Temperance stepped back to admire her work. At least that was the story she would say if Booth had asked her what she was doing. He stood before her in only a pair of dark blue swim trunks. She stepped forward pressing her fingers into the water impermeable tape holding the plastic covering over Booth's dressing. She couldn't see, or feel any gaps where water may seep through. "You're sure you want to do this?" she said. "When we pull this off, it will probably hurt."

"Well, it's a little late to worry about that now," he said. "The tape is on…I may as well take a shower and worry about the pain later."

Temperance stepped back again. Trying to be clever, she stole only quick glances of the rest of Booth's physique. "He really is put together well," she thought. "At least you don't have a lot of hair…that would be even more painful."

"Ah-hem," Booth cleared his throat. Temperance moved her eyes to his, questioningly. "The dressing and plastic covering are here," he pointed to the covering on the right side of his chest. She smiled nervously at being caught. He continued, "Now I don't want to hear another word about me ogling that woman in the gym a couple weeks ago."

She nodded and said, "You look ready. Don't spend too much time in there just in case this starts leaking, okay?"

"Got it," Booth said, "I'll start out with my back. Could you soap it up for me? I can probably get everything else."

Temperance's knees seem to weaken at his request. She caught herself before they actually gave out and she ended up on the floor. "N…no problem," she got out. "Just let me know when you're ready and I'll come in." She caught an odd look in Booth's eyes, but then it passed.

"You're not going to start the water?" he asked.

"Is your other arm broken as well?" she shot back. "You're not a baby, Booth. And I'm not your nurse."

She looked at him expecting to see a hurt look. She only saw a playful glint in his eyes, "I figured I'd give it a shot," he gave her his charm smile.

She gave him a playful slap on his good shoulder, and an easy shove towards his bathroom, "Go…Let me know when you're ready."

He disappeared into his bathroom. After a moment, she heard the shower start and the metal rings of the shower curtain sliding on the rod. After a pause, his voice called, "Ready anytime you are." She caught her breath, "Am I ever ready…" she thought.

Through the translucent curtain, she saw the unfocused outline of Booth's body and the delicious color of his skin, broken only by the dark blue of the swimming trunks. "Ready?" she said.

"Come on in, the water's fine," he said jokingly.

"If only he knew how much I would like to just step in there with him," she thought. She opened the curtain. The water rained down upon him, drenching his hair and cascading down his skin in rivulets. Temperance took a deep breath. He turned to her, offering her the bar of soap. She took it and began working a lather between her hands. He turned around, and with his good hand redirected the stream so that she wouldn't get wet. She began soaping his back. Once she had worked up a good lather, she moved her hand with the soap bar in front of him where he could take it from her. She started with his shoulders, working the soap into his skin, kneading his muscles. At first, she felt his muscles tighten at the unfamiliar touch. But soon they relaxed at her gentle but firm pressure. She worked her way down from his upper to lower back. Sometimes she could feel the muscles involuntarily contract, and then relax as she worked her hands across his back. She moved her hands up and down his sides and then in horizontal lines from the center of his back and wrapping her fingers around his sides to his front. "Do you want me to get the backs of your legs?" she asked.

"Be my guest," he said, almost in a moan.

She bent down and began kneading the lather into the back of his thigh, extending down onto his calf, ending onto his Achilles tendon. Up and down his leg…first one, and then the other. When she was done, she stood there with soapy hands and asked, "Anything else?"

Booth said in a strangled voice, "No…I think I can get the rest." He thought, "Oh God…please…there's no way I can turn around now." He turned only his head and saw Temperance looking at him. He couldn't place her expression; rather, he could place it on another woman. But he had never seen it on her face, or in her eyes. "Thanks," he said.

She moved her hands forward to rinse the soap off in the stream. He reached up and moved the showerhead so she didn't have to reach so far. She was concentrating on her hands and didn't see the mischievous glint come to his eyes. He quickly angled the showerhead towards Temperance, spraying her with water.

The water drenched the back of her shirt and hair. "Ohh…" she yelled, surprised, and stepped back. Booth angled the water back into the tub.

"I'm sorry Bones!" he said loudly, but innocently "I didn't realize it would move so far so fast."

