Summary and disclaimer in part 1.

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Ms. Parker felt infinitely better when she woke up from a much needed rest. The sun was already setting, giving everything around her a vibrant orange cast.

'How long did I sleep?' she thought as she stretched, her bones cracking from the hours of inactivity. She let out a soft, happy sigh as she noticed that the constant ache in her back born from too many nights sleeping in less than ideal accommodations had receded. 'Thank God for small miracles.'

Ms. Parker was about to slouch back down on the bed when she felt another presence in her room. Not for the first time, she wished she'd brought her gun as she rolled to the ground and crouched down.

Not hearing any movements, she peeked out from the side of the bed, her stance becoming less guarded as she recognized the person sitting on the white wicker chair across the room.

"Jarod, what are you doing here?" she demanded while she stood up and stalked towards him, her voice tinged with anger.

He looked up at her, his earlier desolate expression replaced by something she didn't recognize. Something she didn't *want* to recognize. Ms. Parker wished he'd stop looking at her like that. It made it too hard for her to stay mad.

"It wasn't really a mistake, was it?" Jarod asked in a husky voice.

Ms. Parker found her resolve weakening under his tone but insisted, "Yes, it was."

Jarod suddenly stood up, brushing an errant lock of hair behind her ear. She tilted her head up to look at him and found him staring at her lips.

Then slowly, as though he was waiting for her to protest, he lowered his mouth to hers. She responded to his kiss with a lifetime of pent-up longing, any protests she may have had having disappeared with the feel of her lips against his.

Too soon, Ms. Parker felt Jarod pulling away, his breath coming out in gasps while he held her at arm's length. "Then tell me you don't want this."

His voice was shaky, unsure. So different from his usual tone. She cupped her hand against his cheek and whispered, "I want this. I want you."

This time, it was she who initiated the contact. Ms. Parker grabbed the lapels of Jarod's polo shirt until they were eye to eye before brushing her lips against his.

She watched him close his eyes. Normally, she'd have done the same, but she wanted to remember all of this. Every single second of it.

She wasn't optimistic enough to believe that this encounter could be repeated. What happened to them this past week was special, a moment taken out of time.

Come Monday they'll be back to their roles of predator and prey, but in the meantime. . .

******

The shrill ringing of the bedside phone rudely brought Ms. Parker out of a pleasant dream, eliciting a curse from her as she tried to shut it up. She blindly moved her hand in the general direction of the sound and was heartily surprised when she instead encountered something soft and warm. Soft and warm and *breathing.*

She quickly pulled back her hand and turned on a nearby lamp, her pounding heartbeat slowing down some when she realized that the person on her bed was Jarod.

He was on his back, his hair tousled from sleep and their earlier activities. A cotton sheet was draped strategically over his hip, something she would have thought to be rather modest of him had she not gotten a front row view of what it covered only hours before.

Ms. Parker suddenly realized that the phone was still ringing. She picked it up, her voice softer than usual as she asked, "What?"

"This is the five o'clock wakeup call that you requested. . ."

"Thank you," she said and hung up the phone before the operator could finish.

Ms. Parker ignored the figure on the bed as she cleaned up and packed what little stuff she had laying around. She even kept her head down as she efficiently sorted her toiletries, refusing to look at Jarod's reflection on the vanity mirror.

It wasn't until she was standing by the door with her suitcase, hand poised over the knob, that she managed to work up the courage to turn around and look at him.

So this was it. Somehow, it didn't seem right to her for it all to end like this.

It wasn't like she was looking for a happy ending; she'd learned long ago that there was no such thing. All she wanted was some kind of. . . closure.

Ms. Parker sighed and shook her head for making such a silly wish. Hadn't her father taught her to make the best of what she'd got? She took one last look at Jarod before turning back around and opening the door.

"Parker," she heard him whisper, causing her to freeze in her tracks.

She bit her lip as she heard him move behind her and begin to tenderly nuzzle the back of her head. Damn it. He always had to make things so difficult.

Ms. Parker was about to push Jarod away when he murmured something that brought a smile to her face. "Wanna make another mistake next week?"

End Part!