Miss Parker's cheeks were warm from her tears. Her head pounded from an excruciating pain. She ran to the bathroom and stuck her head into the toilet bowl.

"See what happens when you drink on an empty stomach." Jarod wiped her face with a cold wash cloth.

"I don't need a nursemaid. Why are you still here? So, what number is she on the notch on your belt?" She sat on the cold cement floor and heaved into the bowl again. He held her hair and rubbed her back gently.

"Always a gentleman, huh, Jarod? I'll bet you weren't a gentleman when you were doing it to her all night." She heaved again, then, leaned her forehead on the rim of the bowl.

Jarod helped her up. His eyes were cold and distant. "Yes, we did it again and again and again, that we finally collapsed into each other's arms totally exhausted, from banging her brains out for three straight nights in a row."

Miss Parker lunged at him, but, quickly he ducked. "Take a shower, Parker. You'll feel a lot better."

After twenty minutes, she entered the living room and saw he had put away her blanket and pillow.

"I made coffee. I'll get you a cup if you want."

"Stop it! Stop it! Just stop it! Alright? I don't want you in my life, get out! Why didn't you just go home last night? I don't need a babysitter! I just want to forget everything I saw!"

"What were you doing at my place, anyway?"

"Would you believe me if I told you I was just in the neighborhood?" She answered sarcastically.

"I don't owe you an explanation, we're not in a relationship where I have to tell you about my personal life."

"You mean, your love life." Inside, she felt sick again, ready to explode. Parker stared into his eyes, her tears slipped down her face.

He sat down and pulled her onto his lap. She was comforted like a baby.

Miss Parker felt jealousy, pain and regret. Beneath them, their silent love for each other seemed to have shattered. She hid the real person in her. To the world, she was cold-hearted. She never bared her soul to anyone. And she wasn't about to. It was so difficult for her heart to have clung on to the love she felt for him. He had never once saw the love. The love she had hoped they'd share one day, had been destroyed.

He wished he'd never met her. His heart broke in half as if it had been his fault for their misery. She wasn't for one to have begged for attention from him. He occupied her every thought which drove herself mad. Forgetting him, she never could accomplish. He constantly appeared in her mind, an image of him and her love for him played continuously in her head.

"Do you love her?" She asked, almost hoarse.

"No," he answered without hesitation. "I do care about her. But, I don't love her. I could never love two people at the same time. I love you, Parker. But, you never gave me the slightest idea how you felt about me."

He wiped the moisture away from her face. "Where were you all these years of our running games? I would have stopped for you. I wouldn't have kept on running."

She stroked his face. He leaned his forehead on hers. Their lips touched. It was warm and sensual. Parker let out a soft moan as she snaked her arms around his back.

When they pulled apart for air, she whispered. "I've always loved you, Jarod."

She felt his lips on her neck. He slipped into the opening of her robe and she felt the warmth of his hand as he cupped her breast. Repeatedly, they kissed.

"No," she whispered. "Mustn't do this."

"Why?" He kissed her forehead, eyes, then her lips again. She melted in his arms. "Stop." Yet, she kissed him hungrily.

"I've waited so long to make love to you, Parker." He untied the knot on her sash when she suddenly pushed him away and jump off of his lap.

She fluffed her hair and screamed. "And who were you thinking of when you two were sexing up?"

"Just stop it, Parker! Stop it, already!" He hollered.

"You think I'd let you in me after I saw you two in bed together? I can't get that image out of my mind!" She threw her hands up into the air. "I can just see your hands trailing all over her! I imagine you making love to her from the very beginning of your touches to the end of your combined explosions! I can see all of that!"

"Honey, calm down."

"And just because I let you kiss me a few times, you have the right to call me honey? And what terms of endearment did you call her? Baby? Sweetness? Or better yet, Sexy Lady?" She spoke in her throaty voice.

"What do you want me to say, huh? Listen to us! Just listen to us! We're fighting like a husband and wife expecting me to apologize for being in bed with someone else instead of you! I'll do as I please and I sure as hell won't be doing it with you!"

"I wouldn't have you touch me with a ten-foot pole! I don't ever want you in me after you've been with her!" Miss Parker screamed at the top of her lungs.

"You've got that right! Finally, something we both can agree upon! Don't you think I have needs? Like you? Heaven only knows how many men you've slept with! Picked up at bars! Not knowing who the hell they are! At least I know the name of the lady I've been sleeping with. And she is a lady. And Parker? Unlike your partners, Rachel was not a one night stand! We've been seeing each other for two months now. I've known her for over a year. She's beautiful, smart and talented, in more ways than you can imagine. Is there anything else you'd like to know about her?"