She stood there, astonished at his clumsiness, her shirt sticking to her back. She looked at him. One look at his face and she knew what had happened. "Ohhh, you…" She moved towards him. Booth angled the showerhead again, this time wetting her face and front. She raised her hands, squealed and retreated a bit. Booth brought the showerhead back. Temperance looked at him with resolve. Hands in front of her, she advanced again. Booth sprayed her again. She screamed. But it was a playful scream. She backed up again and looked at Booth, resigned.

He stood there, his hand on the showerhead, "I'm already wet," he said, shaking his head. "You can't win this one."

"Maybe not," she returned, "But I'll get you." Booth quickly angled the spout towards her and back again. She jumped, waving her arms in front of her, "Just wait," she yelled. She opened the door and jumped through, narrowly missing another spray of water. She slammed the door closed.

She stood in the middle of the hallway, breathing heavy, dripping wet, smiling, when she heard Booth's voice, "Bones?" She didn't say anything; she wasn't genuinely angry with him, but there's no reason he should know that. "Hey, Bones…" he tried again. She stuck the palm of her hand in her mouth and bit down to keep from giggling. He finally said, "Temperance?"

Trying to look as mad as she could, she opened the door. "I'm sorry," he looked genuinely apologetic.

She crossed her arms, "Well, that doesn't dry my clothes, does it?"

"Well," he said, "I've got some shorts in the dresser. And you could wear one of my shirts." Temperance was finding it more and more difficult to maintain the illusion of being mad. "They're too big for you, but the shorts have a drawstring, and you can tie up the shirt to be out of your way." That was it, she started to laugh. He looked at her, "What? You're not mad…That's just mean, you know?" After a moment, he started to laugh with her

Temperance had removed her clothes and toweled off. Standing in his closet, she chose a white dress shirt and slipped her arms through the sleeves. She started buttoning it up. She looked down at her cleavage and decided to leave the top three buttons undone. She was deciding whether to take him up on his offer of the shorts when his phone rang. She called out, "Booth?"

"Yeah," he called back, "can you get that?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," he singsonged.

Temperance picked up the phone, "Booth residence."

"Dr. Brennan?" came a woman's voice over the receiver.

"Yes?" Temperance answered, "Who may I say is calling?"

"It's Rebecca Stinson."

Horror spread across Temperance's face, "Yes…Hi Rebecca…" she stammered.

"Is Seeley available?"

"He's in the shower," Temperance said, and then wished she hadn't. "I'll tell him you're on the phone."

"Wait, Dr. Brennan…"

Temperance said, "You can call me Temperance, Rebecca."

"Okay, Temperance." It seemed as though the initial shock of her answering the phone was wearing off. Rebecca said warmly, "We were wondering if Seeley is up to having Parker for some time today."

"I'm sure he would love it." Temperance said.

"Were you going to be around for awhile as well?" Temperance wondered if this was going to pose problems for Booth. But Rebecca sounded upbeat when she said, "I was going to stay and help out for a bit. You know, Parker can sometimes be a handful. But if you're going to be there, Brent and I can find something else to do for awhile."

"That's not a problem…Booth still needs someone to watch him for awhile, so I was planning on staying around," Temperance explained.

"Sounds good," Rebecca said. "So, we'll drop Parker off at about 10:00 and pick him up around 5:00?"

"What time does Parker usually go to bed?" Temperance asked.

"Depending upon how tired he is, sometime around 8:00 or 8:30." Rebecca said, "Why?"

"I was thinking that we could give Parker dinner. And if you pick him up around 7:00, that will give you and Brent a little more 'alone time', and Booth would have more time with Parker, to make up for the time he missed while he was in the hospital." Temperance paused, "If I'm not being too presumptuous, that is?"

"That sounds nice. Thank you, Temperance," Rebecca smiled. "We'll see you both around 10:00 at Booth's?"

"Sounds good…we'll see you then."

As Rebecca hung up, she thought with a smile, "Well, finally."

As Temperance hung up, "Well, that shoots down what I had planned," she thought. "But this will be fun too." She buttoned the third button on the shirt and started digging in his dresser for the shorts.