He wasn't too tall, but he was handsome in that dark way, Jane had to admit to himself. He'd never admit it out loud, of course.
And the man was open and fun, flirty yet discreet, and completely impressed by Lisbon. Smitten, some might say. And why shouldn't he be? He could see her smarts, her brilliant investigative mind, her kindness, and how genuine she is. And of course Lisbon is beautiful, so what man in his right mind wouldn't think her wonderful?
The problem was just that, well, Lisbon seemed to be responding to this interloper's charms, and that bugged him. He never his let irritation show; one just doesn't do that if one wants to keep control of the situation. But every time that man came around, Jane felt an intense desire to be elsewhere. He resisted that impulse, of course. Not only would giving in to it demonstrate an uncouth level of weakness, even if only he noticed (and he couldn't be sure that Lisbon or Cho wouldn't notice - they both knew him well enough that they might catch on to the pattern), but he also needed to force himself to stick around to watch the interaction. Did Lisbon respond a bit more this time than last time? Was her response purely that of a woman flattered, or was it something more? Was she actually falling for this man's line? It was like picking at a scab. You knew you shouldn't do it, but you couldn't help yourself. But it was perversely satisfying if you drew blood.
It was a week later when the situation came to a head. He was in the passenger seat of the FBI-issue sedan, Lisbon in the driver's seat, and Cho (thank goodness it was Cho, in retrospect) in the back seat. They were stopped, staking out a suspect at his apartment – a suspect they suspected, who was behaving less than suspiciously. They'd just watched him present a rose to a lady friend he clearly knew well, before escorting her into his apartment. Jane figured they had a couple of hours, if not all night, to wait.
Lisbon's phone rang, and Jane just knew who it was. He thought about making an excuse to walk away from the car for a bit, but as always, he forced himself to stay where he was.
"Lisbon here. Oh, hi, Peter!"
'Peter' had clearly said something cute – the man was stepping up the flirting lately, Jane had noticed, because Lisbon giggled in a very un-Lisbon-like way. Jane fingered the door handle and eyed the deli across the street, but again, forced himself to appear relaxed, and to stay put.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Lisbon shooting furtive glances in his direction. Without appearing to (or so he thought) he watched a bit more closely, and noticed a bit of a blush start to creep up her neck.
"This isn't really the best time," she continued in a half whisper, the absurdity of which would have made Jane laugh if he wasn't so irritated. He, Cho and Lisbon had been listening to each other breathe a moment ago, so lowering her voice wasn't going to hide anything from anyone, and she well knew it, if the creeping red on her neck was any indicator.
"OK, that I can do. OK. I'll talk to you then. Bye." And Lisbon hung up the phone. She quickly picked up the binoculars, as if their suspect might be on the move. They all knew he wasn't.
Silence returned to the car for a few minutes, but its comfortableness from before seemed to be gone now.
After barely a few moments, it became too much for Jane. Before he could process what was coming out of his mouth – which for him was rare – it was out there: "Don't go."
"What?" asked Lisbon, with only the affectation of innocence, which Jane didn't buy for a moment.
"You know exactly what," Jane replied with a dismissive hand wave, "Don't go on a date with short, dark and smitten."
Lisbon seemed like she was going to protest for a minute, but then thought the better of it. She turned to look him in the eye for just a second. "Why not? He's a nice man, he likes me, and he's asked me out. It's not like I have a whole lot of friends here in Austin."
"Oh brother, not again," muttered Cho into his novel in the back seat.
Both Jane and Lisbon ignored him.
Silence reigned in the car for a while longer. This time it was neither the uncomfortable silence of a few moments ago, nor the comfortable companionship of old friends from earlier. This silence was more ... contemplative and expectant, Jane decided.
"So, call him back and tell him you can't go out with him," Jane replied, in a tone that sounded childish and petulant even to his own ears. He was completely turned in his seat to face her now.
"I will not," retorted Lisbon, not deigning to look at him this time. "Why should I?"
"Because." Jane turned back to face the front.
More silence, this one with a competitive edge. Jane determined that he was not going to break first.
"So, are you calling him back, or do you want me to call him for you?" Jane asked, like a challenge.
"You wouldn't dare," Lisbon turned to glare at him.
A snort emerged from behind the book in the back seat. "You know he would," chimed in Cho almost under his breath.
Lisbon, tacitly acknowledging the truth of Cho's statement, shifted uncomfortably, as if trying to work out her next move. "Jane, I'm not turning down a date with a nice man who clearly likes me, without a very good reason. We know he's not a minion of Red John, or anything. He's a good man."
"Don't go, Lisbon," stated Jane again, although a bit weakly, he had to admit.
"You're going to have to give me more than that, Jane," stated Lisbon in a tone that indicated the conversation was done.
"You really are, dude," chimed in Cho with a small smile in his voice. Jane almost turned around to look at him, that smile was so uncharacteristic.
Jane knew, suddenly, that all his recent subterfuge may have been lost on Lisbon, but it hadn't been lost on Cho, the man who saw everything.
Silence re-entered the car; a calm silence. Three sets of eyes went their separate ways for a while, two sets contemplating, one set back on the pages of his novel. Only that last set knew what was coming in the front seat. He'd seen it all before, after all.
Jane made up his mind in a moment, but he took a couple more silent ones to calm nerves that were suddenly making him a bit shaky. He turned in his seat again. "Lisbon."
She turned to him this time, "Look, Jane, I'm not ..."
Jane leaned over, gently grasped her chin and landed his lips on hers. He leaned over a bit more, and although it took her a second, she leaned in too, and for a few moments they shared a gentle, exploratory kiss. Jane reached up to cup Lisbon's cheek, to bring her a fraction closer. Eyes closed, he pressed his forehead to hers, and then pressed a bit closer to meet her lips once again, a bit more thoroughly.
Now that he had taken this step, he found he was in no hurry to let go, and thankfully Lisbon didn't seem to be either. The shock of the first having faded, this second kiss was tentative, hopeful, and full of promise. (With not a little apprehension thrown in.) They seemed to decide together in that moment, though, to hold on to the hope and promise.
They pulled apart, and went back to their previous attitude of watching the building for their quarry. A quiet, "finally" emanated from the back seat, and the silence became comfortable and content. A few minutes later, Lisbon pulled out her phone and thumbed out a quick text message.
"You didn't just reject Peter by text message, did you?" asked a jovial Jane.
"Do you care?" replied Lisbon, knowing the answer.
"No."
Contemplative smiles reigned in the front seat, a satisfied Cho in the back. The silence was marred only slightly as a page was turned.