AN: Wow, thank you from the bottom of my heart for the reviews for last chapter. They were wonderful and I love reading each one. Couple little notes here:
Its one thing to write a one shot and not think too hard about it, it's another thing to start writing a more…robust fic and realize the timeline you set in the original one-shot is a little…unrealistic. So in an effort to be able to fit all the "dates" in (including two out of state!), I stretched the timeline a bit and updated the first chapter. Its now 8 months since she got off the plane, and they sleep together/the ring disappears 7 weeks after.
Also, I apologize for taking so long, this chapter vexed me. I had all kinds of trouble with it, but I hope it came out all right in the end. These are seriously the fluffiest fluff I think I have ever written, so next chapter I think will add a little drama, if that's ok with everyone.
Chapter 3: Carmen
Patrick Jane did nothing by half measures, she knew that…really. And yet, it was still a surprise when he arrived to pick her up in a chauffeured car.
After some reluctance on her part, he had convinced her to accompany him to the opera. Generally this was not something she would be interested in. She liked sports and action movies and reading. Not…operas. But it was an excuse to dress up again and spend time with Jane, so she'd agreed. Their dinner (and dancing) date had been nearly a week ago, and since then they'd barely had a chance to see each other. Yes, part of it was work, but part of it was also Jane insisting that they not jump into things too quickly. So he hadn't come over outside work hours, but they had kept up a steady stream of phone calls and texts when not on FBI time.
It was starting to drive her crazy – they'd known each other for over a decade, seen the worst of each other (and in some cases the best), admitted they were in love with each other for Gods sake - and yet, he had pulled their relationship back to what she could only describe as "the dating phase".
She typically hated "the dating phase", it was awkward and weird and just…no. But with Jane, it was comfortable and fun and…sweet. She was seeing a side of Jane she hadn't even known existed. So she slipped on the expensive green silk floor length dress, checked herself in the mirror and applied a bit of lipstick. The dress was something she splurged on, it hugged all the right places with barely there spaghetti straps criss crossing across a back that dipped dangerously low (for her taste), and had a slit up the side that came to mid thigh.
As she was tossing her keys and cell phone into her purse the doorbell rang and Lisbon gave herself one more glance in the mirror before walking to the front door and opening it.
Expecting Jane, she startled a bit when instead found a tall, older man standing on her porch.
"Yes?" she asked politely all the while wondering how fast she could get to her gun in the locked kitchen drawer.
"Teresa Lisbon?"
Ok, he knew her name. "That's me."
"Hello ma'am, my name is Anthony, Mr. Jane is waiting for you." With that he took several steps back, allowing her to step out a bit to see the black car with tinted windows in her driveway.
Of course he did.
"Yeah, ok," she said with a small smile and stepped out of the house, locking it behind her.
The driver opened the back door for her and she slid in, none too surprised to see the man himself sitting there wearing a rather smug look on his face - a smug look and a tux. If Lisbon thought he looked good in three piece suits, it was nothing compared to pulse increasing way he looked in a tux.
"Hello, Teresa. You look lovely."
"Thanks," she replied and looked him up and down again. "The tux is a good look for you, a really good look."
He smiled and leaned over, kissing her gently on the lips – it took all her willpower not to intensify the kiss and pull him into her. Instead she settled for kissing him back for a little longer before pulling away.
"I'm sorry we didn't get to have dinner also, I hope you ate?" he asked. They had dinner reservations before the opera but work had run long, they'd barely had time to get home, showered and dressed to get to the opera house in Houston. With the long drive they were cutting it close, hopefully traffic cooperated.
Her eyes looked at him as if he was dinner and Jane squirmed a little. "I did, thank you. You?"
"Yes."
Smoothly the driver got on 290 toward their destination and a dozen or so miles passed in silence. Then his hand was suddenly at her bare shoulder, fingers just skimming the skin on top. "Thank you for accompanying me. I know the opera sounds painfully dull, but you might find you enjoy it."
"You're welcome; I'm keeping an open mind."
"You do look…beautiful, Lisbon. Heads will certainly turn." Before she could reply he had slid across the seat, pressing his torso pressed against her side, his lips replacing his fingers on the tops of her shoulder, kissing across the skin slowly. His other hand landed obscenely high on the thigh that was exposed by the slit in the dress. Instantly heat settled low in her belly and Lisbon held back a moan.
"Jane…" she warned in an unsteady voice.
One last kiss was dropped on her shoulder before he pulled away. "Yes?"
She turned her head to look at him; he was wearing that frequently infuriating, but currently smoldering grin on his face.
"Is this why you got a car service?" she asked lightly, trying to chase away some of the heavy, desire laden air that surrounded them.
He grinned wickedly and for a brief moment she debated asking the driver to turn around. "No, I did it in case you drank too much again. Well, and it's a long drive."
"I wasn't drunk."
"You certainly weren't sober."
That was for sure. Jane had been right; at about 5 am with her stomach rolling Lisbon seriously regretted the last martini. Thankfully she hadn't thrown up (but briefly thought it would have been better if she did) and had spent most of Saturday curled up on her couch reading and rehydrating.
"Whatever," she mumbled, annoyed.
Again they lapsed into silence, his hand grasping hers gently, his thumb moving hypnotically over her knuckles.
When they arrived at the Wortham Theater Center, Anthony got out quickly, opening Lisbon's door and holding out a hand.
"Thank you," she said as she took the proffered hand, which made getting out of the car that much easier.
He merely nodded and waited until Jane had stepped out as well before closing the door behind them.
Jane clapped the man on the shoulder. "See you in a couple hours, Anthony."
"Yes, sir. If you need me earlier, just call."
"I certainly will, thank you."
