Jarod sat on the bed, aimlessly flipping through TV channels. He hadto admit, he was a bit distracted by the knowledge that Parker was in thebathroom showering, but he eventually settled on a station. They were showingsome cartoon called "The Simpsons."

He was thoroughly enjoying the show, especially the overweight baldman they called Homer. Jarod was laughing at something Homer had said,when Parker walked out of the bathroom. As he caught of glimpse of her,he stopped mid-laugh. All she was wearing was a rather suggestive terrycloth robe. At first, she wasn't even aware of him watching her, but asshe stood brushing out her damp hair, Parker got a sense of someone watchingher, and turned to find Jarod's gaze on her.

"What?" Jarod snapped out of his stare.

"You know, I don't think anyone would mind if you didn't bother changingbefore we went down to eat," he teased.

"Dream on, Wonderboy," she laughed, but when she was finished sortingthrough her clothes, Jarod couldn't help noticing the outfit she had chosen.Sure enough, when she walked out, he had to admit that the slim black dressshe'd chosen was rather impressive.

"Well?" Parker asked, turning in a circle to show off the long dress'shigh slits and scooping back. "What do you think?"

"Very...nice," Jarod managed. It was taking way too much willpower tokeep his tongue from dangling.

~~~~~~~~~

As the Jarod and Parker walked, arm in arm, into the hotel's restaurant,a few people actually stopped talking to look at them. A couple of guyssitting at the bar observed Parker appreciatively, and gave Jarod a lookof congratulations and respect. One woman, on a date with a very dull man,let her eyes wander to the man with the dark eyes, and as he turned tosmile at his date, the woman nearly fainted at his gorgeous grin.

Parker and Jarod weren't oblivious to the reactions each other werecausing, and both unconsciously tightened their hold on the other. Oncethey reached their table, Jarod pulled Parker's chair out for her, andshe smiled in return. Once they had ordered and the waiter had left themwith red wine, the two relaxed and began to talk.

"This is great," Parker sighed as she sipped her wine. "No work, nohassles, just you and me."

"I know," Jarod agreed. "I can't think of a better place to be rightnow, than here with you." Parker smiled.

Across the room, in a darkened corner of the room, sat a man by himself.He glared at the happy couple, and quickly made his way through his secondglass of wine. He reached over for the bottle set on the table, and pouredhimself another glass

Next to the dancefloor, a small band began to play as a young lady walkedup to the microphone and sang softly. A few men and women got up and beganto dance. Over at their table, Jarod stood and walked around the tableto Parker's seat.

"May I have this dance?" Smiling, Parker gave him her hand, and he ledher onto the dancefloor. Without any hesitation, they put their arms aroundeach other and slowly danced. Jarod found himself completely enthralledby the woman he held, her soft hands wrapped around his neck. Parker feltherself melting into his arms; she closed her eyes and concentrated onthe sensation of his breath on her neck.

"Hard to believe this is real. It almost seems too perfect," Parkermurmured.

"Want me to step on your toes?"

"You already did," she laughed.

In his corner, the man looked at the two in disgust. He saw how Jarodwas holding Parker. It was sickening. Who did he think he was? She belongedto him. Then Parker's face came into view, and he was shocked to see hersmiling contently. His grip on the wine glass tightened, and he distantlyheard the sound of breaking glass. He looked down at the broken wine glassin his hands, calmly pulling a large, sharp piece out of his palm. Bloodwas slowly oozing from his hand. Without another thought, he wrapped anapkin around his wounded hand, tossed a few bills on the table, and walkedout of the restaurant.

He stood in the elevator, staring at his reflection in the metal doors.The cut didn't bother him, but Parker's ridiculous behavior had left himsteaming. He tried to calm down, reminding himself that this was all Jarod'sdoing. After all, it was he that was trying to pull the lovely Parker awayfrom him.

This attraction to Jarod was puzzling, but he had taken advantage ofit. He had to admit, the guy knew a few things about winning a girl over.So he'd copied him, outdid him, in his own creative way. He'd left giftsfor Parker to find, a few notes to reassure her. Hell, he'd even adoptedwhat he had to admit was Jarod's rather handsome style.

Using the metal doors as a mirror, he straightened his dark blue jacket.His outfit was the same as Jarods: navy blue pants and jacket over a deepblue shirt. He'd used the same gel in his hair.

He smiled, and his reflection smiled right back. No question, he lookedbetter than the genuine article.

