Author's Note: Once again, you are all fantastic, outstanding, brilliant, and perfect. Thank you so much for reviewing! Well, here's the end. Don't keep me in suspense with what you think for too long, now! Well, what are you waiting for? Get to reading!
Epilogue:
Drumming her fingers mindlessly on the table, shifting positions in her seat for what had to be the millionth time; Lisa stifled the urge to yawn into her hand. She felt like this was all just one big waste of an evening, which sucked because she looked good tonight. No, she looked damn good. She looked fantastic tonight. She wore a great little light blue silk dress with a low cut front that tied behind her neck, the material of it just covering the scar on her chest, with matching stilettos and she had her hair down. Damn it, she had even shaved her legs! And the only thing she could seem to think about was making a break for the nearest exit. She could do it. She had run farther in high heels.
Her date sat across from her, reading over the wine list. Then he looked up with a smile at the waiter that was half hidden beneath his thick mustache.
"Yes, we'll have the house chardonnay." He said.
"Oh," Lisa interjected, "I don't like white wine."
He chuckled, "No, trust me. You'll love their chardonnay. It's superb."
"I'm sure it is, but I don't really care for white…"
"Nonsense." He said, shaking her off, "The chardonnay."
One, two, Lisa thought, taking a deep breath through her nostrils, three four…
"I have to tell you, Lisa, I am so pleased to finally meet you. Cynthia talks about you all the time." Her date said.
Lisa forced a smile. It was the same one that she used to offer to her guests at the hotel when they complained. "Does she?"
"Oh, yes." He went on.
The waiter reappeared and poured their wine. How did I end up here? Lisa asked herself, even though she knew the answer. After another three months of no dates, going to sleep in a big empty bed, and no word from a certain blue eyed beauty of a man, she had finally given into her loneliness and agreed to let her ever eager friend set her up on a blind date. Cynthia had been more than ecstatic and had spent the next week and a half trying to figure out the perfect match for her.
The result was Andy Baxter, a thirty-six year old advertising agent who drove a Porsche and had an expense account. He was attractive enough. Six foot even with broad shoulders and big charcoal colored eyes that were just made for long gazes in front of a warm fireplace; if you were into that sort of thing. He had light brown hair with a matching beard and mustache which he kept very neatly trimmed. He wore a nice dark gray suit, probably Hugo Boss, with a dark blue silk tie. And, he was a very nice man. Polite. One would even go so far as to call him a perfect gentleman. The problem was…he was just a touch on the dull side.
On the drive to dinner, once he had finished showing off the wonder that was his Porsche, he had regaled Lisa with stories of his days playing college football and raging parties with his fraternity brothers. She had seriously considered the ramifications of hurling herself from a moving vehicle. It hadn't seemed worth it at the time, but now she was reassessing that assumption. So she would have gotten a few scratches and bruises; it wouldn't be the first time; and maybe a dislocated shoulder. She could wear a sling!
The waiter finished pouring their wine, "Are you ready to order?"
"I believe so. Lisa, do you know what you would like?" Andy said, politely letting her order first.
:Um, yes." Lisa said, "I'll have the filet. Medium. And a baked potato, butter on the side."
The waiter nodded and scribbled down her order, then looked expectantly at Andy.
"I would like the lamb. Rare. Extra mint. Thank you." He said, offering his menu.
The waiter made himself another note, then took both of their menus and disappeared, leaving her once again alone with her…date. He held up his wine glass to her for a cheers. She smiled and clinked the rim of his glass with her own and they both took a drink.
Andy looked as though he had gone to heaven as the bitter liquid rolled down his throat. Lisa tried her hardest not to gag or spit the wine back into the glass; or gag and then spit the wine back into her glass. She really, really, hated white wine. She set her glass back down on the table and forced the mouthful of fluid down her throat. At least it wasn't on her tongue anymore.
"Isn't that marvelous?" Andy commented.
"Outstanding."
"I told you that you would like it."
"You certainly did."
"So," he said, leaning toward her, "tell me about you."
Lisa's cheeks hurt from how hard it was not to frown at his words. Tell him about her? Tell him what? She wasn't exactly what people referred to as an 'open book'. For the past four years, she's been extremely guarded, the walls getting taller and thicker in steady increments. By this point, she liked to consider herself damn near impenetrable; the Fort Knox of emotional lockdown. But she couldn't say that to Andy. This was the first date. That was not first date information. First date information was her favorite movie; not the weight of her emotional baggage with a matching carryon.
"What would you like to know?" Lisa said, tacking on a silent 'within reason' in her head.
"Well, for starters," Andy looked thoughtful, "is your family here in Miami?"
Ooh, touchy one. Information of and about her family could be used against her at a later date. "Some." She replied. It was a good answer. She had answered his question, but had remained vague at the same time. She was good at being vague. She had learned from the best; taken notes even.
