Midnight Sun-28
It was still the mid morning in New York, but it was late afternoon in Monaco. Prince Armand sat out on his gold gilded balcony with his future son-in-law sitting across from him and a palace priest in between them as they all discussed the wedding of Brenda and the Earl.
In the room behind them CNN’s World new Report was on, muted, on the large television as the men sipped expensive red wine and went over their business.
"The ceremony will be held in the palace abbey," the prince said.
The Earl nodded. "It’s not quite Westminster Abbey, but it’s appropriate. However, if you’d like the use of Westminster Abbey, my Aunt Elizabeth is agreeable to it."
The prince’s eyes leapt with delight. If Brenda and Galway were to get married in Westminster Abbey the press coverage would quadruple! And because of the prince’s P.R. plans and the fact that Brenda would be the most beautiful princess bride in modern history, there was every chance that this wedding would surpass even that of Charles and Diana in terms of coverage, pomp and being a memorable moment in the annals of royal history. What was even better was that the Queen’s willingness to have them wed in the historic church showed her obvious approval of the match, of Brenda, despite her illegitimacy. What this would do for Monaco would be huge!
"I dare say I think Brenda would *adore* getting married at Westminster Abbey," the prince said. "She’s always been fascinated with the structure."
"Well I intend to give my young bride *all* she desires," the Earl said with a languid smile. "We shall start with giving her the wedding of her dreams in England."
The priest interrupted. "Your majesty, I’m a trifle concerned that the people of Monaco might feel slighted that the princess is to be wed in another country."
"Slighted?" the prince repeated. "No, Father Thomas, I think not. They know the power and might associated with England’s royal family. They will be full of pride that their princess is marrying into it and that the ceremony will be one of the most watched in the history of television."
As he said the word ‘television’, the prince gazed up, past the other two men and inside the room behind them where CNN was doing some nonsensical report on the Valentine’s Day celebratory practices in the states. The only reason the prince did not turn his eyes away was because the reporter was speaking while a picture of Jasper Jacks was up on the screen.
"Have you a date, your majesty?" asked the priest.
"Tentatively, the end of the month," the prince responded, giving Pierre and Marco until the end of February to bring Brenda home. "B . .but that m…may change," he added hastily as he felt his heart surge with a most unpleasant jolt as the graphic on CNN had morphed from Jasper Jacks alone in a heart with the caption ‘Most Sought after Bachelor?’ to a picture of Jax and Brenda leaving some gala event with a new caption that read ‘Not anymore! Meet Mr. and Mrs. Jasper Jacks.’ "P . .p…pardon me, gentlemen!" The prince said as he leapt from the table and into the room shutting the door behind him to keep the report from reaching the ears of the priest and the Earl. "Good God, this had better be some kind of an infernal joke!" the prince raged quietly as he nervously turned up the volume so that he could hear the report.
"Yes it’s true, ladies. He’s off the market," the anchor said with a smile. "CNN has now confirmed that 23 year old Australian born billionaire Jasper Jacks secretly wed 18 year old Brenda Barrett in a ceremony at an undisclosed location approximately two weeks ago on January 31st. Sources tell CNN that Jax and Brenda have been dating since November and enjoyed quite a whirlwind romance that led up to what is rumored to have been an intimate, private wedding with a reception straight out of a fairy tale. Efforts to contact the newlywed Jackses for comment were unsuccessful, although spokespersons for both J&J Jacks of New York and J&J Jacks of Alaska confirm that the two are indeed married and very, very happy. Well we hope the glow of love is enough to dull the sting of defeat from Jasper Jacks. CNN has learned that a major J&J Jacks holding brought in by the young corporate raider was itself raided, *twice* in the same day. Details are still very sketchy but the new owner is said to be a British millionaire recluse . . ."
The prince shut off the TV and sank into his chair, his face in shock. His shock was quickly replaced by fury however. "I’ll *KILL* him!" he roared, hurling the remote control across the room and knocking over two priceless vases in the process.
The door behind him was flung open as the priest and the Earl entered. Another door to the room opened as well, as two of the palace guards entered to make sure the prince was all right.
