Jane lay on his couch and slept, as always… at least he pretended to be asleep or rather tried to fall asleep. He concentrated on the noises that surrounded him. Agents hurried everywhere and practically ran from A to B to do their job, sometimes he heard light female footsteps, sometimes he heard the heavier male footsteps. Here and there people opened or closed doors until the ping of the elevator attracted his attention as well as the sound of the following footsteps. They sounded strong and determined but still dainty and light so he immediately knew which person was approaching.

"Teresa, nice to see you." Jane said, when the footsteps were closer but he kept his eyes closed.

"You can´t even see me." she answered pretending to be cocky.

"I see with my ears and I have a picture of you in my mind."

"Nevertheless you can´t tell me what my hair looks like today."

"No bun or pony tail cause I can smell your fruity shampoo, very bewitching."

"Okay, but you don´t know what I'm wearing." she tried again.

"Black pants and…" Teresa smiled triumphantly. There was no way he knew which blouse she wore.

"… the green blouse which makes your eyes shine throughout the whole bullpen." he said and Teresa tried to ignore his sweet compliment.

"How did you…?"

"Instinct." he answered and Teresa didn't know why this situation felt so unfamiliar, she knew that he knew everything, so why did she even bother to ask?

"So you took a wild guess… I knew that you are not as smart as everybody thinks you are." Teresa said, trying to cover up her nervousness. Then she left to go to her office, having already forgotten why she even came to Jane. Well, it couldn't be that important if she forgot it that easily.

"Why do you actually excersise so much lately?" he asked once he had managed to ban her lovely scent from his mind, but she was gone already.

"Lisbon?" he asked and opened one eye.

"She went to her office." Grace said and smiled. Seemed like Teresa´s presence distracted him more than she thought.

"I know." he dismissed the issue and got up from the couch to make his way to her.

"Women are sensitive about their weight so be careful!" she warned him before he entered her office.

"What do you want?" Lisbon asked, sitting at her desk and looking at some papers.

"Admiring you. You suddenly have such a special and fresh charisma… I'm not saying that you didn't look enchanting before, but today you beam from the inside out.", he tried to explain but she looked at him emotionless.

"Fresh?" she asked.

"Yes… I don´t know. There is something to you which makes you especially beautiful today."

"Something? Since when do you use such vague expressions?" she asked and hoped that he would define what it was that was so beautiful about her… even if he made her blush.

"I don´t know. Do you exercise more?" he came back to his actual question.

"Yes why?" she screamed on the inside. Finally, someone recognized it… well, not just someone, HE recognized it.

"I could ask you the same. Why would a woman do more workouts than she normally does? Do you have an admirer?… Or do you want somebody to notice you?" he speculated and hoped that there wasn't some kind of admirer who wasn't called Patrick Jane.

"Jane, women can also get in shape for themselves. There isn't always a guy round the corner."

Jane sighed in relief.

"Besides, no guy is worth this torture.", she added and Jane was a little bit disappointed.

"No guy?"

"No guy."

"You would never have to make an effort for me, in my eyes you are beautiful no matter how you look."

Teresa stared at the piece of paper she held in her hand and tried to fight against the blood which made its way to her head so that he wouldn't see her rosy cheeks. He couldn't be serious. She had to stop herself from believing his mind games. He was messing with her all the time so why should he be honest with her now?

"You really beam with energy and…"

"Jane, you should listen to yourself. Are you an esoterist now?",

"I just wanted to compliment you, but if you won´t accept it…" he turned around frustrated and went to leave the room but she grabbed his sleeve and turned him around.

"Jane I really appreciate your compliment and I feel flattered but you distract me from work."

"I do?", he asked, supporting himself with her desk so that he was suddenly a lot closer to her.

"Jane I-I…" she started to stammer, put off by his eyes which gave her a lovely look and his hair, which… she shook her head.

"What I actually wanted to say is… save your compliments for when I'm not busy going through a pile of files."

For a moment silence filled the room and she could feel his breath against her skin.

"Okay." suddenly he obeyed like a tamed lamb and left her office without a single comment. She stared at the door he had just closed. Did that really happen?

For the rest of the day Jane hovered around Lisbon a few times but did not bother her, which wasnt just awkward for her, but the team too who couldn't explain Jane's behaviour.

When Lisbon got home she threw her bag onto her bed and changed into one of her sporty outfits. A pink sports bra and black shorts. Then she pressed ´play´ on her phone and music came out of the boxes she recently installed in her living room. She loved the motivating sound of the Spice Girls and walked over to her cross-trainer. On her way she passed the mirror and stopped. Her abs looked more defined and her skin felt and looked more firm. All in all, she was really happy with herself even though she had never been unhappy with her body. She knew that she had a great figure but her job was tough and she had to be in shape all the time.

The last few month she had spent her evenings in front of the TV, watching "Dance Moms" with various snacks keeping her company and eventually she couldn't just sit on the couch. She was motivated to start exercising again so she pulled out all the training devices she had bought some time ago. She really didn't do it to impress a man… at least not intentionally… but it was a nice side effect to be recognized my men… by Jane.

When she finally was about to step on the cross-trainer, she heard the door bell.

"Coming." she yelled and quickly pulled on a jacket. With bare feet she walked to the door and opened it.

"Jane?" she asked, a bit confused.

"Since I can´t compliment you at work I thought I´d come over and do it privately." he explained and tried not to loose his train of thought while looking at her in her revealing outfit.

