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Chapter 3

Humming, Lisa stepped into the shower. She let the hot water pour down her back and sighed happily. The smell of raspberry shampoo filled the air. It was like being on summer vacation again after a long year of school. Not having a job was so freeing. Lisa stepped from the shower and stood in front of the mirror. Her eyes fell on her scar and she sighed. She took one finger and covered it up. What if…?

Lisa shook her head and got dressed, rummaging through the box in her room for her blow dryer. Her aunt left for a book club outing to the art museum in Landon in about five minutes, at eleven thirty, and so Lisa would have the house to herself for the day. She heard the doorbell ring.

"I've got it!" called Annie. Lisa smiled to herself. She hoped that she was this popular when she was sixty years old. An uncomfortable little twinge in the back of her mind doubted it.

She heard murmurings from downstairs and then her aunt came back up the stairs. "Just the grocery clerk," Annie said from across the hallway. Lisa sat up straighter. Did that mean Jake? She checked her reflection in the mirror of the pink vanity. Her hair was still slightly wet and was curling in the humidity, and she had her favorite blue t-shirt on.

She needed lunch anyways…

Lisa entered the kitchen and saw someone standing by the shelves with their back to her. She noticed that he had brown hair and not blond. Oh well. "Hello," she said as she walked over to the bag of bread sitting on the counter and opened it. "Thank you for bringing this, I completely forgot to buy it yesterday. Did Jake send you over here?" She shoved two slices of bread in the toaster and opened the fridge, searching for orange juice.

Jackson turned around and gazed at Lisa. She straightened up with the carton of juice in her hands, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

"Hey, Leese."

Lisa jumped. Her eyes fixed on him and then she closed them. She was seeing things. She opened them again and he was still standing there, a bit closer, in fact. His brown hair was parted on the side and some had fallen along his forehead. "No," she whispered. "What are you doing here?"

"I brought you bread. Your friend Jake told me that you never got to buy it yesterday."

Lisa didn't think. She wanted him gone. Her grip tightened around the carton in her hands. "Stay away from me."

Jackson's eyes twinkled. "No."

Lisa threw the orange juice carton at him as hard as she could. Orange juice went everywhere, soaking Jackson's shirt, sending little drips up the walls, creating a huge puddle on the floor. For a moment Jackson just stood there, sputtering. Lisa gazed in shock at the huge mess she had created. And then Jackson's eyes opened.

And Lisa realized that she really should've been much more afraid.

With a growl, Jackson stepped towards her. Lisa took one look at him and fled towards the stairs.

"Lisa," came a menacing voice behind her. She opened her mouth to scream and instead felt the wind knocked out of her as Jackson dove at her ankle and both tumbled down the stairs. Stars popped in front of her eyes as they finally stopped moving. Lisa felt something warm and slightly sticky and wet underneath her. She opened her eyes and stared down into Jackson's blue ones and realized she was lying on top of him. Her stomach flipped over.

Lisa leapt up and began to start towards the front door. Jackson grabbed her ankle and pulled her back down to the ground again. He yanked her towards him and she kicked out with her other foot. She hit him in the shoulder and he grunted. He grabbed her arm and yanked her up while she continued to try to batter him with her other fist. Lisa opened her mouth again to scream and he roughly grabbed her chin and covered her mouth with his hand. Lisa brought her elbow back and hit him in the stomach. Jackson grunted and wrapped his arm around her waist, pinning her arms down and forcing her against his chest. She felt a zip fly up through her stomach and to somewhere in her lungs, making her breathing heavy.

A creak at the top of the stairs alerted them both to Annie's presence. Jackson began to back up and towards the kitchen, pulling a fiercely struggling Lisa after him. "Tell your aunt goodbye, Leese," Jackson hissed in her ear. He could smell her raspberry shampoo and let his mouth linger by her ear. She shivered and shook her head wildly. He dug his fingers into her chin and forced her to nod, up and down. "Yes," he hissed.

"Bye, Lisa, I'm leaving now!" Annie called from by the front door. "I'll see you at around eight, okay?" Lisa could hear the jingle of her keys and struggled wildly.

"Answer her, Leese." Jackson moved his hand from her mouth and let it slide down to her throat, which he squeezed gently. Lisa swallowed. "Bye," she called weakly. The door shut behind her aunt and Lisa closed her eyes against the prickle of tears.

"Good," Jackson said. He abruptly released her and Lisa leapt away. Open air greeted her, no warm hard chest behind her anymore.

