Chapter 4

The shiny Riptide Blue Escalade turned smoothly into the driveway of a two-story whitewashed house with a pretty front yard and a two-car garage, just one in a row of cookie cutter homes that faced another row across the street.

"Home sweet home," Jackson sang as he brought the SUV to a stop. "What do you think, Leese?"

Lisa stared up at the house. It did look lovely. She peered out of her window at the houses outside. Did one of the homes in this town really house two sleeper agents, mixing with the community, but secretly awaiting orders of some kind? She shuddered, and turned away.

"My dream home," she agreed, avoiding looking at Jackson. She'd noticed that she had a nearly painful awareness of his presence whenever he was in her vicinity. Every time she saw his face, she had that claustrophobic sense of being back on the plane, just an armrest between them, as he hemmed her in, trapped her…reduced her choices to life and death. If she had the choice, she'd keep a room's distance between them at all times. And that wasn't all of it.

Ever since she had agreed to the assignment with him, she'd sensed a kind of suppressed glee within him. It just went to convince her that he had some sort of hidden agenda.

This was Jackson Rippner, after all. He'd been unfailingly polite to her, of course. Especially in front of Keefe, as well as in the two days they'd waited for Keefe's people to fake a 'move' into this house. She and Jackson had agreed to an uneasy truce in Keefe's office, though Lisa found it was a bit harder to implement in real life than in theory. She just didn't trust him an inch.

"Get the cat, please, Lisa." Jackson requested, the very model of a charming husband, exiting the vehicle to grab their suitcases from the back. In his slim black pants and yet another blazer, he looked like any ordinary guy you might see on the street.

Lisa got out and walked around the car to study the black Burmese cat in its travelling kennel. The cat was on loan, to make them look 'more like a family'. "Hey, Dusty," she cooed. The cat regarded her with unfriendly green eyes. Lisa didn't mind. In fact, she pretty much sympathized with the creature, corralled as it had been into national service. Hm, just like her. She carefully lifted the kennel and walked into the house, looking around.

Amazing. Keefe's people had done their job, all right. The house was completely furnished, even though they'd left some boxes to be opened scattered around the house. She'd been told her wardrobe had been sent ahead, so she'd have to check which room was hers.

She set the kennel on the tiled floor, and moved to unpack the carton on the counter labelled 'Pet Stuff'. She removed two dishes, filled them with water and food, and placed them on the floor so she could unlock the kennel. The cat shot out, and headed straight for the water, ignoring her as though she had ceased to exist. She smiled.

Jackson had left their suitcases in the living room, and was going around checking the windows and doors, as well as the alarms, making hums of satisfaction as he came across something new or something he particularly liked.

"Such a picture perfect American small town," he tutted. "Who'd think to find the enemy here? It's almost like the setting for Leave it to Beaver."

Lisa was startled that he'd echoed her thought so completely. "Well, sometimes the more friendly and harmless something seems, the more likely it is to have an ulterior motive," she said tartly.

Jackson laughed. "Learned a thing or two since we last met, haven't you Leese?"

She crossed her arms and leaned back against the kitchen counter to glare at him. "Oh, yes, it's a lesson I'll remember for life."

"Then I suppose my mission wasn't a complete waste of time," he said, and turned away to check another window. Surprised, Lisa stared at his back.

"How's your Dad doing?" he asked offhandedly.

"How's your boss?" she shot back. He swung around, and gave her an unfathomable look.

"No idea."

Lisa felt a chill anew at the thought of sharing a house with this man for a month.

Suddenly, she wanted to get as far away from him as possible.

"I'm heading to bed," she said. "Good night." Terse, but polite.

Amusement glinted in Jackson's eyes. "I bet you were quite relieved when Keefe agreed to separate bedrooms."

"It was a dealbreaker," Lisa agreed, sailing up the stairs.

"Too bad," he muttered softly, watching her slim figure climb the stairs.

The next morning, Lisa woke slowly to soft light entering her room She rubbed her eyes and checked her clock. Six am. Hm, it was a Saturday, but she was used to rising early.

The thought that Jackson might be prowling around the house discouraged her from leaving her room, but she couldn't cower here. She rose, padded into the bathroom. After a warm, bracing shower, she dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and went downstairs, to find Jackson beating eggs in a bowl in the sun-lit kitchen.

He wore jeans as well, that hung low on his hips without a belt. The sleeves of his old maroon sweatshirt were rolled up nearly to his elbows. And his feet were bare. Once again, Lisa was struck by how cosy the whole scene looked. And she tried to tear her gaze away from his feet. She looked around. She couldn't get over how pretty the whole place looked.

He turned to her. "Aw…I was imagining you in a dress and high heels, your hair all made up." Or even better, he thought, still sleepy and in her daisy-faced pajamas, her hair messed from bed, or a night of pleasurable sex…where he'd been the one to provide that pleasure.

Lisa shook her head, amused despite herself. "Acacia Heights isn't really a Stepford town, you know. It just looks like it. I'm sure there aren't any perfect wives around here."

Jackson placed a frying pan on the stove, and poured a measure of olive oil into it, carefully adjusting the heat. "I can hope," he said with a grin.

"We're not really married," Lisa reminded him, though she thought she really shouldn't have to.

"No, we just have to act like it." Jackson winked, and Lisa found herself blushing. Crap. She swung around, pretending to hunt for plates and glasses. By the time she'd set the table and fed the cat, Jackson had toast and omelettes ready, as well as tall glasses of orange juice. He sat, and cast an expectant look her way.

