A/N: Hello you guys! Thank you all so much for the reviews for the last chapter! I'm still very sorry for the confusion and the fact most of you didn't get alerts. I hope this time it works.
Special thanks also to totorsg and Nerwen, who are so kind and always beta my chapters :) The last 2 weeks have been a little rough and next week university starts, but I hope I can continue on posting a chapter every 7 days. As some of you might have recognized, the chapters for this story are a little shorter than for Under Covers, but I thought you might rather like shorter chapters and quicker updates than one long chap in what feels like a month.

Oki doki, I hope you enjoyed the premiere on Sunday night - I can't wait for episode two! Lots of fun with the new chapter :)

(3)

When they arrived at the main entrance of the Bellagio, Trixi stopped the car with squeaking tires. "This was fun", she grinned happily and got out, throwing the keys at the man who was already waiting to bring the car to the hotel's own parking lot.

"Good evening, Sir. Miss…" the night guard dipped his hat and greeted them formally.

"It's almost morning", Trixi laughed and turned around to Jane, who shut the door of his car, waiting for it to drive off.

"It is indeed almost morning. We spent over half an hour driving through Vegas. I'm not sure if you chose the direct path to the hotel."

The hooker grinned sheepishly: "Well, your car was fun! Stop pretending you didn't have fun too. At least you got to see some of Vegas at night now. By the way, you still owe me ten dollars for driving you here."

Jane smirked knowingly. Of course she wouldn't forget about the money although she had so much fun driving his car that paying her now for it seemed a little off. Still, somehow he knew she needed the money more than he did and in a way she was right. He'd had fun too with her. He took a ten dollar bill out of his wallet and gave it to her. Trixi nodded approvingly, pushed it under the corsage at her right breast and patted it lightly.

"Thank you, for the ride, Mr. Patrick."

If he didn't know better, she seemed a little shy now, not knowing what to do next. She had to get back to the club at some point, right?

Trixi watched the businessman with mixed feelings before she cleared her throat. "I should go." It'd be better to leave now. This man wouldn't ask her for her services anyways. He wasn't that kind of man. At least that's what her instinct told her. She could tell he was glad she'd driven him here, but now that she got her money, there was nothing that made her stay.

Mr. Patrick was a nice man. One of the nicest she'd met in the last two years. He hadn't treated her like a hooker for one second until now, something she really appreciated although she knew he knew. She was just the girl from the streets who showed him the way back to the hotel – and got to ride a really cool car in advance.

"How are you going to get back? It's too long to walk to the Red Mill. Do you want me to call you a cab?" he offered.

She shook her head and pointed down the road towards the Las Vegas Boulevard. "I'll just take the bus home, it's all right, I've done that dozens of times. It was nice to meet you… and thank you for your help with Summer if you and your chauffeur hadn't been there, I don't know what would have happened..."

"My pleasure", Jane answered. Why was it so hard to say goodbye? He didn't know that woman, but he didn't want her to go and something told him she didn't want to either. He couldn't just ask her to come up, could he? It wasn't like he needed her services, but just… maybe someone to talk to would be nice.

Trixi stood there, shrugging a little awkwardly, before she finally nodded towards the street: "I'll go then… good night."

She turned around, walking down the sidewalk without looking back. Jane watched her, admiring the fact she could walk on these high heels like she wore some kind of sneakers. For a few more moments, he let his eyes linger on her gently swaying hips.

Stop checking her out!, he told himself and closed his eyes to concentrate on the fact that he should go inside and catch some sleep. Trixi would take the bus home and…

Wait. There was no way she'd be taking the bus at this time of the night, since there weren't any. This wasn't New York or London! She also wouldn't use the money she just got from him to pay a cab. After what happened to her friend Summer, Jane wasn't sure if he wanted her to walk around the city all on her own right now. Some drunkard could cross her way and pull her into an alley doing things he didn't want to think about with her.

Trixi wouldn't be able to defend herself; she was too small, too tiny… although her punch in the nose had been impressive. Carefully he touched his nose, that still hurt a little from the punch. This was the second time in his life a woman hit him right after he met her for the first time. The only other one had been his wife. Angela had hit him and called him a jerk the first time they met – not that he hadn't deserved it at that time. Sometimes he wished there would still be someone with him to put him in line when his mouth got too lose. A sad smile ghosted over his face. Was fate trying to send him some kind of sign? No, this was ridiculous. The connection he felt when he met Angela all these yeas ago had been incredible and overwhelming, this was different. It had to be, right? Although his head told him to let the thought go, he couldn't deny it felt similar with the little sassy hooker.