"Armand, is everything all right?" The Earl asked, seeing the prince’s obvious agitation.
"No," the prince said his breathing labored as he raked his had though is hair several times. He knew it was no use lying to the Earl. News of Jax and Brenda was surely *everywhere* by now if CNN was reporting it. Dear God did Queen Elizabeth know? How in god’s name would he ever save face after this! If Jax were here right now he would strangle the life out of the lad! "No," he repeated. Everything is most certainly not all right."
+ + +
In his suite in the Plaza Hotel Pierre felt deathly ill as he saw the CNN news report. The world was now privy to the fact that Jax and Brenda were married. That world surely included the Prince, The Earl, dear god the Earl’s family - the British royals. The bloomin’ Queen of England herself! The family the prince was pinning all of Monaco’s future on a liaison with. This was going to ruin everything. Pierre felt a throbbing headache appear out of nowhere. He reached for some Tylenol and the telephone at the same time. As he swallowed the capsules, he dialed the palace preparing himself for the wrath of his prince.
+ + +
In his own suite at the hotel Marco also watched the CNN report and felt all of his boiling jealousies and feelings of betrayal coming back to the forefront. They had been quelled by Brenda asking him to stay in New York and his high hopes of being able to win her away from the blonde billionaire. But seeing them on the news and knowing that on this very day for lovers, Brenda would be spending it with *him* just set Marco off. He needed to do things. He needed to do things to start winning her back, to remind her of their time together and show her that he knew her much better than Jasper Jacks and that he could give her a much happier life that Jax ever could.
He knew just how to start. Surely Brenda must be lacking for female companionship here. Marco had seen her with no one but that belligerent blue-eyed female and surely *she* could be no real friend of Brenda’s. Marco decided he would surprise Brenda by bringing that friend of hers, Charlotte Donnay, to New York. Marco remembered that Charlotte and her mother would stop by the palace often and she was the only person that he considered was a real friend of Brenda’s. He smiled as he imagined her delight at seeing Charlotte again, and how very grateful she would be to him for the surprise . . .
+ + +
"Ready?" Jax said to Brenda.
"You’re really not going to tell me where we’re going?" she asked sliding on her pumps.
"I’m really not," he said, gazing at her and noticing she wore a long sleeved lavender velvet dress that hugged her svelte body. "But I probably should advise you to dress a little lighter than that," he said.
Brenda arched a dark brow. "Wait a minute . . .are we leaving the state?" she asked.
Jax just shrugged innocently.
"We are, aren’t we!"
"It’s a possibility," he conceded. "But then so is the existence of extraterrestrial life."
She tossed a pillow at him and then held out her arms to him. "Umm . . .come here." she said.
"You need to go change, Mrs. Jacks."
"Yes I know but I really need a hug first," she said.
He wondered about the mischievous look in her eye, but dismissed it then obliged her with an intimate embrace. While Brenda was in his arms she carefully slid her hand into his inside jacket pocket and took his slim cellular phone and then promptly broke the embrace.
"Thanks," she said, kissing him lightly and slipping the phone behind her back quickly. "I’ll just go change and be right back. Umm . . .shouldn’t you go and tell Fox that we’re going away?"
"Yeah, I’ll go downstairs and tell him right now."
"I’ll be all ready by the time you come back.," she promised.
"All right. Oh, and Brenda? Don’t bother trying to call my parents or Jerry, or Lois or my pilot to try to find out where I’m taking you because they’re not going to tell you anything under threat of death."
She just laughed and waved to him as he walked through the door.
The minute he was gone Brenda phoned Mulder. "Fox, he’s coming to see you right now. Keep him there for at least twenty minutes, okay?" Then she hung up and phoned the lobby. "Hi this is Brenda Jacks in the penthouse, you can tell them to bring it up now. Hurry up, please. Thanks!"
The gorgeous red Indy racing car was brought up to the penthouse and deposited on a revolving dais in the recreation room. Brenda then got busy as she pulled out the huge rolls of red foil wrapping paper she had bough and she did her best to "wrap" the huge gift. She went into the closet and found the enormous white bow she had gotten and placed it atop the red foil wrapping. Then she grabbed the Nat King Cole CD and popped it into the CD player, set it up to track #5 and grabbed the remote control, taking it with her. Before leaving the recreation room she placed Jax’s cell phone on the pool table.
