"Ange, would you just, please, pick a dress, so that we can go?" Brennan was definitely whining. They had found a short black twenties style dress for Angela in the first boutique they had visited, but nothing that Brennan had considered had been acceptable to Angela. Brennan reached out and grabbed a blue dress that appeared to be her size off the closest rack and desperately displayed it to Angela. "What about this one?" she asked hopefully. Angela snorted.
"Maybe, if we were going to a funeral. No, Bren, I insist on us finding you the perfect dress for tonight." Brennan was tired and hungry and just wanted to grab the closest dress and get out of here, but she knew they weren't going anywhere until Angela was satisfied.
"Ange, maybe if you would tell me exactly what you're looking for, I can help you look." Brennan was willing to wear whatever Angela told her to if that meant she could get out of here. Angela threw her a smile and then turned to scan the items on display in the boutique.
"I'm not sure, Bren. I'll just know it when I see…," her voice trailed off and her face took on a look of almost reverence. "THAT!" she whispered, pointing at a display. A saleslady had been watching them and approached immediately offering her assistance, sensing an imminent sale. Angela hadn't taken her eyes off the dress. She simply pointed and barked out Brennan's size. The saleslady collected the dress and a few accessories. She knew that the dress would fit the lovely young auburn haired woman like a glove and felt certain that she would want to accessorize. Brennan took the dress from her and looked doubtfully from it to Angela.
"Ange, are you sure? There's not really much dress here. And it's red." It was cherry red chiffon with a satin slip of the same color. The top was simply two strips of material that fastened around the neck, went straight down to cover each breast (and not much else) and ended at the waistband, which is where the back of the dress started. The skirt was gathered and somewhat full and would end several inches above the knee. Angela almost shoved her into the dressing room.
"I'm sure, Bren, just try it on." She ordered. Angela and the saleslady stood side by side, arms crossed looking like the impenetrable defensive line of a football team. Brennan figured that she should just try on the damn dress or she was never getting out of this store. But she was determined that she was not going to buy the thing and she certainly wasn't going to wear it in public, no matter what Angela said. She slipped into the dressing room and put on the damn dress. Then she didn't want to step outside. She just knew that Angela was going to insist that this was the dress and she was frantically trying to think of some excuse to give her, but a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach told her that she wouldn't be able to give Angela a good enough excuse not to wind up wearing this dress tonight.
"Bren, do you have it on yet?" Angela was impatient.
"Yes." Brennan didn't come out of the dressing room.
"Bren, come out." Angela was now exasperated.
"No." Brennan was pleased with this idea. That lasted until Angela stepped into the dressing room with her. At her first sight of Brennan in the dress, Angela started squealing and quickly covered her mouth with her hand to stifle the sounds.
"Oh my God, Bren. You have to wear that dress tonight." Although Brennan knew it was useless, she gave it the old college try. Lifting her head, she looked Angela straight in the eye.
"No." Angela laughed. Brennan narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms.
"Bren, that dress is perfect for you. I can't wait to see Booth's face when he sees you in that." Brennan's interest perked up at that. She hadn't thought of that. Suddenly, this didn't seem like such a bad idea.
"Fine, Angela. Can we go now?" Angela suddenly became a whirlwind of motion, whipping the dressing room door open and barking out orders out to the saleswoman who took off at a run to comply. "Angela, what are you doing?" demanded Brennan.
"We're not going to have time to go to your place and change so we're going to dress from the skin here to make our appointment."
"Ange, can't we just skip the appointment?" Brennan wasn't whining now, she was begging.
"No," Angela snapped. Startled by Angela's tone and her actions of the last few hours, Brennan's eyes narrowed.
"Ange, what's going on?" Angela sank down into the chair in the corner of the room. Dropping her head into her hands, her shoulders began to shake. Brennan dropped to her knees and placed her hand on Angela's shoulder. Angela raised her head, her eyes filled with tears. She gripped Brennan's hand.
"I need tonight to be perfect, Bren." It was obvious that Brennan didn't understand. Angela wasn't sure that she understood either but she tried to explain to herself and her best friend. "It's the first time that we've celebrated this engagement and I'm afraid if things go badly Hodgins will back out." Brennan gathered Angela in a tight hug and tried to reassure her.
"Ange, you know Hodgins loves you. He isn't going to back out of this engagement, but I'll wear whatever you want me to, Ok?" Angela perked up so fast that Brennan wondered for just a split second if she had just been had, but the saleswoman was thrusting underwear and shoes at her so fast she didn't have any choice but to grab them. Angela bounced up, grabbing her own bags and the underwear the saleslady had brought for her and turned to Brennan.
