Dara is sitting in her office, daydreaming instead of working. Her mind is a million miles away when there's a knock on her door. She doesn't snap out of her fog until Justus sticks his head in the door.

Dara looks at Justus, with no expression. "Hello...may I help you?" Justus steps in, walking up to her desk. "Sure, come on in, make yourself at home..."

"Dara, why haven't you returned any of my calls?" Justus asked, a little indignant.

Dara decided it was time for her to get a little indignant too. "Excuse me, Mr. Ward, but if I recall, I told you that I would not be, let's say...'having tea and crumpets' with you any more..."

Justus interrupted her. "Why can't you return my phone calls?"

Dara, solemnly. "You ever heard of a 'phone tap'?

Justus laughs. "Dara, I think you're watching too many James Cagney movies, you're over-reacting..."

"Over-reacting? You think I'm over-reacting, Justus?" Dara couldn't believe her ears. Working for Jason Morgan already had him acting brain-damaged. "If you recall, I don't think Morino's little candy delivery was my imagination! Do you think this is a joke, Justus?"

Justus felt himself getting irritated. "Dara, I'm not trying to belittle what happened, I'm just saying you may be putting a little too much emphasis on it. Morino was just trying to scare you, that's all."

"Well, someone oughta tell him he's good at what he does." Dara insisted. She looked Justus in the eye. "I would like you to leave now, Mr. Ward."

Justus looked at Dara as if though she had lost her mind. "Mr. Ward? Leave?"

"If there's no 'business' we have to discuss, then there's no reason for you to be here."

Justus, angered, comes over to the desk and leaned in, hovering over Dara. "Dara, do you think you being so cold is really necessary..."

"You may not...she may not...but I sure think it is necessary." Taggart says from the doorway.

Justus silently cursed himself for leaving the door open. "Taggart, did someone beckon for you?"

Taggart walks in. "No...but I believe someone is 'begging' you to leave..."

"Now wait a minute!" Justus was up in Taggart's face within seconds.

Dara stands up behind her desk. "No, you wait a minute, Justus! Now, I asked you to leave, nicely...if you feel that my words, along with my opinion about certain things, are over-reactive, then I'm sorry. But I would like you to leave right now, please."

Justus turns to look at Taggart. Taggart has that smug 'I've won' look in his eyes. "You haven't seen the last of me, Taggart."

Taggart grins at Justus. "No? Well, I believe Ms. Jensen has. Buh-bye!" He waves goodbye to Justus, mockingly.

Justus was seething, but he didn't want to cause a scene in front of Dara. He made a mental declaration that he would find Taggart one day...without the badge and out of Dara's sight. He grabbed his suitcase and stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him.

Taggart stood there, looking at the slammed door. "That pompous..."

"Detective..." Dara interjected. Taggart turns to her, she looks at him, pleadingly. "He's just upset..."

Taggart sucks his teeth. "He needs to get that stick out of his..."

"De-tec-tive!" Dara yelled. Then she found herself smiling. She tried to hide her laughter but Taggart caught on. She sat back down behind her desk, swiveling in her chair. She stopped swinging and looked at him. "So, been spying on any good women lately?"

Taggart walks over to her desk. "Well, still stalking the same suspect. No change."

"Anything this subject should know about?" Dara said, suddenly not so cheerful.

Taggart could see the fear she was trying to hide. "No...everything's safe, Ms. Jensen."

"Great. Thank you." Dara said, trying to hide her growing nervousness at the thought of someone possibly going after her. She couldn't keep herself from shuddering. She tried to steady herself, picking up her pen and trying to continue her working, only to realize she could barely keep the pen between her fingers.

Taggart walks around the desk to her side, taking the pen out of her hand. He sits it on the desk and leans over Dara, both hands on the arm rests of her chair. He leaned in incredibly close, close enough for Dara to smell his cologne. For some reason, this crude and primitive man was...unmistakably attractive. She caught her breath as he looked into her eyes and smiled.

"You don't have to worry now...Ms. Jensen." Taggart said, very calmly, very low. "I'm on the job...you're in good hands, don't worry your pretty little head about a thing." He shifts his head to the side and looks her square in the eye. "Do you trust me, Ms. Jensen?

Dara, while staring into his eyes, with him this dangerously close...didn't know if she trusted herself. "Yes, I do, Detective."