She then raced into the bedroom to pick a more summery outfit as Jax had suggested and she was all set by the time he came walking back into the penthouse.
"Bren?" she heard him calling her. "I’m back, are you ready?"
"Ready!" she sang as she waltzed out of the bedroom. She wore a sexy, short, sleeveless peach colored slip dress made out of silk with a pattern of embroidered tiny roses. And she’d exchanged her pumps for a pair of strappy, peach colored espadrilles with delicate peach satin ankle ties. "Better?" she asked, twirling around.
"Perfect," Jax said, grabbing her coat from the closet and also picking up a black leather carry-on bag that Brenda had not noticed before.
"What’s in there?’ she asked with a grin.
"Ummm . . . provisions," he said vaguely as he put her coat on her. "Let’s go."
"Provisions?"
"Shhh," he said.
She laughed. "Okay." They opened the door of the penthouse to leave when Brenda turned to him and said. "Do you have your phone?"
"Yes," he said patting his pocket only to realize that his phone was not there. "That’s weird," he murmured. "I put it in there."
"Are you sure, Jax? Because I thought I saw it on the pool table earlier," she said casually.
"Really?" he looked confused as to how it had gotten there. "Okay, let me go get it. I’ll be right back."
She nodded and watched him go in the direction of the recreation room. She quietly followed, remote control in hand. Jax saw his phone on the pool table and reached over to pick it up just as his eye was caught by the flash of bright shiny red from the wrapping paper and he noticed that the empty dais Brenda had purchased the other day, was no longer empty. Something pretty big and wrapped up in red foil with a huge white bow sat on top of it now. He had to blink. When had this gotten here? he’d been in this room this morning and that dais was definitely empty.
With a little smile Brenda aimed the remote control at the CD player and hit the play button and Jax was startled when he heard Nat King Cole suddenly crooning out of nowhere.
L is for the way you look at me
O is for the only one I see
V is very, very, extraordinary
E is even more than anyone that you adore
Jax gazed at the doorway and saw Brenda there looking very pleased with herself.
"Happy valentines day," she said to him.
Love is all that I can give to you
Love is more than just a game for two
Two in love can make it
Take my heart but please don’t break it
Love was made for me and you
Jax gazed from her to the huge thing on the dais with excitement and trepidation. "Is that for me?"
"It’s for you," she verified with laughter and excitement in her voice.
He gazed at the very large item once more. "What did you do, Brenda?" he asked with a laugh.
"Open it up and find out," she suggested as she walked into the room and stood next to him.
"You didn’t do anything crazy like get me a Crocodile from Sydney, did you?" he asked trying to figure out what something so big could possible be.
"A Crocodile? Oh I wish I would have thought of that," she murmured and laughed at the startled look in his eyes "*Open* it Jax!"
"Okay, okay," he said as he reached over and ripped away part of the wrapping paper. He saw what appeared to be red fiberglass. More curious than ever he ripped away another piece and saw a steering wheel. "Oh - my- god" he said as he began to suspect what it was. "Brenda . . ." he whispered in amazement as he, quickly now, ripped off every piece of the wrapping paper to reveal the gleaming red Mario Andretti Indy car that had been auctioned off at the Spielberg fund-raiser. "No way!" he exclaimed feeling the same way he did when he was ten years old back in Australia and his parents had gotten him his first dirt bike which he thought they would never allow him to have. "How did you. . . . ? I thought you told me that it was sold?" he said his hands gliding over the red fiberglass in amazement.
"Yes, it was sold. To *me*" she said, flashing him a proud smile. "The minute I saw it I knew it would be perfect for you," she said softly, delighting in his obvious pleasure at the gift. "You like it?" she asked unnecessarily.
"Are you kidding me? I love it!" he laughed. "And *you* - - you are so amazing," Jax added as he took her in his arms and gave her a kiss. "How did you get it in here without my knowing?" he suddenly grinned at her. "Ahhh. . . . .you had accomplices, didn’t you?"