"I… eh…"

"Don´t worry, I didn't came here to make you feel uncomfortable. I just thought it would be nice to spend some time with you outside of work." she smiled and let him enter her living room.

"Okay…" Lisbon was still confused. There had to be something … he wouldn't come over just to see her…

"Did I interrupt something?"

"No, don´t worry, I was just about to do my exercise."she answered avoiding his eyes.

"Meh, you are obsessed. Is that even healthy?"

"I'm not obsessed. I just want to improve my body image."

"Teresa, you don´t need to do that. I doubt that you can even improve anything. From head to toe you are just…" again Jane was missing words. On the ride to her house he had known exactly what he wanted to say to her but now there was just a blank space where the words were supposed to be.

Lisbon looked at him filled with tension and curious about how he would end his sentence but she saw in his eyes that he had blancked out.

"Here, just sit down." she tried to alleviate the tension and took his hand to lead him to the kitchen, where he sat down on a bar stool and she gave him a glass of water.

"I… I'm sorry. I'm just speechless."

"Well, in your case that is not a bad thing." she tried to joke.

"I think…"mind blowing" would be the right expression to describe you." yet again Teresa had to fight back the blood which was about to enter her head.

"But you didn't come here just to tell me that, did you?" she hoped he had some other stuff on his mind because if that was the only reason he came over she would have a problem… an emotional problem… a problem which involved feelings… feelings she had actually buried a while ago deep in her soul.
"Well, in the beginning that was the reason I came over." he said and didn't realize the full impact that would have on her. "But… I would be happy if we maybe spent the evening together. I would also be willing to do a little workout with you if that makes you happy."

For a moment Teresa stared at an invisible stain on her wall. Why did he have to be so… "mind blowing"? Her heart beat faster she felt how it was suddenly filled with warmth and happiness.

"I… sure, why not."

"Great.", he said and couldn't stop himself from smiling at her.

To clear her head and escape his irresistible, charming eyes she turned her back to him and walked back into the living room.

"Or would you rather watch a movie?" Teresa suggested because she couldn't imagine Jane exercising with her… even though the thought of Jane in a T-shirt and shorts was very tempting.

"You don´t have to skip your workout because of me. I´d love to join you, a little exercise would do my body good."

"If you say so… Maybe I even have a T-shirt for you. Wait a sec." She walked to her closet and search for the over sized shirt she usually wore to sleep.

"That should fit you and I even found a pair of pants."

"Why do you have these pants?" he asked suspiciously, trying not to sound to jealous.

"That´s… not relevant." she simply answered.

"You said you don´t have an admirer or something like that…"

"Right, but back then I didn't know that I had one." The sparkle in eye Jane's vanished immediately. How could it be that a jumped-up busybody swept his Lisbon off her feet while he didn't make any progress with his compliments.

The rest of the evening was kind of tense, mainly because Jane didn't feet comfortable in clothes which could belong to his rival. Unfortunately he also didn't manage to get any other information on this guy who had apparently entered her life. Teresa concentrated on her movements and used her energy to keep her muscles tensed while doing Yoga excises, sit ups and even while drinking water. Jane really had to pull himself together to keep himself from drooling at the sight of her.

"Phew Lisbon, I think my muscles are gonna ache tomorrow… Actually, they already ache."

"That´s why people workout." she smirked at him and slapped him lightly on the shoulder. Jane loved to be touched by her in any capacity but this slap was a friendly slap. Naturally, he enjoyed their friendship but the desire to evolve their relationship and reach the next level with her had ecome intense over the past few weeks. He didn't want to be her buddy or mate; friend whatever people called it.

"When did you buy all these… instruments of torture?" he asked in order to cover his inner frustration and pointed at the box which contained some elastic bands and 1kg to 3kg dumb-bells.

"You call dumb-bells ´instruments of torture´? Wait till you see what I recently ordered." Teresa winked at him and brushed her slightly messy hair behind her ear.

"And that would be…?"

"You´ll see."

"Is that an invitation to spend another evening with you?" Jane teased her and when he saw smile darting over her lips he knew that she was being flirtatious with him and that he maybe had a chance against his unknown rival.

"Well, since you already asked it would be rude to refuse, wouldn't it?"

"Right." he confirmed and had to restrain himself from taking her face in his hands and kissing her.

"Do you want to take a shower here?" Lisbon offered and secretly hoped that his answer was 'yes'.

"I think I should shower at my place… I don´t have a change of clothes here so… " he tried to find a logical explanation why it wouldn't be a good idea. It´s not that he didn't want to stay, he was afraid, that he couldn't control himself much longer in her presence… dressed in that tight top and short pants. Furthermore, just the thought of her showering and entering the living room again with damp hair and a fruity scent, made him feel dizzy.

"Oh okay, then I'll see you tomorrow."

"I´ll wash the clothes and give them to you tomorrow."

"Don´t worry. Keep it. You probably don´t own sportswear and you´ll need them when you want to stop by again."

"That´s a nice offer but I really don´t feel that comfortable knowing that these clothes belong or belonged to your… well your… admirer." Lisbon smirked. He was jealous and that was damn cute.

"Jane." Lisbon placed her hands on his shoulders. "They belonged to one of my brothers, don't worry." She noticed due to the movement of his shoulders that he was relieved.

"Well…" since he didn't know what else to say and the urge to touch her in some way grew stronger by every second, he stepped closer and pecked her on the cheek.

Before Lisbon could react he already left the house.

TO BE CONTINUED
Big thank you to my beta reader "consulting and insulting"

I´m looking forward to reviews ;)