Fully dedicated to the most awesome Beta ever, JisbonyGoodness36! Thanks so much for taking the chance on me and my story!

Disclaimer: Do you honestly think I'd be a broke university student if the idea was mine?

Author's note at the bottom.

Chapter One

If he had to spend one more day in this damn excuse of a hellhole he was going to go completely and utterly mad. Patrick Jane grimaced, his teacup halfway to his lips, his eyes scanning the room in quick annoyed glares. It was a never-ending nightmare of flashing lights and repeated slot music, the sound of coins falling and bad losers joining in from time to time. He may have enjoyed coming to Vegas when he was younger - heck, he would have loved scamming the constant stream of fools who were practically begging for it – but he was wiser now, acutely aware of what truly happened in places like this and how miserable the occupant were. Maybe not the suckers who came for their shot at the millions, but the seasoned gamblers seemed well aware of how futile their lives had become. Yet they never seemed to possess the ability to stop.

Letting out an annoyed sigh Jane moved his arm the last few inches and sipped at his cooling tea. He'd probably head back to his room soon. It wasn't like there was much else to do. He'd been warned, threatened and blackmailed by Lisbon until he had promised he wouldn't even dream of pulling off some or other scheme. In fact, she'd gone as far as to forbid him from touching any of the casino's property despite the fact that both of them knew that if Jane wanted to disobey he wouldn't hesitate for a second. She said she trusted he knew how to behave – her sarcastic tone clear proof of how highly unlikely she deemed her own statement to be – before threatening to shoot him in the head if he ruined her date with that biggest idiot Jane had had the misfortune to meet in a hell of a long time. He was a friend of Mashburn's, but, while Jane could stand Mashburn if he really tried, there was no force upon this Earth that could make him have even a sliver of patience when it came to Samuel Clark. Rich, arrogant, more than overconfident of his ability to charm the fairer sex, the man had set his sights on Lisbon the second they had arrived a week before. Even finding out that Lisbon was the Agent set with the task of solving the murder of his five year old niece hadn't put a dent in his plans. Neither had Jane's threatening looks.

Jane had been pleased with Lisbon's complaints about the billionaire as they'd worked that week and had almost felt sorry for the man. There was no way, he'd been sure, that Lisbon would ever give the overconfident prick – who Jane refused to acknowledge was a lot like he used to be – the time of day. At least until they'd solved the case and Lisbon had accepted the man's offer of dinner at some fancy place. He'd wanted to shake her, to demand if she had gone utterly and completely insane, but as a small smile had settled on her lips when she told him about the dinner he had swallowed his true feelings, as well as his pride, for once letting her have an opportunity to enjoy herself without him ruining it and, instead, had simply murmured, "That's nice,"

Something had flashed through her green eyes, but before Jane could get a proper look it had been gone. "Yeah, it'll be… nice." Was it just him or had she sounded a little unsure and reluctant when she said that? Jane rolled his eyes. Of course it was just him. Just because he thought the man should be thrown head first out the door didn't mean Lisbon shared the sentiment. Getting hopeful was not going to get him anywhere anytime soon. Lisbon was probably already with him, laughing over a glass of red wine, her eyes sparkling like emeralds in the candlelight, probably clad in that little black dress she'd described to Van Pelt just a few days ago, the dress that probably hugged her small frame to utter perfection, emphasizing her small waist and gorgeous breasts…

He jumped up with a start, his hand gripping his teacup so hard the knuckles had turned white. He had to get out of there, back to his room where he could keep his mind off his boss and what she may or may not be doing with her date. In one quick swing he drained the last of his tea.

First, however, he needed something a heck of a lot stronger.

It's okay Reese, take a deep breath, you can make it through this. Just grin and bear it – oh, god, don't do that! He'll think you're actually interested! Lisbon shuddered at the mere thought. How the hell had she gotten herself into this mess? Nothing the man had done that entire week had shown even an inkling of good manners or class, and yet she had done the one thing her mind had been protesting against vigorously the entire week: she had accepted to join him for dinner.

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

She didn't know why she hadn't told him to go to hell like she'd been itching to from the moment she'd clapped her eyes on him. She'd had the excuse of working on the case of his niece's murder to hide behind at first. She and Jane – or more specially Jane if she was truly being honest with herself – had been specially asked for by some high ranking politician and had been pushed into the first airplane the bureau could find. Economy class of course. She'd expected Jane to be a nuisance the entire way, annoying the airhostesses or pulling tricks on fellow passengers just to show them how superior he was, but instead he'd simply requested a pillow before falling asleep – more on her shoulder that on the pillow. Mr. Insomniac indeed…

She had let him use her as a human pillow simply because she hadn't been able to keep her eyes open for more than a few minutes either, especially after they had had to wait another hour to take off due to some unforeseen error, and when she woke up it was to find the plane descending and herself carefully curled against Jane's side as far as the seat and the arm rest had allowed her. Luckily Jane had still been fast asleep, saving her weeks of embarrassing jokes for the fact that she had blushed bright red when the airhostess had given her the 'aww, you make such a cute couple' smile. She had tried to correct the woman, insist that it really wasn't what it looked like, but she had only been able to open her mouth before she was cut off.