~~~~~~~~~

As he slowly awakened, an instinct in Jarod told him to remain absolutelystill. He became aware of a warmth on his chest. A hand, he realized. Heopened his eyes, and found himself face to face with Parker.

They had turned the lights off and crawled into bed, hesitantly biddingeach other goodnight before falling asleep, both with their backs to theother and as near to the edge of the bed as possible. Jarod had even offeredto sleep above the covers, but Parker had pointed out how odd that wouldseem to her stalker. Besides, she had added, why should he have to freezeall night? After all, they were two adults, perfectly capable of handlingthe situation, right?

Now, while they had been asleep, it seems their bodies had betrayedthem. Both had moved to the center of the bed, and Parker had curled upbeside him, with one hand resting on his chest. She had a gentle smileon her face. He liked being this close to her, Jarod decided. It was nice,safe. It felt like it was just natural for them to be like this. Jarodnearly laughed as he thought of Parker's reaction in the morning, whenshe found herself cuddled up next to him like this.

Jarod felt his eyes growing heavy. He was enjoying this, but was justtoo tired to do anything now but sleep. Soon, he was drifting off. He wasbarely conscious of moving into a more comfortable position.

>From his post, a man growled as he saw Jarod turn onto his side andwrap one arm around Parker's waist. This guy was really starting to geton his nerves. He got up from his chair and kicked it aside. He went tothe bed and sat, not taking his eyes off of the small black and white screenin front of him. He had gone into their room, while they had been downin the restaurant, and hidden a small camera in the painting hanging onthe wall opposite the bed. It blended in perfectly with the picture's blackbackground.

He sat for many hours, watching what belonged to him sleep in the armsof another man, feeling rage grow inside him.

~~~~~~~~~

Parker and Jarod woke up simultaneously, finding her wrapped in bothhis arms, and their faces only inches apart. There were blushes and apologieson both sides, as they squirmed over to opposite sides of the bed. Parkerquickly excused herself, and headed into the bathroom to shower. Jarodflopped back down onto the bed and smiled.

"Jarod," Parker called, "you'd better come take a look at this." Curious,he got up and went into the bathroom. There, on the mirror, was a message:

We'll be together again soon
Away from your too-eager Pretender

It was scrawled in the handwriting so familiar to them by now, and hadbeen written with Parker's deep red lipstick. Jarod felt anger and fearand guilt all at once.

"Pack your bags," he growled. "We're leaving." His behavior was concerningParker, since getting this guy's attention was the point, but she did ashe said, quickly throwing everything she had into her bags. Within 15 minutes,they were packed and checked out. Jarod's mouth was set in a straight,determined line, and he didn't say anything the entire time. They pulledout of the hotel parking lot and onto the freeway, only to be greeted bystand-still traffic.

"Great," he muttered. "This is just great."

"Jarod, what is the matter with you?"

"What's the matter with me?" Jarod looked at Parker in disbelief. "Areyou serious? That monster came into our room last night. I never even knew...Whatif something had happened to you?" Her face softened at his concern. "Ishould never have agreed to this. Pissing off a stalker is just stupid."

"Hey, this was my idea, remember?"

"Still, to think he was that close..." Parker sighed and reached over,taking hold of his chin with her hand, to guarantee that their eyes wouldmeet.

"Listen to me," she said softly. "I am going to be fine. I promise.You and I have been through worse than this. Hell, we've survived yearsof each other. This is nothing." They laughed, but as the laughter slowlydied away they found themselves staring at each other. Parker moved herhand, spreading it out across his cheek. He cupped her chin with one hand,and slowly moved forward. She tilted her head, and moved forward as well.Slowly, but without hesitation, their lips met in the perfect moment ofbliss.

A car horn sounded from behind them, breaking the moment. They reluctantlypulled away from each other, and Jarod shifted the car into drive, movingtheir car forward along with the now-moving traffic. There was no uncomfortablesilence between them, or hasty apologies. It never occured to either one.Instead, they began behaving like a normal couple, cheerfully banteringover which radio station to listen to, which exit was right for BluewaterBay -their next stop- and what to do once they reached their destination.

Once and awhile, when they thought the other wasn't looking, Parkeror Jarod would glance over and feel a silly grin spread across their face.