"Okay, what made you want to be a hotel manager?" Andy asked.
That one was so easy, it was scary. "I like to be in control."
"Oh, my." Andy chuckled, "Should I be worried?"
Lisa could practically see the lewd thoughts crawling like cockroaches through his brain as he spoke to her. She probably should have worded her answer a little bit differently. She shifted once again in her seat but tried to pretend that she wasn't uncomfortable.
"Well," he continued, "what about now? How do you like your job since you got promoted?"
Lisa shrugged, "It's great, I guess. Um, I have to travel a lot…"
"Oh, I love to travel." Andy interrupted, "Last month, me and an associate of mine had a meeting over in Vegas. Wow, now that is a town. Let me tell you. We went down to the blackjack tables…"
Lisa leaned forward, putting her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her clasped hands and pretended to listen to the story about his wild night in sin city. She didn't really mind being interrupted. It was less information about herself that she had to reveal. She batted her eyes, plastering her best intrigued look on her face, and nodded at what seemed like the appropriate intervals.
"I mean, can you believe that!" Andy said, slapping his hand on the table and laughing. He had an attractive laugh, Lisa had to admit. It seemed to roll up from his throat and out into the air. It was a warm sound. Like brandy.
He tipped up his wine glass, emptying its contents into his mouth and then pouring himself another. "Wow, Lisa, you really do look amazing." He said.
Lisa blushed and averted her eyes. She couldn't look at him while he was looking at her like that; it felt too weird. He was openly admiring her physical appearance and to her, it felt like he was studying her; like he was two seconds from whipping out a microscope to put her under. "Thank you." She managed to say; even managing to make it sound halfway convincing.
"Well," he downed the second glass of wine in one swallow and set down the empty glass, "if you'll excuse me, Lisa, I need to go to the restroom."
"Of course." Lisa nodded.
Andy stood from the table, running a hand down the strip of silk that hung around his neck. He touched her bare shoulder as he walked past her, and it took everything Lisa had in her not to recoil from the contact. Once he had disappeared around the corner and was out of her line of sight, Lisa dropped her forehead into her hands and blew out a lungful of air. She was going to have to remember to thank Cynthia for this one. What was she saying? That was uncalled for and she knew it. This wasn't Cynthia's fault. Lisa had been the one to agree to it. She should have known better. The word 'blind date' was a synonym for the word 'misery'. Everybody in their right mind knew that.
Another deep breath.
All she had to do was survive the evening. A few more hours.
She heard Andy sit back down across from her and suppressed a groan. Swallowed it, forced it back down her throat the same way she had done that awful wine. Damn, that was fast, she thought. He had better have washed his damn hands. She gathered her wits and looked up from her hands.
"I turn my back for a few lousy months and this is who you replace me with!" Jackson said, his voice incredulous, amusement dancing behind those deep blue orbs, "I think I'm insulted."
Lisa touched her fingers to her lips as a smile, a real smile, spread across her face; one that went all the way up to her eyes. He sat there, draped over Andy's chair in that casual catlike way that only he possessed. After a moment, she dropped her hand back to the table, shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, and tried to make herself look serious. "Well, you know, I couldn't wait around forever."
"Yeah, but, an ad agent? Leese! You couldn't at least land yourself a nice mob boss?"
"I hear the money's shit."
That earned her a grin.
"Besides," Lisa continued, "he has a Porsche."
"A Porsche?" Jackson repeated, leaning forward a little in his chair, "He must be compensating for something, then."
Lisa had no control over the laughter that burst from her lips. The people at the table beside them gave her a strange look and she pressed both hands to her mouth in attempt to quiet herself.
"What are you drinking, Leese?" Jackson asked. Not waiting for her to answer, he reached over, snatched her glass, and took a swig. His face instantly scrunched up in distaste and he looked down into the pale liquid as though it were sludge from the bottom of someone's shoe. He set it to the side and flashed Lisa a look before he gestured for her young waiter, who looked more than a little confused at the appearance of Lisa's new dinner partner.
"Yeah," Jackson said, "could I get a scotch neat and the lady would absolutely love a seabreeze."
"Right away, sir." The waiter said and vanished again.
"I was gonna get you a red wine, but with this date I figure you might need something a little stronger." He said, pushing the glass of wine to the far edge of the table. "So, tell me more about this date, other than his terrible taste in beverages."
"Where have you been?" Lisa asked.
"Around." Jackson replied, ever the master of vague nondescript answers.
"Where did you go?"
"I had to take care of some things."
She was good at being vague; he was better.
"Why did you stay away?" That question came out a lot weaker than she had intended it to and she hated it.
