Lisa drove fast.
Lisa liked cheeseburgers.
Lisa liked Tristan.
And Lisa… was here to stay.
CHAPTER FORTY
The minute I came to Seattle, I told Gabe I’d changed my name… well, I hadn’t really changed it. My name had always been Lisa, but at a young age, my agency had told my parents to give me a stage name, something about protecting my identity and all that, so they did. And I was so grateful they had done that for me, because now I could go back to being normal Lisa, not Mel, the girl with the dark past and sinful secrets. —Lisa
Tristan
I HATED HOW close Jack hovered to her. Then again, if I wasn’t teaching the damn class, I’d probably be doing the same thing. The quiz went by slowly. The clock ticked in the background, and the journal in my bag may as well have been screaming at me.
I’d finished it.
And I was more resolute in my decision than ever that they were the ramblings of a seriously insane individual. I just wasn’t sure if that made me feel better or worse.
Better because that meant that Lisa was innocent.
Worse, because by omitting my true identity, I was allowing her to live another lie. But if it was to protect her? Then I would keep lying — I had to.
“Pencils down.” I stood. “Pass your papers to the left and leave them on the farthest desk. Grades will be posted this Friday. Dismissed.”
Students filed out.
Jack lingered.
I gave him a pointed stare. Smirking, he lifted his hands in surrender and walked out, leaving just me and Lisa.
“That wasn’t obvious at all,” she said in a reassured voice. “Really, I think it went right over his head.”
I shrugged. “It’s Jack.”
“True.”
“How was your meeting?”
“How was yours?”
“You first.”
She slumped in her seat. “Well, I did get another threat, but,” she said quickly, “you’d be proud to know that I handed all pieces of evidence over to Gabe, and I made a big decision today.”
“What’s that?” I slowly made my way to her desk and sat on the top.
At her grin, my heart almost stopped. Damn, she was beautiful.
“He doesn’t have the right to control me anymore. So, whoever’s sending me that crap is going to burn in hell or prison, whatever happens soonest. Gabe will turn it over to the police. I’ll make a statement, even though it’s the last thing I want to do, and things will go back to being boring.”
I put a hand to my chest. “Ouch! Are you calling me boring?”
“I really, really like boring.”
“Because that makes it better.”
Lisa stood and leaned in just as a throat cleared from the door way. Jack stood there, holding up his notebook. “Lisa? Sorry to interrupt, Dr. Blake, but I think I accidently stole her notebook, same color and all.”