The Morning After 4

Pairing: Jane Bingum/Jay Parker

Show: Drop Dead Diva

Author can be contact here: nirakia@gmial.com

Summary: Conclusion of The Morning After series.

(Just borrowing the characters for a little while)

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Teri waited until the bartender had served their drinks before turning to Jane. "Okay, start from the beginning. You and Parker. How? Why?"

Jane sighed, then stalled by taking a sip of her wine. 'Honestly, Teri, I don't know. The night of the party I had had way too much champagne and Parker was suddenly just there, being all attentive. Then when he kissed me I just stopped thinking all together. It had been a while since somebody had wanted me... that way"

"And then?" Teri prompted at the edge of her seat.

"I'll leave the rest to your imagination," Jane dryly replied.

The brunette lawyer was looking a little flushed as she stared into the distance, remembering.

"Okay, okay, so I take it it was good. What happened then?" Jane turned her gaze back on Teri. "Nothing. As far as I was concerned it was a one time thing. Also, sleeping with the boss is generally not a good idea so I tried my best to avoid Parker. He tried his best to get me alone again. Eventually Kim caught on to something and asked me to go out for drinks under the ruse of asking for my help. Somehow she put two and two together. Still not quite sure what tipped her off, but the icing on the cake at that meeting was when Parker showed up at the restaurant. Ugh. I can still see Kim laughing at my panicked attempts to avoid Mr Octopus arms as he dragged me to the dance floor."

"Wait. What. Kim knows?! She knew before I did?" Teri blanched. This was no good. Her reputation as the queen of gossip had just taken a serious nose dive.

Ignoring Teri's outburst, she continued. "My avoidance tactic was working quite well until Parker showed up at my house Friday night." She muttered darkly, "I come anywhere near the damn man when he turns on his charm and my hormones override my brain."

Jane's assistant smirked. "I'd say Parker has about zero resistance to you after what happened on that dance floor tonight. Lady, you must have some serious sexual mojo."

Teri burst out laughing as Jane's lip curled a little in digust. "I never thought I'd see Jay Parker lose his head like this."

"Yeah, well, Parker and I are going to have to have a serious talk." By the way Jane gripped her glass when she said the work serious, Teri almost felt sorry for the poor man. Almost. A riled up Jane was a force of nature.

Jane's cell started ringing in her purse. Teri grabbed for it first.

"It's Parker" she said, showing Jane the screen.

"Teri! Give me back my phone!"

Shaking her head at Jane, Teri answered, 'Hello?.... We're at the bar, sir.... Yeah, the one downstairs."

"Teri!" Jane hissed. "What are you doing?!" Snatching at her assistant's flying arm she finally grabbed her phone back. Parker had already hung up.

Getting up carefully from the bar stool, Teri backed away a little before she spoke again. "You said you two needed to have a serious talk. Well, no time like the present. Plus it's on neutral ground."

Pointing a manicured finger at Teri, her boss shot back, "I'm not ready! I need to figure out what I want to say and .." her voice trailed off when she spotted Parker making a beeline for the two of them. "How the hell did he get down here so fast?"

"Jane! Stay. Please." At the murderous look in her hazel eyes, he gulped and put his hands up. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He dragged one of his hands through his hair. "Can we talk?"

Teri thought it would be a good idea to leave them to it and quietly slipped away.

Allowing her to lead, Parker followed Jane to a quiet corner table.

"Jane..."

"Parker..."

They both started at the same time.

"No, please I need to go first," Jay pleaded. At her slight nod he continued, "I don't know what came over me on that dance floor. I've never displayed such a lack of self-control before. Honestly, it's like you're a drug and after that first taste I'm addicted." A surprised blush crept over her face. "I can't seem to stay away from you or keep my hands off of you." Jay reached for Jane's hand. "I never wanted to embarrass you though. Or place you in a compromising position." He paused, sincerity shining in his eyes. "Can you forgive me?"

Pulling her hand away she replied. "Yes, I can forgive you, Parker, but that room was filled with our colleagues, with lawyers and judges I work with. They are not going to just forget what they saw. Something like this cannot happen again. And we need to figure out how to handle this to minimise the damage."

Parker was listening, he even agreed, but he also knew that when he came anywhere near this woman his self-control all but disappeared. He took a good look at her, trying to figure out what it was that had hooked him. Jane had changed after the shooting. Before, he had never given her another thought besides admiring her as a brilliant laywer, but dull woman. Now she was self-confident, emotional, sexy. It was like her body was inhabited by a whole different person. One that fascinated him, charmed him, infuriated him and turned him on like nobody else had before.

