Chapter 2

The first date

After a night of restlessness, most of it occupied by thoughts of her irreverent consultant, there was nothing Lisbon would rather have done than just stayed in bed. The alarm's incessant beeping could be ignored and she could go back to sleep. Except she couldn't.

Regardless of how tired she was, of how much frustration and arousal she still carried from the previous night, she had to go to work. Calling in sick was a coward's way out. Anyway, if she didn't show up then Jane might think that she'd rethought the whole thing and was avoiding him.

It was this thought that finally spurred her out of bed, jumping into the shower before she could think better of it.

An hour and a bit later (longer than it usually took, but she was trying to impress Jane after all.) she was pulling her car into the lot at the CBI, butterflies milling pleasantly in her stomach. She reminded herself to stop being so damn childish, she had known Patrick for years, for fuck's sake. It was hardly the first time she had dated, she was no lovestruck teenager. Well, lovestruck maybe but not a teenager. She smiled at that, and the change to her usual demeanour made Tony the door guard do a double-take at the sight of her. "Something's got you in a good mood today, Agent Lisbon." He commented.

"What? Oh yeah, I had some…er happy news last night." Lisbon's cheeks coloured at the thought of the previous night.

"Oh, happy news eh?" He raised an eyebrow suggestively. "Well, good on you. If anyone deserves a little 'happy news' it's you." A genuine smile graced his features.

"Thanks Tony. That, that means a lot."

A vibrant smile was still on her face as she got in the lift, enjoying the last moments of freedom to display her happiness before she had to hide it from her team members. She would prefer to tell them, they had probably all seen her and Jane's respective infatuation before either of them had noticed it, but they would want to know all the details. Their burgeoning relationship was best kept between them for a while. Anyway, if either of the boys decided to have a 'talk' with Jane it could scare him off. That could not happen. Hiding her happiness it would be then.

Some gentle coaching in the lift on the way up to the CBI took the goofy smile off her face, replacing it with a more standard Lisbon scowl. It must have worked better than she expected, because Cho, her ever watchful second-in command, didn't seem to notice anything different about her.

He greeted her with his standard "Morning boss." Then he continued past her to wherever he was going. One down, two to go. While Cho was the most observant of her team, it was Grace who it would be hardest to evade. The older agent had been spending a lot of time with the younger woman recently, and she would immediately notice the sudden happy aura around Lisbon. Grace would have to be avoided until she came up with a better plan.

With that in mind Lisbon staked out the bullpen for a few moments, ascertaining who was there. To her great relief Grace was nowhere to be seen. Still, being rather vigilant, she slunk into her office. Patrick Jane was already in there. His long, lean form was spread over her couch; his wide eyes watching her crouching form come in through the door. A bemused expression came onto his face.

"Sneaking around, are we?" Even as she turned to shut the door she could hear the smirk in his voice. It somehow both irritated and aroused her.

"I'm trying to avoid Grace. She would want to know why I've got a goddamn goofy smile on my face, and I can hardly say, 'Well Grace, Jane and I had a touchy feely experience last night, and the prospect of sex has got me a little riled up.' It would scare the crap out of her!" She laughed merrily, in a bizarrely happy mood, as if a weight had been lifted. Which of course it had. The weight of her unacknowledged attraction to Jane.

Attraction that was making itself painfully apparent right now. Lounging across her couch stretched his suit open, leaving a thin strip of skin between his trousers and shirt, a tantalising glimpse of tanned stomach that had Lisbon reaching for it almost subconsciously. Under the surface she could feel muscles that rippled under her touch. Jane was fitter than she had thought, and she was not ashamed that it made her wet to think about his physique.

Jane let Lisbon stare at him and stroke his stomach unobstructed, an awed look on her face. She was enjoying this, enjoying him. He liked that. It wasn't like he didn't love her attention, her gentle caresses up and down his chest and her tickling fingers in his chest stubble. After all his time alone, after all the time he had wanted her, it was nice to have her just touching him. He sighed into her touch.

Questing hands ventured higher up his chest, undoing buttons as she went. Lisbon was totally engrossed in her exploration, pausing only when she reached his lips, his entire shirt open across his chest. His lips distracted her, pulling her down onto him. There was no hesitation, no gentle lead up as she ferociously captured his mouth. Her tongue slinked into his mouth, coating her taste buds in the sweet yet zesty tang that she was learning was uniquely Jane.

After a startled second Jane responded ardently, his tongue fighting Lisbon for dominance as he tried to get a taste of her caffeinated breakfast, and the undertone of pure Teresa. He grasped her shoulders and pulled her closer to him, her small form settling over his bare chest. He groaned at the feel of her breasts pushing against him. She echoed his groan at the feel of his…Little Jane pressed against her pelvis.

While one of her hands grasped the side of his face the other slinked down between their bodies, over the smooth planes of his stomach and his silky pants fabric until she could feel his hard bulge under her fingers. It pulsed under her fingers, responding to her touch. Jane groaned slightly, but then he did something Lisbon didn't expect. He pulled away from her.

His lips were suddenly away from hers, his hand batting her fingers away from his quivering bulge. Then he rolled out from under her, leaving her panting on the couch. Lisbon's eyes snapped open at the loss of contact. "Jaaane." She whined.

He smiled at her, a smile that melted her heart and made her anger at him seep away.

"I'm sorry Lisbon it's just that, with you doing that, it was difficult to stay in control of myself. Like I said I want this first time to be special. A quickie in your office, unique as it may be, is not special. You are being wined and dined, whether you like it or not."

"But I don't need to be wined and dined Jane. I need you to take me." Her voice was like a petulant child's.

Jane crowded into her. "Oh, believe me; I want to take you Lisbon. All in good time though. All in good time." He turned to exit the door, only remembering that he hadn't given her any of the details of his date plans.

"By the way, we have dinner reservations at eight. Wear something nice. The little black dress should do it." He smirked as he walked out.

Somehow Jane had managed to leave even hornier than she had started. That was the magic of one Patrick Jane.