Disclaimer - Bones and all its lovely characters belong to someone else.
A/N - Back to the 'plot' - I use the term loosely... Any feedback would be most welcome...
Temperance sat awkwardly on the chair in Booth's office, waiting. She was still clutching the paper bag containing her breakfast offering.
Then she turned towards the doorway in response to a tapping noise. An older agent, not one she could recall meeting, stood in the doorway.
"Dr Brennan?" The man asked, and at her nod he continued, "Agent Booth is not in the office right now."
Temperance suppressed a sigh of impatience, "I know." The agent blinked, "I'm waiting for him to come up. We met on the way in, he... had some things to do first."
It seemed that the agent was peering at her a bit more closely, before he nodded twice, smiled and said, "Loved the book by the way."
Temperance smiled back politely, really not wanting to get in a conversation with a fan this early in the morning. She also liked to be Dr Brennan the FBI's consultant, not Dr Brennan the author when she was on FBI property.
He seemed to sense her reluctance to talk and pushed away from the door with a wave.
Temperance turned back and glared at Booth's empty chair. She wondered if he'd mind if she shut the door and closed the blinds on the windows of his office. She couldn't understand what was so fascinating about her visiting Booth. It wasn't as if she was an infrequent visitor. Nevertheless, five people had now told her that Booth wasn't in during the short journey from the elevator to his office and in the five minutes she had been sitting waiting. What was even more odd was that they all knew who she was - she only knew one of the people who had spoken to her by name and, unless she was being very forgetful, three were total strangers.
She frowned, unsure of how to take her apparent notoriety.
Her eyes travelled around Booth's familiar office. She edged a stacks of papers forward on his desk and cleared a space to put their breakfast.
She shook her head slightly as she realised how much paperwork Booth stacked neatly on his desk. He always had large piles, but she was sure that it was worse than normal. She remembered Booth complaining about the impossibility of a clear desk policy when there were 'so many damned forms to fill in.'
She wondered if he'd stashed her latest application for a firearm somewhere in the midst of it all.
She continued her inspection of his room and her gaze came to rest of a group of photo frames on his desk. She recognised the silver-etched frame, it had been a gift from her and contained a stunning picture of Parker, which Angela had taken. She felt pleased that Booth had liked the gift enough to keep it on his desk.
She frowned at the other frame, leaning round to try to see the image it contained before she could stop herself.
When she realised what she was doing, she flushed in embarrassment. Why was she invading Booth's privacy? Mind you if Booth didn't want people to see the photo he wouldn't put it on his desk.
She shook her head slightly in an attempt to dislodge the temptation to peek and laced her hands together on her lap, deciding that she had better not look around the office any more or she'd be finding new things to poke around in.
Cheated of an immediate distraction, Temperance's thoughts turned to the man himself. She wouldn't have been able to explain what had brought her along to Booth's office this morning, but she knew that when she had seen him jogging over she had felt something in her relax and her mood had lifted immeasurably.
She brushed at an unruly lock of hair in distraction, wondering why she had felt like that.
She saw Booth all the time, she paused as out of nowhere 'not for a week!' leapt out of her thoughts. She caught her lip between her teeth, worried, did this mean that she was missing Booth?
The inner voice was back, this time yelling 'hell yes.'
She sighed and sat back in the chair, her eyes closing as she recalled his appearance earlier, his face had been red with exertion, his body bathed in sweat, but she'd still had to resist the temptation to reach for him.
Her eyes flew open and her stomach turned over at that thought. She looked around wildly as she admitted to herself that she found Booth attractive, even when he was hot and out breath from a punishing early morning run.
The rational part of her mind sternly informed her that Booth was clearly an attractive man and that it was only natural that she should notice this. Being drawn to him from a purely physical perspective was nothing to be concerned about.
She tried to shie away from recognising that Booth's physical attractiveness was not the first thing that came to mind when she thought about him, or when she got that strange warm feeling in her chest. Unfortunately her logical mind wouldn't let her deny the evidence, and she had to acknowledge that it was his smile, the way he looked at her; his aura of confidence and his very real skill at his job, as well as his unshakeable faith in her and his willingness to challenge her that drew her to him.
Her shoulders slumped as, for a moment, she admitted that there was a lot to like about Seeley Booth. A lot that she liked; a lot.
She was drawn from her musing with a jump as a voice called from the doorway, "Hey Bones."
She turned in her chair, flushing guiltily, and watched Booth walk into the room.
He flashed her his wide, charming grin and then dragged his chair from the other side of his desk.
He shrugged in response to her raised eyebrow.
"Feels like I'm interviewing you if I sit over there." He explained and then looked at her expectantly.
Temperance was momentarily distracted by his still damp and ruffled hair and his hastily tightened tie. She felt a strange thrill that the always immaculately turned out FBI agent had rushed his usual preparations to be with her.
"Coffee Bones?" He asked hopefully.
Temperance forced her face not to fall as she began to wonder if he had just rushed up for his coffee and a pastry.
After a moment's pause, she reached over the bag and lifted out his espresso and a danish. Both his favourites.
As she handed them over, their fingers brushed and Temperance's eyes jerked up to his as she felt a spark of electricity down her arm. She looked away hastily, but she had caught a similar look of surprise in his brown eyes.
She thought that he was going to let it go unremarked, when he reached across squeezed her hand gently, "Thanks Bones."
This time when their eyes met, they held each other's gaze.
(TBC)