Author's notes:

Thank you to beta reader/critique partner extraordinaire Sue Shay! Without her guidance and encouragement I would not have undertaken this project. Be sure to check out Sue's latest piece, "Ready or Not," a great Jane-and-Lisbon story about their relationship evolving during trying times.

I do not own the TV show The Mentalist and get no compensation from it. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Notes on the chapter title follow the end of the chapter.

Chapter 9: I've Got You Under My Skin

Teresa was perplexed. What was that? After her shower she stopped in front of the mirror. That's when she saw it.

Standing naked in her bathroom, Teresa looked herself over in more detail. Her body displayed the tone of a fit, vibrant woman. She wondered if Patrick ever noticed her, if he liked what he saw.

As she moved her eyes from lower to higher she surveyed her body all the way up to the fast-fading bruises on her neck. Wait! Something wasn't quite right. Her eyes returned to her shoulder. There her skin bore a small scar. Not much noticeable, but one nonetheless. Teresa ran her finger over the scar to confirm its presence. Once assured that it was real, she hitched her large bath towel around her body, leaving her bare shoulders exposed. Perhaps Patrick could provide an explanation.

Hearing the television in the living room, Teresa walked in. She couldn't help but smile when she saw Patrick's reaction to her entry into the room. It wasn't just that he jumped up from the sofa. No, that pleased her but didn't make the biggest impression. What stood out were his eyes. The polite way to describe his eyes would be to say that they gazed at her. The less-than-polite way to describe them would be to say that they devoured her like those of a ravenous wolf.

Yeah, he noticed me.

"What's this, Patrick?" Teresa asked as she pointed to her shoulder.

"Oh." Despite her finger pointing to an exact spot, his eyes still roamed up and down her towel-clad body. Although the purpose of her coming into the room was to seek an answer, she enjoyed the side benefit of Patrick Jane's appreciation of her.

"Patrick?"

"Uh, I'm sorry. What did you say?"

Ha! Patrick Jane is distracted!

"What's this? This thing on my shoulder."

Patrick moved to her side. With a gentle motion, he ran his fingers back-and-forth across her shoulder. Now it was Teresa's turn to react. She shuddered.

"You were wounded a few months back." Patrick then told her how it happened and how it related to his shooting of Timothy Carter. When he had finished, it dawned on Teresa that Patrick had never stopped rubbing her shoulder. It startled her when she realized that she herself had let out a sigh in response to his caress. Patrick heard it too. An awkwardness filled the air and Patrick let his hand drop.

"I guess I'll always have this scar."

"It's so small no one will notice unless you point it out. People will be too busy looking at…the whole you."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. You're a beautiful woman, Teresa."

"Am not. But I appreciate you saying that."

"Yes you are, and I know that not merely from looking at you."

Something about the way Patrick said that intrigued her.

"What do you mean, 'not merely from looking at you'?"

"It's a long story."

"Let me go change into something more comfortable and come back. I want to hear about this."

Back in her room, Teresa noticed a pair of shorts and a Chicago Bears jersey on top of her bed. Sizing up what she saw, she decided that must be her standard lounging-around-home attire so she slipped them on then returned to the living room. Once again Patrick was sitting on the sofa. When he spied Teresa, he moved to one side and patted on the empty space. Once she got comfortable, she looked up to see the old movie channel on the television screen. Patrick muted the sound before he turned to her.

"Alright. Explain what you said a minute ago. That sounded weird," she said.

"A few years ago I was temporarily blinded by an explosion. By the way, if anyone thought I could be a pain in the ass under normal conditions they wouldn't believe the mischief I got into while blind."

"I'll bet."

"But in the middle of my blindness, I did something to you."

"'To me'? Am I gonna punch you in the nose when you tell me?"

"No, that was another time."

Again this "punching in the nose" business. What was up with that?

"Okay, Patrick, continue."

"So I was blind and being a pain in the ass. You and I were talking about a case at work, and I reached out my hands to feel your face when you were smiling."

"You what?"

"I wanted to feel your smile. It turned out it was beautiful to touch as well as to see."

