Chapter 54 - Illogical

Halia thought she was simply being paranoid. There was no way this guy knew about her real identity, otherwise, he would not keep her by his side and let her know what he was doing.

So, she began to think seriously about Jackson's question.

What had she learned about him so far?

"I'm working for a brave man..." she began as she thought about the way he saved her from a serial killer.

Jackson looked at the woman. She obviously had no idea that he knew she was hiding something from him. But, it was nice to hear her words of praise.

Halia blushed as she remembered the way that Jackson took care of her when she was drugged and didn't take advantage of her, so she added, "...he's someone with integrity..."

Jackson looked down at the blushing woman in front of him. What was she thinking about? And why did her actions send tingles down his spine?

"...and he's a true friend," Halia continued as the thought of Marcus came to mind.

Jackson stared into Halia's eyes. Although she was hiding her true identity from him, he could tell that she was being honest at that moment and it warmed his heart. He had been in and out of the gangs since he was 18, following different leaders and slowly working his way to where he was today. But, the Jackson that everyone thought they knew, was just a facade. He had survived so many years in the gangs by acting cold and ruthless, but deep down, that was not the real him. In fact, even he had almost forgotten the real him.

But, Halia saw him for who he was.

Halia stared back into Jackson's eyes and remembered how he tried to push her away to keep her from danger and the multiple times he gave her his coat simply because he was afraid she'd get cold, so she finished off with, "His name is Jackson and he's a great man with a caring and thoughtful soul."

All these thoughts and memories were Halia's own. They weren't Sara's, nor were they influenced by the weapons and explosives expert in her head and they weren't based on what she heard from her handler.

This was the Jackson she knew. She was told that he dealt with weapons, but she had never seen him with a weapon before. She was told that he was a cold and ruthless gangster, but he was one of the nicest guys she had ever met.

Jackson was moved by Halia's words. At that moment, he felt like the two of them were in their own world. Down there in the lab, it was dimly lit and quiet. There was no one else around and they couldn't hear anything from the outside world. For that short moment, he was not a gangster and she was not a mysterious woman that was spying on him. He was just a man and she was just a woman and all he wanted to do...

...was kiss her.

Jackson looked down at Halia's lips and his breathing stopped. He had kissed her before, but this time, there was something different. The first time he kissed Halia, she was drugged. The second time he kissed her, he did it forcefully. But this time...

Halia saw the man hesitate. She too had forgotten her identity. Because she misunderstood Jackson for killing Marcus, she had been holding back her feelings and stopping herself from feeling anything positive about this guy. Even when she was helping him defuse his bomb, she was actually worried, but she kept telling herself it was part of her job. However, deep down, she knew, she would never risk her life like that if she didn't truly care about Jackson. In fact, she even questioned if she would have done that for a normal friend.

Halia felt the man's arms around her waist and it stirred up butterflies in her stomach. She had felt this feeling before in Sara's memory...when she looked at Sean. Was she feeling the same way for Jackson that Sara felt for Sean?

People often said that love was an illogical thing, and at that moment, Halia believed it. Even though she knew it was wrong, she began to lean forward. Screw everything! If she only had these next four days to spend with Jackson, even if she failed in the end to stop him from going to the bomb deal...she was going to follow her heart.

Jackson felt his heart race. He brushed his nose gently against Halia's nose, testing to see if he could really kiss her. To his surprise, she did not back away. In fact, she moved even closer.

Her lips were almost touching his, but she wanted him to make the first move.

Jackson quickly took the hint.

With a slight smile, he pressed his lips against hers...