There was a connection between the two of them, he could feel it. An aura of sadness and discomfort with the way their life was going lay between them. In all the time he'd been with Erica, he'd never felt so happy and careless like at the 30 minutes ride from the "Red Mill" to the hotel. After all that happened tonight, Jane finally felt like he didn't want to be alone for the rest of the night. Now he did what he should have done when she was still standing here with him.

"Trixi!", he shouted, speeding up his walk down the sidewalk, following the same path she went. She was already out of his sight. "Trixi?" Where was she? Did something happen to her? Damn it, he should have called a cab for her or never let her go in the first place.

"What is wrong, Mr. Patrick?" A voice in the shadows asked. Jane turned around and saw her sitting on a bench, knees drawn close to her body. "Did you accidentally give me a hundred instead of a ten dollar bill?"

She seemed a bit confused over the relief in his eyes, when he finally recognized her and came closer. This man was weird. Their whole evening had been a mess. First the conversation at the bar, then the thing with Summer, the moment she punched him because she thought he was following her and in the end their conversation in front of the hotel where non of them knew what to say. Why was he following her now?

The worried expression on his forehead relaxed immediately. "There you are. I thought you wanted to take the bus."

She eyed him suspiciously: "I don't see why that is any of your business, but I didn't feel like bus driving now. I wanted to be alone." And she did. She hadn't planned on getting back to the "Red Mill" any time soon, let the others think she had a client and take the night off. It wasn't like anyone cared what she was doing as long as she did the shifts at the club and paid her "rent" to Red John.

Jane sighed, sitting down next to her on the bench. "That's a shame, you know. A lovely woman like you shouldn't walk around a big city like this at night. You never know what kind of people are running around here."

She raised an eyebrow. Why would he care about creepy pervs hiding in a corner waiting for someone like her to come along? He didn't know she was safe in most parts of the city, since people knew Red John was her chaperon. Only idiots tried to have their way with his hookers, like that drunk idiot who'd hit on Summer. Still, the thought of anyone actually caring about her wellbeing was a feeling she thought she'd long lost. "You mean besides handsome businessman?"

"You think I'm handsome?" he asked with a smirk. Trixi rolled her eyes and stood up.

"Of course of all things I said to you tonight, you'd only remember the "handsome". Men are so easily to predict. Was there any particular reason you came after me except for my "lovely" company?" She put the "lovely" in brackets with her fingers, since she didn't think that was the fitting adjective for a hooker like her.

Jane didn't like the fact that she was annoyed with him. Instead of teasing her any further, he just blurted it out. "How much do you want?"

Trixi raised an eyebrow: "What are you talking about?"

"I want you to stay with me tonight." Her jaw dropped surprised and for a moment it felt like she was at a loss for words. He wanted her to stay for the night? Mr. Patrick didn't look like someone who'd ask a hooker to come up to his hotel room, so why the sudden change in his behavior. Maybe she'd misjudged him. That happened; from time to time even her gut feeling betrayed her. Why did she even care? She'd planned on taking off the night, but this guy promised to be a good catch, so why let this chance pass?

"Two hundred dollars."

"Okay", Jane answered immediately. He'd have paid any price.

"Are you serious?" Trixi asked excited since she'd expected him to say no.

"Of course I am. Now come on. Please take my jacket. It's starting to cool down for the night and I don't want you to freeze." He laid his jacket over her shoulders, surprised how small she actually was. The woman gave him a look, before she pulled the heavenly smelling piece of fabric closer around her body.

"It's never really cold in Vegas. You just don't want the people in the hotel to get the wrong impression of you", she stated, although she didn't mind wearing the still warm and comfortable piece of fabric.

"You should know that I honestly don't care what other's think of me, my dear. I don't want the people at the hotel getting the wrong impression of you. Now let's go."

Jane guided her through the front entrance into the lobby, which ceiling was equipped with over thousand lit glass flowers right over the check in. "This ceiling was done by America's best glass artist Dale Chihuly. Incredible, huh?" he asked when he saw Trixi staring at the colourful glass art.

"It's beautiful… like a garden with lots of wild flowers. I've never seen anything like this." He let her watch for another minute, before he gently pushed her forward with a hand on her back. They walked across the fancy waiting area with the Persian carpets and embroidered seats towards the reception, where a woman with a bright smile on her face greeted them.

Jane stepped forward to talk to the janitor, while Trixi was still looking around, overwhelmed by the wealth that surrounded her. She'd never been to this kind of hotel before. To be honest, she felt so out of place like duck in the middle of a swan lake. Was one even allowed to sit on the expensive seats with the ornaments? This hotel even smelled like heaven. Welcome to the world of rich and famous for one night only, she thought grinning and watched Jane at the janitor's desk.

