11. 1st, 1st Date: The Beginning

It was 6 o'clock and Booth was ready to explode from anticipation. Takng the rest of the day off had not helped his situation. The process of getting ready, which honestly should have taken him 45 minutes tops, had lengthened to about two hours. He had tried on three different shirts only to end up wearing the one he had chosen first. He wondered when he had started acting like a girl.

At 6:15, he finally decided he could leave. He would have time to run a necessary errand or two and still be punctual to pick up Brennan.

Meanwhile Brennan was nearly worn out from getting ready. Spending the afternoon with Angela felt the equivalent of running a marathon. However much she complained about the process, she couldn't argue with the results.

As she looked at herself in the mirror, she saw a confident, yet elegant woman. The crystal blue gown reached to the floor and accentuated her curves ever so slightly as she moved. It was held up by thin straps and had a fairly modest V-neckline that was trimmed with a pattern of rhinestones. Angela had said it was the perfect dress to remain formal and yet tease Booth until the next night.

The next night…Brennan looked over to the other dress hanging in her closet. She felt a thrill thinking about what Booth's reaction would be to the second dress. As her mind began to wander dangerously, a blush began creeping up her neck. Fortunately, or unfortunately, that is when Booth arrived with a knock on her door.

Booth tried to regulate his breathing as he waited for her to open the door. He knew she would be ready; she was generally punctual. As her door opened, all breath was stolen from his body.

She was the image of beauty. Her blue eyes stood out because her dress was the exact same color. Her hair was twisted up revealing her delicate neck that was sure to tempt him all night long. To complete the image, she was smiling at him. Every smile of hers simply unhinged him.

After resuming normal respiratory functions, he finally found his voice. "Temperance, you look stunning."

If possible, her smile brightened. "Thank you. You look very handsome yourself."

She opened the door further, inviting him in. As he walked by and she caught the scent of his cologne, she had to dig her mind out of the gutter. She was suddenly wondering if he looked as good out of his suits as he did in them. She shut the door and shook her head to clear her thoughts.

She walked into her living room to see Booth waiting for her with a present in his hands.

"Is that for me?" She attempted to hide the excitement in her voice.

Booth looked down to his hands. "Well, it's not for Parker."

He earned a slight chuckle in response.

She carefully opened her present, noticing that he had wrapped it himself. She was surprised to find that he had gotten her a box of chocolates.

"Chocolates?"

"You know, typical date gift. However, there is a special twist to it. They're made in South America and have chili powder in them. I heard they are very good."

She beamed. "Oh! I've had these before; and I agree they are very delicious. Thank you Booth."

"You're welcome Temperance."

After a moment, she asked quietly, "Booth?"

"Yeah?"

She glanced down at the floor before raising her eyes to look at him. "I know you're trying to treat this as a normal date…but would you please call me Bones?"

His heart swelled as he listened to her question. It had been a very conscious effort to refrain from calling her by his nickname for her. He knew how significant it was for her to admit that she liked the name. But knowing how much she had resisted at first, he couldn't help but push the issue a little further.

"Why?" He stepped a little closer. "Why do you want me to call you Bones?"

She sighed deeply as she considered her answer. That stupid nickname had worked it's way into her heart. She had acknowledged to herself a while ago that the name no longer aggravated her. Booth only called her that because they were close. With confidence, she gave him her answer.

"I want you to call me Bones because no one else calls me that; while it used to be annoying to me, it is now special. I also know that you do not have that nickname for anyone else, so it is also important to you."

Booth's warm eyes smiled back at her. "The name is important to me because you, Bones, are important to me."

After holding her gaze for another infinite moment, he broke the mood.

"You want to try one of those chocolates before we leave?"

"Booth," she chided, "It will ruin our dinner."

"It's only one chocolate. Trust me, it takes a heck of a lot more than that to ruin my dinner." He continued with a charm smile. "Admit it, you want to try them."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, but just one."

Opening the package, she chose one at random. Her face melted into enjoyment and her eyes gently closed as the dark chocolate melted in her mouth. As the combination of sweetness and heat battled across her tongue, she couldn't resist the soft moan of appreciation escaping her throat.

Booth's mouth hung open as he watched Brennan savor the chocolate. He knew women liked chocolate, but seeing her reaction was making his heart race. There had to be something different in these, and he had to try a piece.

As he reached over to grab one, Brennan's eyes flew open and she wrenched the package away.

"Hey! Who said you could have one?" She smiled impishly. "You gave these to me."

Booth tried to look shocked and hurt, but the smile playing on his lips gave him away.

"Not even one?" he asked.

She shook her head no, trying not to chuckle.

"Bones…" he whined.

"Nope."

He decided to add the pout Parker so successfully used. "Please?"

"Well since you said please."

She concentrated on which chocolate would be his reward. Selecting the perfect one, she held it up to him.

"Ok, open up."

He gulped as he realized she was going to feed the chocolate to him. He closed his eyes, opened his mouth, and waited.

She carefully placed the chocolate in his mouth and let her fingers brush gently against his lips. As the taste of the dark chocolate, the spiciness of the chili powder and the softness of Brennan's fingers hit him, a visible shiver ran down his spine. It was one of the most exhilarating feelings he had ever encountered. As he finally swallowed the morsel, he opened his eyes to see Brennan looking at him with a smirk.

"Wow. That was really good."

She smiled. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

He cleared his throat. "We should probably get going if we don't want to be late."

"Right. Just let me get my wrap." Angela had suggested a nice wrap to keep her warm in case she got cold. She also remembered Angela making another suggestion of what could keep her warm, but she didn't need to be distracted right now.

She took the arm that he had offered her and walked down to the front of her building. As they reached the parking lot, she began looking for the SUV. Booth, however, led her over to a considerably more attractive car.

"Booth, where's your car?"

"At home. We're taking this one instead."

"Why? The SUV is perfectly acceptable."

"Yeah, I know, on a normal occasion anyways. Tonight is a special; it requires a more stylish vehicle."

"More stylish?" she asked with incredulity. "What kind of car is it anyways?"

"This machine is a classic 1963 Aston Martin DB5. A buddy of mine from the war is a huge Bond fanatic, so he let me borrow it for the evening. This was the car I was trying to get in England."

"What's a Bond?" She gave him the standard 'inquisitive Bones' look.

"Come on, you know." He deepened his voice. "I'm Bond, James Bond."

She continued to look at him with a blank expression.

"Nothing? Really?" He sighed dejectedly. "He's a British spy. We're going to have to have a couple of movie nights here soon so I can increase your popular culture knowledge."

"Hmm…movie nights. I would enjoy that." She smiled up hopefully. This was an area of life that he was comfortable in and she wanted to learn more about.

He returned the smile. "We can do that. But tonight, we have more exciting things to do."

He led her over to the passenger door, which he opened, and she carefully climbed in. She had to admit this car was clearly superior in design. As Booth slid into his seat, she couldn't help but notice the ecstatic look on his face. There was a child-like joy that was infectious.

"Do you like driving this car more than your own?"

"Bones, driving this car is an entirely different experience." He gave a dangerous smirk. "I would show you what she could do, but it wouldn't look good for an FBI agent to get a ticket for speeding and reckless driving."

He paused before bravely throwing up one last comment before they drove off. "That'll have to wait for date number twelve."

A/N: Ok all....the big date has begun....it'll take a couple of chapters to get through it all....and now since you've all been dying for this, I need to know what you think so far