Jackson looked at her in a way that let her know that he had no intention of answering her at that moment. Maybe he would tell her later, but not tonight. She took a breath and decided that having him there was better than not. So, she went back to playing his game.
"He played football." The change in mood was instant, as was Jackson's adaptation to it. But, then he was used to adapting. He was a fucking chameleon.
"Sissy." He retorted.
"How does playing football make him a sissy?"
"Rugby. That's a man's sport."
"You play rugby?" Lisa said, not even masking the disbelief in her voice.
Just then, the waiter reappeared with their fresh drinks. Jackson tipped him a ten and took a sip of his scotch. Lisa took a drink from her seabreeze and closed her eyes, enjoying the taste of the vodka on her tongue. When she reopened her eyes, she found Jackson was just watching her, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. She licked off a few drops of cocktail that were clinging to her bottom lip as she set her glass down on the table.
"What are you doing here, Jackson?" she asked.
"Saving you from the mundane." Jackson said without missing a beat, leaning forward, bracing his folded arms on the tabletop.
Lisa had to smile. It was true. The word mundane would never be associated with anything having to do with Jackson Rippner. Leave it to Jackson to be able to just swoop in whenever he wanted to and make it seem like he was completely comfortable and right where he belonged. He was here offering to save her from the dreary humdrum of her life. It was at the very least, a tempting offer. He looked at her with those eyes, with that smile, and it was like she was paralyzed. God, he looked good. He sat there, playful smile tugging at his delectable mouth. He wore a black suit, perfectly tailored to fit his form, underneath which he wore a rich royal blue button up, unbuttoned at the collar. She didn't need to look at his shoes to know that they were the finest of Italian leather. How did he always manage to pull off that look? That casual yet suave and sophisticated look. Elegance without effort. It had to be in his attitude; his confidence. She bit down absently on the pad of her thumb as she admired him and he just smiled back at her. It was almost disconcerting the hold he had over her.
"Lisa?" the voice came, breaking her and Jackson's nice moment.
She looked up. "Andy!"
Andy was standing there at the edge of the table, rather awkwardly. He looked back and forth between Lisa and Jackson, but most of his attention was focused on Jackson.
"Andy Baxter." He introduced, offering his hand.
"Nice to meet you." Jackson said making no move to shake Andy's proffered hand and keeping his gaze locked firmly on Lisa.
Andy let his hand just hang there for a moment, before shuffling from foot to foot and finally stuffing both hands down into the pockets of his slacks. "And you are?"
"Lisa's date." Jackson smirked.
Lisa gave him a sharp look, eyes wide. She couldn't believe that he had just said that! Wait a second, yes she could. This was Jackson after all. A quiet whimper leaked out from her lips and she took another sip of her drink. A long sip.
"I believe you're mistaken, friend." Andy said.
"No, I'm not." Jackson said, lightly shaking his head and biting down on his bottom lip in that way that made him seem adorably boyish, "Ask her."
Lisa strangled on her drink when she swallowed so quickly that it went down the wrong way. She started coughing, turning between the two men like a deer caught in headlights. More like a suicidal deer caught between two different pair of headlights and trying to decide which ones to let run her over.
"Jackson!" she rasped in a harsh whisper for all the good it did her.
Jackson just leaned back comfortably in his chair, looking smug, that petulant grin firmly in place. He winked in that sly, secretive way and finally looked away from her and up at Andy. "Go ahead," he said, "ask her."
Andy looked at her, his eyebrows raised expectantly. "Lisa?" he said, "Who is this guy?"
Lisa opened her mouth to respond, though she had no idea what she was going to say. Thankfully, she was rescued when the lovely waiter appeared once again, this time carrying her and Andy's food. Lisa had never been so happy to see a steak in her life. Now, the poor boy looked back and forth between Jackson and Andy and then beamed a youthful smile at her. Lisa knew that he was secretly wondering which one was going to throw the first punch. Lisa wasn't sure about that, but she was pretty sure she could guarantee who was going to throw the last one. The young waiter set Andy's lamb down in front of Jackson, then placed Lisa's plate in front of her and his smile turned sympathetic.
"Will you be needing another seabreeze soon, ma'am?" he asked quietly so that only she could hear him.
Lisa looked up at him, "Oh, I like you kid."
The boy chuckled and walked away, casting one more glance at Jackson and Andy over his shoulder as he went. As soon as he was gone, Andy turned back to Lisa, putting his hands on his hips and setting his face in a rather harsh glare.
"Lisa," he repeated his question, "who is this guy?"
"Uh, well, this is…" she searched for the proper words, "this is Jackson."
"An old friend?" Andy asked.
Lisa's eyebrows drew together as she thought about that one. It didn't seem quite the right way to describe her relationship with Jackson. Old friend? She didn't think they had ever been new friends.
