She was rushing around her apartment trying to get ready. He would be here any minute and she was still not sure if what she was wearing would pass as sexy in his book I can't believe I'm doing this. Why am I doing this? Oh right, because he is so hot, and I really like him. It's not fair, why couldn't I be as forward as he is and just tell him. I am such a chicken.

She was still mentally berating herself when there was a knock at the door. Jane was here (on time for once). She walked over to the door and opened it. "Would you like to come in?" she asked.

He just stood there for a minute staring at her. At last it seemed like he had heard her and said "Uhh, sure." He followed her into the apartment.

"I'm almost ready. I just need to grab my shoes." He still seemed a little dazed—maybe that meant that her outfit was alright for the outing they were going to be going on. It was not something she would normally wear. She had on a pair of black jeans that hugged her hips and thighs and flared out at the knee, which was not totally unusual for her. Maybe a little bit tighter or flared than normal, but that was all. The shirt, on the other hand, was a different matter.

She had bought it on a whim one day while shopping. The fact that she didn't go shopping often was to be noted. She had been particularly bored that day, and the desire to shop had been overwhelming. It was a dark green silk spaghetti strap tank top. It was clingy, but not too much, and was just low cut enough for her to not be uncomfortable. She had to wear her only strapless bra with it, but that hadn't been a problem.

She stood looking in the mirror in her bedroom at her top. I wonder if he's a boob man. I hope not, I would be in some serious trouble. I wonder if his wife was well endowed. Crap, what type of question is that? I can't believe I'm thinking about that. He doesn't even know I like him, and here I am comparing myself to his dead wife. How insensitive am I?

Realizing that she had been in here way too long, she took one more look at her makeup and hair, and grabbed her shoes. Another find on the same shopping trip that had produced the top, they were a pair of strappy pewter colored sandals. The heel on them could almost be called stiletto in style, but she didn't think about that, just the fact that her feet would probably be killing her by the end of the night.

She walked back into the living room and saw him looking at the pictures on her wall. She stood watching him for a minute, waiting for him to notice her. After a minute he said "Is this your family?" He gestured to one of the pictures on the wall.

"Yes, who else would they be?"

"They look like you." He turned and was looking at her now. She was starting to get self-conscious.

"Not much I can do about them looking like me, is there? We were all born that way."

"I'm glad you didn't straighten your hair today. It makes your face look too long when it's straight."

Ok, that was out of left field, he could have told me that before. "Thanks, I think. I was just lazy this morning. I'm glad you like it."

"Those are some heels you're wearing; they make you taller, but not too tall. Most men will still be taller than you. That's important because men like to feel like, well, a man. They like to be taller than the woman they date."

She looked at him for a moment, trying to figure out where he was coming from. Was his advice coming from just being her "teacher," or was there something else to it? As she looked at him she thought, Man is he hot. He's always hot. I've never met a man who can look both dressed up and casual at the same time. How does he do it?

Out loud she said "You didn't change, you're still wearing the same clothes you were wearing earlier today. Why did I need to change?"

"My dear agent Lisbon," he said with a smile. "We are not going out tonight for my benefit. We are going out for yours. I merely suggested that you change into something that more men would find sexually appealing. I personally see nothing wrong with what you wear on a daily basis if all you want to do is be at work. However, when going out, you should try to live a little. Make it seem like you're enjoying yourself and not just there to get drunk after a long day at the office."

As was common after Jane gave one of his little speeches, she was stunned momentarily into silence. What am I supposed to say to that? Maybe I do just want to get drunk. It would take my mind off this ridiculous school girl crush I have for my consultant. She wanted to scream, but settled for glaring at him instead.

He gave a little half smile, half smirk at her expression. "Should we go now? We probably don't want to be out all night; we do have to work in the morning."

"Alright, let's go. Who's driving, you or me?"

"I'll drive of course, if things go well, men should be buying you drinks left and right, we wouldn't want you to drive after that."

"What, you don't plan to drink?"

"Not tonight. Tonight, I'm just going to observe and see how you do so I can give you some pointers." There was that smile again. He was really going to have to stop it if she was going to be able to flirt with anyone tonight.

When they arrived at the bar Lisbon realized that she had been here before, right at she had moved to her apartment. As far as bars go, it was one of the nicer ones. Mostly professionals out for a drink after a long day at work. Not too many really young people and not a lot of "grungy" looking people either.

"So here's the plan," Jane started right away, "Go over to the bar, and sit next to any of the men there. Start talking to him. I'll watch to see how you do with flirting. I'll give you an hour, and then we can regroup and see how you've done. OK?"

