Lick
Brennan's hand paused as she raised her spoon to her mouth, watching as the attractive woman across the restaurant watched her husband with ill-disguised interest, even going so far as to actually lick her lips with want. Finishing her bite of food, Brennan listened to Booth as he raved about his steak, the joy he took from simple things like a good cut of meat prepared well making her smile.
"Is your fish good, Bones? It smells great from here." Booth gestured to her plate with his fork.
Nodding, Brennan finished her bite and swallowed before answering. "It's wonderful, actually." She reached for her wine glass before continuing. "You should know, there is a very beautiful woman to your far right who has been staring at you lustfully."
Almost choking on his steak, Booth's eyes widened comically. "Bones!" He tried to look to the side stealthily, but only succeeded in making his wife laugh. "Booth, you're being ridiculous!"
"Hey, I am not! You tell me some other woman is ogling me as casually as letting me know I have something on my shirt and you expect me not to react?" He wiped his mouth with his napkin and tried to calm down. The amusement still twinkling in his wife's eyes was making that very hard at the moment.
"I'm sorry, Booth. I-" She stopped as she realized that they were no longer alone. To Booth's complete horror, standing next to their table was the woman they had just been discussing.
"I am sorry to interrupt." Her voice was smooth and just as honeyed as her flowing locks. Booth cleared his throat and prepared to set the woman straight when she reached down and took Brennan's hand. "I just wanted to tell you that I think you are one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. I haven't been able to take my eyes off of you all evening." She rubbed her thumb along Brennan's wedding band. "And if you were not already spoken for, I would love to have had the opportunity to show you just how beautiful I think you are."
Brennan smiled. "Thank you…?"
"Ariella."
"Ariella. I am Temperance, and this is my husband, Seeley." Booth was too gobsmacked to do anything but nod at the other woman.
"Temperance." Brennan's name rolled off Ariella's tongue like a beautiful foreign language and Booth was pulled from his shock when he realized that his usually very self-assured wife was blushing. "What a perfectly beautiful name." She glanced at Booth and carefully placed Brennan's hand back on the table top. "Seeley, you are a very lucky man. I hope that you are aware of that."
Nodding, Booth leaned forward and replied with eyes reserved only for his wife. "Oh yeah. I am fully aware of how lucky I am." He spared the stranger a quick look. "In ways you will never know or understand."
Ariella smiled brightly and patted Booth on the shoulder. "That is very good to know. Ciao, Temperance. Seeley." And with a confident toss of her hair, she left as quickly and quietly as she had appeared.
Booth almost laughed as Brennan watched the other woman cross the restaurant and return to her own table and friends. "Bones, did that just happen?"
Brennan tore her attention away from Ariella and her companions, blushing again at having been caught staring. "I'm sorry, Booth. That was just…"
Amused that Temperance Brennan was at a rare loss for words, Booth grinned and reached for the same hand his fellow admirer had held. "Yeah. It was. That is definitely a story for guys' night out."
"Booth!"