For the first time in many years Eliot Spencer woke with a smile. The memory of the night before was still fresh in his mind, and if it hadn't been the feeling of Parker stretched out on top of him, the sound of her light snores, and the feel of her deep breathing would have brought it back quickly. He smiled softly and craned his head to get a view of the sleeping thief. He lifted his hand to move a strand of soft blonde hair that had fallen over her face and smiled placing a gentle kiss to her forehead. Her nose scrunched up and she shifted lightly against him arching her back into a stretch. "You're comfy." She told him wrapping her arms around him a bit tighter.
"That's the first time I've gotten that response." He muttered pressing his lips to the top of her head breathing her in as she sighed against him. He would never know exactly what it was that startled him, he honestly couldn't remember hearing anything that would normally set off his alarm but he knew something was wrong. With a twist of his body and a hand out to shove the coffee table he flipped them off the couch cradling her as best he could.
"Quite cozy I see." A familiar voice drawled from over the top of the sofa. Eliot barely restrained himself from shouting at the face of Tara Cole smirking down at him.
"I agree this was certainly not what I was expecting to find." Sophie agreed from a bit further back though her voice held no less amusement at their situation.
"I have to go." Parker muttered in his ear squirming out from under him and vanishing quickly up the stairs. Eliot groaned and flipped on his back covering his eyes with his forearm in an attempt to pretend Sophie and Tara hadn't sat on the couch and weren't waiting patiently for him to acknowledge them. He wished that enough time quietly on the floor would reverse time and he could restart the morning, minus two grifters with terrible timing of course.
"Why are you here?" he asked after finally accepting that the two would not leave until they got the answers they were looking for.
"We were taking Parker to lunch, we've had Sunday lunches every week that Tara is in town since our night out." Sophie answered. Just the sound of her voice made it clear to Eliot that she was burning with questions. They were questions he didn't feel up to answering so with a swift roll he was on his feet and following Parker up the stairs ignoring the protests of the two women.
He made his way up slowly, he couldn't be sure but he was willing to bet Parker was just as upset that their morning had been interrupted. His feeling was confirmed when a whoosh of air and the scent of jasmine flooded his senses from where she dropped down next to him. "Sophie texted me but I didn't get it I was asleep." She told him holding up her phone, likely just retrieved from her room judging by the full battery.
"It's ok, a little frustrating but ok." He answered honestly leaning up against the wall beside her. She looked up at him clearly curious about his comment.
"Frustrating?" she inquired tilting her head to the side and leaning up against the wall mirroring his position.
"It's not the way I wanted to wake up." He told her leaning closer so their noses were almost brushing.
"How did you want to wake up?" she asked stepping closer her body brushing his. There was no other response and he acted instantly. He turned his body pressing her back into the wall his lips only centimeters from hers. He didn't have long to wait as she wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him against her as she pressed their lips together. It was only a moment before he deepened the kiss pulling her closer to his body. As their tongues met it was not a battle as it had been with so many others, rather it was a kiss that spoke of pure passion. She ignited fire in him that he didn't know was possible and it only made him more desperate to never let her go. From their lips to their toes they were intertwined and in that moment Eliot had never felt so connected to another person. She pulled back slowly pulling his bottom lip between her teeth and nipping playfully. He growled deep in his chest and kissed her once softly on the lips as he pulled back.
"Something like that would have been nice." He replied smiling as he dodged her attempt to kiss him again thrilled at her little growl of frustration. "You have to get to lunch sweetheart." He stepped back and smiled at the glare she shot his way before turning on her heel and heading down the stairs. He waited at the top until Parker had led them out of the house ignoring all their questions and remaining stubbornly silent.
He made his way quickly to his room and changed into a new pair of jeans and shirt for the day before tossing his hair up in a quick ponytail. He had a feeling that Parker would become frustrated early into her day with Sophie and Tara and he wouldn't have as much time as he thought. He took the stairs two at a time and vaulted over the couch grabbing his car keys on the way out the door. His truck started without a problem and he took that as a sign that his mission was destined to be successful.
The drive was short and he had memorized the directions the night before in the hopes that he could convince Parker to make a trip to visit Hardison. In reality though he wished it happened in a different way the appearance of Sophie and Tara had freed up his afternoon. He smiled as he entered the dog kennel thrilled to be given another opportunity to make Parker's dream of a normal life a reality.
"Can I help you today sir." The girl at the desk smiled at him as he entered the building. He flashed a smile of his own in response and stepped up to his side of the desk.