The other man got back into the car and pulled away, leaving them standing directly in front of the theater, which was a modern looking beige building with a large glass arch at the front and circular windows near the top.
It was lovely, and Lisbon caught herself admiring the architecture , at least until Jane's hand landed on her lower back and pressed lightly, urging her to follow the small crowd into the theatre. When his hand had landed on the skin exposed by the back of the dress, a shiver had run up her spine and Lisbon suddenly wasn't all that interested in the opera.
After the first act she was just barely keeping track of what was going on. As far as she could tell the titular woman, Carmen, was a master manipulator, who had her sights on a young solider that she pushed and pulled around for her own…amusement?
Yeah, operas were definitely not her thing and at the intermission she'd been forced to ask Jane to recap what had happened so far. He'd smiled in amusement and gave her a brief overview.
"Are you at least enjoying yourself a little?" he asked and she could see just a touch of worry behind his eyes.
"The singing is wonderful, and the atmosphere is lovely-"
"But the opera isn't your thing?"
"Not really."
"Would you like to go home?" he asked.
"No," she responded firmly. If there was something Lisbon didn't do, that was quit something halfway through, even if that something was an opera performance. And besides, this was a date so she wasn't going to bail, not on Jane. "No, I want to see the rest."
"Ok," he responded and leaned over, kissing her gently. His heart swelled, she really would do anything for him – even sit through an opera she clearly found not…stimulating. For not the first (or last) time, Jane wondered how he had become so lucky to have her in his life.
Just then the lights dimmed and a chime sounded, indicating the second half would start shortly.
After the third act, Lisbon just gave up, she had tried to follow along but always felt like she was a step behind or missing something. So instead she entertained herself with watching him.
Jane was completely enraptured with the action on stage, his eyes constantly darting from performer to performer, taking in every movement, every word. It truly was something to behold.
Reaching out, she covered his hand that was on the armrest between them, lacing her fingers with his. He was so engrossed Lisbon wasn't sure he even noticed.
Once the opera ended (with the solider killing Carmen out of jealousy – that part had her attention), they followed the crowd out of the doors, Anthony was waiting at the pick-up area for them, the back door already open. Jane guided her into the car and slid in behind her, holding her hand once again.
"I'm starving," he said.
"Me too actually," she replied. And she was, the dinner she had managed to scarf down was a couple pieces of toast and a banana, as the fourth act had started her stomach had started quietly grumbling.
Then he grinned and leaned forward, giving instructions to Anthony who nodded and started the car, taking them in the opposite direction of the highway.
Before she could even ask he said, "Eggs. We need eggs."
"Clearly," she said with a barely restrained smirk.
"There's a great diner a couple blocks away."
"We're a little overdressed for a diner don't you think?"
"So?"
She grinned and shook her head; Jane rarely cared what others thought. "Ok then."
It wasn't even ten minutes later and they were walking into a small diner. Given the late hour, there were few patrons, most of whom had only given them a short glance before going back to their own meals.
Their waitress appeared immediately and smiled at their appearance before taking their orders (scrambled eggs for him, omelet for her) and disappearing again.
"Did you enjoy any of it?" Jane asked as his tea and her coffee arrived.
"Yes."
"Which part? When Carmen seduced poor Jose into releasing her only so she could escape or the end he killed her out of rage and jealousy?"
The parallels between Carmen and Jose and Jane's relationship with Lorelei were not lost on Lisbon, but she chose to ignore it, they had moved past that long ago. It had just struck her as odd that this was the opera he chose to take her to – one about a manipulative woman who seduced to get what she wanted, not caring whose lives she destroyed or hearts she broke, caring only about herself and using those around her as she saw fit. And in the end her actions had killed her.
Lisbon shook the thought away and answered, "I enjoyed watching you."
"Well that must have been intensely boring."
"Not at all."
They stared at each other a moment, the tension gathering between them like a storm, the air was heavy again. He reached out and grasped her hand lightly; thumb brushing across her wrist gently, soothingly.
The spell was broken when the waitress returned with their meals.
Quietly they dug into the food; Lisbon had polished off over half of the meat stuffed omelet before another word was spoken.
"Next time we will do something you enjoy," he said and took a bite of perfectly cooked eggs. He'd found this place on their last trip to Houston, while Lisbon was on her "date" with Ardiles he had sulked here.
"Like what?"
While chewing his last bite of egg Lisbon saw something flitter behind his eyes, he had an idea. "I'll think of something."
Lisbon was pretty sure he already had so she didn't bother with suggestions.
The way back to Austin was made in comfortable silence, with Jane holding her hand the entire ride, his fingers alternately stroking her knuckles and wrist.
When they arrived back at her house, he walked her to the door and she smiled almost shyly at him. "Come in? Maybe…stay?"
"Hm…this feels familiar," he said and pushed his fingers through the loose curls of her hair, the strands were like silk against his skin.
"So say yes this time and it won't be."
Suddenly he leaned in and kissed her hard, his hands framing her face, before pulling away and shaking his head. "Not yet."
The look on her face was clearly frustration. "Why not, Jane? Haven't we waited long enough?"
"We have, love, we have. But it's a big change, you and me, and jumping into sleeping together would be a mistake."
"I don't see-"
Then he leaned in, placing his lips against her ear, breath fanning her hair, she shivered involuntarily. "Besides, just think how much better it will be if we wait a little longer."
He heard the hitch in her breath and felt her heartbeat start to race at the words and pulled back.
"I…" she started but was cut off by his lips on hers again.
"Good night Teresa."
"Night," she replied after a moment and he headed towards the car, ensuring she was in the house before getting in.
Grinning, Jane directed Anthony to drop him off at the FBI field office; he had some research to do.
Hopefully a week for the next one.