Jarod knew he had said a little too much and regretted every thing he had just blurted out and wished somehow he could have taken back every bit of those hurtful words he attacked her with.

Miss Parker no longer yelled, instead she sat down by the window and stared out into nothing in particular.. She took a deep breath before she spoke. "I never wanted to want you, Jarod. I never wanted to feel anything for you. You ruined my life the day you came into the picture."

As angry as he was, he still wanted to have comforted her, and held her, but, he knew she wouldn't have allowed it. He wondered what would Sydney have done if he had walked into the room and saw two grown people crying.

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Miss Parker felt the rapid pulse of her heart as she saw him. After what had occurred between them several weeks ago, images of their past confrontation flashed in her head. He approached her with caution as he stood in her doorway expecting to be invited in.

"Jarod, what are you doing here?" She hissed. The glow of the full moonlight illuminated her eyes.

"How have you been, Parker?" Tenderly he stroked her face.

"Don't touch me," she whispered.

"Okay. Sorry. You're still angry at me."

She could see the sadness in his puppy-dog eyes. "I'm still hurt, angry and confused. Day and night, you've tormented me. These weeks have been unbearable. I hate to get up each morning and face this cruel world."

At least she's not yelling. He tucked strands of her hair behind her ear and smiled at her. She stood still and waited for his next move. Jarod entered her home without being invited in. He closed in the distance between them and intended to do more than just talk. But, Parker moved away from him.

"Parker, I'm sorry for everything. Could we just take it slowly? One day at a time? Even though you can't say it right now, I know you love me."

Her gaze shifted to the floor. "Parker?"

"I can't, Jarod. I'm not a forgiving person." Loving you hurts me, don't you now that?

"Tell me you don't love me, then, I won't bother you anymore." He reached out and held her hand.

"Don't do this to me." She squeezed his hand tightly, but released her hold. "Let go, please."

Jarod held up his hands in front of her. "Okay. I won't touch you. Parker, I'm not perfect."

"Neither am I, Jarod."

"You're my life, Parker. If you give me a chance, I will take care of you in every way possible."

"I can be cold-hearted. My temper changes like the unpredictable weather."

"I know. But, life is short. I would never hurt you intentionally. There are so many things I'd love to do. Like dancing in the rain with you." He hesitated, then laid his hands on her shoulders.

She caught herself smiling. "Dancing in the rain?"

He nodded. "And whatever your heart desires."

I"d like to make love outside under a full moon. I'd like to sit quietly and stare at the stars." Parker lightly tugged at his shirt. "I want us to make a wish on a falling star. And count how many constellations we can name. Jarod?"

"Yes?"

Parker turned him towards the door and opened it. "It's raining, " she whispered. "Shall we dance?"

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Bailey Malone, head of the VCTF (Violent Criminal Task Force) and Rachel's boss walked into her office as she sat behind her desk with several file folders opened in front of her.

"I thought I told you to ease up on the cases. You're in no condition to work these long hours anymore."

"I'm fine. I just need to keep busy," she answered, never looking up at him.

"Have you contacted him yet, Dr. Burke?" He emphasized her name.

"Who?" She buried her face in the stacked of papers and never looked up.

"Don't play coy with me. That FBI agent of yours."

"He was never mine. And it's been six months since I've seen him. It was never meant to be."

"You have one more month before you..."

Rachel rudely interrupted him. "I can count. I know it's one more month. I've planned out everything."

"Had it ever occurred to you that you might not...why did you refuse treatment? Why? You didn't have to go through with this." He raised his voice.

"It's my body. And I know it would have been the first and last time I'd be..."

Bailey finished her sentence. "First and last time you'd ever be pregnant. Was it so important for you to have a child instead of going through treatments which could save your life. What use is the baby without its mother? And even if you survive this, you think he'll be around to help you? Why did you even think of having this baby?"

"Because it's his. He had a lonely life growing up. I-I wanted him to have a family." My god, I won't be around for my baby. Just hope I'll live long enough to hold him.

Bailey shook his head. "You'll be giving birth soon. If you didn't go through with this pregnancy, you'd probably be in remission by now. What were you thinking?"

"It wasn't guaranteed." She drummed her fingers on her desk. "Hey, I need to make a phone call. I'll talk to you later, Bailey. Alright? Please?"

"I'll just be right out there if you need anything."

Rachel wrapped her finger with the wire of the telephone. "Yes, operator. I'd like the number to "The Centre", Blue Cove, Delaware. I see. Okay, then, how about a listing for a Dr. Sydney Green?"

TBC - Chapter 3