Eli looked across the sofa at Emily, steadfastly ignoring the steely gaze of his boss and taking a very deliberate sip from his beer.

Cal was concerned. He was trying to hide it, and failing miserably. He might be good at lying in most circumstances, but when it came to Emily his defences dropped dramatically, hence the sucker-punch to Loker's solar-plexus earlier that day when his radically honest intern had confessed to him that he and Emily had kissed.

The blow Emily had delivered to his own gut moments after he'd invited Loker in for a beer hadn't even been pulled and as much as he hated to admit it he was proud of her for doing it.

So now the three of them were in the lounge, Loker and Lightman sipping on bottles of beer while Emily worked on the pint of pineapple ice-cream she had been sharing with her Dad when Loker had arrived.

'What flavour is that?' Loker asked as she took a mouthful.
'Pineapple, want some?'

Loker glanced at Cal, who gave the slightest nod to his intern, before turning back to Emily with a broad smile.

'Sure. Where do you keep the-'
'Here.' Emily held out the spoon she had been using and Loker had to remind himself of three things in rapid succession before he just leaned forward and bit the ice-cream off the end of it.
One- Emily Lightman is only sixteen
Two- Her father is less than five meters away
Three- Her father is my boss.

Eli reached out and took the spoon out of her fingers, catching a flash of disappointment across Emily's features as he tasted the icy treat.
'Not bad. Rocky road's my favourite, though.'
'Do we have any of that, Dad?'
'No idea, Em. Go check.'
'Okay.'
'And bring Loker back his own spoon. '

Emily leapt over the back of the sofa, handing Eli the pint of pineapple and strolling into the kitchen in search of a better flavour.

'One beer, Loker. When that beer is empty you get up and you-'
'No rocky road... but there's some chocolate fudge swirl here!' Emily called, interrupting her father.
'Sounds great, Em!' Cal shouted back, not missing a beat.
'I get it, Cal, I'm outta here once the beer is gone. Don't want to wear out my welcome.'
'Good.'

Eli took another mouthful of his beer, carefully noting how much he had left, all the while Cal watched him closely.

'Here.' Emily handed Eli the pint bucket, she'd taken the lid off and stuck a spoon into the vein of fudge on the surface. As Eli took it, his fingers brushed Emily's and he caught the briefest expression of happiness as it flashed across her features. Sometimes being able to read people was a skill Eli wished he had never learned, but other times, like this, he was glad he could see such tiny emotions.

They were stealing a moment that was, by rights, a completely forbidden fruit. But their mutual knowledge of micro-expressions meant that the tiniest emotional movements were caught and savoured.

Cal didn't like it one bit, and made sure they were both aware of it, clearing his throat far more loudly than was strictly necessary. His daughter and his intern broke their eye contact and Cal felt his eyes widen as Emily's lips curved into a small smile and she sat down on the sofa again. She and Eli ate their ice-cream in silence for a few seconds before Cal couldn't take it anymore and picked up the TV remote to flick the set on.

He didn't really allow himself to get distracted by the ball game that was on the box, keeping one eye on Loker as he interacted with Emily.

Being able to read every emotion on the face of his daughter, and the boy man she was conversing with, was somewhat a curse. But they were keeping themselves in check, and after a few awkward seconds Emily and Eli settled into a friendly banter that was more like the interactions that Cal was used to, and he allowed the TV to distract him.

Fifteen measured mouthfuls later, Eli shook his empty bottle and stood up, clutching the bottle, the almost-empty ice-cream tub and the spoon he had been eating with. Cal was well and truly engrossed in the game, but his head snapped up when Emily followed Eli out of his line of vision and into the kitchen.

There was (yet) another awkward moment between the two as Eli handed Emily the ice-cream bucket for her to put it back in the freezer and pulled the recycling bin out to drop his beer bottle into it.

'See you Monday, Dr Lightman.' Loker called to his boss as he walked past the lounge and towards the front door, Emily following.

'Night, Loker.' Cal muttered, making a move to stand up but stopping short as Emily shot him a glare from the hallway. He sank back into the sofa and tried not to crane his neck too much as he listened to the conversation at the front door.

'I'll see you later in the week, yeah?' Emily asked as the front door creaked open.
'I guess so. You still going to Music Fest?'
'Definitely.'
'Well, I did get a ticket.'
'Maybe I'll see you there.' Cal could hear the smile in his daughters' voice and had to actively restrain himself from standing up and going to the door to stand behind her in full Overprotective-Dad-Mode. But he held back, somewhat content to just listen.
'Maybe. Have a good weekend, Em.'
'You too, Eli.'

Ten long seconds later the door closed, and Emily came back into the lounge, a slight tinge of pink in her cheeks and a secretive smile making her features light up.

Cal sighed, resigned, and leaned back in his seat, stretched his arm along the back of the couch and invited Emily to join him.

She grinned at her Dad and stepped around the coffee table to snuggle into his side.