Teresa woke as the sun began to set, the unfamiliar weight of Jane's arm across her waist, holding her close as he slept. She closed her eyes, relaxing into him, relishing the feeling of his warmth against her back. She ran her hand along his forearm, stroking softly over his bare skin, sliding her fingers across his palm to twine them together with his.
"You snore." Jane muttered, and Teresa jumped, startled.
"I do not!" she gasped.
"You do." He said, his voice muffled slightly in the pillow. "Little snorts. Like a baby warthog. It's adorable."
"A warthog?!" she cried indignantly, wriggling around to face him.
"An adorable baby one." He grinned widely; eyes still closed. Teresa poked him hard in the ribs. "Oof! I take it back, not adorable. Mean."
"Jane!" She laughed, shoving him as he chuckled at her.
He rolled onto his back with a sigh and turned his head to look at her, his eyes dancing with merriment "Hi"
"Hi yourself." She said dryly. He placed a hand behind his head and reached for her with the other, lacing his fingers with hers again as he gazed up at the ceiling. "How do you feel?" she queried softly.
"Happy." He said, simply, squeezing her hand.
"Me too." She shifted closer to him, laying her head against his shoulder, utterly content. Her stomach chose this tender moment to growl embarrassingly. "Famished, but happy."
Jane snorted, amused. "Mmm, a girl after my own heart." He leaned his head towards her "Room service?"
"It's like you can read my mind." She said with mock credulity. Jane rolled to his side and planted a swift kiss on her mouth.
"You order. A sandwich for me please, and some fries. And tea." He scooted to the end of the bed and stood, stretching, and groaning. "I'm going to take a shower, won't be long."
Teresa lay there for a while, feeling ridiculously pleased with herself but wishing she'd had the forethought to use the bathroom first. Sighing, she pushed herself up and grabbed the phone to order their food.
She tried to busy herself, pottering around the room, moving, and straightening things as the sound of running water made her acutely aware that Jane was, in fact, naked in the shower. She needed a drink, she thought. She grabbed a bottle of scotch from the mini bar and poured it into a glass before settling down on the couch to give herself a stern talking to.
The water stopped, and Jane appeared in the doorway moments later, a towel slung around his hips and one over his head as he dried his hair. "Teresa is there another robe? I can't see one in there." He asked.
Teresa stared, wide eyed, like a lovestruck, horny, teenager, a blush creeping slowly up her face. "Teresa?" he stopped rubbing his head and looked at her "Are you alright? You look a little flushed."
She downed the scotch in one. "I'm fine." She bowed her head, letting her hair fall forward to hide her scarlet face. "The robe's there." She gestured vaguely towards it, fidgeting uncomfortably, and muttering to herself under her breath.
Jane padded closer to her and stopped. "What are you mumbling?" he cocked his head to the side "A Hail Mary?" his incredulous tone did nothing to ease her embarrassment.
"What?! No." she scoffed as he laughed aloud.
"You are!" he crowed. "Are you having impure thoughts Lisbon?" He sounded thoroughly delighted and Teresa wanted to sink through the floor.
"Dammit Jane! Do you have to notice every little thing?" She reached for a cushion and hurled it at him.
Jane ducked and the cushion flew over his head. "What?! There's no need to be embarrassed." He shrugged in typical Jane fashion. "I'm having them right now." His face split into a wide grin. "You're very sexy when you're riled Lisbon."
She reached for another cushion as someone wrapped at the door. "Ah, saved by the bell, or knock as it were." He quipped. "You get that while I change into something more appropriate, to keep your lusty thoughts in check."
He grabbed his bag and headed back to the bathroom, laughing all the harder when a second cushion hit him squarely in the back of the head.
He emerged a few minutes later having donned a spiffy set of pale blue pyjamas. Teresa snorted from the bed, where she had laid out their meal.
"What?" Jane looked down at himself. "You don't like them?" He clambered up beside her.
"They're very…you." She said and bit into her sandwich.
"Well, I thought so." He picked up the cup of tea she had left on the nightstand. "What would you rather I wore?" he asked seductively, his voice low and husky.
She almost choked on her food. "I like the PJ's just fine." She rasped, coughing.
He eyed her knowingly as he drank his tea, a smile playing on his lips. She both loved and hated that he could read her so well. She supposed that was par for the course when you fell in love with your best friend. Oh yeah, and a mentalist.
They ate their sandwiches, chatting amiably about nothing in particular, and cleared away the dishes.
"It's a nice night." Jane said, "Shall we sit outside?"
"Sure, you go out, I'm just going to use the bathroom."
"Do you want a beer?" he called
"That'd be great, thanks." She used the facilities and freshened up, checking her reflection, and re-adjusting her robe, cinching the belt tight.
The air outside was warm and fragrant with the scent of gardenia. Jane was sprawled on the couch, legs outstretched, his bare feet crossed at the ankle, arm stretched out along the back of the cushions. Even in pyjamas he looked the picture of urbanity. She picked up her beer from the table and snuggled in beside him.
"This is nice." Jane murmured, drawing lazy circles along her arm as he looked up at the stars and sipped his beer.
"When do we have to leave for Austin?"
"I told Abbott I'd be back tomorrow." He took another draught from his bottle. "He was… curious."
"What did you say?" Teresa asked, pensively.
Jane shrugged "Meh. The truth. Well, a version of it at least. I did tell him you'd decided not to go to DC, I hope you don't mind."
"He's going to know soon enough anyway; I need to try and get my job back."
"Oh, I don't think that will be a problem."
"Why?" She asked suspiciously. "What did you do?"
"Me? I didn't do anything." He rolled his eyes at her. "So distrustful Lisbon."
"Years of experience. What did you do Jane?"
"Nothing I promise, I merely pointed out the benefits of your presence on our little team, which, I might add, Abbott heartily agreed with. So, you see, completely innocent."
Teresa squinted at him doubtfully. "Hmm."
"I swear." He held up his hands in surrender. "Innocent."
"Alright, I believe you." She grinned and finished her beer. "I'll call him tomorrow. Do you want another one?"
"Err, no, I'm OK. Thank you."
"I'll need to get on to my realtor too." She said, placing her empty bottle on the table. "I hope I can keep the house."
"You could always stay with me if you can't." He raised an eyebrow, looking at her sideways.
"In the airstream? Wouldn't that be a bit of squeeze?"
"Just a thought." He shrugged. "No pressure."
She was touched by the offer, no matter how impractical it might be. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." He reached out to tuck her hair behind her ear, gazing at her intently as he brushed his knuckles gently down her cheek. His thumb skimmed over her lower lip and Teresa's stomach tightened as the air between them thickened and became heavy with longing. Cradling her face in his hand, he slowly lowered his head to kiss her. As his lips touched hers and he slid his tongue into her mouth, desire, denied for so long, ignited between them. She leant into him with a moan, one hand sliding into his hair as the other slipped beneath his top, her fingers splaying across his ribs. Jane tensed and sucked in a breath.
Teresa pulled back to look at him. "Patrick? Is this not OK?" she asked, unsure of his expression.
"It's more than OK." He breathed. "I was just surprised; it's been a while." His face softened "You called me Patrick."
She smiled self-consciously. "Well, it is your name."
"You never call me Patrick." He said, stroking her face.
"Seemed like a good time to start." She whispered as he lowered his head once more and kissed her until she was breathless.