"Strip," she ordered in the voice of a drill sergeant. With a sigh, Brennan did as she was told. She redressed herself in red satin panties exactly the same color as her dress. She raised her eyebrows at the matching red garter belt but put it on without protest. It was followed by black silk stockings that attached to the garter belt, then she slipped the dress over her head. Angela and the saleswoman stifled gasps. The red satin lining of the top molded to Brennan's breasts and left no doubt that she was well endowed. The red of the dress made her skin appear even milkier and the length of the skirt made her legs look like they went on forever, especially when she slipped on the 3 inch stilettos that Angela insisted on. Angela quickly changed looking lovely in a black beaded 20's stlye dress that she paired with black stockings and 3 inch black heels. She knew that Brennan would balk at the shoes if she didn't suffer right along with her. They quickly paid for their purchases and dashed out to the cab waiting at the curb, courtesy of the saleslady. She could afford to be generous; she had just made a very heft commission off of those two lovely young ladies.
Two hours later, Angela and Brennan had been pampered with manicures, had their hair and makeup done and arrived at the club. Every male, and some female, heads turned at their entrance and watched as they made their way over to a large reserved table where four young men and one young woman waited. All four young men rose at their approach and managed to close their mouths before they actually started drooling, except Mr. Fischer. Greetings were exchanged and just as Brennan was about to ask about Booth and Hodgins, Daisy piped in helpfully explaining that Lance had needed a ride and they were going to pick him up. They should be arriving shortly. Angela grabbed Brennan for a bathroom and Clark called after them asking if he should order for them. Angela called back that she wanted a sex on the beach but just as Brennan answered the band started playing and drowned out her words. Clark turned to Daisy for help. Daisy was, of course, happy to be of assistance in any way concerning her idol.
"She said order her something with sloe gin," she answered with a smile. By the time the ladies returned from the ladies room, their drinks had arrived and they both drank thirstily, quickly draining the glasses. The waiter came by for refill orders and Brennan asked what the name of her drink was. He leaned in and whispered it in her ear. Brennan gave a throaty laugh and Angela's head came up, giving Brennan a narrow eyed glance.
"So, what can I get everybody?" The very helpful waiter started with Brennan and gave her a wink.
"I'll have A Slow Comfortable Screw Up Against the Wall," she purred. Everyone at the table choked on their drinks or their tongues. She laughed at their reaction. "What? It's a drink. This drink." She held up her glass. The waiter took their orders and returned shortly. Brennan almost drained this one and decided to go to the bathroom to fix her hair, she felt some pins slipping. The others carried on a light conversation and Angela was talking on the phone to Hodgins when Mr. Nigel Murray's eyes almost popped out of his head. Angela spun around to see what had caught his attention and almost had heart failure. Brennan had taken her hair down out of the elaborate French twist and shaken it out, leaving it looking sexy and tousled around her face and shoulders. But this was definitely not Brennan walking toward them. This was Tempe. She held herself like a dancer, confident, tall and straight, her movements fluid almost languid. She didn't strut, it was much more subtle than that and much sexier because of the subtly. Tongues were hanging out everywhere.
"Oh, God," Angela moaned, "Hodgie, please hurry." She hung up on him and gave the interns the evil, Angela eye. "Who gave her sloe gin?" Daisy and Clark looked at each other and both kept their mouths shut. "Who?" demanded Angela, slapping the table. Daisy and Clark pointed at each other. "Why would you do that?" The horror she felt was evident in Angela's face and voice. Clark and Daisy started talking at the same time, blaming each other but Tempe had reached the table by then.
Tempe glanced around the table bestowing a smile that made every male within sight swallow hard and asked, "Who wants to dance?" Fischer and Nigel-Murray were instantly on their feet. Even Wendell and Clark had to stop themselves from jumping up like a jack in the box.
"Sit down," Angela snapped at Fischer and Nigel-Murray. "Trust me, boys, you can't handle Tempe." She gave Wendell and Clark a speculative glance. Turning to Tempe, she pointed to them.
"You can have one of them," she offered. Tempe took her time looking over the offerings, then pointed to Wendell.
"Wendell, go dance with her," Angela ordered. Wendell didn't know what to do. He felt like a side of beef that had just been auctioned off, but he needed his job. So, he went. Angela half turned in her chair and called out after them.
"Tempe, play nice." Wendell swallowed hard but relaxed a little when she called back an affirmative answer to Angela. Angela grabbed her phone and speed dialed Hodgins. Tempe pulled Wendell onto the dance floor and lost herself in the music. Wendell was actually a pretty good dancer, but he was a little stiff. She leaned in close to tell him to loosen up and he stiffened even more. She just couldn't resist having a little fun with him. She gave him a reassuring Dr. Brennan smile.
"Relax, Wendell, I don't bite." He did relax and smiled back. She now leaned in and gave him her best bad girl smile. "Much," she said snapping her teeth at him. He jumped back about two feet and she almost fell on the floor laughing. Back at the table, Hodgins finally answered his phone.
