Lady in Red
Summary: He knew she was already beautiful, but the dress has cemented the idea in his head and he knows that he won't be able to survive work for the next week, not with the thought of Lisbon dressed like this. J/L
Disclaimer: I don't own The Mentalist or Lady in Red by Chris De Burgh. If you really feel the need to sue me, I will make sure my hoards of penguins attack you. ;)
Spoilers: Somewhere in S2.
Warnings: OOC (in some parts), fluff and unedited.
A/N:
I blame two things for this idea. 1) The plot bunnies and 2) my taste in music. This is also for the February Jello-Forever Challenge: "Love Songs".
* * * * * *
Patrick Jane knows he's not supposed to be there, but he could never resist temptation.
Temptation in the form of a dark haired and green eyed woman,
His eyes follow a woman in a red, mid-thigh dress as he's sitting at the bar—and he doesn't pay much attention to her until she turns to the side, and whatever is resting on the hollow of her neck glitters; he squints his eyes to see that it's in the shape of a cross.
Teresa Lisbon wears a cross.
It doesn't hit him right away that this woman is his temptation nor does it hit him right away that many men are hitting on her. It doesn't even occur to him that this is Teresa Lisbon until he hears her voice, and then he's up in a heartbeat and he's already on his way to the dance floor, where she's dancing with another man with his hands on her hips; her eyes are closed and they're just swaying.
Jane interrupts their dance: tells the guy that his car is being stolen and if he hurries, he might be able to catch whoever's stealing his car; the guy believes it and leaves Lisbon to Jane.
"You're not supposed to be here." She mutters, angrily and he grins.
"I don't recall getting that memo…" He begins, and she stares him down.
"If he gets away, I'm turning you in as the murderer."
"Meh. I'd escape."
"I know you would." She scoffs as he puts his arms around her to sway both of them in some sort of a dance. "What…"
"It looked strange with us just standing there." Jane explains, and she doesn't reply as both of them continue to sway to the music. "You look beautiful tonight." Lisbon's eyebrow raises and he chuckles. "I'm not lying; I didn't even recognize you when you came in."
"We…wait...you're not here to pull one of your stunts are you?" She questions and he shakes his head.
"Not this time, Lisbon." He brings them around in some twisted pattern of a circle, and she refuses to rest her head on his shoulder. "You know, you could rest your head on my shoulder—I really don't bite."
"If you do anything…"
"I know, and the list of threats keeps getting longer and longer for every second I breathe." She stares at him before she brings her head to rest on his shoulder, both of them still swaying when she speaks slowly in his ear. "There's Mark." Jane turns Lisbon's to where he can see the man who they've been seeking out for the past few days. "He's here, Cho." Lisbon whispers into her microphone before she speaks to Jane once more. "Jane, lower your hands." He has his hands on the sides of her abdomen, doesn't want to risk the wrath that is five foot three and known to be able to tackle men twice her size to the ground. "Lower your hands." Jane lowers his hands to her hips, and she brings her head back down to his shoulder— he feels someone tapping at his shoulder and he turns to see that Mark stands behind him, eyes on Lisbon.
"Can I cut in?" Jane wants to tell him no, but the look that Lisbon gives him stops the words from his lips and he nods as Mark takes his place.
* * * * * *
He watches Lisbon leave with Mark, and he wants to follow—but he knows that he's already broken enough rules for one night which means he remains at the bar, drink in hand and he has his eyes on the dance floor but his mind is on Lisbon and her little red number.
He knew she was already beautiful, but the dress has cemented the idea in his head and he knows that he won't be able to survive work for the next week, not with the thought of Lisbon dressed like this; that's why he's grateful (most of the time) that she chooses to wear slacks to work instead of skirts, it prevents his mind from wondering.
"We caught him." Lisbon's voice startles him, as she sank down in the seat next to him. "Cho and Rigsby are with him at this very moment." Jane's eyes flicker to the neon clock on the wall to see that she had been gone for almost twenty minutes. "Come on." Jane stares at her, and then shakes his head.
"My dance with you was interrupted, I want one."
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"Come on Lisbon, you know you want to dance with me…"
"I would rather spend more time in the office doing the mountains of paperwork that your stunts give me, than dance with you again."
"That can be arraigned." He grins and she grimaces. "One dance, and then—I won't pull any stunts for one week."
"One month."
"Aw, Lisbon!" Jane whines. "Don't you like my methods...?"
"No, I don't."
"Fine then," He pouts. "What about two weeks?"
"Two weeks in which you will listen to everything that I say?" Lisbon checks.
"Yes."
"Two weeks in which you won't go off on your half-cocked schemes?"
"Well…when you put it that way…"
"Two weeks then." She interrupts before he can retract the answer and he grins brightly as he takes her hand in his to lead her to the dance floor, the couples seem to part the dance floor to make room for the both of them until they stand in the very center, and he brings her around to face him, she reluctantly brings her arms around his shoulders and he places his hands back on the sides of her abdomen as both sway to the music.
"—Lady in red is dancing with me, cheek to cheek, there's nobody here, it's just you and me, it's where I want to be, but I hardly know this beauty by my side…."
He swirls her around, and she has her head on his shoulder and before he knows it, he's softly singing in her ear.
"I'll never forget the way you look tonight; I never will forget the way you look tonight" he softly sings out "The lady in red, the lady in red, the lady in red…" She brings her head up to stare at him in shock. "My lady in red." He smiles a grand smile, she returns the gesture and both of them suddenly know the last words; he begins to say them when her voice joins his.
"I love you…"