Thanks again for the reviews, particularly those I couldn't thank individually. I'm glad you guys are having as much fun with the fluff as I am. Here's the (slightly longer) penultimate chapter.
Saturday Evening
The dreaded mingling started once the reception got going. With Jane in charge, though, Lisbon found that it was not as formidable as she had anticipated and once again found that she was rather enjoying herself.
Jane was at his most charming and had their fellow-guests eating out of his hand. Faithful to his promise, he stayed a few inches from Lisbon's side at all times, often with his hand hovering at the small of her (tantalisingly uncovered) back, clearly marking her as his own.
He thought it was rather funny that she had thought she had to make him promise to stay with her. The truth was that wild horses couldn't have dragged him away. He was fully in agreement with their chauffeur – he needed to make his proprietary claim over her very clear to the other men in the room or he stood a very real chance that one of them (her protests to the contrary notwithstanding) might lure her away. He was very aware of the disquieting fact that he wasn't Lisbon's type and that there were innumerable men in the room who were. Despite what he'd said earlier, he wouldn't be at all happy if she went off with someone else. She was his date. His very beautiful, very desirable date. And he didn't plan to share her with anyone.
Mrs White came fluttering over to them as soon as she had a chance, and welcomed Jane like he was her long-lost son. Jane lapped it up happily. Lisbon tried to hide her amusement and allowed herself to also be swept into a welcoming embrace.
"So glad you could come," Mrs White was saying excitedly. "And such a long trip. We're all still so grateful for what you did for our son. You positively rescued us from the brink."
Lisbon found Mrs White's conversation a little exhausting, but since the net of gratitude had been thrown wide enough to encompass her too, she tried to arrange her features into the right expression to receive overflowing thanks. Until, that is, they decided (quite of their own accord) to register extreme consternation instead.
Mrs White had cheerfully commented that she had had no idea the last time she saw them that they were a couple, but that she was simply delighted for them both. It was simply wonderful, wasn't it, how the human heart was able to heal, and wasn't love the most marvellous thing in the world?
Before either of them could say anything to correct this alarming assumption, someone came and whisked Mrs White away from them. The mother of the bride was naturally much in demand.
Lisbon turned on Jane.
"Jane, you need to fix this! The last thing I need is for word to get around that you and I are dating!"
Jane drew himself up a little.
"Would that be such a terrible thing? And don't you think you're over-reacting a bit? Who here is going to care whether we're dating or not?" Aside from all the hungry-looking men who were circling Lisbon at a discreet distance, of course. And Jane certainly hoped they would think she was his, since he was sending out very clear signals to that effect to all the males in the area. He wasn't about to tell Lisbon that, though. What women didn't know couldn't cause international incidents.
Lisbon was not mollified by Jane's cavalier attitude to something she thought was a Very Big Deal. She glowered at him, so he hurried to add, "It's an understandable mistake for people to make, but equally easy to fix. We'll simply set the record straight, okay?"
Lisbon nodded, but the little frown-line between her eyes did not completely disappear. Jane sighed.
"Don't let this ruin our fun, Lisbon. Here," he grabbed a couple of glasses of champagne from a passing waiter, "have something to drink and forget about Mrs White and her overly romantic view of the world."
Their conversation was interrupted by a request that all the guests find their seats for the speeches and dinner. Lisbon's mood soon greatly improved when she discovered how good the food was. She barely even noticed the speeches because she was too busy trying to work out what her appetiser was and how it was possible for something to taste so wonderful.
"Enjoying your aphrodisiac, Lisbon?" Jane asked with a smirk.
"Absolutely!" Lisbon replied, ignoring his tone.
Jane was people-watching. He'd been doing it covertly all evening, but the socialising had necessarily narrowed his scope. Now that he had a bit of leisure to sit and observe everyone in the room, he was making the most of it.
"You know," Lisbon said to him, "If you try to observe, analyse and cold read every person in the room simultaneously, there's a very good chance your head will explode. Which, since it would probably ruin both my dress and this amazing dinner, would be upsetting."
"Well, thank you for your heart-felt concern, Lisbon," he said, turning to look at her. "I could focus all of my attention on you, if you'd prefer."
"And force you to miss the lady in the red dress making eyes at the gentleman across the room who most certainly isn't her husband? I wouldn't do that to you, Jane."
Jane glanced involuntarily in the direction of the woman in the red dress and Lisbon grinned. The lady in question wasn't making eyes at anyone; she was far too interested in her meal to bother about men. Jane looked reproachfully at Lisbon.
"Feeding me misinformation, Lisbon? That's not very nice."
"Irritating, isn't it? Maybe you'll remember that the next time you feel the urge to do it to me."
Since the incident with Mrs White earlier, Jane had decided that the safest tactic with Lisbon was to ply her with alcohol. A tipsy Lisbon was far less likely to stress out about unimportant things than a nervously sober Lisbon. To this end he kept topping up her wine-glass whenever she wasn't paying attention, as well as procuring her several glasses of champagne, which he knew she had a weakness for. By the time the dancing started some time later, she was far too mellow to protest.