~~~~~~~~~

The community of Bluewater Bay was amazing. It was absolutely picturesque,with clear waters and long, warm beaches, and plenty of small specialtyshops along the beach. Best of all, there were just enough tourists forJarod and Parker to feel like they blended, just another couple out ona romantic getaway.

They had a great time. They took full advantage of the reward givento them, the reward of normalcy. For the entire day, they got to behavelike a regular couple, without any worries of sweepers or shooting sprees.They held hands nearly the entire time, and were constantly surprisingeach other with sudden kisses.

Jarod and Parker rented a beachfront condo for four nights. They wentthrough dinner, dancing and a moonlit walk on the beach with ease. Theytalked and held hands and kissed throughout the night, enjoying how naturalit felt to be together. Neither one ever mentioned what would happen inbed that night. It was some sort of unspoken understanding, that anythingbesides sleep was out of the question. On Jarod's part, he couldn't standthe thought of some madman watching something so intimate, something thatJarod himself had waited a long time for.

They arrived at the condo around midnight. Exhausted from the day'sevents, but completely satisfied with how the night had gone, they tossedtheir coats on the couch and dug through their bags for something to sleepin.

"I can't believe I only packed one nightgown," she sighed, shaking herhead at her own bad last-minute planning. Truth was, it was her favorite,the long navy blue one, and she had no problem with wearing it two nightsin a row, but she was hoping Jarod would get the hint. She was happy tofind that he did.

"Here, wear one of my shirts," he offered, tossing one to her. She smiledand unzipped her dress, letting it fall around her feet. Parker slippedJarod's shirt over her lace underwear and bra, and crawled into bed. Whileshe fluffed her pillow, Jarod finished undressing, leaving nothing on buta pair of black silk boxers. He got into bed, and switched off the light.Parker moved over next to him, wrapping an arm around his waist and relaxingher head to one side of his chest.

