Mr. Bad Guy
The car stopped in front of her apartment. Her date promptly got out and opened the door on the passenger side.
"Thank you".
As she fumbled about in her handbag looking for the key, Nick casually asked that question.
"May I come in?"
Lisbon stared at him for a full minute. She was pretty sure she knew how this was going to end up. And – much to her surprise – she found the prospect not exactly thrilling.
"I'm tired. Maybe another night, okay?"
Nick seemed to understand the real meaning hidden behind her polite words. "Okay".
He placed a goodnight kiss on her cheek and simply drove away.
Finally collapsing on the sofa, Lisbon vaguely wondered what was wrong with her. Any other sane woman wouldn't have missed her chance – especially with a guy as nice as Nick.
Damn, he was all a girl could ask for. A thoughtful, charming, reliable man… almost perfect, as a matter of fact.
Well, maybe that was point. He was too perfect. And perfection was… boring, in a way. Especially in the long run.
She couldn't start a relationship with someone just because she liked him. There should be more to it than this. There really should be.
With a sigh she stood up and headed towards the stairs. She frowned when she heard the doorbell ringing. It'd better not be Nick again.
"You?", she marveled at the unexpected visitor. "What are you doing here?"
"May I come in?"
Her frown deepened as she noticed he had used the same words as Nick. However, this time she just stepped aside and let him in.
"Are you snooping on me, by any chance?"
"You hurt me, Lisbon. You know I'd never do such a thing".
"Am I supposed to buy this?", she retorted dryly.
Jane gave her a noncommittal shrug. "Only if you wish to".
"I just hope you wouldn't have gone as far as prying from my window if Nick and I… well, you know".
"I'm not a peeping Tom, I can assure you. I knew it wasn't going to work anyway".
"Oh, really? How could you be so sure of that? I myself couldn't make up my mind, as a matter of fact".
"You did though. Even if it was just in the nick of time, I'll give you this".
"Very funny, Jane. Do you expect me to laugh?"
"Meh, I thought you liked jokes. You're such a spoilsport sometimes, you know?"
She turned to face him. "Jane, what do you want exactly?"
"It occurred to me that you needed someone who could explain your dislike of nice guys".
"I actually like nice guys, for your information".
"No, you don't. You happen to be attracted to scoundrels – don't even try to deny it".
"Really?"
"Really. Think about Mashburn… and even Bosco, if you're honest with yourself. What drew your attention to him was the fact that he didn't always go by the book. Did he?"
"You came to my apartment in order to give me a lecture on my love life?", she countered in disbelief.
Jane suddenly closed the distance between them. "Just wanted to point out the fact that I'm a scoundrel too – if you didn't happen to notice".
"So what?", she whispered huskily – a mere inch between their lips.
"Well, that's entirely up to you".
This, this was the chemistry she had missed with Nick. Jane was all that Nick wasn't – risky, challenging, even dangerous maybe.
Maybe he was right. Maybe she really had a thing for bad guys.
So be it, she mentally added – as she finally allowed herself to taste his lips for the first time.