"Um…well…" She smiled, "It's complicated."
There! That was a perfect description!
"Well," Andy said, turning his stern expression on Jackson, "Jackson, I'm sure I don't really need to tell you just how rude it is to interrupt someone's dinner uninvited."
"You know what?" Jackson said, slapping his palms lightly on the table, "You are absolutely right and I apologize."
He sprang up from his chair and took Andy by the arm and sat him back down in the seat. Andy was looking more confused than ever, and Lisa was just thinking about how she really didn't want him to leave. He said that he would save her!
"I am so sorry for disturbing your meal. So, you just sit right here and enjoy your dinner." Then, without warning, he grabbed Lisa by the wrist and pulled her up from the table, "We'll just see ourselves out. It was nice to meet you, Andy."
Lisa stumbled over several sounds but never actually managed to form any words to apologize to Andy as Jackson wrapped his arm around her waist and lead her out of the restaurant. She offered little resistance as Jackson guided her through the parking lot, though she did cast several glances over her shoulder, halfway expecting Andy to come barreling out after them. Possibly wielding a gun like most of the people who came barreling out of buildings after Jackson.
Jackson took her elbow and pulled her to a stop just short of halfway across the lot. He backed away from her two steps and let his gaze travel the length of her body, devouring her with his eyes. To Lisa, his stare felt like a pleasant caress. She didn't mind it. He let out a low whistle and shook his head, shoving his hands into his pants pockets.
"Now, that is a dress." He said, closing the distance between them once again.
"You like it, do you?" Lisa said on a smile, spinning around to give him a proper view of just how low the dip in the back ran.
She saw his body physically rise as he took in a deep breath. She smiled again and started to walk away. He caught her once again by the elbow and pulled her back to him. Without hesitation, without thought, without fear, and without a fight from her, he used his free hand to cradle the small of her neck and pull her into a kiss.
Lisa's eyes fluttered closed as she melted into him, wrapping her arms around his neck as the kiss grew more intense, more passionate. She wanted to delve into him; into the taste of his mouth, of his tongue. Jackson pressed her back against the side of some random car, his hands roaming freely, eagerly over the thin material of the dress. The way the silk felt under the heat of his touch, he may as well have been touching her naked body. His mouth trailed over her chin, then dipped down into the nape of her neck, where he continued his assault. She let her head drop back against the window of the car and tangled her hands into the long tufts of Jackson's hair. His hand ran over the flesh of her rear, to her thigh, and she twisted her fingers into his hair and pulled, forgetting momentarily that they were still very much in public. Her eyelids batted open for the briefest second, but it was long enough for her to see Andy standing beneath the overhand of the restaurant, staring at them, mouth agape.
Her eyes shot open with a gasp, she pushed Jackson away from her by the shoulders. The force with which she hit him caught him by surprise and he slammed into the side of the car on the other side of them. He straightened his clothes and cleared his throat, a sheepish look crossing his face as though embarrassed that he had let himself lose control.
But, then, when had he ever had control where Lisa was concerned?
The look was gone almost as quickly as it had appeared. He bit down on his bottom lip and looked at her from the tops of his eyelids; a look that made him seem boyish and contrite when he was far from either. His eyes were bright and alive and the corners of his mouth tipped upward. Lisa smiled back, not bothering to fight off the blush that had taken over her cheeks. Jackson straightened from the car and offered her his arm. She accepted it and they continued their way through the parking lot.
Jackson's thoughts had already turned to how soon he could get them back to Lisa's apartment. It hadn't taken much to set him off. Besides, he had waited long enough. He brushed a curl back behind her ear, which earned him another smile. Damn, he thought, how did I stay away this long? He would have to explain it to her sooner or later, but not yet. He wanted the night to be perfect and if he started drudging up work and clean up crews and all the messy little details that Lisa didn't need to know about, it would ruin everything. She didn't need to hear how he had had to bargain with a few powerful people in order to secure her safety and had only been able to do so because they knew that he was a valuable asset and a terrifying adversary. He didn't want to see that line form in the middle of her brow that always appeared when she was worried about something. It would all come out eventually, but for now it could just be them. He had stayed away from her to protect her. But that was done now and he had no intention of having to be away from her for that long ever again if he could help it.
He fished his car keys from his pocket and clicked the 'unlock' button. The taillights winked at them and Lisa broke into a huge grin.
"A Jaguar?" she said, "Now who's compensating for something?"
Jackson chuckled from deep in his throat. She loved that sound. That raw male sound. Jackson was a master of that sound. "No, Leese." He said, "A Porsche, that's overcompensation. A Jag! Now, that's just class!"
The End
Author's Note: Well, all fun things must come to an end. I hope you all enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. I already figuring up the plot for my next Redeye fic, so keep a lookout. Don't forget to review!