His mellow voice finally broke the silence. "The thing is, Jane, the only way I can see myself developing more self-control is if we actually dated. The way you were avoiding me fueled an already flaming inferno."

Dated? Her mouth went dry at the desire blazing in his eyes and she unconsciously moistened her lips. His eyes zeroed in on the tip of her tongue and she swallowed nervously. She was not immune to him at all. Shaking her head to clear the fog a little, she took a deep breath.

"Dated? Parker, all we seem to do is have sex!" She watched him wince a little. "Look, I won't deny there's some strong... sexual chemistry going on between us. When the initial attraction fades though, what's left?"

"At least give us chance to find out? It may have started out as a one night stand, but Jane, you know it's more than that."

A few deep breaths later, she finally nodded. A relieved smile flashed across his face. "Wait! There are conditions. The dating stays outside of work hours, and work functions. At least until we figure out what this is turning into."

"Anything you say.. boss." She swatted him on the arm for his impudence. "Now, lets get out of here, hmm? I have some plans for you, gorgeous woman." "You do," she said, eyebrow raised. "What kind of plans?"

He gave her a saucy once over. "They involve removing that dress" Jane's stomach lurched pleasantly. "I'll agree only if they also include losing that suit."

"Deal."

Teri was waiting at the lift when Jane got to work Monday, the usual coffee in hand.

"Morning, boss. Good night? You seem to be glowing."

Jane shot a warning look at her assistant. "Thank you, Teri. Any urgent matters this morning?"

"No, your first appointment is only at eleven. Grayson's waiting in your office though."

The brunette lawyer came to a screeching halt. "What is he doing in my office?"

"My guess is it's about the dance floor smooching."

Jane resumed walking to her office again. "Great. Just great."

"Grayson. Good morning." Jane smiled sweetly. "Did we have a meeting?"

His curious blue eyes met hers. "No, no meeting. Can't a friend just hang out in a friend's office?"

"Okay," she played along, setting down her bags and wondering how he was going to work Parker into the conversation.

She felt his eyes giving her a once over. "You look great today, Jane, almost... glowing."

"Ha!" she scoffed. "What's with you and Teri and the glowing remarks today?"

"Well we're just calling it like we see it. You are glowing. Does it have anything to do with Parker perhaps?"

Jane sat down in her chair, amused. "You mean, does it have anything to do with Parker and the kiss you saw last night?"

"Well, you can't blame me for asking. It was kind of hard to miss," he said, then started chuckling. "Especially when you flipped your lid at him and marched off. I've never seen Parker run after any woman before."

She made a face at Grayson. "At the time I was too mad to notice."

"So you and Parker are ... ?" he prodded.

Grayson watched her sigh.

"It's complicated. It started out as one time thing, but now it's... well, not that but it's not a relationship either. I guess we're dating?" The little voice in her head added, and having lots of fabulous sex.

The dark haired lawyer squelched a sudden pang of jealousy. Whoa, where had that come from? Jane was his friend, nothing more. However seeing Parker smitten with Jane had finally forced him to admit to himself just how attractive Jane really was.

"Sorry, Grayson, I have to start prepping for my eleven o'clock meeting," she said with an apologetic smile.

Coming out of his reverie, he smiled and wished her a good day. Then headed to his office to further ponder his growing attraction to one Jane Bingum.

The microwave pinged and Parker removed his pasta lunch. Spearing a bite, he gingerly popped it into his mouth. Finding it cool enough he started chewing, then swallowed the wrong way as he saw Jane come out of her office. She was sharing a laugh with a client, who then turned around and hugged her. Her expression surprised but pleased, Jane hugged them back, watching them leave with a sweet smile on her face. She turned to ask Teri something and the swish of her skirt drew his eyes to her legs. That's when he started coughing.

Jane's head popped up and her expression asked if he was okay. He nodded and decided it would be better to go eat in his office before he embarrassed himself. Passing Grayson his eyes narrowed. The guy was watching Jane too and he recognised that distracted look in Kent's eyes. Appreciation and attraction. He knew Jane and Grayson were good friends, but he would have to keep an eye on the man.

Parker plopped into his chair and his eye caught the edge of his desk. Memories of making love to Jane on this very desk still randomly surprised him. Sitting eating his lunch alone he realised, Jane made him happy. Her optimism, her smile, her sense of humour - it was infectious. She was so different from any woman he'd ever dated. Did they stand a chance of making this work? As he had told his curvaceous lover the night before, they owed it to themselves to find out

- the end-