Taggart smiles. "Good...I want you to feel you can trust me...I need you to trust me." He leans in even closer to Dara, his lips coming within two inches of hers. He stands there, looking from her eyes down to her full lips. He stayed in this position for what seemed an eternity to Dara. She couldn't help it, but her eyes seemed to be drawn by magnets down to focus on his full mouth, chiseled jaw, that five o'clock shadow at three in the afternoon...

"You thought I was gonna kiss you, didn't you, Ms. Jensen?" Taggart brought Dara back to reality.

Dara didn't know what to say. Well, she could have said she was 'hoping' he would kiss her, but she figured saying that wouldn't be too wise. "I...well, I didn'...I"

"Do you want me to kiss you...Ms Jensen?"

Taggart had reduced the space between them to one inch. Dara could feel his breath on her mouth. She was fighting furiously to stay focused...and he noticed.

"I would love nothing more right now, than to kiss that beautiful mouth, see what glory lies behind those luscious lips of yours...but I'm going to be a 'gentleman' here, Ms. Jensen...God knows, I don't want to be, but I guess..."

He backed away, letting his thought trail off. Dara let out a breath that she finally realized she had been holding. For some odd reason, she was totally off track and didn't know why. She fumbled with her papers on her desk, not looking up at Taggart. She grabbed a file from her desk and, making sure not to meet his eyes, walked over to the file cabinet, pulling out a drawer.

"Detective Taggart, I would appreciate it if you would remain in your respectful position while we are in the workplace. It would prove to be quite inappropriate for you to..."

"Inappropriate?" Taggart interrupted. He was growing just a little tired of the 'straight-lace' routine Dara was throwing around.

In one swift movement he cornered her between the file cabinet and the wall, blocking her escape with an arm as he put one hand against the wall, the other on the file cabinet. He brought his mouth to hers. Dara was so caught off guard she couldn't even think of an excuse for her to pretend she didn't want him to do this. Dara felt like the breath was leaving her body...and she didn't care. She couldn't react, couldn't participate, all she could do was sit there and try to figure out a way to get him to never stop.

She compared mentally his kiss to Justus. Justus was okay, he was 'sweet'...that was about all she could come up with. But here now, standing there trying to remember her name as Taggart's lips toyed with hers, this was incomparable. She fought to stay on her feet, which she didn't have to worry about too long, because Taggart wrapped his arm around her waist as he deepened the kiss.

'Stop this...stop him, Dara!' she fought with herself to pull away from him, but she was so...so...oh what the hey, it felt good...really good. She put her hand up to his chest, coming around to his back about to pull him closer when she felt him pulling away from her. She cursed herself for not enjoying it more from the beginning when she had the chance.

Taggart stood there, knowing he had just made Dara realize that Justus served her no 'justice'. "That's what I think about...your 'inappropriate', Ms. Jensen." He backed away from her, heading for the door slowly. Dara did all she could to keep from running up behind him and jumping on his back, begging him not to leave. She fought the urge, grabbing onto the file cabinet for support.

"Oh, and Ms. Jensen..." Taggart said as he had his hand on the doorknob, about to close the door behind him. "I'm not about to apologize for my actions. You can suspend me, ridicule me...or even fire me, but I did what I wanted to do - no...no, I'm lied. I didn't do what I wanted to do, because if I had done what I really wanted to do..."

At that, he smiles, closing the door behind him.

Dara groped her way back to her seat, suddenly needing to sit. She found her seat and sat down, trying to gather her thoughts. She had to do something about this, and fast.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lorraine and Jax stepped out of the theatre. To their surprise, it had become overcast and was now raining buckets.

Lorraine stood there and looked up at the pouring rain. "Well, what now?"

Jax looked at Lorraine. "What do you mean, what now?

"It's raining...no, it's pouring!" Lorraine said, moving back closer to the theatre, huddling against the rain.

Jax, with an 'I told you so' manner, answered her. "Yes, it is...but I'm the one that wanted to bring the driver, You said 'no let's walk'. So now, we're stuck out here, no umbrella, no car, and the hotel is about 10 blocks away..."

"It's okay, we'll run it!" Lorraine says, making a move to step into the rain.

Jax grabs her back into the shelter of the theatre. "Are you serious? By the time we get to the hotel, we'll be soaked through."

