He'd been right. Lisbon had gotten used to having him around.

She was still suspicious of gifts, but try as she might, she couldn't hide her pleasure in the scent of the bouquet of wildflowers he presented her, or her surprised gratitude when she found out he'd replaced the bag of coffee beans in her freezer with the finest French roast money could buy. Oh, sure, she made the token fuss about him breaking into her apartment again, but it was really a lot like the couch. She denied that there was anything wrong with her old couch, and insisted it was wasteful to buy a brand new one when the old one was perfectly fine, but he saw her relax into the new one when she thought no one was looking. She knew, deep down, that the new one was better than the old one. The problem for Lisbon was that she was a truly sensuous person. She hid it well, and had trained herself not to give into it through years of self-denial, but when he removed choice from the equation, she couldn't resist succumbing to the pure physical satisfaction inherent in inhaling the sweet scent of wildflowers and drinking the highest quality coffee available in the continental United States. Really, he should have started spoiling Lisbon years ago. She clearly needed it.

It wasn't a great leap from breaking in to restock her coffee supply to dropping by her apartment with a hot meal after work and finding an excuse to stay for a movie, and then to making that a habit that he indulged more often than not.

He cooked her enchiladas and homemade lasagna. Privately, he thought Lisbon needed a little feeding up. She was entirely too likely to forget to eat when not under his watchful eye. Plus, it was a joy to watch the woman eat. She was prone to making small unconscious sounds of pleasure when she was eating, which were reward enough for the trouble of cooking, but she also had a tendency to close her eyes and allow an expression of ecstasy steal over her features when savoring a particularly tasty bite. Jane was certain she was unaware of this and had no intention of telling her. He would just keep cooking and quietly enjoy the satisfaction of eliciting such a response from his—from Lisbon.

Slowly but surely, Lisbon grew accustomed to having around, just as he predicted.
She stopped protesting when he showed up at her place uninvited and instead peered inside the grocery bags he brought over to find out what he'd brought her that day.

Instead of growing defensive when he commented she looked tired and was clearly longing to crash on the couch and watch an old movie, she let him curl up beside her.

Three months, six days, and nine hours after a jury declared him a free man, Jane had his real moment of triumph.

He let himself into her apartment with the key he'd had made from the one he'd stolen from her.

"Lisbon," he called, setting down his grocery bags on the kitchen counter. "I'm here."

Lisbon came down the stairs in loose fitting yoga pants and a blue tank top. She crossed to the kitchen and greeted him with a kiss. "Where've you been?" she asked with a smile. "I expected you ages ago."

Stunned, Jane took a moment to recover. He gestured blindly to the bags on the counter. "Dinner," he managed at last. "I stopped to pick up dinner."

"Mm, what did you bring me?" she asked, peering into the bags.

When he didn't answer right away, she looked up to find him staring at her with a soft smile on his face. "What?" she asked with a questioning smile of her own.

His smile widened. "You kissed me."

Was that all? "So?" Lisbon turned back to the groceries, trying to find out what he'd brought her for dessert. Jane was very good at dessert.

"That's the first time you've done that," he informed her.

Chocolate raspberry cake. Excellent. "Jane, I've been kissing you for three months."

"No," he corrected her. "I have been kissing you for three months."

She looked back at him. "What the hell is the difference?"

"You have been a delightful participant in the kissing, once I started it, but this is the first time you initiated a kiss on your own."

"I've kissed you before," Lisbon insisted. She tried to think of an example and failed.

"Trust me, a man is not going to forget the first time Teresa Lisbon kisses him. And this, my dear, was it."

"Whatever," Lisbon said, turning back to the food. Mm, he'd brought a bottle of her favorite wine, too. Spending time with someone as observant as Jane did have its advantages at times.

"You don't seem to recognize the significance of this moment, Lisbon," Jane said.

She turned back to him. "The significance of what moment?"

"You have given in."

"Given in?"

"Capitulated. Surrendered. Admitted defeat."

"What are you talking about?"

He pointed a finger at her. "You've stopped resisting the idea that you and I are a couple."

She stopped short. "What?"

"You've been fighting me tooth and nail ever since I started pursuing you romantically."

"By pursuing romantically, you're referring to kidnapping me and your habit of breaking and entering?"

"Extreme methods I was forced to adopt because you've playing very hard to get. But now, I drink from the cup of glory, because victory is mine."

"The cup of glory, huh? Is it filled with Earl Grey?"

"Mock all you like, Lisbon, you will not ruin this moment for me."

"Your moment of victory, you mean?"

"Yes, exactly."

"Okay, well, is there any way you can drink your cup of glory with dinner? I'm starving."

He trapped her against the kitchen cupboard, resting his hands on her hips. "First, I want you to admit it."

"Admit what?"

"Admit that we're together."

"Jane, you announced we were together to everyone we know three months ago."

"Yes, but you didn't believe it until now."

"Well, there's no way I'm calling you my swain, if that's what you're after."

"If you prefer suitor, I'm perfectly willing to accommodate you on that point, but I'm really not picky. All I want is for you to admit we're going to build a life together. If that's too difficult, though, I'll settle for a simple 'I love you.'"

She rolled her eyes. "All right, fine." She paused. "I may, on occasion, experience some feelings towards you that are not entirely platonic, and despite the fact that you are an enormous pain in the ass most of the time, I have grown pretty used to having you around, so I suppose I have no objection to allowing you to continue to break into my apartment for the foreseeable future. Now, can we eat?"

He looked into her eyes and smiled. "Well, it's not exactly hearts and candy, but I suppose I'll accept it as the best declaration of love you can come up with for now." He loosened his hold on her slightly but she didn't move away. "So, what was it that changed your mind?" he asked with a grin. "It was the school pin, wasn't it? I knew you were an old-fashioned girl at heart."

"Nah. I just liked the food. Good personal chefs are hard to come by. If I can have one feeding me regularly for nothing but a few measly kisses, I figure that's not too high a price to pay."

She was lying, he could tell. She secretly liked the pin, but still didn't want to admit it. He decided to play along. "I see. So this is a strictly mercenary strategy on your part?"

"Pretty much, yeah. Now, can we eat?"

"Just one moment."

"Jane! Come on, I'm hungry."

"I just need to clarify one thing. Am I correct in understanding that you view kissing me as the equivalent of a monetary reward for feeding you?"

She thought about this. "Pretty much."

"In that case, Lisbon, I have one thing to say to you."

"What's that?"

He stepped closer to her and pointed to his mouth. "Pay up."

She obliged him.

They didn't end up eating dinner until quite some time later.

xxx

The End