"My lips are sealed," she said with a shrug.
He shook his head. "Your lips are delicious," he corrected her, and the look he gave her made her heart flutter in delight. Then he gave her a sweet and sexy kiss before his attentions went back to the car and he began to examine it’s every part with child-like joy. "Oh man, I’ve *gotta* tell Jerry about this!"
"Now, you’re not going to go and fall in love with that thing, are you?" she asked seeing how mesmerized his eyes were as he checked out the car. "Because, quite frankly, Jax, I’m not sure if I can compete with fiberglass."
Jax laughed and then glanced at his watch. "Oh, we’ve gotta go!" he said grabbing her hand and leading them both out of the penthouse.
Jax spirited his wife off to the Florida Keys where they enjoyed the most perfect lunch on his yacht and then he handed her a small silver box.
Brenda, being Brenda, shook it and heard something knocking around inside. She laughed and opened the box to find inside a shiny silver key on a diamond heart-shaped key chain.
"Awwww, the key to your heart?" she guessed.
"No. You already have that. Although I don’t think you did anything so subtle as using a key to gain entrance. I think you just broke in."
She smiled. "And *I* think you left the door open on purpose."
He smiled at her, neither confirming nor denying whether or not he had left his heart open hoping she would walk in and take it. "Anyway," he said, "*this* key is for an entirely different purpose."
"Does it by any chance *open* something?"
"Brilliant deduction, sweetie," he said softly, trailing his fingers lightly down her throat to provoke a soft, tickling sensation.
"Well what does it open?" Brenda asked, laughing.
"I’ll have to take you to it."
"Oh I see. So the mystery continues."
Jax leaned over and kissed her. "Yes it does. Come on."
Brenda followed Jax up on deck and watched as he rose the anchor and got behind the steering wheel of the boat, and the yacht began to move away from the shore.
It took them about an hour and fifteen minutes to get from the Florida coast to their final destination and Brenda was thrilled when Jax let her steer the yacht for some of the trip there. She noticed that the waters grew more tranquil and more beautiful as they got closer to where they were headed.
Where they were headed was an island in what Brenda figured had to be in the general vicinity of the chain of Bahama Islands, although this island was enchantingly isolated. It did have a small boat dock which looked brand new and when the yacht was anchored, Jax assisted Brenda off of the boat and onto the warm brown sand.
The weather was incredible! The sun was blazing but the tradewinds from the beach made the weather a comfortable 80 degrees. Fluffy spirals of soft white clouds moved lazily in a turquoise blue sky. Vibrant green palm trees swayed in the soft, sweet smelling sea breeze.
Brenda slipped off her espadrilles and felt the warmth of the sand beneath her feet as she gazed out at the crystal blue/jade green waters which bore a striking similarity to the colors produced in Jax’s eyes.
"Is that my present?!" she asked excitedly as she took notice of the cool, obviously brand new, Yamaha hydrojet inflatable raft boat docked at the pier. The boat was combination waverunner and speedboat - fast and fun, and a very popular with water sports enthusiasts. After Jax had taken Brenda out on one during their honeymoon in Malibu she had been hooked and had been bugging him to get her one ever since.
"Part of it," Jax said.
"Wow," she whispered, gazing around. "Where are we anyway?"
"Somewhere between St. Barts and St. Thomas."
"Oh. So what is this island called?" And then she spotted something quite spectacular just beyond a striking array of foliage. It was a house that appeared to be made out of glass. "Jax, do you see that?" Brenda asked in amazement. "It’s a glass house!"
"It’s not glass," he said. "But the effect is the same. Oh, and it’s not a house exactly . . ."
"No, it’s a cottage," she realized as they walked towards it getting a better view. "Okay, I know that I say this all the time," she said, "but this *really* is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen!"
