CHAPTER 10: "HOW TO DATE YOUR COWORKER"
Friday, 9:30pm
It had been almost a full 24 hours since Booth left her apartment still laughing over her last comment. He had kissed her good night at the door and promised to see her today.
He called around 10am to let her know Cullen had requested several reports to be completed by the end of the day so he would not be able to swing by the Jeffersonian at all. The obvious disappointment in his voice made her smile and tampered her own dismay. It amazed her how simple it was to transition to their new status. They were the same, except now she had the added perk of that delicious mouth. She still could not wait to get her hands on his body, or his hands on hers, but the weekend was coming and she knew they both would be too.
Later that day, Brennan was at home reading a new book she had bought, when there was a knock on her apartment door. She let her finger hold her place as she walked with it to the door and looked through the peephole. She opened to a smiling Booth.
"Hey Beautiful!" said Booth as he leaned in for a warm, lingering kiss.
"So we've already advanced to pet names?" answered Brennan, while reaching for a welcoming kiss of her own.
"What do you think 'Bones' is?" joked Booth as he stole yet another smooch, this time deepening the experience and drawing her bottom lip gently into his mouth. Still sipping from her sweetness he moved her gently back into the apartment and kicked the door shut with his foot.
Finally their lips parted and both pulled back with a smile. "I missed you. How was your day?" asked a slightly breathless Booth.
"Boring! I didn't have one single, sexy F.B.I. Agent come and kidnap me off somewhere," she teased with a glint in her eyes.
"Really? Well you know even if I showed up I still wouldn't have fit the bill?" he waited for that adorable look of confusion to cloud her face before he cleared it up. "I'm no longer single." He kissed her nose. "And neither are you."
The warmth of his arms was not enough of a distraction to quell the argument that came naturally to her mind, "Booth, I don't agree with the use of labels for adults. Introducing one another or thinking of each other as boyfriend/girlfriend is inaccurate; we're not teenagers."
"Take me to the couch and I'll challenge that statement." Booth wagged his eyebrows at her accompanied by a leer, but when he saw the tolerant smile she returned, he sobered, "Ok, Sweetheart, what shall we call ourselves?"
She could not help but laugh at his continued playfulness. She stepped out of his embrace and tugged on his arm so he would follow her to the sofa. "Honestly, I don't need any terms to define us. I just need to know that we're still us. Well, with a couple enhancements," she teased.
"Is there anything else we should discuss with relationships and us?" Booth asked gently, running his fingers through her soft hair.
"Well, I was just reading about co-workers and…"
"Wait, what?" Booth interrupted as he quickly took the book from her. Upon reading the title, he barked sharply in amusement. "How to Date Your Co-Worker?"
"Don't laugh; the points the author makes are quite logical." Brennan grabbed the book back and flipped to one of her Post-It notes that referenced some ideas she wanted to discuss with him. "For instance, have we thoroughly reviewed the F.B.I.'s policy on non-work relationships? How do you think others may react to our being together? What about how juries might be affected by this information? It is quite possible that this could affect our reputations."
Booth frowned at her extensive list of concerns. "Bones, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to talk yourself out of this?"
"Booth I want this… with you, I do, but these are realistic concerns. OK?" At Booth's nod, she continued reading, "The author strongly advises us to have a break-up plan. What would we do if we broke-up? Could we continue to work together successfully? How will it affect the rest of the team?"
Booth rolled his eyes. While he was heartened by her use of the word "if" instead of "when", he did not want to talk about breaking up when he had not even had a chance to take her out on a real date. But he understood this was a conversation she needed to have in order to fully come to terms with their relationship. "You're right, we should talk about this."
Her eyes lit up at his agreement and he could not help but be grateful that he was the one who put that gleam in her gorgeous blues. "Okay Bones, first off, there is no specific policy for our partnership because you are not an F.B.I. Agent. So while it is frowned upon for two partnered agents to fraternize, that directive does not apply here. Since we're not breaking rules, no one at the Bureau should have a problem when they learn we're involved. As long as we are able to maintain our case record there shouldn't be any negative backlash. Good?"
Brennan nodded in understanding and Booth argued the next point on her list, "Let's discuss our reputations. We are, without being involved romantically, the number one investigative team. But lawyers can, and probably will, try and spin it to make jurors believe we would taint evidence to support one another, instead of actual facts."
Brennan's voice held a spark of anger. "That couldn't happen. All of our evidence is supported by or created from proven scientific facts. We thoroughly document all found particulates, calculated timeframes, trajectories, force and impact. While there are ways to fake evidence, our protocols for recording our findings can easily be confirmed by any other forensics team. Any lawyer could cause doubt, but the facts will remain undisputed."
"So how can our dating negatively effect our reputations?"
"They can't." The partners smiled at each other, having satisfactorily resolved one obstacle.
"All right, Darling, next question: Would you want to work with me if we broke-up? I think the big questions are, would you still be able to respect and trust me?"
She studied him for a moment before decisively nodding her head, "Yes. I can't think of how you could lose my trust or my respect. And if you feel the same, and we're okay, then it should be fine for the team."
Booth smiled and gently traced his finger down her cheek. "Ok, what's your next question?"
Brennan blushed and started to flip through the book.
"Bones? What's your next question?" he asked suspiciously.
"I'm looking through my notes, give me a second."
He smiled, "What is it, Baby?"
"Are you going to test out each term of endearment?"
"Come on, spit it out, we both know you already have a question."
She sighed, "I don't know if I like you reading my mind."
"There are a lot of benefits to my knowing exactly what you need." He waggled his eyebrows, clueing her into his suggestive comment.
She glanced sidelong at him before forcing herself back to her questions. "I was just thinking about how it might work when one of us begins a new relationship? I mean, you aren't very nice to the men I date."
"I get jealous, Bones." He watched as a small smile graced her lips. "Is there something else?"
Her breath rushed out in a torrent. "I guess that was the emotion I felt too." At his confused look, she continued, "With Cam. I saw her take your hand in the office and I felt my stomach clenching. Even though I had no other symptoms; I had eaten a regular lunch and drank plenty of water; I still felt nauseous." She looked at him uncertainly, "Was that jealousy?"
"Yeah, sounds like it."
"I don't want to feel jealousy, but honestly I am unsure how I'd react if I had to watch you dating someone else. Logically, caring about you, I'd only want you to be happy. But jealousy is essentially fear... in this case the fear that our dynamic would change and we would no longer be such a large part of each other's lives."
"Shhh, Bones, it's okay. I get it." He quickly finished for her. "I don't know how I would deal with it either. But I do know one thing, and that's that I want you in my life. You are my best friend and I'll take you anyway I can get you."
She smiled seductively at that, "Really, Booth? And in what way have you thought about taking me?"
His mouth went dry and he could feel his body temperature spike.
"This actually ties in with another point from the book: Public displays of affection." Brennan moved closer to him, running one hand through the strands at his nape, while the other dragged up the inside of his thigh.