"Yes mam, I'm here to adopt a dog." He answered ignoring her blatant perusal of his person.
"We just need you to fill this out first Mr.?" she trailed off clearly asking for a name.
"Spencer, Eliot Spencer." He replied taking the clipboard. The majority of the questions were rather simple name, address, telephone number. The next set were an attempt to find out how much time they were willing to spend with the new pet, followed by inquiries into what kind of dog they were looking for. He was careful to check the boxes for potty trained, good with kids, and energetic. He knew Parker would be bored in five minutes with a dog that would simply lie around the house all day.
He stepped toward the desk and handed the completed paperwork to the woman up front she looked it over checking to see that he had filled everything out. "Alright Mr. Spencer I'll take this to one of our adoption specialists." She headed off through a door behind her desk and he could hear the sounds of dogs barking and cats meowing clearly cut off by a sound proof door. Eliot shrugged at her abrupt departure and took a seat in one of the chairs perusing a pamphlet on the benefit of flea protection.
"Mr. Spencer." A man came out holding a hand in front of him to shake. Eliot nodded as he stood smiling at the older man in front of him. "I'm Daniel Halloran I'm one of our adoption specialists here. It's my job to find you a dog that you'll love."
"Glad to meet you, call me Eliot please." He replied following the man through the door the girl had gone to find him.
"All right Eliot, well I have to say your timing is kind of perfect. I have a dog that I think you are going to love." They went through another door this was an empty room with a few dog and cat toys scattered around the area. "Normally we are hesitant about sending dogs home on the first visit, especially when it's a joint household and the animal hasn't met both people involved but Harris is a special case." The man sat in one of the few chairs against the wall of the room.
"Special case?" Eliot asked joining the other man in a chair beside it.
"Harris is only two but he's been here since he was a puppy. He's half Jack Russell Terrier and half Golden Retriever with the energy of both. Unfortunately he had some heart problems as a puppy that made him hard to adopt. He's been her long enough that our administrators are considering sending him to a different kind of shelter despite the fact that he has only been eligible to be adopted for eight months."
"People want puppies right." Eliot said having heard the sob stories before.
"Exactly, but I understand you're looking for a dog that is housebroken." Daniel referred to the paperwork still in his hand.
"Yes my girlfriend and I have about three weeks of vacation time that we took but when we go back to work we don't want to come home to a House full of crap." Eliot answered secretly thrilled that he got to call Parker his girlfriend.
"Well Harris is fully potty trained and as you indicated you have a fenced in back yard I'm sure he will be quite comfortable with you if you'd like to meet him."
"His health issues." Eliot stopped the man who was already rising. "I hate to be rude but Parker has lost a lot of people in her life and if he's only going to live a few years…" Eliot trailed off hoping the older man would understand the question.
"He is perfectly healthy now. The surgery repaired a tear in his heart you will want his medical records forwarded to his new vet so they know to keep an eye on it but he should be just fine." Daniel replied seemingly pleased that Eliot took such an interest. "And of course all our animals are caught up on their shots and neutered." He mentioned as he exited the room. He returned only a moment later with a dog on a leash. The moment Eliot saw the animal he knew this was the one. It was essentially a miniaturized golden retriever. The dog's tail was wagging so hard his entire body was wiggling with the effort. The second he was released from the leash he bolted over to Eliot rearing back and placing his paws against his right leg. He was pleased to realize that with the dog reared up against him his head was level with his belt with the dog at the perfect height to be petted.
"He's soft." Eliot comment crouching down as the dog came up beside him snuggling into his leg clearly thrilled to be given someone's sole attention.
"Yes we thought he would lose it like most dogs but at two years old he's still got that puppy fur." Daniel answered smiling at Harris winding his way between Eliot's legs. "He's also quite the mouser we let him loose a few times in here and he's been very successful."
"I do have a garden; something to chase away the rabbits would be helpful." Eliot replied he knew this was the one, this was the dog that would make Parker's dream come true.
"Well he will definitely do that, I have to warn you he is a barker however."
"That's not a deal breaker, in fact it's the personality I was looking for." Eliot stood smiling as Harris jumped up again clearly hoping for more attention. "I'll take him."
A/N: As you can see this is a bit of a filler chapter. I knew I wanted to introduce the dog who is a tribute to my puppy minus the heart condition. Thanks to all of you for your well wishes about my father, fortunately he is doing quite a bit better and after almost two months is back at work. I appreciate your well wishes and thank you all for your patience.