Teresa leaned back against the soft cushions of the sofa, keeping her eyes safely on Angela's face. As much as she spent her nights lying in bed and thinking on Patrick, she wouldn't risk getting caught staring at the man right before his wife and child.
He seemed blissfully oblivious to her current predicament anyway; his love and affection went entirely to his beautiful wife, she got his undivided attention except when it came to their daughter. Little Charlotte was her father's princess, he loved her and her mother dearly as the family man that he was.

For all that she was desperately in love with him, Teresa knew that she could never act on her feelings. Patrick Jane was a happy man, she wouldn't rob him of his happiness by putting herself between him and his family; even more so because she was a Catholic, and therefore held marriage as a sacred thing.
There was nothing for her to do but play the part of the family friend, and Patrick was indeed the best of friends regardless of any other feelings she may have for him.

"Tell us about your new job, Teresa," Angela asked politely, and she gave her a brief account of the CBI activities – at least as far as she was allowed to divulge to the public.

She chose not to mention their current investigation on a notorious serial killer for much obvious reasons, it wasn't safe for civilians to get to know about certain details.

"If you ever need my help with one of your cases," Patrick threw in casually. "You know where to find me."

Teresa shrugged and fell into the easy banter they used to share. "Yeah, right. Just let me know when one of our victims happens to contact you."

It was at that moment that Charlotte trotted into the living room, clutching a doll to her chest.

"Hello, Teresa," the little girl chirped merrily before reaching for one of the cupcakes lying on the coffee table in front of them.

She smiled affectionately; the kid was so adorable, it would take a heart of stone not to love her.

When the tea time was over, she kissed Angela and Patrick lightly on the cheek – lingering just a moment longer with him.
Then she waved them goodbye, walking down the front path as a much familiar bittersweet feeling settled over her chest.

xxx

"You've seen him again, haven't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

The truth was that she couldn't understand why James felt the need to check on her so often. They were both grown up adults, and she was the eldest sister, not the other way round.

"That Mr. Jane of yours. I know you've gone and visited him."

"Well, if you know already, I don't know why you bother asking."

James took a step towards her and leaned his hand over her shoulder. "He's a married man, Reese. I don't want you to suffer because of him."

"Who said I'm going to suffer because of him? We're just good friends, that's all."

"That's what people always say. I know you care for him."

All of a sudden she jerked away from his touch. She was a big girl, she could handle this on her own; the last thing she needed was an overprotective brother to poke his nose into her own business.

"As you pointed out before, he's a married man. No need to worry, your sister is not going to play the scarlet woman or anything."

Teresa ignored her brother's pointed stare and brushed past him to the kitchen. What she needed right now was a good cup of coffee; that would be the perfect thing to wash away the taste of tea that was still lingering in her mouth, for tea was the beverage that Patrick favored over anything else.

She was a cop, she reminded herself firmly; and cops didn't allow their weaknesses to take over them. Her job was the thing that had always mattered most to her, so that's what she was going to focus on from now on.

The front door banged quietly, and she knew that James had left at long last. Sighing she wrapped her hands around the mug and breathed in the aroma of her favorite brand of coffee.
She had lots of experience at bottling up her feelings, so it didn't make that much of a difference if she had to do it once more; she was pretty good at it as a matter of fact.