"I'd like some champagne and strawberries for the penthouse suite please."

"Of course, Mr. Jane", the janitor answered friendly. She threw Trixi a quick glance, not showing her disapproval of his company officially. "Have a good night, Mr. Jane."

The businessman nodded, before he turned around and went over to the elevators, Trixi following him slowly. She heard the janitor do a dismissive sniff and turned around to stick out her tongue in a childish manner. The woman gave her a shocking glare, shaking her head with puckered lips. After they were safe inside the elevator, she threw him a glance. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing, the lady at the janitor's desk needed to be reminded of her position", she winked, "I just thought it was predictable for a man in your position to stay in the penthouse suite."

"Well, for the one hand it's only for one night and for the other, the penthouse isn't the most expensive suite of the hotel. I might not be as predictable as you think, my dear."

The elevator doors opened and Jane laid a hand on her back to guide her out into the hallway. He opened the door for her and switched on the light, waiting for Trixi's reaction, but it didn't come the way he suggested. She had a hard time to not freak out over the room and dropped Jane's jacket over a chair at the dining area.

"Nice", was the only thing she managed to say.

"You almost sound like Cho." Jane was please to see that his order already arrived in his room. A bottle of champagne in a cooler, two glasses and a silvery bowl with fresh red strawberries sat upon the glassy table.

While Trixi inspected the hotel room, the businessman opened the champagne and filled one of the two glasses. He loosened his tie, took one of the sweet round strawberries and went over to her. "Here."

She turned around, refusing to take the glass of champagne. "I'm sorry, I don't drink… But I'd like the strawberry." Just when he thought she couldn't surprise him anymore, he was totally taken aback by her statement. She worked in a bar, she was a hooker… and she didn't drink? This was an interesting turn of events.

"Uhm… sure. I won't make you, if you don't want to…" Trixi looked at him with her innocent green eyes, taking a bite of the delicious strawberry. They were so excellent; drops of juice ran down her fingers and the corner of her mouth. She tried to catch them with her tongue, not knowing what this picture did to the man standing in front of her, who emptied the glass of iced champagne in one swift swallow to cool down.

"I really love fresh fruit, thank you." The hooker stepped around him and went over towards the big white couch, waving Jane to join her. By the time he arrived, she'd gotten rid of her over knee heels and held more than ten different little tiny packages in his face. "Just for you to know, I'm not doing it without a condom. No kissing on the mouth either. If you want me to call you names, this costs extra, so do role play games. So, which one do you want? I've got lots of different flavors, dotted, ribbed, internal ribbed, studded, ultra thin, ultra thick, glowing… Which size do you need?"

Patrick Jane wasn't easily caught off guard, but Trixi's little passionate announcement did it. "You… you have glowing condoms?" he asked taken aback. She wasn't serious, right?

"The glowing Star Wars lightsaber it is", she sighed, threw the right little package on the couch between them and put the others on the floor next to her. "Where do you want to do it? Couch, bed, floor, shower, dining table?" She scooted over to him, attending on opening up the buttons of his shirt.

"Woah, woah, whoa, wait!", Jane said, pushing away her hands. "I asked you to stay with me tonight, not to… sleep with me."

"Well what else do you suggest we do?" she asked confused. A little anger mixed in her voice. She wasn't used to being rejected by men, especially not if they ask her to stay the night.

"How about we talk?" he said calmly, "Or watch TV… there are so many possibilities."

"You are a very weird man, Mr. Patrick, but fine. As long as you pay me I won't complain. You're the first one ever, who wants to talk with me, though I'm afraid I don't have anything interesting to tell about my life." Trixi shrugged and leaned back in the soft cushions of the couch.

"Oh, I think there is lots of interesting stuff to tell… like the fact you don't drink because your mother was killed by a… drunk driver and your father tried to drown his sorrow in alcohol so you had to grow up and take over too much responsibility at a very young age."

Her jaw dropped. He hit right home with this. How the hell did he know? She never told anybody, not even her friends. This man must have been spying on her or something, or even worse… was he Red John? Not feeling comfortable at all with the situation, Trixi tried to calm down with a few deep breaths. "Are you some kind of psychic or what?" She crossed her arms in front of her chest, taking in a very defensive position. Jane gave her an apologizing smile. He'd frightened her a little with his abilities. After all this time he forgot how afraid people got if someone knew things that were supposed to be secrets.