"We've started the decent Madam," her lips were still twisted in that smile, "Would you please wake your husband and let him know?" Before the words had even managed to sink into Lisbon's sleep muddled mind the woman had walked off. When she finally figured out what had been said Lisbon considered yelling after the woman, more than eager to insist that there was a bigger chance of her marrying Prince Harry than Patrick Jane. He was her consultant – he acted more like a partner than a consultant, except when it came to any shape or form of danger and paperwork, but she wasn't the one who chose the job titles – and the probability of a wedding in her future – to anyone not just Jane if she wanted to be honest – was looking bleaker by the day. Nether the less Lisbon had leaned over and shaken Jane into wakefulness. He hadn't been startled by her action in the least nor surprised to find himself still using her as his pillow. He'd simply smiled that heart breaking smile that had probably left many a woman panting after the infuriating man, his eyes studying her in his usual critically calculating way.

"Lisbon," he still sounded groggy with sleep, "How was your nap?"

Her frown had seemed to double in size. "How'd you know I'd been asleep?" Had he been awake the entire time, merely pretending to sleep?

Suddenly one of Jane hand had been on the side of her head, carefully tucking a loose strand of her sleep tussled hair behind one ear. "I have my ways."

Her hands flew up, desperately – and unsuccessfully – trying to flatten hair that she knew through experience was now probably standing in every single possible direction. Jane had just kept smiling, nodding his head at the airhostess as she passed again, that damn smile still on her lips. Lisbon wasn't all too sure how she had done it, but through some miracle she had managed to refrain from murdering both Jane and the woman. Instead she had roughly shoved Jane off of her and ignored him for the rest of the trip.

Or should she say tried. Ignoring Jane, especially when you had made the mistake of letting him know you were purposefully trying to ignore him, was never an easy task. He always went out of his way to win back her attention when she was mad at him. Unfortunately he did so by doing things he explicitly knew he wasn't supposed to do. Normally this included pushing the buttons of the person he knew had committed the murder, entering places he had no right going or pulling stunts that made Lisbon want to wring his neck. Between the airplane and the casino he had managed to flirt with two airhostesses, insult a security guard, told a cab driver he drove like a blind man, and nearly got them thrown out the casino building. Twice.

Things only got worse when she had met the person responsible for bringing them there in the first place. Samuel Clark was probably the biggest pig Lisbon had ever met. He seemed to think that loads of money, what he thought good looks and an i-phone made him God's gift to woman. And Lisbon was his next target. The more she told him to piss off (unfortunately as an officer of the law she couldn't use those exact words) the more he managed to mistake it for 'keep talking and I may just jump you'. She had been this close to slapping him after just five minutes when Jane had interrupted by pulling one of his stunts, thus nearly getting them tossed out a third time. She hadn't even been a tiny bit mad at him because the distraction had gotten things back on track and two minutes later she was finally out of the dreaded man's company. She should have yelled at Jane for his inability to respect any rules. She should have, instead she simply murmured, "Thanks Jane," as the elevator door slid shut.

Jane had smiled his usual Jane smile, proving that he had noticed Lisbon's earlier distress. He had gotten her out Clark's company many more times in the following days, always finding some way to create chaos. She knew he enjoyed it, but was too happy to escape Clark's clutches each time to reprimand him. By the third day Clark was asking her out at least twice daily. No was always the answer, her solving his niece's murder was always the answer. Unfortunately he had caught her off guard just after they had solved the case, with Jane nowhere in sight, and before she could make up another good excuse he had exclaimed, "Good, it's settled then!" before strolling away.