Jane liked dancing with Lisbon at any time, but dancing with a tipsy Lisbon in a dress that gave him unprecedented access to her bare skin was on a whole different level of enjoyment. For a start, she melted into him quite willingly, her rigid set of boundaries greatly relaxed by the alcohol. Nor did she protest when his hands touched the bare skin of her back, other than to tell him to please not tickle her. Added to that, Tipsy Lisbon was fun. She let him spin her about and do silly dance moves that made them both laugh, and she seemed to like it as much as he did when he pulled her in close for the slow-dance.
In fact, all in all, Tipsy Lisbon was rather going to Jane's head. He started to feel a little tipsy himself, although he knew he hadn't drunk enough for the feeling to have been caused by alcohol.
Without intending to, he abandoned his attempt to keep an eye on the other party-goers and focussed all his attention on Lisbon. If he'd stopped to think about it, he would have been annoyed with himself for abandoning his post just when the average alcohol intake in the room had reached the point where people were beginning to do rash things and give away their secrets. Jane, however, had more important things on his mind.
He was thinking about how silky Lisbon's skin was. He was thinking about how wonderful her dark hair looked when she leant forward and it slipped over her shoulder in a thick tumble of soft curls. He was noticing with surprise that Lisbon's chuckle was eliciting an intense sexual response in parts of his body that had lain dormant for years. He stopped thinking entirely when she turned her green gaze on him and smiled.
Another sudden interruption brought a rather dazed Jane back to himself. The bride wanted to throw her bouquet and she was asking all the single women to gather on the dance floor. Lisbon gave Jane a look that could have melted steel, so he wisely slipped her from the dance floor. They weren't quite quick enough, however, and a bossy-looking matron noticed them and headed in their direction with the evident intention of harassing Lisbon.
"Quick," Jane said to Lisbon, "put this on."
He slipped off his wedding ring and offered it to a startled Lisbon. When he saw that she was going to protest, Jane took her left hand and slipped his ring onto it himself. Just as the old harridan arrived, Jane ostentatiously took Lisbon's left hand (ring clearly displayed) and said, "Shall we go and get a drink, my dear?" He then swept her away out of danger.
"You didn't need to do that, Jane," Lisbon said softly to him.
"Yes, I suppose it probably wasn't the best way to set the record straight," he said, grinning at her.
This reminded them both of Mrs White, and Lisbon said what they were both thinking.
"We'd better make ourselves scarce in case Mrs White takes it into her head to come looking for you for the garter-throwing part of the proceedings."
"Perhaps we should take that bathroom break you promised me," Jane suggested. "Honestly, Lisbon, it's not normal the way you hold your liquids."
There was a moment of startled silence from Lisbon, but then her eyes met Jane's and they both dissolved into laughter. They made their escape to the bathrooms still giggling like a couple of teenagers (though they would have both categorically denied any suggestion that either of them had ever giggled in their lives, had the subject ever come up).
"We should probably hide out for about ten minutes, just to be safe," Jane said.
It was only when they were in their separate hideouts that they both remembered that Lisbon was still wearing Jane's ring.
Lisbon noticed it when she was washing her hands. She knew she ought to take it off, but there was something so extraordinary about the fact that Jane had put his precious ring on her finger that she was reluctant to remove it. She spent most of her allotted ten minutes of hiding gently spinning the ring round and round on her finger.
Jane noticed the missing ring almost as soon as he went into the bathroom. It made him pause for a moment, as though he'd suddenly lost his bearings, but then he remembered that the ring was on Lisbon's finger, and he knew that there was no safer place in the world that he could have chosen to put it. He trusted Lisbon implicitly. She had held his life in her hands many times in the past and she had always kept him safe. He knew she would continue to do so.
When they met up again, Lisbon shyly took off the ring and returned it to Jane. He had fully intended to put it straight back on, but when the moment came he suddenly decided to slip it into his pocket instead. Neither of them commented on this unexpected move, but the atmosphere between them became suddenly charged with a confusing mix of suppressed excitement and questioning uncertainty.
When they made their way back into the reception, they discovered that the bridal party was getting ready to leave. Many of the guests were clearly intending to stay on and enjoy the party without them, but Jane and Lisbon both agreed (without quite looking each other in the eye) that they were ready to call it a night.
Jane managed to track down and say goodbye to Mrs White before they left. He knew Lisbon expected him to correct Mrs White's assumption that the two of them were dating, but since he suddenly wasn't entirely sure that she was wrong about that, he (slightly guiltily) refrained from saying anything.
"Setting the record straight isn't really your strong suit, is it?" Lisbon commented mildly as they made their way out to the waiting limo, but he could tell she didn't really care. Tipsy Lisbon evidently still had the upper hand.
Or perhaps, Jane thought hopefully, she just had other (more Jane-friendly) things on her mind...
TBC
