Lisbon entered the office the next day with spring fever, suiting the season. Her walk was as light as feathers and she shimmied through the door to her private office. Even Jane couldn't identify her by her walk even though he paid more attention this time.

Teresa sat down in her office and looked a little disappointed. He didn't recognize her, he didn't even look at her… okay his eyes were closed so he couldn't see her but he usually "felt" her presence (that´s at least the feeling she had). Maybe he was asleep or… he was lost in thoughts ?

For a second she hoped that he would come into her office to give her back the sportswear he took home yesterday but then she remembered that she told him to keep it. Damn it! Now she didn't have a single reason to get him to come into her office…

As soon as she finished that thought she was confused. What would she do with Jane if he came to her…? What was wrong with her? Jane pushed himself into her thoughts and suddenly everything centred around him. She longed for his presence even more than coffee and that had to mean something… she wanted to laugh with him… she wanted to see him laugh…

"This man swept me off my feet." she murmured to herself.

"Who swept you off your feet?" she heard a voice from the side and turned around in alarm.

"That´s non of your business." she answered cockily and smiled on the inside. Apparently, he still didn't understand who was actually her secret admirer. "So what do you want?"

"I just wanted to know if your invitation for this evening is still open."

Teresa tried to maintain her calm façade but her heart beat increased rapidly and her palms got sweaty.

"Only if you behave yourself today."

"Oh please, when do I ever cause trouble?"

"I hope that was a rhetorical question." she replied and gathered all her self-discipline in order to avoid looking at him.

"Sure… I'm looking forward to it." he said and as quickly as he had appeared he disappeared.

Feeling how the tension left her body she leaned back in her chair and rubbed her sweaty palms over her pants. Why did her heart decide to fall for Jane? She always sensed that there was some kind of attraction… but until now he didn't manage to appear in every single thought she had. All the butterflies she accumulated in her stomach over the past days, month… maybe even years, seemed to leave the jar she had locked them in and she knew exactly who opened that jar.

When she tried to get back to work she realized that she AGAIN spent minutes just staring vacantly into space thinking about HIM… It was like she was part of a cheesy, romantic movie… the kind of movie she would never watch… at all… never… okay, maybe sometimes…

Jane lay down on his couch, Teresa´s smile etched in his memory. It caused him to feel safe and warmth spread over his entire body, the kind of warmth he had only felt when Angela looked at him, the kind of warmth he needed to feel alive and to forget certain things. Teresa helped him to live again and he just had to hold on to her so that nobody could ever pull her away from him… not even this admirer… who was hopefully a total jerk.

"Do you need a ride?" Lisbon asked Jane when on her way out of the office. Jane weighed up the pros and cons. If he drove himself he could later return to his beloved couch but if he would accept her nice offer they could chat during the ride, he would sit right next to her… maybe they would forget about time so he was forced to stay over night… or she called a cab…

"Sure.", he picked the more "communicative" option.

"Don´t make yourself too comfortable. I hope you brought your sportswear."

Jane froze for a second… the bag of clothes was locked in his car…

"Oh, don´t you tell me that you forgot them." Teresa looked at him, amused.

"You distracted me."

"How did I distract you?" she asked confused.

"By… just being yourself."

"Is that supposed to be an insult or a compliment."

"My dear Teresa, I would never insult you.", he winked at her and she couldn't help but blush.

"I should jolly well hope so… So what are we gonna do about your clothing problem?"

"I have an idea…"

Nervously, Lisbon watched how Jane took of his three piece suit. Painfully slow he opened the buttons of his vest and gave her mischievous look. That made Lisbon drop her eyes to the floor, trying to concentrate on an invisible stain in order to cool down her boiling blood. It was too much for her, she had to put an end to this.

"Please, finish whatever you´re doing in the bathroom." Teresa was proud of herself that she didn't stammer.

"What would be the fun in that. You´re not a spoilsport, are you?" he continued teasing her.

"Jane I…" before she could finish the sentence the door bell rang.

"Jane, I'm serious, go to the bathroom right, now." she ordered. He would have loved to reply saying "I love it when you get all authoritarian on me" but due to her determined tone he thought it would be more healthy to do what she said… even though it felt like she wanted to hide him from the person standing outside the door. While he got rid of his clothes he listened to the voices… Teresa´s voice and… a male voice. Without being able to prevent it, jealousy started to rush through his veins. Was this guy her secret admirer? Why else would she want him to "hide" in the bathroom?

Jane opened the door and stepped out of the bathroom simply dressed in boxer shorts and an under-shirt. What he saw made him angry, not angry at Lisbon but angry at the guy who hugged her before he left and Lisbon closed the door.

"Who was that?" he asked curiously.

When she looked at him in his… exquisite outfit she was lost for words. She has never seen him without his vest or pants.

"Jane, what is… this?" she asked nervously and with a slightly shaky voice.

"My makeshift sportswear. Do you like it?"

"I errr…" Teresa was too thunderstruck to reply with anything that made sense.

She knew that he looked good… it was obvious but she didn't know he looked THAT good. He

was muscular but not too muscular. He was sexy… and definitely too sexy. Just the sight of his locks made her die a thousand deaths.

"I see you are speechless. Mission accomplished. Now it´s your turn." he said triumphantly.

"What?! I don´t intend to get naked in front of you."

"Well, that would make a nice view but that´s not what I demanded, my dear Lisbon."

Without wasting any words she disappeared in her bedroom. Unbelievable. He put pictures into her head… pictures including him… and her… barely clothed. It was frustrating to see something (or rather someone) so seductive in front of her eyes without being allowed to touch it.

She wanted him to know how that felt like so she went to her closet and put on tight black shorts and just a green sports bra. ´Take that Jane´, she thought. She wanted to make him suffer as he made her suffer the past minutes.

When she stepped into the living room she could see the sparkle in his eyes. ´Too much skin.´ he thought and didn´t know where to look at. Her legs, which appeared to be long despite her hight? Her abs? Her b… no he wouldn´t look at her… well… two striking arguments… she was still his boss and that was disrespectful.

"So, are you ready?", she asked and watched with a satisfied smirk about how he tried to stay focused.

"Er… sure… I think."

"Why are you stammering? Are you nervous?" she teased him.

"Me? Nervous? Never."

That was a lie. He became more nervous with every second, especially when she bent down to pick up a workout DVD from the couch. Besides she took an awfully long time to put the DVD in her DVD player so he was directly confronted with her butt.

Lisbon herself didn´t quite know how she felt about taking over the role of a seductive woman. She just told herself that she wanted to make him drool on the inside and outside. He wasn´t easy on her, so she wouldn´t be easy on him. He wasn´t the only one who could make people blush.

When the workout started Jane felt some kind of relief. Maybe he could now concentrate on his own movements and the exercises which were about to be shown on the screen but when the actual workout started he screamed on the inside. This workout would require every bit of self control…

...to be continued...