Jane watched the beautiful widow dab at her eyes a little too studiously with the tissue clutched in her hand and graciously accept condolences from everyone around her. Her dress was couture, he noted. Makeup expertly applied and undisturbed by tears. No smudges. Not even from the tissue. Was it even making contact with her face?

Jane's mind whirred.

After Van Pelt and Lisbon left the funeral, he turned his attention to Rigsby.

Rigsby was in love with Van Pelt, a fact that daily grew more difficult to ignore.

The poor man had developed a hopeless crush on her from the first day she'd joined the team, but Jane was starting to realize that the big lug was actually falling for her.

Van Pelt, not quite as oblivious as she pretended, was keeping her distance. She had ambition. Didn't want to be sidetracked.

Personally, Jane thought making a little time for love would do her good.

He ambled up to Rigsby once they'd gone. "Have you told her how you feel?"

Rigsby muttered something about coworkers, rules, and vibes.

Jane dismissed this. Love was love, wasn't it? "You gotta go get her, man. You've got to seduce her."

"Seduction's not really my strong suit," Rigsby grumbled.

"Meh." Jane decided to give Rigsby the benefit of his experience and lectured him for a moment on the basic principles of seduction. The poor guy could use all the help he could get. Meanwhile, he kept one eye on the widow. There was an opportunity here he didn't want to miss. Happily, it dovetailed nicely with the problems of Rigsby the lovelorn.

He concluded his lecture. Now it was time for business. Accordingly, he drew Rigsby into a bet that he could seduce any woman in the place.

Rigsby smirked. "Okay. The widow."

Jane smiled to himself. Good old Rigsby. So predictable. Without waiting for Rigsby to think through the implications of what he'd just suggested, he left his side and strode over to the widow. She eyed him warily. He wasn't worried. He intended to make a hell of a first impression.

Xxx

As he'd predicted, Jennifer Sands demanded an in-person apology after his little stunt at the funeral. Conveniently, this demand interrupted Minelli's obligatory dressing down after the incident in question. He never paid much attention to such things, but they were rather tedious to endure, especially when he had more important things to do. On the upside, Lisbon stood by him, looking cute as a button in her plaid shirt as she listened patiently to Minelli's rant. Good old Lisbon. She was always there for him. On the other hand, was it really necessary for her to so placidly accept Minelli's statement that he made her life a living hell? Would it have been that much trouble to register even a token objection? He wasn't that bad.

Remembering his most recent scheme, and the one he was currently plotting, he hastily resolved to buy her a bear claw at the earliest possible convenience. It would probably have to wait until the case was over, but that was all right. Lisbon was more inclined to indulge herself once a case was closed anyway. If he played it right, he might even be able to get her to share it with him.

At Minelli's urging, Jane dutifully went down to San Francisco to meet Mrs. Sands and execute the next step in his plan. After a delightful visit with little Julie Sands and an illuminating conversation with her mother, Jane headed back to the CBI.

Jane listened from his couch while the team discussed the missing ten million dollars and where it might have gotten to.

"Are you sure the widow doesn't know where it is?" Cho asked him.

"No, she's genuinely broke. And genuinely scared." Well, that was true, even if it wasn't exactly for the reasons he was implying. He was pretty sure that what she was scared of was what would happen if she couldn't track down the ten million.

Lisbon looked at him a little askance. "You're not soft on her, are you?"

Jane dismissed this. "No." He paused, watching her face. "Well, maybe a little." He searched her features for evidence of jealousy and was slightly disappointed to find none. He paused, disturbed by his disappointment. Why should he want her to be jealous? Not wanting to examine this too deeply, he moved on. "We need to talk to the lawyer, what's his name."

"We need to talk to him," Lisbon responded. "You need to stay well away."

Well, he'd give her that. Tall dark and slimy would undoubtedly respond better to Lisbon's crisp professionalism and adorable plaid shirt than he would to Jane.

Lisbon paused. "Did you say maybe a little?"

On second thought, there was a trace of jealousy in her voice. Pleased, he settled back on his couch more comfortably to tease her.

The thought crossed his mind that Lisbon could do with some love and affection in her life. She deserved that. He considered this. Perhaps he should take it upon himself to arrange for a little romance in her life. He was a master manipulator—fixing up Lisbon with some nice, good-looking guy was certainly within his power. It shouldn't be hard. Any man with eyes and half a brain would jump at the chance to go out with Lisbon, he was sure. It was just a matter of finding someone who was worthy of her.

Much later, the case solved and the gorgeous, not-so-sincerely-grieving widow safely locked in the back of a squad car, Jane slipped a hundred dollars into Rigsby's pocket. He watched him watch Van Pelt and advised him to go for it. Rigsby was hopeless, but he was a good man. He deserved to find love. And he would treat Van Pelt like a queen, so it would be good for her, too. He, Jane, might not be capable of such emotions anymore, but that didn't mean he wished his solitary existence on the other people in his life. Unlike him, these were good people. They deserved happiness.

He took the middle seat in the Suburban on the way back to Sacramento, next to Grace and behind Cho, riding shotgun. Lisbon, of course, was driving. Rigsby was relegated to the back. The better to stare at the back of Van Pelt's neck, Jane supposed. Apparently, Rigsby wasn't quite ready to take Jane's advice. Jane wasn't too worried, though. It was only a matter of time before he cracked.

Jane's eyes came to rest on Lisbon, her gaze fixed steadily on the road, her small, delicate hands resting on the steering wheel in a sure, confident grip.

Not that delicate, he reminded himself, remembering the sight of a particularly unfortunate suspect who had been on the receiving end of her impressively powerful right hook recently. The guy had gone down like a ton of bricks.

He studied her profile. She really was lovely. Objectively speaking, that is. He wondered that there wasn't a line of guys queuing up outside her office offering anything they could for a chance to seduce her.

Perhaps they were intimidated by her? It was true she had a somewhat prickly exterior, but she was so soft and warm on the inside. Compassionate. Giving. How could people not see that?

He remembered his resolution to help Lisbon find romance in her life and turned his mind to the problem of finding someone worthy of her affections.

He ran through a list of her acquaintances in his head, looking for a suitable candidate. Saunders from Organized Crime might do, he thought. He'd seen the covert glances the man sent at Lisbon when he thought no one was looking. Saunders was a decent guy. Kind, competent. He frowned. A bit tall, though.

Maybe Velasquez, from the tactical unit, was a better choice. Lisbon liked him—he'd heard them discussing baseball once. But Velasquez was awfully, well…coppish. By the book. A rigid thinker. Perhaps not the best match for Lisbon, after all. Lisbon needed someone who would appreciate the full range of her incredibly fine mind. Someone who could draw out her wild side a little. Her innate daring, her creativity.

He continued to flip through his mental Rolodex, confident that he could come up with at least one man at the CBI who had the potential be the kind of man who deserved her.

Not someone too tall, though. Or too coppish.