My mother had invited her to dinner again. I figured it was for Frankie's benefit- they seemed to 'hit it on' as Maura said. Of course she said it wrong, but I didn't bother to correct her that time. I was too busy pushing away the disturbing, seemingly out of nowhere, pangs of jealousy I was feeling.

So, here we are, in my parent's house, at my parent's dinner table.

When I feel a nudge the first time, I think her foot is aiming for Frankie's, because he's in front of her, like they're on some sort of Italian date, and I'm next to her.

Like a partner usually is.

And don't get me wrong, I don't mind the closeness, but Frankie, well, he's staring at her cleavage- something that would be hard to do if my ma wasn't so damn insistent all the time.

Well I don't react to her foot softly bumping mine, it happens again.

Now I'm getting annoyed- is she trying to drive me crazy? Next thing I noticed is that our knees are touching.

I hear my ma and pa laugh at something that I missed. I glance at Maura, and she's laughing too. "Excellent." She complements Frankie, and before I can feel the full blow of my jealously, her foot entangles with mine, and one of her hands slips underneath the table.

That movement leaves me hopelessly wanting more.

"You know, Maura, sometimes you just got to go with the flow, you know? Let loose your laugh, like you are now. It's really nice to see you smile." Frankie is smiling helplessly at her, completely using all his charm. She smiles back at him.

"Well I'm extremely comfortable around this particular"- her hand touches my knee, and I shiver, "Family." She finishes her sentence. "I hope you all feel the same way." She squeezes my knee.

I clear my throat, nervously.

Her hand is trailing down my leg, past my knee, closer and closer.

I feel a tingle that I associate with arousal, and when she looks at me, smirking, I start to throb.

"Maura." I'm pleading her to stop with my eyes, the shock evident in them, "Of course we feel that way. You're great to have around- I mean sometimes you get can a little… difficult"- she's stroking my crotch now, and I can't deny that this is real anymore, because she is so real. "But we all still love you." My voice cracks on 'love' because she hit my sore spot.

My family nods in return to my statement, but I barely see.

Frankie notices that Maura is smiling at me, in a sultry way, and his lopsided grin melts away. I can feel when realization of what's going on hits him.

My smile is gone along with his, and I shove Maura's hand away.

She looks away, awkwardly trying to avoid my gaze.

"Maura? Did you wash your hands, yet?" I ask, she just shakes her head, and when I get up to go to the bathroom, so follows, understanding why we need to talk.

We don't make it to the bathroom- I can barely get to the kitchen before I swirl around and stare at her in disbelief, "What the hell was that?" I ask. She's not looking at me, and her cheeks are flushed.

My pulse quickens, and the throbbing never stops.

"I don't know." She answers.

I laugh, "Doctor Isles doesn't know?"

She finally looks up at me, with hurt evident in her eyes. "I find you very confusing." She's confused? Well, then what the hell am I?

"So you try and rape me during dinner and now you can barely look at me- and I'm confusing?"

"I thought- I thought you wanted… me." Her voice cracks on the 'me', and I shutter at the weakness she's showing me. Weak is not a word associated with Maura Isles.

"You thought I wanted you?" I ask, still confused, "Maura, we're both straight. I don't see what you're referring to. We're best friends, not lovers."

"I'm sorry." She's looking down at her shoes again. Those high heeled shoes, that show just how toned her legs are. I close my eyes, feeling the heat pool into my underwear.

"Well, I'm confused. What did I do to make you think that I want you? That I think you're incredibly hot? That when you wear shoes like that," I point to her shoes, "I think about how your legs would look spread open on my bed?"

"Oh." She whispers, "You… are attracted to me. That… complicates things."

"What? Why? I wasn't going to act on it." I try to defend myself.

"Jane, I was simply conducting an experiment to prove to myself, and to our friends that we don't have anything but a platonic relationship."

"We don't have anything but that."

"No, that's where you're wrong. Not for long at least."

"Why's that?" I ask, intrigued, then something hits me. What if she doesn't want to work with me anymore? "You… you don't want to be friends anymore? I told you… nothing has to change"-

"But it does. You think I'm about to let you get away like that?" She smiles, and I look into her eyes, seeing that she isn't about to reject me. "I want you too, Jane. More then you know."

I refuse to believe her.

She grabs my hand, and pushes down her pants, underneath her under panties.

It's like a sea of… wetness. And I can feel her pulse.

My eyes close, "How about we go home early?"

"My place, or yours?"

"I think the car would work." She offers, and it makes me go crazy.

But then I stop my self, "No. We're doing this right. I'll drive."

She pouts, "I can't wait long."

"Which is why I'm driving."

She fights back a smile, "Can I at least aid you while you drive?"

I don't give her an answer, instead I grab her hand, and run into the dining room, "Some work came up!" I almost frantically scream at my family. They shake their heads in disapproval.

"Our Jane. Always on duty. Put down your gun every once in a while, Janie?"

I smirk. "Okay." We're out the door, still holding hands, and in my car before I even realize that we ran the whole way.