"Sure, why not?" Lisbon looked at him like he was crazy, but there was that smile again, and she walked over to the bar. Ok, who do I chose? Mr. Fat and Balding? No, that wouldn't be fair to get his hopes up if I do a good job at this little exercise. How about Mr. I'm too good for you? Nah, no reason to get my hopes up. Too old, too young, too…nope he's perfect. Just the man Jane would expect me to choose. Not too old, not too young. Average height and build. Nice hair, light brown in color, nice eyes: yup he'll do. No use putting it off. Now let's go for it.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jane heading for a table in a corner near the man she had chosen. She was right then, in thinking that he would expect her to choose him. Maybe I should go with Mr. Fat and Balding, keep Jane on his toes. No, that wouldn't be fair to Jane. He had guessed right and she might as well just go along with it.

She sat down at the bar with her back to Jane. The bartender walked up to her and distractedly asked "What will you have?"

"Beer, please, whatever you have in a bottle."

"Coming right up," was his reply before he walked away.

He brought her back a bottle a few minutes later and Lisbon took a long drink. She could feel Jane's eyes on the back of her neck and she knew she had better start doing something. Before she got a chance to say anything however the man sitting next to her turned and said "Hi, my names Paul. I don't think I've seen you in here before. Are you new to the neighborhood?"

Lisbon smiled. Maybe this was going to be easier than she thought. "No, I just don't get the chance to go out much. My name's Teresa by the way."

"Nice to meet you."

They sat in silence for a while. Lisbon could still feel Jane staring at her and resisted the urge to look over her shoulder and glare at him. "So, what kind of work do you do that makes you want to come in here and drown your day in whisky?" she asked, noticing the drink in front of him.

"I'm a highly paid accountant. I work at a very respected firm, make a lot of money, and hate my job." Paul looked at her and smiled. "What is it that's causing you to drown your troubles tonight?"

"I work in law enforcement. It's been pretty slow lately and I got bored."

"I suppose slow is good."

"Yeah, it gives me a chance to catch up on paperwork, but it gives me too much time to think."

"I know how that is."

They smiled at each other and just started talking.

Jane sat at his table watching. He was drinking plain club soda as he had promised Lisbon. However the longer he watched, the more he wished he hadn't been the one to drive. She was doing remarkably well, much better than he had expected. They were talking and there it was! He was making her laugh. Jane noticed that Lisbon kept playing with her hair—an unconscious flirting technique. A woman playing with her hair indicated interest in a man. And there! She touched him on the arm.

Why am I acting like I'm jealous? It's Lisbon for goodness sake. She's my boss. She's Lisbon. She likes somebody at work and it's definately not me. Look at the guy she chose. He's a perfect match or her. She couldn't have done better if I had picked him out for her. He sighed and signaled to the waiter for another club soda.

He noticed that Lisbon was on her second beer and the guy was on his second drink. What was it? He looked closely and decided it was probably a whiskey and water. Jane smirked. Can't even drink straight hard liquor. What type of a man is that? I have got to stop this, he mentally chastised himself. I'm here to help Lisbon, not to hinder her attempts at happiness. He went back to simply staring at them so that he could rate Lisbon's "performance" and give her pointers.

Lisbon was surprised. She was having a really good time and it wasn't nearly as awkward as she thought it was going to be. She smiled at Paul.

"Don't look now," said Paul with a note of amusement in his voice, "but the blond man in the corner has been staring at you since you sat down here."

Lisbon shot a quick glance over her shoulder and saw Jane quickly turn his head, as if he had been caught doing something wrong. "Jane," she cursed under her breath.

"What was that?" Paul asked.

"Nothing, that's just a co-worker of mine, he agreed to come with me tonight and be the designated driver. He doesn't play well with others."

Paul laughed at this and said "I know what you mean; I have a few co-workers like that."

Lisbon glanced down at her watch, and noticed that the hour was almost up. "Speaking of annoying co-workers, I promised him I'd only be here an hour,"

"That's too bad. Will you be coming back here again?"

"If you'll be here, definitely." Lisbon touched him one more time on the arm, threw a few bills on the bar to pay for her drinks, and walked towards Jane.

"Ok, let's go, so you can give me some pointers." To Lisbon, it seemed as if it took Jane a few minutes to realize she was talking to him. "Earth to Jane, are you there? You haven't been drinking, have you?"

"No, just club soda, like I promised." He smiled, but it didn't seem to completely reach his eyes.

I wonder what's gotten in to him. Lisbon wondered. They both walked out of the bar and to his car. Not wanting to call him on it, Lisbon decided to just wait until they got back to her apartment to talk about it.

Authors Note: Thanks as always to Ebony10 for being my beta, please don't forget to review.