She forgot about it until she had lunch with Jane that afternoon. She had forced a small smile on her face, knowing that some women would find having dinner with a rich guy as something wonderful even if she didn't. She didn't want to seem too much like a freak of nature so she had pretended to be excitedabout the idea – even if she had turned him down about fifteen times. A strange look had appeared in Jane's eyes, but, expert as he was at hiding his feelings, it disappeared instantly. Instead he had simply murmured, "That's nice,"

Lisbon had felt her eyes widen and immediately pulled them back into place. Was he freaking crazy? God, she would rather throw herself into the Hudson River than go on a date with Mr. 'Big-Shot-I've-got-more-money-than-you'll-ever-see-and-an-i-phone-I-have-to-whip-out-every-five-seconds'. Wasn't Jane going to save her from this date? Wait, he didn't honestly think she wanted to go out with Clark? Did he think she was a gold digger just because she had had that one night with Mashburn – not that she was even so sure he knew about Mashburn. Who was she kidding, he knew about Mashburn alright. Jane knew about everything that happened in her life, even the things she desperately tried to hide. Then why wasn't he picking up on this one. Her eyes were practically begging 'please don't let me go' but he looked like he had no problem with the idea. "Yeah, it'll be… nice," About as nice as being mauled by a lion that is. Jane just kept sipping his tea, or gulping if she really looked closely, and seconds later he was up on his feet, fishing a couple of notes from his wallet and tossing them on the table.

"Well I won't keep you, you probably need to get ready sometimesoon. You woman always take hours." She hid her frown of disappointment, and her surprise at him knowing she already had a dress and didn't need to go buy one. "I'll see you tomorrow Lisbon. Enjoy dinner." He had stalked off before she could even reply. And since he wasn't going to be her knight in a three piece suit this time around she was going to have to go through this torture session of a date. She had eyed the bills Jane had left before she stood up. There was enough to cover her cup of coffee as well. At least he still acted like a gentleman some of the time.

A hand on her thigh snapped her back to reality. Her mouth pinched in shock and outrage, her eyes burning in fury as they swung to Clark who was now casually trying to slide his hand under her dress. "You know Teresa," he whispered, "maybe it's time to move this little party upstairs."

Lisbon didn't even stop to think, grabbing her little clutch like handbag and swung it full force in his face. It made a satisfying loud thud as it landed, Clark's cry of pain following her as she got up and marched out of there with her head held high.

"God, you broke my nose!" she heard him whine as she reached the door. Good, she sure as hell hoped so. No man would ever try to feel her up unless she bloody well said he could. Stupid, arrogant pig!

She didn't even notice where she was heading until she had already seated herself on one of the bar stools and ordered a stiff drink. The barman was quick, placing the drink in front of her in seconds. It was downed even quicker. She nodded her head for another before she finally surveyed the scene around her. Typical, gamblers who had lost a little too much money, rich guys trying to pick up some young ladies, young ladies trying to hook said rich men, Jane…

She did a double take. Jane? What on earth was he doing here? He hated alcohol, preferring that awful tea when he had the choice. And knowing Jane's skills he could definitely get the barman to make his some tea. She grabbed her drink as it arrived and walked over to him. He didn't even notice her until she was seated across from him.

Jane looked up, ready to tell whoever it was that right now company was not exactly what he was looking for. He had meant to stop after one drink but they had kept coming and he really hadn't wanted to go upstairs and wonder if Lisbon was spending the night with Clark. He knew Lisbon wasn't into rich guys, but she was lonely and it had been a while since Mashburn so maybe a booty call wasn't all that unlikely. Not that it was any of his business. That was just the problem. Much as Jane tried to ignore it, it was definitely his problem whether Lisbon liked it or not. He blinked rapidly when he saw Lisbon sitting opposite him in the sexy dress he'd been imagining her in the entire night. He blinked again, desperately trying to clear his vision. There was no way on earth that Lisbon was here with him, it just wasn't possible.

"You okay Jane?" she asked before taking a healthy swallow from her drink.

He blinked again. "Are you sure I shouldn't be asking you that? What happed to Clark?"

The corner of her lips flicked upwards briefly. "I may or may not have left him with a broken nose,"

"You sound uncertain,"

She shrugged. "I didn't stick around long enough to find out," Jane felt a full-fledged smile form. "That's what you get for trying to feel me up," The smile instantly disappeared.

"That son of a …" he tried to get back onto his feet, only then realizing how unsteady he was from all the alcohol. Okay, he may just have crossed his drinking limit. Thank the Lord he didn't have to drive anywhere. He was saved from making a fool of himself by Lisbon pushing him back into his seat.

"Slow down Jane, I more than took care of myself." He couldn't argue with that. Instead he chose to study her as she took another gulp. First he had to force his eyes to keep focusing. The dress really was as she had described it to Van Pelt. It was pitch black just as any little black dress should be, the small straps softly hugging her shoulders and dipping to a bust that hinted at a bit of cleavage before tucking in at the waist and fanning out to mid-thigh. No wonder Clark hadn't been able to resist trying to get a feel of what she felt like. From here she looked soft, a word Jane had never before thought to use to describe the Agent.

The second Lisbon finished her drink the waitress was there asking if they wanted more. He really shouldn't. He'd already had more than enough and it wasn't going to take much to push him over the edge.