"Sweet dreams," Jarod whispered, kissing her gently on the forehead.

~~~~~~~~~

This day seemed to be going just as well as the last. They'd agreedto get an early start, and spend the day checking out the local shoppingarea and boardwalk, before hitting the beach in the afternoon.

>From his vigil, always just a few feet behind them, blended in withthe rest of the crowd, Parker's stalker watched the scenes with growingfury. They constantly kissed in public, they had a passerby take a photoof them in front of a fountain, Jarod surprised her with a bouquet of flowers,they rode the ferris wheel, he even convinced her to try fishing on thepier...he saw it all, how Jarod was using his Parker like some kind oftrophy, and each event pushed him a little further.

There was a line of small shops overlooking the ocean, and it was herethat a dress store caught Parker's eye. She told Jarod that she wanteda new dress for dinner that night. He offered to come along, but Parkerinsisted that she wanted to surprise him with what she bought. He agreed,and they parted, deciding to meet in an hour at a nearby outdoor cafe forlunch. Jarod hadn't really minded the separation, since he had some shoppingplans of his own. He continued on until he found a jewelry store, whichhe entered.

"Hi, I was wondering if you could help me," Jarod said to the clerk.

"Of course, sir," the man smiled.

"Well," Jarod began, unsure of how to explain exactly what he wanted,"I was looking for something, um, special. You see, I want something thatwould symbolize commitment, but I don't want an engagement ring. I mean,"he hurried on, not wanting the man to get the wrong impression, "I wouldlove to be married to her. But now's not the time to, you know, propose."

"I see. Actually, I believe I have just the thing for you." The clerkwalked over to a glass showroom case, unlocked it, and retrieved a trayof rings. "These are called promise rings. Rather popular lately. They'reused for the exact purpose you described--commitment without an immediatewedding."

"Wonderful." He looked at the rings with a careful eye, and smiled ashe noticed one in particular. "This one. It's perfect."

An hour later, Parker was sitting at a table outside, sipping iced teaand enjoying the view. She closed her eyes and gave a happy sigh, enjoyingthe feel of the warm smile on her skin. Jarod approached the cafe, andsmiled as he spotted Parker. She felt something block her sun, and openedher eyes to see Jarod in front of her, with one hand behind his back.

"What've you got there?" she asked, trying to peer around him.

"I bought you something," he said with a proud grin, revealing a smallwhite gift bag. She stood and took it from him, and pulled out a red squarejewelry box.

"What are you up to?" she asked suspiciously.

"Open it," Jarod said, his eyes twinkling. Parker undid the tiny metalclasp and lifted the lid. Inside, on a bed of dark blue silk, was a ring.She glanced at Jarod and smiled before picking up the ring. It was beautiful,a thin silver band decorated with a simple, round stone; sapphire, shewould guess, from the look of it. She was about to slip it on when Jarodstopped her.

"Look on the inside," he suggested. Curious, she tilted the ring andlooked. There, a single word had been engraved: refuge. She could feelher eyes tear up a little, but ignored them, looking at Jarod with a widesmile.

"It's a promise ring," he explained. "I wanted you to have something,as a reminder."

"A reminder?"

"No matter where we will go," he said, taking the ring from her, "nomatter what either of us may do or say, you'll know I'll be here to protectyou. You can look at this ring and remember that I'll always love you."Parker looked at him with surprise. It was the first time either of themhad said the words.

"I love you too," she whispered. Jarod leaned over and kissed her. Then,he took the ring and slipped it on her wedding finger. She laughed andthrew her arms around him, and they kissed, much longer and deeper thistime.

Their special moment wasn't very private. Sitting at the other end ofthe cafe was the stalker. Behind his sunglasses were glaring eyes, andhe was grinding his teeth. He couldn't hear them, with the waves crashingand all these people, but he could pretty much guess from that ring andher reaction. That damn bastard. He'd proposed to her. Jarod was tryingto steal what was his.

"Well," he murmured, his glaring eyes narrowing even more, "we'll justsee how far he gets."

~~~~~~~~~

Jarod and Parker entered the condo, laughing and holding hands. They'dbeen smiling the whole day, mostly because of all the compliments Parkerwas getting from her ring.

"I'm gonna go open the patio doors, let some of that ocean air in,"Jarod said, walking into the livingroom.

"Great," Parker said, heading for the kitchen. "I'll open the champagnewe bought, and get some glasses." She walked over to a cupboard, retrievingtwo champagne glasses and a corkscrew, then humming as she popped openthe bottle. She heard the floor squeak behind her.

"We should have let this chill," she said without turning around, "butI suppose we're both having too much fun to wait." No reply. "Jarod?" Sheturned around, and opened her mouth to scream, but a leather glove-coveredhand wrapped around her mouth. Before she could do anything, Parker felta needle breaking the skin on her arm. Almost immediately, everything fadedto black.

Jarod finally managed to get the doors open, after fiddling with thelock for a second. He took a deep breath of the salty scent before headingto the kitchen. She wasn't in there. Confused, he turned to go look inthe bedroom, when the butt of a gun came down hard and swift, immediatelyknocking him unconscious.

~~~~~~~~~

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Part 5