"Yeah, so what? Never got your clothes wet, huh?" Lorraine laughed. "Haven't you ever walked in the rain before? Come on, it's kinda warm tonight, we won't get sick. We'll make a run for it, okay? Come on!"

Lorraine grabs Jax' hand and they run from the theatre to the hotel. Nonetheless, by the time they reach the hotel lobby, they're soaked to the bone, laughing hysterically.

Lorraine eyes Jax. "You're soaked, you know?" She laughs at Jax' soggy hair and clothes,

"Yeah? Well, you're not too dry yourself, you know." Jax eyed Lorraine, realizing that her dress was clinging to her like a second skin. He turned away before she could notice.

Too late. Lorraine caught the glimpse of attraction in Jax' eyes. She had seen it several times before, but she knew that she couldn't let this friendship work its way into something else just because they were both presently bored out of their minds.

Lorraine looked down at her clothes. "I guess I'm soaked, too."

"Well, let me get you upstairs, and you can get out of those wet clothes." He walks her towards the elevator.

They come off on the Penthouse floor and Lorraine is apprehensive about coming up to Jax' apartment so late. She turned to him. "Hey, why don't I just jump in a cab and I'll get home and change my..."

"Nonsense." Jax insisted. "You can get out of those wet clothes, the concierge can take them down to the laundry room and they'll be dried and pressed in no time." Jax turned to put the key in the lock, he turns back to her. "Unless you just can't wait to get out of my presence?"

Lorraine smiled at him. "Of course not, I just figured it would make more sense but I guess this would be smarter." She walks into the Penthouse and Jax walks in behind her, closing the door. He gets on the phone to dial the front desk, gives a few orders and hangs up. "They'll be on their way in two minutes. In the meantime, you can go in the bathroom and change. There's a bathrobe behind the door."

"Thanks a lot." Lorraine walks off to go upstairs. She could feel Jax' eyes on her...all over her. 'I will not let him get to me' she swore to herself as she tried to walk with minimal movement.

Once she was out of his sight, Jax let out a low whistle as he turned and began looking through his mail. He flipped through envelope after envelope, then he came to a large manila one. It had no return address, just his name and a post office stamp. Realizing that it must have come from Europe, he turned over the envelope and ripped it open. He pulled out a magazine. Having no regard for it, he looked at the back cover, then flipped over the magazine to reveal the cover.

Jax' stomach sank to his feet. It was a French magazine, one of the most prestigious in the country. He stared at the cover back at Brenda's face, staring at him with those eyes he was trying his best to forget. She was posed on a veranda dressed in a beautiful evening dress, hair atop her head cascading in curls. The picture was so real and she looked so beautiful that Jax almost forgot he was staring at a magazine and not the actual Brenda in person. She had made it, he realized...she had gone off made a name for herself again. He felt proud of her, because she had done it this time totally on her own.

Lorraine came down from the bathroom, wrapped in Jax' bathrobe. She walked over to him, noticing that he was deep in thought. She came up behind him. She stopped as she saw the magazine in his hand, her heart froze when she saw what was gracing the cover.

Lorraine looked into Jax' eyes, once he had torn them from the magazine cover. "I see...so, it took her all of two minutes and a picture to snag you back in, huh?" Lorraine had already pushed her defensive buttons back in gear.

Jax looked at her. "Lorraine...this came in the mail. I opened it, I didn't even know what it was. Someone sent this from Paris, I'm assuming..."

"Brenda?" Lorraine finished for him.

He shook his head. "I guess so. I guess she wanted me to know that she was doing okay."

"Well, good for her. Anyway..." Lorraine hands him her wet clothes. "Here are my clothes, as soon as they're dry, I'll be on my way..."

"Lorraine..." Jax said. He was interrupted by the front desk clerk at the door. He turns to open the door, the clerk standing there, eyeing Lorraine in Jax' bathrobe.

Jax hands him the wet clothes and a tip. "Thank you, sir." He says as he closes the door in the nosey clerk's face. Jax turns back to Lorraine, who's standing there fiddling with the belt on the bathrobe. She looked so insecure and vulnerable right then that Jax felt like taking her in his arms and holding her, but he knew that would be a mistake.

He changed the subject. "Well, I'm going to go change out of these wet clothes myself...I'll be right back down, okay?" He walks away and goes upstairs.