It was a two level cottage that truly did appear to be made out of glass, except you could tell it wasn’t glass because you couldn’t see inside of the cottage. The style of the cottage was pretty much basic storybook with miniature turrets and all. Cut stone steps that seemed to be constructed of white quartz stone. Trellises of pink roses running along the two sides of the cottage. Butterflies *everywhere* dancing amongst the vivid colors of exotic flowers. A placid miniature pond on which floated scattered water lilies. Palm trees bordering the cottage on all sides. An old fashioned porch swing next to a handsome looking Almond Tree, and trees that bore fruit were there too: Coconut, Mango, banana and peace trees. A comfy looking hammock was tied between two strong Coconut trees and a rather large gazebo sat on the grass off to the side with a perfect view of the beach.
Brenda remembered the key in her hand, which obviously did not belong to the hydrojet. "Jax you got me this cottage?!" she squealed racing up the stairs to insert the key into the door.
"Actually . . ." Jax said, "I got you this whole island."
She gasped. "What?"
"La Isla Bonita – the beautiful island. For my beautiful Brenda."
Shock registered in her eyes. "You got . . . . an island for me?" She appeared to be incredulous. "You got an *island* for me?!" she repeated and this time she was just plain excited.
"I got an island for you," he confirmed.
"Oh my god! Jax!" she said throwing her arms around him in delight. "You are so crazy!! You got me an actual *island.*" she laughed. "I can’t believe that!" Her laughter sailed sweetly into his ears and he felt her press her lips softly against his. "You have *got* to be the most insane, most outrageous, most creative, most *romantic* man alive!" she said enthusiastically.
"If you say so," he said, kissing her again. "Come on let’s go inside," he said obviously anxious to show her something. " I had this whole place made specially for you."
Brenda realized what he meant the second she opened the door. The floors were constructed of gleaming white oak and the first story of the cottage consisted of a kitchen, a bathroom and a living room. The color scheme was white and champagne. Very relaxing and soothing. On the walls were paintings of modern artists that Brenda loved. Thomas Kinkade, Mary Baxter St. Clair, Walfrido, James Coleman. In the center of the living room was a beautiful grand piano and stacks of classical scores. The top of the piano was graced with a gorgeous bouquet of Brenda’s favorite flower, pink tulips, and a box of Brenda’s favorite confectionery - Rochet’s hazelnut chocolates.
Upstairs was a bedroom with the kind of bed Brenda always joked about - the huge four poster canopy type bed with sheer canopy and lots of blue satin cushions tossed all over the bed - the kind they used in all those movies about rich sultans. This floor also had another bathroom, the old fashion kind with the tub, not off to the side in a corner, but in the center. And the last room was locked.
"It’s locked," Brenda said as she tried the knob and then looked up at Jax.
"Locked?" Jax said pretending to look puzzled. "Oh, well that’s probably because somebody is in there."
Brenda’s eyes widened. "Who?"
Jax tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Umm . . .his name starts with a ‘C’, I can never remember. . oh yes, Cupid something or other."
Brenda laughed and hit him. "JAX!"
A grinning Jax relented and handed her another key. "Try this," he said.
Brenda inserted the key into the door and opened it. Inside the room was *full* of floating red balloons, 12 of which were shaped like hearts. The string arrangement of the Pachelbel Canon could be heard playing softly. Sliding doors (that led to a deck with a full view of the ocean) were open letting in the warm, late afternoon, tropical sea breeze. In the center of the room was a table set for elegantly for two for a candlelit dinner. On the menu were all of Brenda’s favorites; Sparkling Champagne, Gingered Lobster, Shrimp Scampi, Greek Salad, Rice Pilaf, Teriyaki Chicken, Vegetarian Pasta and Fresh fruit salad.
"Jax, this is *so* fantastic," Brenda said in disbelief. "And yummy!" she added with a laugh as the aroma of the food floated over to them.
"And just wait until the morning," Jax said, watching her. "We get to have fresh pineapples, Macadamia nut pancakes and mimosas. And of course, each other," he added giving her a playfully seductive smooch.
"We’re spending the night here?" she asked in delight. "But we don’t have any clothes!" she laughed, thinking he was just so crazy.
"Don’t worry, I’ve taken care of everything," he assured her "Provisions remember?"
"Oh, so *you* bought clothes from home for me?" she laughed, imagining that Jax would have picked out all of her sexiest items.
"I did," he said. "So you’re all set. You get one passionate, romantic night in your very own tropical paradise, courtesy of yours truly."