"Sure," Lisbon handed her both their glasses.

If only she realized what a big mistake that was.

Jane knew what his drinking limit was, knew when to say no, when enough was enough and one more would turn him into something that one could only describe as the old Jane. Why he let that knowledge slide that day he'll never know. Maybe he'd just felt too lonely, maybe Lisbon had just looked too mouth wateringly beautiful in that dress, or maybe he just felt too lazy to care for once in his life. All he knew was that when he and Lisbon left that bar an hour later neither of them were in any frame of mind to make any important decisions, much less the one they ended up making. Jane wasn't exactly sure what had led them in that direction, but alcohol sure as hell played a major part.

After leaving the bar they had exited the hotel for a stroll, joking loudly as they enjoyed the brightly lit night. The night was warm, the gentle breeze smelling of desertas it wafted past. Despite the late hour Jane could still clearly hear cars hurrying down the roads, their paths lighted by headlights and the busy city. New York was supposed to be the city that never slept but Las Vegas seemed to be given it quite a run for its money. The first fifteen minutes passed in comfortable silence, both of them focused more on the luminous lights than each other. Not that Jane ever forgot the she was there, unconsciously turning every few seconds to make sure she hadn't wondered off.

"You know," Lisbon said suddenly, clutching tightly onto his arm for balance, "I've always sworn I'd avoid Vegas like the plague."

Her admission startled him. "Why, aren't you pretty good at gambling? What's to worry about?"

She smiled as she raised one hand and pointed a finger at a wedding chapel almost directly in front of them. "Gambling wasn't the problem, those were. You know those stories you always hear about drunken people being attracted to them like moths to a flame? I've always thought the very idea was utterly ridiculous, I mean, who'd want to be married by an Elvis impersonator? The mere though made me want to break out in cold sweat. But then, there was this part of me that could just picture it. It would be," she turned to him, her emerald eyes glittering with an emotion Jane simply couldn't place at the moment. He couldn't look away, obsessed by the way her eyes seemed to be calling him closer, forcing him to her without her needing to say a word. "Just so easy…"

Jane was only inches away now. "So easy," he whispered in agreement, not all too aware what he was agreeing to, deep down knowing that the worthy things in life were never that easy, but too intoxicated, both by the alcohol and Lisbon, to care anyway. Lisbon lifted her head, turning her face upward at him and suddenly his last bit of self-control (hyphen) snapped. He bent down, softly capturing her lips with his. He felt her surprised reaction, her mouth opening slightly in shock as her body took half a step away from him. He kept his eyes closed, waiting for the slap that came with the disgust and rejection. It never came. Instead she took a full step forward, wrapping her arms around his neck before pulling herself as close to him as she could manage. Jane's eyes snapped open in surprise as her arms tightened, desperately trying to deepen the kiss. He wasted no time, turning Lisbon against the nearest wall so he could pull her flush against him as he finally dared to seek entrance with his tongue. He found no resistance, Lisbon throwing herself into the kiss just as wholeheartedly as he was. Her taste was like a drug to him, consuming him whole, her soft skin calling to him. Unconsciously his hands dipped to the back of her knees, his fingertips sliding softly and deliciously slowly upwards. Only when he reached the back of her thigh did she stop him, her lips wrenching away from his. He was sure she was going to pull away, to leave him there and then, his body screaming for him to have her, his mind too fuelled by alcohol to care.

Instead she leaned back to look him in the eyes, her green eyes reflecting the lust he was sure was in his as well. She smiled, returning for a soft kiss before she whispered three words against his lips, "So easy Jane,"

Self-control, resistance, and intelligence. These were three characteristics that Jane had always prided himself on possessing in high amounts. But in that second, that wonderful heavenly second with Lisbon held in his arms and his brain pretty much turned to mush, he had none of them. Careful suspicious Jane was replaced by a carefree whimsical creature that he'd never seen before. There was no hope for him and if he had been in the right frame of mind he would have known that without even thinking. He had nothing left in life, nothing but Red John and the hunt that consumed his very being. Lisbon was a dream he had no place dreaming, an idea that could never be. He was too broken, too shattered by the event that ruled his life, too consumed to ever let the fight go, too drunk to care…

His lips tweaked upwards, his hands never letting her go. "Let's test that theory, shall we?"

Tomorrow would bring a new light on how absolutely moronically stupid the two of them were being, but it was still today and neither could find a reason to resist, a reason not to give into the temptation that was taboo, the temptation that was Las Vegas.

A/N: Okay, okay, I know there's a lot of people who are 'this' close to murdering me for not updating my other stories. I'm sorry, I've had extreme writer's block the last few months. Please be a little patient and I promise the wait is almost over!

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