As Harry drove Jade back home, he noticed she was unusually silent and turned to her, "Are you alright?"
"Better than I've been in a while," Jade assured him as she turned to flash him a smile.
"Why are you so quiet then?" he asked, and she sighed as she settled into her seat.
"I can't seem to stop going through the detail of the entire evening over and over again, Jonas. It was so perfect," she whispered softly, and Harry smiled.
"The evening is not over yet, esquire. So why don't you save that for when you're alone and give me your attention?" Harry suggested, and she nodded.
"You're right. I definitely should do that. Sorry," she said as she turned to look at him.
"Can we talk about stuff outside the two of us now?" Harry asked, and Jade narrowed her eyes.
"Who do you want to talk about?"
"How long do you think it would take to resolve the case?" Harry asked, and Jade sighed thoughtfully.
"Hmmm, it shouldn't take too long. All we need is for Mr. Bateman to give me what we need to prove Rebekah murdered her husband. Once he has done that, I can proceed to reveal everything. That way, she won't have anyone on her side to help her out since I'm going to expose every one of them in court," Jade said with a shrug.
"Including Jackson?" Harry asked, and she nodded.
"He isn't exactly innocent now, is he? Adam's family helped him and his father cover up their corruption and other crimes. They should all go down once and for all," Jade said, and Harry smiled.
"How do you intend to do that when you're defending him?" Harry asked, and Jade shrugged.
"When there is a will, there is always a way," Jade said, and Harry nodded.
"What about the sisters?" he asked, and she paused her lips for a moment.
"I honestly don't think they're that bad. They are conceited, yes. But they are redeemable. At least that's what I got from attempted suicide," Jade said, and Harry raised a brow.
"You believe they are redeemable, but you don't think Jackson is redeemable?"
"We have no record of any of the sisters hurting anyone before now. Anita showed she is redeemable by releasing that video. Bernice showed the same in her attempted suicide. Tiffany showed the same by trying to expose her mother, even if she is a lesbian who might benefit more from divorcing her husband and letting him take the fall for the crime. I think without their mother in the picture, they will all turn out alright. Jackson, on the other hand, hasn't done anything to show he is redeemable. Being in love with his sister-in-law and trying to protect her might be cute, but he has committed other sexual crimes against other women in the past (chapter 307), and he walked away without a scratch. As far as I'm concerned, he is just a jerk who has been caught up in a mess he didn't create. I like to believe this is Karma coming for them all," Jade said, and Harry chuckled.
"You are merciless. I like that."
"We show mercy to people that deserve it. He doesn't deserve it. I'm clearing him for murder as I told them I would, but that is as far as I will go," Jade said, and Harry nodded.
"As soon as you're done with this case, let's go for a vacation then," Harry said casually, and Jade's eyes lit up as she turned to him.
"Really?"
"Yeah!"
"Then I'm just going to have to hurry it up...."
"You can't make any mistakes, esquire. Take your time and do a thorough job," Harry cut in, and she rolled her eyes as he drove into Tom's premises.
"Sure, I will."
Once Harry parked the car, he turned in his seat to look at Jade, "I had a wonderful time, as always, with you."
"No. I disagree," Jade said, and Harry raised a brow.
"I always have a wonderful time with you. But there was nothing as always as tonight. It was entirely different," Jade explained, and Harry chuckled.
"Is that so?" he asked as he reached out to touch her face.
"Yeah. Thanks, Jonas. If I weren't already crazily in love with you, I definitely would have fallen head over heels for you tonight," Jade said as she gazed into his eyes.
"Why do you love me, esquire?" he asked curiously.
"I don't think there is a particular reason. I feel safe and happy when I'm with you. I feel like I can be myself around you even though I know you will scold me when I do something I shouldn't. I think you're my soulmate," Jade said, and Harry took her hand and lifted it to his lips.
"I think you're mine too. So you should know that I'm going to ask you to marry me exactly six months from now. Take your time to think about it," Harry said, making Jade's heart skip several beats.
"Harry!" she exclaimed.
"I know what I want with you, esquire..."
"What do you want?" Jade asked softly.
"I want a home with you. I want a family with you. I'm not going to spend so much time dating you. I know the basic things I need to know about you, the rest I will slowly unravel in marriage. I'm going to spend the next six months courting you. Don't worry; this isn't the proposal. I'm just making my intentions known so I don't take you by surprise. I will do my best to make it as dramatic as I know you will want it to be," Harry promised, while Jade just stared at him speechlessly.
"Why wait for six months if you're so sure then?" she asked, and Harry smiled.
"We have so much to do in six months," he said, and she cocked her head to the side.
"Like?"
"Like get your ex out of your system for good...."
"He is already out of my system," Jade protested.
"I want you to be able to hear or call his name without flinching or freezing. I don't want the thought of him to have any effect on you other than indifference. The only name I want to affect you in any way is mine," Harry said, and Jade grinned.
"Well, your name affects me a lot already. What else?" she asked curiously.
"Last time, you said you needed time to work on the effects your last relationship had on your personality. We will work on making you the best version of yourself," Harry said, and Jade giggled softly.
"Really? How do you intend to do that?" she asked, and Harry shrugged.
"By giving you back everything he stole from you and making you see yourself as the priceless treasure you are," Harry said, and Jade took a deep breath, but before she could speak, she noticed a naughty glint in Harry's gaze and narrowed her eyes to hear what he had to say next.
