A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews and for the welcome back after my work-related hiatus. I felt very guilty for leaving you with a bit of a cliff hanger - and was suitably punished by finding it really difficult to develop the next chapter. Hope it worked out okay!

On with the story...

Temperance's conscious mind didn't register his words; all of her attention was focused on the feeling of his warm breath on her face and the lips that were tantalising inches away from hers.

Her eyes closed, and her lips brushed his. That brief, intimate caress sent a shiver prickling up her spine and along her scalp. Then his mouth was pressing back against hers, intensifying the kiss and she felt his arms encircle her. Her own hands came to rest on his hips, pulling him closer.

His muffled curse, as she touched the sore spot where he had been injured in the game, brought reality crashing back in.

Her body went rigid in his arms as she realised that she was kissing Booth, her co-worker, in the middle of rugby pitch, in broad daylight, in front of about two hundred spectators.

Her face was flaming with embarrassment and she tried to pull away.

Booth's arms tightened their hold and he planted a kiss in her hair.

"It worked." He murmured, breathing in the flowery scent of her shampoo.

She stopped trying to break out of his embrace.

"What did?" she asked, resting her forehead on his shoulder, not daring to look at him.

"I can't feel the pain in my cheek anymore." She felt his chest vibrate with a slight chuckle, "Either you kissed it better." He paused, "Or distracted me from the pain by poking my battered hip."

She looked up at him quickly, caught been apology and exclamation, but as she watched a slow smile spread across his features, the words died on her lips. It was like seeing him for the first time, stripped of his usual charming grin, presenting only a gentle, hesitant smile and a hint of something more, hidden in the depths of his dark eyes.

They stood, gazing into each other's eyes, for a long moment. Before they realised that they had developed quite an audience. A number of Booth's team-mates were watching with some interest behind them and most of the rest of the crowd were also staring.

Booth coughed slightly, "I think maybe we should get off the pitch."

Temperance nodded and then asked quietly, "Did Huw and Nia spot us?"

"We're stood right in front of them on an almost empty rugby pitch, Bones. Kinda difficult for them to miss." He slid his arm around her shoulders. "But hey, be grateful, as far as I can tell neither of them appear to have a camera." With that, he eased her round to walk back towards his friends.

Nia beamed at them proudly as they stepped over the rope fence and came to join her and Carys, "Great game Seeley." She congratulated.

"Two great scores there." Huw commented, earning himself a stern glare from Nia. He ducked away from Booth's half-hearted swipe in his direction and bent down to roll up the blanket. He looked up sheepishly when he was done, "Well played though."

Booth grinned back, his arm tightening around Temperance's shoulders.

"Have you got any ice?" Temperance asked.

Nia shook her head, "Sorry, we left one of the bags behind today." She ruffled her daughter's hair, "Someone was determined to watch the end of her cartoons this morning so we left in a bit of a hurry. Don't worry though, there are medical tents all over." She glanced around the field and then pointed, "There's one two pitches over, see the red cross on it?"

Temperance followed the direction of her arm and then nodded, "We'll just head over there to get Booth's cheek checked out."

"Good idea." Nia said, smiling to herself as she saw Booth blink in surprise at the way Temperance was taking charge of him.

Huw was back on his feet with the blanket tucked under his arm and the bags over his shoulder, he said, "I'm playing in about ten minutes, over on pitch two."

Booth nodded and then clapped his friend on the shoulder, "Good luck. We'll be over to watch as soon as we can." He rolled his eyes slightly, "Hopefully this shouldn't take very long." He leant down to pick up his bag. "See you later sweetheart." He said waving goodbye to Carys and smiling at her mother. Temperance smiled and waved too before they headed off in opposite directions.

Booth had hardly believed it when Temperance had come to him at the end of the game, still less when she had kissed him. There was so much he wanted to say to her, but for now he was content to luxuriate in their new found intimacy and give them both a chance to adjust.

As they walked along, Temperance marvelled at how right it felt to be walking with her arm around Booth's waist and with his arm resting on her shoulders. The prospect had crossed her mind often enough, but she had always told herself that it would feel strange, awkward. Booth squeezed her shoulder and she looked across at him. Her heart flipped over in her chest as she saw the expression in his eyes.

They stopped walking and Booth brought his free hand up to caress her face before burying it in her hair and pulling her in for a heartfelt kiss. It was still tentative, but there was an edge of confidence to the contact now they were more sure of their own feelings and those of the other. Temperance could feel Booth's heart thudding in his chest as he pulled her closer to him and she could feel her own breathing speeding up. As she recognised how much the kiss was affecting her, she pulled back, suddenly unnerved by the startling new direction their relationship was taking.

Booth felt her tense up in his arms and he was unsurprised when she stepped back from him. He smiled gently at her, not saying anything, but letting his emotions show on his face. She looked up at him, her lips pressed together to as she fought to control her surging feelings.

He paused, and then kissed her temple, "Don't dwell on it Bones. It just is."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, I admit that wasn't very articulate. You know what I mean though, let's save the analysis for later." He nodded encouragingly at her.

Temperance's expression cleared and she managed a watery smile, "Okay." She whispered.

He grinned back at her and, arms still around one another, they headed towards the medical tent.

TBC