Lisa spun around to face Jackson. Her green eyes glinted and she pursed her lips. "Get out of this house," she said in a dangerously low voice. She backed towards the counter and fumbled for something sharp. Something like a butcher knife.

"Geez, Leese. Shouldn't you know not to bite the hand that feeds?" Jackson's eyes twinkled at his own joke.

Lisa continued to feel for something behind her. Finally her hand closed around the handle of something and she yanked it out and brandished it in front of her. Jackson looked at what she held in her hand and his lips twitched. Lisa's gaze fell to what she was holding and Jackson wished he had a picture of that moment. Lisa was holding a spatula. "Aagh!" She threw it at him. He caught it.

"Actually, I bet you could make a weapon out of that," he commented dryly.

"Oh, go away," she rubbed at her sore chin. "Don't you have anything better to do?"

"I work at a grocery store."

"Good for you. What, did you lose your day job?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Oh. Your superiors weren't proud that you got a pen shoved in your throat?" Lisa's voice was mocking him now and Jackson didn't like it. He took a threatening step towards her.

"Ooh, Lisa Reisart, I have missed you."

"Go to hell." Lisa refused to back down. If he was going to kill her, she would go down fighting. She took a step towards him, refusing to let him back her into a corner.

"Been there, done that." Jackson took another step towards her. Lisa matched his step and stared stubbornly up at him, her big green eyes fierce. He felt suddenly like grabbing her and pulling her hair until she screamed, kissing her parted little mouth until it was swollen and bruised. She was so close that Jackson could feel her breath on his chin when she talked. He watched her lips as she spoke.

"I'm waiting," Lisa whispered.

Jackson's eyes flicked from her mouth to her eyes and back again. "For what?" he tilted his head so that his lips nearly brushed hers. He licked his lips. She was so warm, so alive, and he could feel her shiver.

"You're going to kill me."

"Where did you get that idea?"

"Why else would you come here?"

"I--" Jackson inhaled and watched the way Lisa's lips remained parted. He remembered what had happened in that airplane restroom, only now it was by choice that she was so close to him. "I brought you bread."

"Is it poisoned?"

"No," Jackson breathed. His hands reached up for her face and he leaned closer, his mouth searching for hers. But she had turned around.

Lisa stared at the giant mess of the kitchen, her heart pounding.

"So, am I supposed to believe that you really are just here by chance, working at a grocery store?"

"Don't flatter yourself, Leese. I didn't come here for you."

"You really came here to bring me bread?" Lisa asked in disbelief.

"No."

Lisa whirled around again. "Okay, fine, you know what, Jackson? I'm not going to play these stupid little games with you. God, you come here, make a huge mess of my aunt's kitchen…"

"Hey, you were the one that threw the orange juice at me."

"Aagh!" Lisa squeezed the bridge of her nose. "Just go away! Remember what you said in the airport? You'd leave me at the Starbucks and let me move on with my life? So, Mr. I Never Lie, is there a reason you haven't let me do that yet? Go away!"

"Lisa, that was only if you made the call."

"I did make the damn call!"

"And then you stabbed me and ran off!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry I didn't let you kill an innocent man. I'm calling the police. There's a murderer in my house." Lisa reached for the phone and Jackson grabbed her wrist and jerked it away.

"No!"

"Then leave," Lisa hissed.

Jackson looked from her to the phone. He reached over and ripped the cord from the wall. "It's called a cell phone, Jack," Lisa said sarcastically. He just looked at her. "Honestly, why are you so eager to be in my company? I could send you to the hospital again, you know."

"And I could kill your aunt."

For a moment, Lisa paled. And then, "With whose help? You're fired, remember?"

"I have certain connections," Jackson bluffed.

Lisa wrenched her wrist out of his grip. "I hate you," she hissed. "I wish you were dead."

"Touching."

Lisa went to the cupboard around the corner and pulled a mop and a bucket from it. She filled the bucket with water and began to mop up the orange juice on the floor. Wordlessly, Jackson grabbed a towel and began to wipe the juice off the walls. Lisa muttered something under her breath.

"What?" Jackson asked sharply.

"So Jackson Rippner has a domestic side," Lisa snapped. Jackson glared at her.

"And Lisa Reisart has a bitchy side."

"Get out!" Lisa slammed the mop down on the ground. "Get out right now!" Jackson calmly wiped a drip from the wall, set the towel down, and smiled at Lisa.

"Nice seeing you again." And then he walked out the door. Lisa stared after him, her teeth gritted, with the annoying feeling that he had somehow gained the upper hand.