A tingly feeling spread across Teresa's body as she thought about more of his caresses.

At that point Patrick closed his eyes in an exaggerated manner, raised his hands to her face, and ran his fingers around Teresa's mouth. Teresa found that there was no way she could keep from smiling, and Patrick's own smile answered hers.

She giggled.

Patrick pulled back his hands. When he did that Teresa felt a void and sort of wished those hands were back on her face again.

"I also smelled you."

"Not that there would be anything creepy about that," said Teresa.

"Ha, ha. I hear the sarcasm in your voice, but I'm being completely honest with you. You smelled of cinnamon-scented shampoo, the same shampoo you used tonight judging by what my nose is picking up."

"So what are you getting at?"

"The simple fact that you are a beautiful woman, and I base that not solely on my sense of sight."

Teresa got a warm feeling all over.

"Thank you, Patrick. I'm sure the old Lisbon would appreciate that too."

"Here's the problem. I realize I never expressed my appreciation for you enough in the past. I'll try to do better."

Teresa saw what? A certain shyness come over Patrick Jane? Wow! That flew in the face of everything she had heard about him. The attack on her did have a traumatic effect on him. She saw him start to rub his hands together again and decided to put him at ease.

"What's on television?"

She saw the muscles in his face relax when she turned to the neutral topic.

"Well, I flipped through the channels and didn't find much. Just some infomercials and animals-eating-animals nature shows except for this," he said as he pointed to the movie on the screen.

"Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers," Teresa said in recognition.

"Ah, so that's something you remember," Patrick said.

"Yeah, but I never saw a whole Fred-and-Ginger movie."

"You're in luck. This one is just starting. It's Roberta, and it's got some great musical numbers in it."

The two of them both settled back on the sofa, their bodies millimeters apart, and they watched the movie in silence for a long time until a certain scene started to rev up. Patrick pointed at the screen and spoke.

"This music number is 'I Won't Dance.' It's pretty fun. Both Fred and Ginger get a chance to shine."

On the screen, Fred began the song by playing a piano solo. After that he smoothly picked up a baton to conduct a band. Suddenly while Fred and company were playing the tune, Ginger danced onscreen in an attempt to distract Fred. She succeeded. Fred stopped the band playing to find out what was up with Ginger. She pestered him to dance with her, he refused; hence the title of the song. Of course Fred eventually did dance.

"That's fun, Patrick."

"It is. Just picture you were someone decades ago seeing this movie when it first came out. There was nothing else like a Fred-and-Ginger movie at the time."

"And nothing like them after that either."

The time flew by for Teresa as they watched the movie. When it ended, she looked at her watch and gasped. Patrick stood up from the sofa, then offered his hand to help her up. After he pulled Teresa to her feet, she yawned and stretched.

"So…what did you think?" Teresa asked.

"Excellent film. This is the first night of a spotlight on Fred and Ginger films. The channel is featuring a different one each day. Want to watch the one tomorrow night? It's Swing Time."

"It's a date!" said Teresa, and she saw the flummoxed look that crossed Patrick's face when she said the word "date." Just as quickly as it appeared though it vanished, replaced by that self-assured expression she'd seen him conjure up as needed.

"Good. You'll enjoy it."

Teresa liked the idea that maybe, just maybe, she had an effect on Patrick Jane that no one else had. It warmed her spirit as she said goodnight and closed the door to her room.

Teresa settled down to sleep and didn't wake up until 4:30am when she heard the now-familiar steps of Patrick Jane as he walked down the hallway past her bedroom door. She listened as he moved on through the living room then opened and closed the front door.

What was going on?

Author's notes:

"I've Got You Under My Skin" was written by Cole Porter in 1936. Recorded by many artists, my favorite version and an inspiration for this scene is by Frank Sinatra on his album, Songs For Swingin' Lovers. If you'd like the song from another perspective, check out Ella Fitzgerald's version from the album Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook.

Many artists have also recorded "I Won't Dance," composed by Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Otto Harbach in 1934. My favorite recording is Ella Fitzgerald's on her album, Ella Swings Brightly With Nelson.