Harry gave her a naughty smile, "And we also need to test our sexual compatibility and the likes in six months," he added, making Jade's jaw drop.
"Sexual compatibility? You've never even done...."
"Doesn't mean I don't know what I want or how I want it," Harry stated.
"You might be too much for me to handle, Jonas," she said softly as she placed a hand on her chest where her heart had started to race.
Harry chuckled, "I actually think I might be. We will have to find out," Harry said, and Jade blushed.
"I didn't mean sexually," Jade said, looking away, and Harry laughed.
"I know what you meant. I was just teasing," he said as he brushed his thumb over her wrist, making her pulse race.
"You should go in now, esquire," Harry said as he opened his door and stepped out of the car without waiting for her to protest.
As he went around the car, he discreetly checked out the windows to be sure no one was watching as he went to open her door.
As soon as Jade stepped out of the car, he pulled her to himself, shut the door, and gently pushed her against it, surprising her.
"Harry!" she gasped softly.
Harry smiled, "I noticed you tend to call my name whenever I take you by surprise," Harry observed as he claimed her lips in a kiss.
Although Harry had kissed her several times, and each time he did, it had a great effect on her, but there was something different about this kiss.
It was hungry and possessive. She could sense he wasn't holding back as he usually did in the past. It was almost as though he was claiming her lips as his and wanted her to know it.
He wasn't even giving her any room to return the kiss. He was devouring her lips, and Jade's knees tingled and grew increasingly weak as Harry kissed her.
She gripped his jacket for support, giving a little sigh as she submitted her lips to him. She had never been this aroused by just a kiss, and she couldn't believe the wetness she could feel in her undies.
Harry pulled back and then just gazed at her swollen red lips, his brown eyes looking dark as he smoothed his thumb across her lips.
His lips curved in a smirk as he returned his gaze to her face and met her brilliant blue eyes which were wide with surprise but the lust in them was unmistakeable, "Does my desire scare you yet?" he asked, and even though her mind was reeling, Jade raised a brow.
"Was that supposed to be scary?" she asked in a challenging tone, and Harry threw back his head and laughed.
"I love you, esquire. I will escort you to the door now," Harry said, but before he could step away, Jade shook her head.
"I still need a moment," she said since her knees were still weak and her body was yet to recover from the assault his kiss rendered her senses.
Harry smiled as he watched her, "What are your sexual fantasies, esquire?" he asked, and Jade looked at him in disbelief even as she felt the hot fingers of lust clench her lower abdomen as her clit twitched.
"For Christ's sake, Harry!" she snapped in frustration.
Harry grinned, "You don't have to give me a response right now if you're too shy. You can do so later. Perhaps send a text," Harry suggested while Jade watched him in disbelief.
"Why did I ever think you were innocent?" she muttered.
"What am I guilty of, esquire? Getting you hot and bothered?" Harry asked as he leaned closer to her as though he wanted to whisper something, but instead, he licked her ear, making her gasp.
"Harry!" she exclaimed, and he chuckled.
"Do you realize you've called my name more times today than you have in all the time since I've known you?" he asked as he moved away and straightened his jacket like a gentleman.
"I believe you've gotten enough time to pull yourself together?" he asked, and Jade sighed inwardly.
"Are you trying to get back at me for something?" she asked weakly, and Harry grinned.
be meaningless," Harry said, and Jade sighed.
09:19
"What did I get myself into?" she asked no one in particular.
"Ah! I always knew you were smart! Finally, you get it. Consider it a partial payback for all the time you played those silly games with me over the phone, kissing me while pretending to be drunk and making me worry unnecessarily, and for wearing those damn sexy clothes around me to make me uncomfortable."
"Partial?" Jade asked, and Harry grinned.
"This is just the beginning, esquire. Now that you're my girlfriend, I intend to keep this up with you. I only did my best to hold back because we were not official, and I didn't want anything between us to be meaningless," Harry said, and Jade sighed.
"What did I get myself into?" she asked no one in particular.
"You have no idea," Harry responded as he took her hand and led her to the door.
"You are going to dream of me tonight, esquire. You're going to dream about everything I can and will do to you when the time is right," Harry promised as he gave her a light kiss on her lips and stepped back, once again the gentleman.
"Go in," he urged her.
"Good night, Jonas," Jade whispered without bothering to argue with him.
"Good night, esquire," Harry called back as she went into the house without looking back at him.
As he turned to leave, he knew for a fact that she would be standing by the window to watch him, so after walking some steps to the car, he turned to look at her and chuckled when she quickly stepped away to hide.
Jade stood there and spied from the side until he had driven off.
"Why are you spying on your boyfriend?" Sonia asked from behind Jade, making her jump back in surprise.
"What do you mean spying? I wasn't spying," Jade said defensively, but the glow in her eyes and the blush on her face made Sonia curious.
"You look like you just fell in love afresh," Sonia teased.
"Oh, Sonia! Harry is everything and more!" Jade exclaimed softly.
"Now I'm curious to know all about your date," Sonia said with a grin.
"Why are you still awake? It's almost midnight?" Jade asked when it suddenly occurred to her that everywhere was silent and Sonia seemed to be the only one awake.
"I'm waiting up for Bryan. He had to go out for a meeting with a producer," Sonia explained.
"At this hour?" Jade asked, and Sonia shrugged.
"Let's go upstairs. I can't wait to hear all about your date," Sonia reminded her once again as she linked their arms together and pulled her towards the stairs.