"There is no such thing as psychics, my dear, so you don't have to worry. I used to be a fake psychic one upon a time, made money by pretending to let people communicate with the other side, but it's all been fake. I used to be many things I'm not and I'm not proud of it at all… So if you're wondering how I knew these things about you, I'm just good at reading people and paying attention, that's all. This is why I know that you are Tammy the barkeeper girl and Trixi the hooker. I'm sorry if my forwardness offended or feared you. I'm interested in what's the real you."

Trixi gave him an insecure look, but her body language told him she relaxed a little. Whatever it was that frightened her, she must have persuaded herself to trust him with his answer. "Well if you can read me so well, why don't you tell me what you already know?"

"Because I want to hear it from you. I haven't really talked in a while. My girlfriend…"

The hooker raised an eyebrow: "You've got a girlfriend? A fine man you are…"

"I must correct myself, ex-girlfriend – we actually broke up this morning – was good in talking nonsense about shoes and money, but nothing really interesting. That's why she bored me. That and may other things."

Trixi leaned back and eyed him. She only met this guy a few hours ago, why would she tell him about her life as a hooker? Honestly, did he really think she would trust him just like that? "Listen, Mr. Patrick…"

"Just Patrick is fine. Forget the Mister, we're alone.

"Fine, Patrick. I'm not good at this… at sharing things about myself, talking about problems… and it seems to me like you're not either. I don't care if you have a girlfriend…"

"Ex-girlfriend", he interrupted her, "I'm not one to cheat." But she waved the thought aside and continued.

"…or if you were married with five children." The mentioning of kids let his face darken for a second. "So I'm fine if you don't want my services, but could we please let this I-wanna-get-to-know-you-crap be what it is? How about just watching TV for the rest of the night?"

Jane considered his chances for a while, nodding in agreement. Maybe it was the best. He just wanted some company for the night anyways; he didn't want to be alone. Since their whole conversation in his suite had been more than awkward, TV would be fine. "Do you want some popcorn for while you're watching?"

Trixi's smile brightened up: "Thanks, I got the strawberries!" She threw one of the king sized pillows on the floor and laid down in it with her stomach, waiting for the TV to be turned on. The businessman couldn't hide a smile on his face.

He zapped through the channels, waiting for Trixi's approval, until she finally nodded when the reached an old black and white comedy he'd never seen. Jane never watched a lot of TV although he knew the classics, since his wife loved them…

The lump forming in his throat was washed away when the woman lying on the floor started laughing so lightly and sweet, he almost couldn't believe she was that kind of girl who lost everything.

"Oh my god, this is hilarious! They are totally in love but they keep on arguing all the time", she giggled. Patrick just smiled, shaking his head at the two main characters. He didn't pay attention at all to the movie, it was more interesting to watch the little redhead having fun, laughing and eating the bowl of strawberries.

A few minutes before the movie ended, Trixi yawned and turned her head to see what he was doing. She realized he'd been watching her instead of the movie, so she shifted her body to the side, to look at his darkened eyes. He didn't say anything when she got up on her knees, crawling over to the couch where he was sitting.

Wordlessly, she opened the belt of his trousers and slipped a hand under his shirt. "You look so much better without a tie", she whispered, starting to button up his shirt, revealing the white skin of his stomach.

"We shouldn't do this", he mumbled, his voice hoarse and full of tension.

"I'll do what you want me to do", she answered. Trixi bent town, to pull his trousers and pants down, but Jane held her hand, shaking his head.

"You should go to sleep. It's been an exhausting day for you… You can have the bed, I'll sleep on the couch." He stood up, waving with his hand towards the bathroom to signal her she could go first. Hesitantly, the hooker stood up, giving him an awkward glance, before she ushered towards the bathroom door, slamming it shut behind her.

Who the hell did this guy think he was?! Asking a hooker to come up to his room, wanting to "talk" rather than having sex and when she made an attempt on changing his mind, this idiot rejected her! She'd seen the look he gave her and this was not a look saying "stop". He'd wanted her to continue, but for some weird reason he stopped her. Growling, she slipped out of her skirt and corsage and threw one of the white fluffy bathrobes with the hotel's emblem around her body. There was no way she would feel comfortable in the next room if she was naked.

She couldn't wait for this stupid night to be over!

A/N: I hope you had fun with this one hehe :) I'm honest when I googled the web for all sorts of condoms and found the glowing one, I just couldn't resist ;) Now what did you think of the story? Did you like how Jane and Lisbon met and how he asked her to stay for the night? I appreciate every single review :) ... and don't worry, you will get your M-rated chapters later hehe ^^
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