"Where the hell, are you?"
"Well, yeah, sorry to hear that but I've got a few problems of my own at the moment."
"Oh, no, seriously this trumps a damn flat tire, Hodgie." She was glaring at Clark and Daisy.
"Some moron ordered Bren a drink with Sloe Gin, so if the two of you can get you butts in gear and get here sometime today, I'll introduce you to Tempe!" She was yelling pretty loudly by the time she hung up on Hodgins this time and turned to the dance floor to keep an eye on Tempe. Poor Wendell looked terrified, but Tempe was behaving very well. She was just enjoying the music and dancing. Angela smiled for about 30 seconds and then she saw the men start approaching and trying to cut in.
"Dammit," she muttered. She knew how to take care of this. Taking a big swig of her drink, she got up from the table without a word and walked onto the dance floor, tapping Wendell on the shoulder and sending him back to the table with a jerk of her head. He looked so relieved that Angela made a mental note to talk to Brennan about him getting combat pay for tonight. Angela and Brennan smiled at each other and began one of the many dance routines they had practiced endlessly over the years. The men backed off immediately.
Ten minutes later, Hodgins, Booth and Sweets burst through the doors of the club, looking around frantically as if they expected to find chaos or bloodshed. They calmed considerably when they saw happy people at a club. How bad could it be? They finally spotted the interns and made their way to the table. They called out greetings, but Daisy was the only one who responded. The four men had their eyes glued to something that Booth couldn't see through the crowd at this angle and apparently hadn't even heard them. Booth walked around to the front of the table to get their attention. When Booth interrupted their line of sight, all four leaned so far to the side that they were in danger of falling out of their chairs and continued to ignore him.
"What the hell?" he demanded. Daisy, who was finished greeting Lancie with a few kisses, answered him with a dramatic eye roll.
"You don't want to know." Well, yeah, pretty sure I do or I wouldn't have asked. Booth looked at Hodgins who shrugged. Booth looked around the room trying to spot Brennan. He didn't even consider that she might be on the dance floor. Just then, the band finished that number and people started leaving the dance floor. The interns straightened in their chairs but their eyes never moved from the dance floor. Hodgins finally caught sight of what held their interest so raptly when the music started back up and his eyes widened.
"Booth," he whispered. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Booth!" Booth's head turned and Hodgins pointed. It was all he could do, words failed him at the sight before them. Booth's head snapped around, following Hodgins pointing finger and his breath caught. Before him was the beautiful woman that he was in love with, that he was in a relationship with but this woman didn't hide any part of herself. She wore her sensual nature proudly and naturally, pure joy radiating from her face. And she was dancing. It wasn't anything like the strip tease but this was somehow more alluring. Maybe, it was knowing exactly what was under those clothes, he didn't know but he was instantly hot and hard. And jealous as hell when he looked around and realized that over half the men in the place were looking at his Bones the same way he was. They way that no one else had a right to look at her. Well, he was going to fix that he decided, starting with the interns. His fist came down on the table so hard that glasses fell over. Four pairs of eyes shot to his irate face. He only had to say one word.
"Enough." All eyes dropped. Except for Sweets. Booth glared at him, but Sweets continued to watch the dance floor almost clinically. Booth turned back to see what Sweets was studying and for the first time noticed Angela dancing with Brennan. Ah, now he understood the junior squints fascination. Yes, the girls sometimes danced back to back or rubbed shoulders, little touches that no one with any sense would consider sexual in nature, but he could practically see the wheels turning in Sweets' head. He rubbed his hand across the back of his neck and was about to say something when he felt a pair of arms encircling his waist from behind. He turned and in his arms was the goddess from the dance floor. She gave him an openly seductive smile and ran her hands slowly up his chest to the back of his neck.
"Hello, handsome." Before he could even answer, she had pulled his head down and was ravishing his mouth with hers. Not that he minded. In fact, he thought the top of his head might blow off when she sucked his bottom lip into her mouth. You could have heard a pin drop at their table. Angela looked around and saw that she needed to do some damage control. She cleared her throat. Nothing. Booth and Brennan were kissing like they weren't going to stop anytime soon. Knowing Tempe's tendency to act in the moment, Angela knew she had to do something before this got embarrassing. For everyone. She reached out and tapped Tempe on the shoulder. Tempe removed her hand from Booth's chest to swat at Angela but the tongue action never faltered. Her hand didn't go back to his chest either. Angela reached out and grabbed her hand just before it grabbed his butt. Tempe tried to jerk her hand away, but Angela refused to let go. She jabbed Booth in the side with her elbow. Hard. His head jerked up but it took a moment for his vision to clear and reason to clear. Crap. He had stood here making out with Bones in front of the junior squints and Sweets. Double Crap. At least his back was turned to the table and they hadn't been able to actually see how hot those kisses were. Tempe was still trying to kiss him and he just didn't have the will to push her away. Seeing this, Angela stepped behind Tempe, grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around.
