"You still lost."

"And I still paid you," Jane pointed a finger at Rigsby around the beer bottle, because the underlying statement of that was and you're still ignoring my very good advice. Which he was. Jane hadn't expected much more, though, so he wasn't all that put out. Rigsby would either come to it in time, or he wouldn't.

And in the meantime, they were all getting very pleasantly toasty on Jane's dime. Equitable arrangement for all.

"I still don't see how failing to seduce the widow, yes," Lisbon held up a hand before Jane could protest that he would have done if she hadn't turned out to be the murderer. "I know you could have, that's beside the point. I still don't see how all of this is supposed to be useful as advice."

"It's useful advice..." he took a breath. Wasn't entirely sure he wanted to demonstrate further, particularly with a lack of available candidates. Grace would be easy, but that would make things difficult for Rigsby later on. Lisbon...

Well, on second thought, he could trust Lisbon to abide by the regulations and maintain a safe distance between them, couldn't he? Maybe it was worth a second demonstration. He ignored Grace in the background asking what they were talking about and focused his attention on Theresa (if he was going to seduce her she should be Theresa) with an easy smile that promised he wouldn't hurt her. Because he wouldn't. The promise in his smile made her wonder why the reassurance, implied danger, because why promise not to hurt someone unless you could so very easily? And it was an attentive smile, protective, warm. Why make that promise if you didn't care about the person?

All that in a smile. Jane wasn't thinking about it, could have explained it if he'd been asked but he wasn't thinking about it. He'd learned how to do this while learning what girls were for in grade school, and it came second nature to him. Theresa blinked, lowered her eyes and smiled back just a little, cheeks flushing slightly while she wondered why she was feeling suddenly warm.

"It's three words," Rigsby protested in the background. "How is that useful advice?"

"It's useful. Because it's simple, it's broad, it's general enough that you can apply it to any woman, any situation." Jane straightened, returning to the subject at hand, eyes darting for just a moment to Theresa as though he hadn't wanted to look away. Her eyes sought him out again, but he'd moved on. For the moment. "And it is the key, the core principle around which all other methods or techniques of seduction are based."

Rigsby shrugged. "I still don't see how it works."

Of course not. "Allow me to demonstrate." And now, of course, that he'd laid the groundwork with Theresa it was time to take it a bit further. "Would you care to dance, my dear?"

Holding out his hand with no expectation of refusal. Eyes wide and smiling with no expectation or demand of her. She put her hand in his because by now she followed his lead, when she deemed it harmless, automatically. If only because he so very rarely led anywhere outside of a case. He closed his fingers around her hand just enough for her to feel them, and be led. No need to press or claim.

"I..."

No tugging her out of her seat, either, until she was ready. He respected her, cared about her too much for that. If she didn't want to...

"All right."

His smile broadened a little, letting out a soft breath that he'd been holding. Thanking her with a look and a brief tug, barely inches, on her hand. The act of thinking of brushing his lips over the back of her hand by way of thanks and then discarding it as too intrusive, letting her have her own space as he walked her to what passed for the dance floor in this place. And that was attentive, too.

She gave him a look as they reached it, as he nodded to Cho to start the music (Cho rolled his eyes but complied) and took her hand more appropriately resting on his palm, fingers curled around her hand, other hand on her waist. It was a look that wondered what he was up to, though the blush still lingered on her cheeks. And she was trying not to smile too much, not to encourage him. His rakish grin encouraged her instead.

"What are you doing, Jane?"

"Dancing." Guileless. Butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, and she knew him better, and he knew she knew him better than that and reminded her of it. Also reminding her of how he got into her head, how he knew what she was thinking, how much she hoped he didn't and a little part of her hoped he did. "With you. That's all."

But that wasn't all. He was also reading her. The way her fingers had twitched when he'd settled them into dancing instead of just holding hands. The way her eyes flickered up and down his body not assessing, but trying to figure out how they fit together gracefully so that she didn't step on toes or anything while they danced. The way her shoulders and back tensed and her hips relaxed out of nervousness and out of a desire to respond to him on levels lower down.

Which wasn't precisely where he was aiming, but it was close enough to help. "That's never all, with you," she half-whispered, and he just chuckled softly. Lowering his head to hers a bit so that the field of view, and therefore, her world, contracted to the two of them. As it was already doing, a bit. When he pulled back she would look up and blink at the sudden light.

"Aren't you having fun?"

"I... I didn't say that." Stammer, there, and a more heated blush. The dance continued, though it was more swaying than dancing. She was responsive, her movements more fluid. He tugged her just a half a step, maybe an inch closer. Just at a point where her foot was half-cocked off the floor so she had to put her hand on his chest for balance, and he let his breath catch audible only to her. Her lips dropped open milimeters, but it was enough to show.

By now the entire team was silent at their table, staring at them. She'd notice when they headed back. She wasn't noticing now.

The music faded. Their bodies stopped swaying more gradually, coasting to a stop, settling gently back to earth in the middle of the ersatz dance floor, letting her breathing slow. He kept her gaze on him, on his eyes, on the expression on his face that wished for a little while that they could be just Patrick and Theresa, no baggage, no cases, just two people discovering that out of all the world they fit together in ways that made their lives better. That made things just that little bit better.

When he finally did smile it was tired and worn, but real. It was regret, that they couldn't continue this, and his forehead touched hers just for a moment as their faces tilted towards each other. He could taste her beer on her breath, and she could feel the heat of him against her. Her heart must be pounding. His was.

"I'm ..." Not going to kiss you, is what he had been going to say, but changed it at the last minute. She didn't need to be brought out of that. I'm sorry was what occurred to him next. That, she wouldn't understand, either. "... I enjoyed that," he said instead.

"Thank you," she said, whispery and strange, as though she wasn't sure why she said that.

And then he did draw back, dropping the intensity, locking it back beneath a jester mask and his usual obfuscating brightness. "Shall we?" One hand light at the small of her back, to guide her and remind her, gesturing back at the table. Who were all trying to appear as though they hadn't been staring, dear folk. Lisbon did, indeed, blush as he walked her back to the table.

Rigsby looked back and forth from one to the other. "How did you do that? What did you do?"

"I already told you one secret," Jane held up his hands. "It's up to you to figure out how it works."

"What..." Lisbon looked over at him, as though just now realizing that something had happened. There was no blame in her eyes, and for a second he couldn't look at anyone out of relief. "What did you do?"

"A demonstration," he took another swig of beer just to avoid the explanation.

Cho explained instead, and his voice was dry and sardonic as always, but he looked right at Jane when he said it. "The key principles of seduction, love and affection."

"That was you trying to seduce me? You didn't even get a kiss."

Ah, now there was Lisbon, as always. He looked over at her, disingenuous, calm. Innocent, as always. "Don't you know? That's the second principle of seduction."

"What is?"

"Never kiss a girl on the first date."

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