you didn't remember," he replied. "Or maybe that you didn't want to." After all, she had been the reason they ended, wasn't it natural to think that she wanted to ignore their history and pretend there was nothing there?

Jennifer shook her head. The tears had started to escape now. "I might not have wanted to remember, but I could never forget my first love. Maybe my only love."

It took everything in Jonathan to not take her in his arms and hold her and comfort her and wipe away her tears and to tell her that he would never forget his first and only love either. But he couldn't. He had to ask, "What about Manning?"

She gave a dark chuckle. "I don't love him. I liked him fine, and we got along well. Maybe if I never saw you again, I might have been able to convince myself that I could love him."

"But you did see me again," Jonathan pointed out, taking a half-step closer to her, that cruel hope in his heart now dictating his action.

Jennifer looked up at him, her beautiful brown eyes shining with the affection Jonathan recalled from his dreams. And she said, "I did see you again, and I know I'll never love anyone the way I loved you."

"Loved?" he whispered. But even as he asked the question, he had stepped closer to her still, feeling that warm pull of her ignite him from within.

"Oh Jonathan, just kiss me before I go mad!" she cried.

He did.