Chapter 3

Lisbon awoke slowly, the divine smell of coffee and something else equally sinful tickling her nose. Then her eyes snapped open, wondering what kind of burglar prepared breakfast for his victims, as she hadn't set the coffeemaker the night before. She was halfway out of bed and reaching for her Glock (always handy in her nightstand) before the events of the previous day returned to her. Jane.

After a face wash and teeth-brushing, Lisbon padded down the hall to the kitchen, clad again in the tank and shorts from the previous night. Patrick Jane bustled about her small kitchen, looking for all the world like he owned the place. At the sight of her, he did a swift double take, then grabbed a mug and filled it with coffee. Lisbon smiled.

"I look that bad? "

"Not at all, just in need of a pick-me-up. I hope you don't mind, I poked around until I found stuff for breakfast. The least I could do, I figured. You like blueberry waffles?"

Lisbon nodded and took a seat at the table. Scattered across the opposite side were the 7 pictures that he had shown her the night before…the 7 people he had pared his Red John suspect list down to. She looked back at the blond man who currently had his back to her, noticing the dark shadows under his eyes when he turned to put a plate in front of her.

"Didn't you get any sleep?"

"A little. I'm used to it."

"I'm not. You look terrible, Jane."

"Thank you very much, Teresa. I love you, too."

"You know I didn't mean it like that. I'm worried about you is all."

Jane smiled at her. Her forehead was all scrunched up again. "I know. I'll be fine, honest. Now, eat your breakfast." Jane grabbed his teacup and plate and sat across from her.

Lisbon took a bite of waffle. "Oh, wow. These are awesome. I didn't know you could cook."

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me, Teresa." Jane's tired face folded into a teasing grin.

"A fact that I'm becoming more aware of by the minute." Lisbon mopped up the last of the syrup on her plate. "So what would you like to do today?"

"Don't let me inconvenience you, Teresa. I'll just head back to either CBI or my room."

"Jane…" Jane shook his head at her.

"I think if I can call you Teresa, you should at least be able to call me Patrick."

"OK, Patrick, I'm not booting you out. I didn't have any plans besides laundry and a TV marathon. If you're into the whole domestic-bliss thing, hang around."

"What's on?" Lisbon blushed, which only served to intrigue Jane.

"Promise not to laugh."

"I promise. What are you planning to watch?"

"The Borgias. They made a series about the family, but I have to DVR it. Today was my day to play catch-up."

"Suits me. Can I beg a load of laundry? It'll save me a trip to the Laundromat."

"You don't even have to ask. Of course you can. You should have said something sooner, Patrick. It's senseless for you to go to a Laundromat. You had to have known I wouldn't care."

"I think it's fairly apparent at this point that I'm not in the habit of asking for anything from anyone."

"Well, you should try it more often. You might be pleasantly surprised."

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"Are you sure I can't help you?" Jane inquired after watching Lisbon stagger into the living room, carrying a pile of towels so huge her head wasn't visible over the top. "How long has it been between loads?"

Lisbon dumped the pile on the sofa with a grunt, "None of your business, nosy."

Jane grinned at her. "Had to wash because there were no more towels left, didn't you?"

"Not in the whole blasted house." Lisbon blew a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail off her face. "Shall we get this party started?"

"Fire away. Am I going to be lost, not starting from the beginning?"

"Nah. Long story short, Rodrigo Borgia gets himself elected Pope Alexander VI, names his son a Cardinal, marries his daughter off to a jackass, and manages to get Rome on the brink of Holy War. The daughter…"

"Wait, the Borgias? As in Lucrezia?" Jane shook his head at Lisbon's nod. "Say no more, I've read about them."

"All right. Here we go." Lisbon hit the PLAY button on the remote and grabbed a towel, beginning to fold. Jane moved to the other side of the pile, following suit after he determined which way she wanted them folded. Midway through the episode, Jane snorted. Lisbon looked over at him in question.

"What?"

"What a fool. She's practically offering it to him on a silver plate and he's all hung up on her brother moving a pushpin? He's an idiot."

"Well, she and Cesare are pretty tight, maybe he's jealous."

"Of her brother?"

Twenty minutes later, both of them were staring at the screen, mouths hung open, eyes wide. After the closing credits, Lisbon slowly turned, meeting Jane's equally stunned gaze.

"Erm-ahem…was THAT in the book you read?"

Jane cleared his throat. "Not exactly."

Lisbon stared at her lap. "I had no idea or I never would have…I hope you're not uncomfortable, Patrick. I…"

"Meh. Not really. Maybe kind of turned on, sick as it sounds, but it's just a TV show, Teresa. I'm a big boy."

"And I'm a big girl, but still, he's her brother and they just…"

"It happened a lot back then, base on everything I've ever read, something about keeping bloodlines pure. Although, in this case, I think it was just unbridled lust." Jane grinned.

Lisbon rose to put the folded laundry away. "Hmph. I wouldn't know."

"About unbridled lust?"

"Oh, I know about that. I just manage to control myself." Lisbon peeked over her shoulder to give Jane a impish grin and continued on down the hall, leaving him to sit in somewhat stunned silence, a smile of his own firmly in place.