As soon as Jax is out of sight, Lorraine walks over to the desk where the magazine is left. She picks it up and reads the headline. "Super Model Brenda Barrett...the hottest new face on the Paris scene." She flings the magazine back down on the desk. "With the biggest grip on Jasper Jacks' heart." She said as she looked around the penthouse and suddenly felt very out of sorts. 'What am I doing here?' she asked herself, looking down at the bathrobe she was wearing.

'Am I jealous?' she laughed a little at herself for thinking such a foolish...well, it wasn't that foolish. She had gotten used to hanging around Jax, being the center of attention whenever they walked into a room. She wasn't with him just for that...she was actually starting to like this guy.

She felt pangs of anxiety as she realized that what she felt was more than just friendship. She eyed the cover of the magazine again, looking into Brenda's face. "Well, looks like we have a fight on our hands, Ms. Barrett."

~~~~~~~~~~

Lucky follows Emily off the elevator and they walk towards Jason's Penthouse.

"I can't believe you talked me into coming here." Lucky says as they stop in front of Jason's door.

Emily turns to him. "I can't believe I'm here...with you! I am so shocked that my parents actually let me stay in the same school with you, let alone go out with you again...after last week." Emily shuddered as she remembered the fiasco at the Spencer's house.

Lucky whispers to Emily. "Well, I'm glad they still trust me, even if it's just a little." He looks over his shoulder as Reynaldo looks at him suspiciously.

Lucky turns to him sarcastically. "I think you're pretty cute, too. Would you like my number?" Emily elbows Lucky, he turns to her, mock whispering. "Well, he's undressing me with his eyes."

"Uh, Ms. Quartermaine, Jason is not in right now." Reynaldo says, ignoring Lucky's comment.

"That's okay, we're here to see Michael." Emily laughs at Lucky. "Reynaldo is not undressing you with his eyes. He's checking to see if you're packing."

"Packing? Packing...what kind of language is that for a young girl? You know, I'm gonna have to have a talk with Jason."

Emily gives Reynaldo the eye. "He's cool." Reynaldo steps aside and opens the door for Emily. He grins at Lucky as he walks into the apartment behind Emily.

Lucky winks at him. "See ya later, stud." Reynaldo gives Lucky a confused look as he closes the door behind them.

Graciella comes out of the kitchen with Michael. "Hello, Ms. Quartermaine, you bring a visitor with you today?"

Emily smiles as she turns to Lucky. "Graciella, this is my boyfriend Lucky Spencer."

Lucky reaches out to take her free hand. "Nice to meet you."

Graciella smiles. "Luke Spencer...family?"

Lucky smiles. "My Dad...how'd you know?"

"You're as handsome as your father." Graciella smiled. She turned to Emily. "I'm about to put him down, would you like to hold him?"

"Sure." Emily puts down her books and takes the baby. She turns to Graciella. "You can go on a break or go out for awhile...I'll be happy to look after him."

Graciella smiles gratefully. "Thank you, Ms. Quartermaine. I'll go upstairs and finish his laundry." She turns to Lucky. "Well, nice to meet you, Lucky." She then turns and makes her way upstairs.

Lucky watches Emily as she sits with Michael. "You know you're a natural at this. Do you ever wonder about being a mom?"

Emily looks at him, smiling. "Of course! I can't wait to be a mother, although I know it's not a game. It's a lot of responsibility and hard work, but to have someone depend on me for love, protection, kisses and..."

"You've got that already...ME!" Lucky smiles. "I'm just kidding...I think you'll make a great Mom."

"Really?" Emily looks at him. Suddenly thoughts of little Lucky Spencer's running around caused her to grin. "Would you like to hold him?"

"Hold him? Me?" Lucky looked as if Emily asked him to perform surgery.

Emily motions for him to come sit next to her. "Yes, hold him. You've held a baby before, Lulu remember?" He takes the baby carefully from Emily's arms. "See? It's not that hard, you just have to get used to it." She leans in and whispers to Lucky. "He is your cousin, you know."

Just then, Carly enters. "Hey, Em..." She stops as she sees this stranger holding her son.

"Hi there! I guess you're a friend of Emily's?" Carly said as she walked over to where they were. She smiled as she saw how Michael apparently liked this guy.

Emily looked back and forth from Carly to Lucky and realized this situation was far more pitiful than she realized.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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