Chapter 7
A smile touched his lips as he read Cho's text.
She's gone home earlier this evening. You'd better not hurt her buddy, or they'll never find your body.
Trust Cho to protect his friends. The stoic agent would kick the living daylights out of him if he ever dared to harm a hair on Lisbon's head.
Not that he meant to do such a thing. All he was looking forward to was talking to her. Maybe even picking up the shards of their previous friendship and trying to fix it – if he only could.
Neither of them uttered a single word as she opened her front door and stared at him for a couple of minutes.
Then she slapped him hard across the face.
He didn't recoil. That was well deserved – to say the least.
What he wasn't expecting was Lisbon grabbing the lapels of his jacket and crushing her lips against his. Not that he actually minded this, a small part of his brain promptly informed him.
Not at all.
A moment later he felt something warm and wet on his cheeks.
It was her tears – as well as his own, his mind vaguely registered.
He didn't care anyway.
"I'm sorry, Patrick", she whispered against his lips.
He rested his forehead on hers. "I'm sorry too. Believe me".
She chuckled despite the lump she still felt in her throat. "I… might have gotten a bit carried away a moment ago".
"You mean the slap or the kiss?"
Her cheeks blushed crimson at this. "Jane, I…"
"Hush, Teresa. You don't need to answer my question".
"Really?"
"Really. I'd rather know whether you feel like slapping me or kissing me now. Perhaps I'd better leave you alone for a while and let you recover from the shock".
She ran the palm of her hand on his chest. "What about Red John?"
"Well, he's dead now, isn't he?"
His answer didn't come across as cheerful as he had meant it to be. It was a good start anyway.
That's when he leaned forward and captured her lips again.
All the rest could wait.