Lisa baulked for a second. Breakfast, with Jackson Rippner? Oh well, she'd shared nachos with him already. What was a few more meals?

She sat and helped herself to toast and an omelette, constantly aware of his regard.

"You know, I'm not sure this was such a good idea," Jackson murmured as he whacked the Heinz ketchup bottle over his plate.

Lisa glanced up. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," whack whack "that you're as stiff as a board, " Jackson said. Whack!Sauce squirted down onto his omelette and he set the bottle down to look at her. "No one's going to believe we're a couple if you don't relax a little."

"Maybe they'll just think you're a wifebeater," Lisa joked.

Jackson's eyes went cold. Suddenly the memory of him strangling her in the plane washroom came back, and a frisson of fear went through her. No! I won't be defeated before we even start this.She straightened her back.

"Don't worry about it," she advised him. "When we come across somebody, I'll do my best to look loving."

"You could do with some practice," he said wryly.

After breakfast, they went for a walk,forcing Lisa into even closer physical proximity with Jackson."Don't you think it's too early?"she asked. He was so close to her that occasionally his sweatshirt would graze her elbow, and she felt a tiny shock every time it happened.

"Small town. Everyone's awake earlier than not."

"I think we should hold a barbeque," she said. "It's the fastest way to get to meet people."

"I agree." Jackson strolled beside her casually, taking in the sights of kids on bicycles chasing each other down the street, and a woman walking her dog. A man was reading a paper on his porch.

"Check that out," Jackson whispered.

"What?"

"The woman coming towards us with her dog. She looks married. Young. Upper middle class. She'd be someone ideal to start with. No, don't look at her."

"What, are you just going to strike up a conversation? Hi, we're your new neighbours, invite us over?" Lisa wanted to know.

"No. Watch this." Jackson brought his hand to his lips briefly, so briefly that Lisa nearly missed seeing what he held in his fingers.It was awhistle. He must have blown it, but she didn't hear anything.

However, the dog ahead of them did. It was a beautiful Irish setter, its coat a deep red. It barked, and then pulled on its leash, surprising its owner enough into making her let go, and it darted right for them.

"Sunny!" The young woman cried, breaking into a sprint.

Lisa gave a little shriek, startled by the dog's headlong rush. She didn't count herself as a coward or anything, and the fact that she clutched Jackson'ssweatshirt in a blind panic for a second had nothing to do with anything, she told herself.

Jackson ever so smoothly reached out and grabbed the dog's flying leash as it ran past them, jogging a bit so he wouldn't choke the dog. Eventually, the dog stopped, panting, and Jackson stooped and stroked it, talking softly.

The woman and Lisa reached him at the same time.

"Oh, thank you!" The young woman gasped. "She's really fast! I'd have had to chase behind her for miles if you hadn't caught her! And...I'm not really in the best of shape to do that!"

"It's no problem," Jackson smiled up at her. "You've got a beautiful dog. Yeah, you are. Aren't you, girl?" He ruffled the dog's shaggy coat, and the setter woofed and licked his hand, and stared adoringly up at him. The woman had something of a similar look in her eyes as she stared at Jackson, Lisa noted with amusement.

"Here you go," he said, standing and handing the leash over to the young woman.

"Thanks again! I'm Mary." She gave him her hand to shake and flashed Lisa a smile as well.

"No worries. I'm Jackson. Jackson Rippner, and this is my wife, Lisa."

Lisa smiled back at Mary, thinking something sounded weird about Jackson's voice. "Hi there. We just moved here." Oh! What a way to insert that in smoothly. Mary could probably see right through her. She was a terrible spy.

"Really? That's great!" Mary exclaimed. "Did you buy that house the Spiners moved out of? House number 43? Oh, yeah. That's it! Okay, you guys probably haven't even unpacked yet. Come over and meet my husband. I'll make you some breakfast as thanks for catching Sunny."

"Oh, no, that's quite all right," Jackson said with a hesitant expression. Lisa's eyes widenedas she figured out why he sounded strange. Somehow, a hint of an Irish accent had made its way into his voice. "We don't want to put you to any trouble."

"Are you kidding me? It's no trouble! Gotta welcome the new neighbours, plus you guys saved Sunny from being run over by a car or something! See, I live right over there."

Talking and gesturing, and also hanging onto Sunny, Mary somehow pulled them all the way to her blue and white house, where a sprinkler was cheerily watering the lawn.

Inside, Carl, Mary's husband, didn't seem nearly as enthusiastic to meet them, though he was quite polite. Lisa figured it had to do with the fact that it was seven am on a Saturday, and who really wanted guests? Plus, he had a bowl of oatmeal in his hand and was watching sports reruns.

"Is that a fly fishing trophy I see?" Jackson queried as he approached their mantelpiece.

Carl immediately perked up. "Yeah, you do fly fishing? Not too many people around here that do it, though we've got a great river in the back."

"I dunno," Jackson mused. "I've been thinking about it, but camping's my main thing. I used to hike up to the Rockies around our old place, and there's some good lakes up there…"

"Are you kidding me? Mary and I go camping every summer! Unbelievable!" Forgetting the sports channel, he set his bowl down and took Jackson by the arm. "Come on, I gotta get my map and show you some of the sweet spots around here."

Lisa watched bemusedly as Jackson won Carl over as easily as he had Mary.

"Hey, looks like they're bonding," Mary laughed. "Let's go to the kitchen, okay, and I'll see if I can dig up some pancakes."

Lisa thought of her already full stomach and groaned.

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There you go! Chapter 4. Please review if you liked it. I put this up faster thanks to all the reviews I got for Chapter 3.