Well, this story is in response to a challenge placed on The Booth Express. The requirement was simply jealousy. Hopefully I've made it original and interesting, and maybe even a bit funny! I want to thank all the people over at TBE for their fabulous comments, and of course thanks to redrider for coming up with the challenge. Enjoy, and don't forget to tell me what you think!
The air felt thick and hot despite the coldness of the day, and I swiped at a bead of sweat as it played along my hairline. Blood pounded in my ears to the rhythm my heart was playing. Da dum da dum da dum da dum. I squeezed my eyes shut, inhaling deeply. When I opened them again she was staring intently at me. I tried a small smile, certain it looked more like a grimace.
"You haven't heard a word I've said, have you?" she berated, spoon poised halfway to her mouth.
I nodded and reached up to loosen my tie. "Sure," I squeaked as I gulped a mouthful of air. "Is it warm in here or is it me? Maybe I'm coming down with the flu. I should go home." I pushed my chair back, ready to stand, but her free hand found my arm, pushing me back into my seat.
"Sit down, you're fine." The spoon was still hovering dangerously close to her lips. "We need to crack this case."
I looked down at the coffee cup on the table before me. Steam rose from the dark liquid, filled dangerously close to the rim. With shaky hands I gripped the cup, unaware of the heat digging needles into my skin. I watched as I raised the cup to my lips and took a tentative sip, my hands finally beginning to steady. I grinned as I began to set the cup down, my eyes lifting to look at her. Coffee spilled onto the table.
The spoon had finally completed its painstakingly slow journey and had reached her mouth. I watched second after agonizing second as she sucked the cream from it, then swirled her tongue over the surface, licking it clean. I struggled for breath as a fire formed in the pit of my belly and I berated myself for being jealous of the silverware.
She was talking to me again as she divided the lemon meringue pie into sections on its plate, but I wasn't listening as she scooped another spoonful of cream. I watched as she raised the spoon again and this time dipped her finger into the cream. The finger disappeared between her lips, and I rubbed a hand across my face as my mind fought to process what I had just seen. Finger. Cream. Sucking.
A spot of cream had found its way to the corner of her top lip, and I cleared my throat, aching to dive across the table and lick at the offending foodstuff.
"Cream. Lip." She looked at me, eyes narrowing as she tried to decipher my grunts. I gestured to the corner of my mouth and watched with wide eyes as her tongue slipped out and licked the cream away.
"Did I get it?" She was spooning up more pie as she spoke.
"Yes." I reached to loosen my tie before realizing it was already undone. I fiddled with the ends, finding it hard to tear my eyes away from her mouth. She was repeating the swirling and licking sequence she had carried out earlier, and I felt my jaw drop open ever so slightly as I watched her and imagined her tongue on my lips, my chest, my...
"Booth!" Her tone was sharp, loud enough to shake me from my daydream.
I opened and closed my mouth, gaping like a guppy. "What?"
She shook her head, smiled and jabbed the empty spoon towards me. "I asked if you wanted some pie?"
Oh, I knew what I wanted alright, and it wasn't the pie. I glanced at the spoon, saw smears of cream on it that her tongue had missed, and narrowed my eyes at it. It was mocking me, flaunting the evidence of something I wanted so badly, and I wondered how much force it would take to snap it in two.
She was still staring at me, watching me as I studied the spoon. "Booth?" She jabbed the spoon towards me again and I held up my hands.
"No. Thank you. No, thank you, I'm good." I smiled tightly.
She nodded and went back to her pie, scooping the last mouthful and leaving the spoon in her mouth for longer than necessary. I could only imagine what she was doing to it. Pie finished, she set the spoon aside and used her index finger to circle to rim of the plate, collecting cream on its tip. She licked at it gently, then offered her finger to me.
"This cream is divine. Are you sure you don't want to try it?"
It took all my resolve as my heart screamed at me to do it. I regarded her finger for a moment before my head told me there would be no turning back once her finger was in my mouth, and my body told me I wouldn't be leaving anytime soon if I did. As much as I wanted to, such an act didn't seem appropriate in a diner. In my bedroom, maybe, but not in a diner.
I shook my head firmly. She smiled coyly, and in that instant I realized that Temperance Brennan knew what she'd been doing to me from the moment we stepped into the diner.
"You tease."
She shrugged and slipped her finger into her mouth. "You're a little slow on the uptake, aren't you?" She smiled a devilish smile. "How about we get some more of this pie and head back to your place?"
Now it was my turn to smile. "As long as you promise not to bring the spoon."
She laughed and wrapped her hand in mine as we collected half a lemon meringue pie and headed out to my SUV. As I pulled away I glanced at the empty plate still sat on the table where we'd been, the spoon abandoned beside it. I smiled. The good guy always wins in the end.