The pond near Cherry Hill fountain had always been one of Hannah's favorite spots in Central Park. Because she was late, she feared Joshua would have given up waiting for her. Barely taking time to look both ways, she raced across Fifty-ninth Street. Her heart pounded in her throat as she approached the pond. Excitement filled her when she spied Joshua standing along the edge of the water, feeding the goldfish. Hannah half ran to meet him.

"I'm so sorry I'm late," she said breathlessly when she joined him. "It took me much longer to get away than I thought it would."

Joshua glanced at her and enfolded her with a warm smile of welcome. "I was feeding the fish, and didn't notice." He handed her a fistful of stale bread crumbs for her to toss onto the water's still surface. Huge goldfish, some marked with black-and-white blotches, battled for the crumbs, stirring up the water's smooth surface.

"This has always been one of my favorite places," Joshua said.

"Mine too," she admitted. It didn't surprise her that Joshua felt the same way about this place as she did. They appreciated many of the same things.

They stood side by side, content without speaking, satisfied simply to be in each other's company.

"There's something I need to tell you," Hannah said once she'd regained her breath and her equilibrium. Being with Joshua always seemed to pull her off center.

Joshua hesitated, and his eyes sparkled. "Am I going to need to sit down to hear it?"

"No. At least I don't think so." She thought about what she had to say and realized he was the last person she should be telling instead of the first. "I've decided not to marry Carl."

"I know." Joshua tossed the last of the bread crumbs into the pond with a flourish.

Of all the reactions Hannah had expected from Joshua, she'd never anticipated this calm acceptance. She frowned. "What did you say?"

"I said, I knew you weren't going to marry Carl."

"And how could you be so confident of that?" she asked. She hadn't realized it herself until the night before. Once she'd admitted that she couldn't go through with the wedding, she'd felt as though a great weight had been lifted from her heart. It hadn't been an easy decision, and she didn't want him to think she'd made it flippantly.

"I knew you weren't going to be marrying Carl, my sweet, adorable Hannah, for one simple reason. I fully intend for you to marry me."

Hannah blinked back her surprise.

"And yes, if you're wondering, that's a marriage proposal."

"But I'm already engaged to Carl," she argued, saying the first thing that came to mind. He'd shocked her so thoroughly that she wasn't sure how to respond. The second thing that came to mind was that she would have liked nothing better than to be Joshua's wife. She was forced into biting her lips to keep from blurting it out.

He warmed her with another of his bone-melting smiles. "You see, I realized something the very first time we met."

"You did?"

"It's simple, really," he said with the calm reasoning of an attorney. "I realized you and I were meant to be together."

"But what about Carl?" she pleaded. "I was already engaged to him when we met." While that wasn't technically true, for all intents and purposes she might as well have been betrothed to the rabbi's son. In the eyes of both families, all that needed to be decided was if they should or shouldn't hire a wedding coordinator.

"I suppose I sound overly confident of myself," Joshua said, and reached inside his coat pocket for his leather gloves. "I wasn't sure about any of this until recently, though. The night at Rockefeller Center, to be exact. I gave you my business card, remember?"

"I didn't phone you."

"True," he was gracious enough to agree, "and I'll admit I haven't been sleeping well because I fully expected you to contact me long before now." He reached for her hand and raised it to his lips, brushing her knuckles with his mouth. "You and I share something very special, Hannah. I don't know what I would have done had you decided to go ahead with the wedding with Carl."

Hannah dipped her head. "I haven't said anything to him yet." It was far easier to tell Joshua of her decision first. She realized she was behaving like a coward, but she sincerely felt that Carl would experience a deep sense of relief once she asked him to release her from the engagement. She was certain he shared her feelings. They were both eager to please their parents and had allowed themselves unwittingly to be drawn into a self-made trap.

Joshua loved her. The knowledge shook her because she didn't understand how anyone as powerful and intelligent as Joshua could care for someone like her. "I've treated you terribly. I've ignored you, pretended I didn't know you, and shunned you."

"When something is of high value, then it's worth a few inconveniences," Joshua said, and gently bounced his mouth over hers. "In many ways I'm grateful to you."

"Me?"

"I'd almost given up thinking about God until I met you. My life was full and busy, but I felt an aching loneliness. I prayed, but I felt as if my prayers floated away to nothingness. Until the morning of the Thanksgiving Day parade, I was convinced God didn't listen to prayers any longer."

"But He does," Hannah insisted.

"I know. He sent you into my life." Joshua ran his finger down the side of her face. "You'll be talking to Carl soon?"

She nodded. It wasn't a task she relished, but it was one she couldn't delay. To wait for the right moment would only make it more difficult. "I thought I'd discuss it with him first, and then the two of us could explain it to our parents together."

Joshua's gaze narrowed briefly, and she knew he wasn't keen on this part of her plan.

"Carl and I need to present a united front," she explained. "Otherwise I'm afraid they'll manipulate us individually to change our minds."

Joshua considered her words, then asked, "Could they change your mind, Hannah?"

His question fell into a weighted silence. Hannah considered her answer for several thought-provoking moments. "Carl's a good man, and he'll make some woman an excellent husband, but that woman won't be me," she admitted, then added, "Nothing's going to change the way I feel about you, Joshua. Nothing."

"You'll tell him soon, then?"

She nodded. "The sooner the better." She didn't relish this task, but she couldn't put it off, either.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Joshua volunteered.

"No." That would only make matters worse, Hannah realized. Her news would be difficult enough for Carl without adding the complication of her feelings for another man.

Joshua looked at his watch. "I have to get back to the office."

It was easy to forget that Joshua was an important man. If she ever doubted his feelings for her, all she'd need to do was remember the time he took out of his busy schedule to be with her.

"One thing before you go?" she asked, reaching out and gripping hold of his forearm.

"Anything."

She felt foolish asking this of him. "Would you mind very much if we kissed again?"

The warm light that invaded his eyes was all the answer she needed. Joshua wrapped her in his embrace and drugged her with a number of long, slow kisses.

"Is that enough?" he asked.

She couldn't manage anything more than a slight groan.

Joshua closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "Unfortunately I feel the same way myself. I promise you the day will come when we won't stop with the kissing, Hannah. Frankly the sooner that day arrives, the better."

Joshua left her to return to his office. The warm glow of his kisses carried Hannah all the way to Carl's apartment building. He should be home, seeing that school had been out for several hours. Hannah had been to his place only twice. Carl was an orderly man who kept his quarters meticulously clean. Hannah had never known anyone more gifted in the area of organization than Carl Rabinsky.