Brenda smiled at him. "Hmmm. A passionate, romantic night, huh?" she murmured remembering the setting of the bedroom.
"Yes. *Very.* Are you up for that?" he teased her.
"I am if you are," she said, slipping her arms around his neck and kissing him. "You are *so* incredible, Jax. I’m speechless over all of this. I’m really, truly speechless. I always knew you were romantic but . . *this* is just . . .I mean I think there must be a law against you making me this happy. Am I allowed to *be* this happy?"
"You are. I say so."
She looked serious for a moment. "Jax, I hope that I make you as happy as you make me. I mean, I do happen to think I'm the best thing in the world for you, but that's just *my* opinion."
He grinned "It's my opinoin too. And you do make me happy, Brenda. You definitely do. Oh, here," Jax said handing her a pin.
Brenda gazed at the pin and dissolved into giggles. "*What* the heck is this for? Do I even want to *know?!*"
"It's for the balloons, " Jax explained "only the heart shaped ones though,"he added. "You’re going to have to pop them all -- well at least pop then until you find it -- before we can eat, so," he swatted her gently on her behind, "get going."
"Find what?’ she asked eager.
"You’ll see."
"Pop them all though? But why?" she pouted. "They’re so pretty, Jax. I don’t want to." she decided.
"Pop," he ordered, spinning her in the direction of a nearby floating heart.
Realizing there had to be some undoubtedly delightful reason why Jax wanted her to pop the heart-shaped balloons, Brenda jabbed the pin into the balloon nearest her. It popped with no fan fare. She popped and popped, having a really fun time and when she popped the tenth one and out flew a tiny gray velvet satchel.
Brenda laughed in surprise and then picked up the tiny satchel. She pulled apart the gold drawstrings and found inside a key.
She laughed so hard she had to sit on the floor. "Another *key*? I did all that for another *key*?"
"Yep," Jax said bringing something over to her and sitting down on the floor opposite her. "And that key opens this little treasure chest here. The Jax treasure."
"Ooooooh, I get it. So *your* treasure is in here?"
"Mmm hmmm."
"What is it -- Diamonds, rubies, emeralds? Stocks?? Bonds? A send Ned Ashton to jail card?"
He just smiled at her and there was something so very tender and romantic in his eyes.
"This is *so* much fun," Brenda said as she opened up Jax’s ‘treasure chest’ and inside she found what appeared to be a book bound in white leather with gold trim. Embossed in gold was the title ‘The Book Of Love’. "Oh what a beautiful book," she said gazing down at it.
"My grandmother gave that to me," Jax explained, taking the book out of the chest and gazing at it reminiscently. "I think I had just turned nine. She gave it to me for my birthday and I thought that it had to be the worst birthday present ever," he laughed and Brenda did too. "But she told me that it wasn’t really *for* me, but for me to give to somebody. So I tried to just give it back to her and get rid of it," he grinned, " but she said no, it was for me to give away when I got older, when I fell in love, when the significance of it would mean something to me and I would be able to relate to everything the book talked about. Well I thought that was all pretty gross in my girl-hating stage of nine, and I chucked the book in my room and honestly don’t think I ever looked at it again - ever. When my mum and dad came for the wedding my mum brought me the book. I guess it was lying somewhere in the attic or something. She said it that my grandmother had *called* her from Australia to tell her to find it and give it to me now that I was getting married – that I would know what to do with it now. And I do," he said, handing it to her. "I’m giving it to you, Brenda. So that you can truly know how much you are loved by me."
His kiss against her cheek was tender and heart-melting.
Brenda gazed at the book. The Book Of Love by Anonymous.
"Anonymous?" she laughed.
"Yes, no one knows who wrote it. The legend goes that it was found among the belongings of some dead Egyptian king ages and ages ago and then it was transcribed into what is currently this book. But whomever Mr. Anonymous was, he definitely knew what it feels like to be in love with somebody with all your heart," Jax said.
Brenda opened it and inside there was a dedication box that had been filled in. In Jax’s handwriting were the words: ‘To Brenda, the little irritant who was always, in reality and in the chronicle of destiny, the woman of my dreams. My partner, my confidante, my best friend and the love of my entire life. Happy Birthday.’
