The Unexpected Guest

Chapter 7

Rated: PG

Spoilers: Season 4

Disclaimer: These characters aren't mine. You know the drill.

 

 

The Unexpected Guest

By Nicky

 

Chapter 7

 

 

 

"Wake up, Jarod," Miss Parker whispers in his ear.  "You've got to see this."  She continues to shake him gently until he opens his eyes.

 

Miss Parker runs down the hall to the baby's room while Jarod stumbles behind her, still half asleep.  He grunts aloud when he stubs his toe on something that gets in his way.  Although he's been living there for a few months, he still wasn't able to avoid certain obstacles hidden by the darkness.

 

Their arrangement was unusual, but it worked for them.  They spent most of the time at Miss Parker's house, moving to the safe house only when they deemed it necessary.  Jarod stayed home with the baby during the day while Miss Parker went to work and pretended to try to find him.  Every so often, Jarod would have to spend a few days away on a pretend or planting false leads for Lyle and the sweepers. But for the most part, he was a stay home dad.

 

Since they were still technically 'just friends', they had separate bedrooms.  They both tried to deny the feelings that grew exponentially with each passing day, but there were times when they'd be caught off guard.  Like the times when they'd be walking the baby around the neighborhood and end up holding hands without realizing it was happening.  Or how it's become a daily ritual for Miss Parker to not only give the baby a kiss goodbye before hurrying off to work, but also Jarod as well. 

 

"What am I looking at?" Jarod yawns when they finally reach the baby's room.  "She's asleep now.  Kind of like I was doing a few minutes ago."

 

"I'm sorry I woke you," she pouts.  "I guess I'm not used to all the cute things she does.  I'm gone all day and you get to spend so much time with her.  I like to come in here sometimes during the night and just watch her sleep. It feels like I'm missing her grow up."

 

"Actually, you're not missing her grow up.  Children have to sleep so much because that's when they do their growing.  So, technically, you're the one who's getting to see her grow . . ." Jarod abruptly ends his sentence when he gets that icy glare from Miss Parker.

 

"You know what I mean, Mr. Smarty Pants," she says, picking up a teddy bear from out of the crib.  She tosses at Jarod's head and is amused to see it hit him square between the eyes.

 

"Oh, you're going to pay for that," he says with a mischievous grin.  He runs out the room after her when she flees in a fit of giggles.

 

She runs all around the house in the dark, just barely avoiding his grasp at every turn.  She finally runs into her bedroom and tries to shut the door before he can get in.  But he wedges in his foot before she can close it.  She backs away, slowly with no place else to go.  He slowly follows her across the room until he standing just in front of her.

 

"Okay, so you caught me.  How are you going to get your revenge?" she asks coyly.  She continues to back up until the backs of her knees touch the edge of her bed.

 

"Looks like you're trapped, Parker," he whispers hoarsely.

 

She closes her eyes and starts to tremble slightly at the feeling of his warm breath dancing across his face with each word he whispered.  She could tell that suddenly, this wasn't a game to him anymore.  There was so much passion and desire burning in his eyes, she thought they both were about to catch fire.

 

And then, he touched her.  Just on the shoulder, but his fingers felt like flames across her skin.  He gently pushed her down on the bed behind her and then sat down next to her.  His fingers slid from her shoulders and up to her face.  He grabs her face with both his hands before leaning over to lightly brush his lips over her mouth, teasing her repeatedly with a series of 'not quite' kisses.  Finally, he captures her lips fully and sinks into a deep kiss.  Nothing like they kiss they shared as children.  Nothing like the peck she gives him every morning on the way out the door.  This was a kiss full of passion that let her know in no uncertain terms that he wanted her.

 

He pulls away for a moment, examining her eyes.  Searching for a sign that she was feeling the same way.  A smile spread across his lips when he found the answer he was looking for.  He saw the same passion and desire burning in her eyes.  She smiles at him and leans in to kiss him before they're interrupted.

 

"Please tell me that's not what I think it is," Jarod says, cringing at the shrill cry Kara gives from her room.

 

"I'm afraid so," Miss Parker replies still trying to catch her breath from Jarod's kiss.  "I'll go get her.  You get some rest."  She steals a quick kiss before getting up to check on the baby.

 

By the time she gets the baby back to sleep, it's just about time for her to be getting ready for work. She tip toes back into her bedroom and see Jarod still laying across her bed, sleeping soundly.  She smiles and tucks the covers around him before going to take a shower.

 

The shower wakes Jarod a few minutes later and he sees that he's still in Miss Parker's room.  Memories from what almost happened the night before flood his mind and brings a smile to his face.  They were so close last night.  But to what?  Where would that have left them?  He gets up and goes downstairs to make coffee.  It's evident to him now that they need to talk about last night.  And they were going to need clear heads for the conversation.

 

Miss Parker gets out of the shower and dresses quickly.  She smells the coffee realizes that Jarod's up.  She goes to the kitchen for her morning cup of brew.

 

"Good morning," she says cheerfully, wrapping her arms around him from behind.

 

"Good morning to you too," he says, returning her hug with a quick kiss.  "Why don't you sit down.  I made you some breakfast."  He pulls out a chair for her and guides her to the seat.  "We need to talk about what almost happened last night," he says out of the blue, catching her off guard somewhat.

 

"You think it was a mistake?" she whispers, not sure what he was thinking.  Starting to doubt his feelings.  Starting to fear his answer.

 

"It was a mistake," he calmly replies.  "But not in the way you think," he adds quickly when he sees the hurt in her eyes.  He slides his chair closer to hers and takes her hand.

 

"You don't want me," she says looking away and trying to take her hand out of his grasp.

 

"No, it's not that.  Allie, look at me." He reaches his other hand up and gently turns her face until she's looking at him.  "I do want you.  With all my heart and all my soul.  And that's the problem.  I can so easily get consumed by you.  I could eat, drink, and breath you all day and all night.  But, I think that would confuse us.  We need to figure out what's going on with us first.  And then we need to figure out how that's going to affect Kara."

 

"You're right," she admits after a few moments.  "And what you're saying makes sense.  We shouldn't rush into anything."  She gets up and walks towards the door, grabbing her stuff along the way. 

 

He follows her and opens the door for her, holding it open and waiting for the daily good bye kiss.  It took him a couple of seconds to realize that one wasn't coming.

 

"Good-bye, Jarod," she says coldly instead as she walks past him.  "Oh, and Jarod,"  she pauses briefly and turns back to face him.  "Why don't you call Mrs. Murphy to watch Kara today.  I think you should be gone when I get home this evening.  You know, so you can have your space and figure things out."  She cuts her eyes at him and continues on to her car, not even turning back when he called out for her.

 

 

Previous Chapter           HOME               Next Chapter