"What?" Tempe bellowed directly in Angela's face, breathing hard. She took a couple of deep breaths and gave Angela a sheepish smile, "I'm sorry, Ange, I didn't know it was you." Peering around Booth, she saw everyone at the table staring at her and Booth with shock. "What?" she yelled at them. Everyone's eyes dropped but Sweets. He held her gaze. Well, well, well, looked like Sweets wanted to play. She could work with that. She smiled and raised an eyebrow.
"Is there something you want to ask me, Sweets?" she asked sweetly. He smiled back at her with his psychologist face firmly in place.
"As a matter of fact, there is Dr. Brennan. How long have you and Angela known each other?" Tempe showed no surprise at the question but Angela stiffened.
"Why do you want to know?" Angela demanded. Sweets looked at her.
"Why don't you want me to know?" Before Angela could answer, Tempe gave a husky laugh and laid a calming hand on Angela's shoulder.
"He doesn't care how long we've known each other, Ange." She narrowed her eyes at Sweets. "Now, Lance, why don't you ask your real question?" she taunted. Sweets locked eyes with Tempe and neither gave an inch.
"What real question?" whispered Angela. Tempe was slowly walking around the table toward Sweets, dragging a nail along the back of each chair as she passed.
"Well, Ange, what he really wants to know, but apparently doesn't have the balls to ask is if we've ever been lovers. Right, Sweets?" His mouth tightened and he swallowed hard as she reached him, those cold blue eyes drilling into his, and he flinched.
"All right, yes, that was my real question." She lightly ran her nail from his hand, up his arm and to his shoulder as she walked around behind him. On the other side of his chair, she leaned in and whispered something in his ear. He swallowed hard. She gave Angela a reassuring smile and Booth a bad girl wink and strolled off in the direction of the bathroom.
Angela jumped up and raced after Tempe. Hodgins and Booth gave Sweets scathing looks. Sweets looked back.
"Did you two know that they lived together for 3 ½ years?" he demanded.
"No," Hodgins answered. Turning to Booth, he continued, "I'd say all together, it was closer to five, wouldn't you?"
"Yep," answered Booth, "maybe even six." Sweets gaped at their calm answers.
"And nothing about that bothers either one of you?" he demanded. Booth looked him straight in the eye, his eyes cold and deadly, as was his voice. "Sweets nothing about those two is any of your business. Leave it alone." Hodgins nodded agreement. The waiter happened by and Booth and Hodgins ordered for themselves and refills for the girls. The drinks had arrived by the time the girls made it back to the table and Tempe grabbed hers up and slurped it halfway empty before Angela could snatch it out of her hands.
"Hey, give it back," Tempe groused. Angela stared at the drink and then at the people around the table in disbelief.
"Who the hell ordered her another one of these?" Seven fingers pointed at Booth. Angela glared at him, muttering under her breath, "Un freaking believable." She set the drink out of Tempe's reach and gave her a warning glance.
Tempe walked over to Booth, plopped herself in his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning in to whisper in his ear, "Booth, I want a Slow Comfortable Screw Up Against the Wall." Yeah, Baby. You heard her, Booth. Give the girl what she wants. Booth was instantly ready to comply until he heard Angela laughing and looked up to see her shaking the glass she had taken away from Tempe. Oh, she meant a drink. Damn. Now, she was nibbling on his earlobe and had the attention of the entire table, including Cavie. He had to distract her. Leaning down, he whispered in her ear.
"Let's dance." She jumped up and Booth caught a flash of thigh and a garter belt and almost groaned out loud. Of course, he had noticed the dress covering that fine body, but now he really sat up and paid attention as it were and knew that he was in serious trouble. Looking into her twinkling eyes, he saw that she knew it, too. And she was enjoying it. She grinned and held out her hand. He took it and allowed her to lead him onto the dance floor, prepared to be tortured. Or at least he thought he was. But nothing had ever prepared him for her particular brand of torture. She wrapped her lithe, limber body around him, her hands all over his body. She danced away and deliberately flashed him glimpses of thigh and breast, along with sultry looks and sensual smiles. By the time two songs were over, she had him so tied up in knots that he seriously considered tossing her over his shoulder and carrying her out to the SUV to continue their fun and games. He asked if she was ready to go and she threw him a sultry look from under her lashes, biting her lip and shook her head. He noticed, then, that she had guided them around the edge of the dance floor and now they were standing about 5 feet away from the back exit. His eyes narrowed.
"Bones, what are you doing?" She held out her hand.
"Remember what I asked you for at the table?" It took him a second. His eyes widened and he lifted a brow. He took her hand. She led him out the door for her non-alcoholic Screw Up Against the Wall.