"Oh Jax," she said softly, her eyes feeling watery. She turned the page. It said ‘You know you love her when: All that you do, you do with her in mind.’ Accompanying the words was a slot to insert a picture and in there Jax had placed a picture of Brenda back from the time they had ventured into the subarctic forest in Alaska. It was a snap shot of her after he’d begrudgingly gone though all the trouble to get her the frozen rose and had just handed it to her. She looked positively enchanted, standing there staring at the flower in her hand.
Brenda smiled in delight. She had never seen this picture before!
She turned the page. ‘You know you love her when: Butterflies flutter in your stomach every time she’s near you.’ Here Jax had inserted a shot of himself taken on the day of the wedding. It was a shot of him watching as Brenda walked down the aisle, and the picture captured Jax in a moment of nervousness that was the most vulnerable, adorable thing Brenda had ever seen.
And the book went on, each page starting with a different letter of the alphabet telling why ‘you know you love her when’ and accompanied by pictures Jax had chosen chronicling their life together so far. The last page read: ‘You know you love her when: Zillions of kisses, bestowed upon your fortunate lips by hers, in the span of a lifetime, would still not be nearly enough.’ The picture next to that one was a gorgeous snap shot of the "you may kiss the bride" kiss. The photo was so perfect, the *kiss* documented so perfectly, that it was hard for Brenda to believe that was really her and Jax in that picture and not some magnificent artist’s romantic rendering.
"Ummm . . ." she laughed. He saw the tear slide down her face. "Remember what I said about the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen?"
Jax smiled and he and brushed the tear away. "Let me guess, it’s not the house or the island anymore."
"No," she shook her head. "It’s not even this book, Jax. It’s you. You are the most beautiful thing in my life," she said and she felt the tears coming on again. "I’m sorry," she said wishing she could just stop crying. "I’m really *happy*, I am!"
Jax laughed softly and reached across and pulled her into his arms. "I know. I think I’ve gotten the gist of this women crying when they’re happy thing," he said.
"Good," she said. "Because I feel ridiculous. It’s just that sometimes emotions get the better of me. I’ve never loved anybody the way that I love you. I’ve never felt anything like this . . ."
"I know the feeling," he said softly.
"I’ll treasure it forever, Jax." she promised him.
"The feeling?"
She smiled. "Well I meant the *book*, but yes, the feeling too. And you. I’ll treasure *you* forever," she said kissing him with her tear streaked lips. He gazed at her for what seemed to be an endless moment and then suddenly they were kissing passionately and wondering if they were ever going to get to eat that dinner.
They did manage to put the passion on hold so they could enjoy the incredible meal and playful, witty conversation. Afterwards they took a romantic bubble bath together in the old fashioned tub upstairs.
Brenda was behind Jax in the tub her arms wrapped around his chest, her chin resting on his back. "I knew when I woke up this morning this would be the best birthday ever for me," she said. "And it was."
"The best birthday *ever*? Wow, I’m at the top of the list," Jax said.
"I think you’re at the top of a lot of lists," Brenda pointed out. "Forbes, Money, Blackwells best dressed, People’s most beautiful, Time’s most intriguing . . ."
"I hope you don’t really think any of those lists matter to me," he said quietly, running his hand along her thigh beneath the water. "Your lists are the only ones that matter to me," he told her.
She took the bath sponge and lathered it with soap and began to scrub his back in gentle swirls. "I know that those other things don’t matter to you," she assured him. "I know that money and power are not the most important things to you."
"Good."
"It’s the challenge that drives you."
"Mostly."
"It isn’t a matter of greed."
"No."
"But," she said, leaning forward and kissing the back of his neck. "I *would* like to know why you felt it necessary to hoodwink my poor father out of one of Monaco’s national treasures."
Jax thought he must have heard wrong.
He felt her fingers sliding into his wet hair. Her lips again touched the back of his neck, sensual little kisses. "I’m waiting, Jax," she said.
"Waiting?"
"For you to tell me why you tricked my father into signing over the Royal Casino to you a month ago. . . ."