Disclaimer: See ch. 1

Spoilers: Through season 4 (the current episode)

A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who has read or reviewed this story; you have no idea how much your input means to me. I'm pretty sure I've finally got the rest of the story planned out, so I'm not quite flying by the seat of my pants anymore. Thanks to everyone who made suggestions on how to continue the story. Six more days until the next new episode! Until then…

God bless American television. Six hundred channels and still nothing Booth was interested in watching. He'd tuned in to a wrestling match for awhile, but the blatant fakeness had really annoyed the hell out of him, even if the babes were extremely hot. After that, he'd tried to get into a documentary on the Arc of the Covenant; a sitcom about some incompetent if not hilarious doctors; and a vampire show whose main character Booth had to admit was a pretty impressive actor.

He groaned as he switched the TV off and rolled to his feet.

He was pacing the living room, trying to decide what to do next, when he heard a small commotion from outside the door.

Huh, nothing like someone else's drama to keep him occupied until Bones got back, right?

He moved to the door and put his eye to the peephole. At first, he saw nothing. Until he realized that it was because the commotion was occurring directly outside this room. He tipped his head slowly until two bodies came into view.

A blonde guy in grey slacks and a white button-down shirt had a woman pinned up against the wall beside the door.

Booth chuckled. Looked like someone couldn't wait the twenty or so feet it would take to get to their room.

The laugh died a quick death when the guy moved his head to the other side and the woman's face was revealed.

It was Bones.

And, God, the guy was Blondie from the university. The one Booth had thought she was fighting with. Probably they'd just been making plans for later. Like now.

Booth pulled back from the door and took a deep breath.

Breathe, Seeley. You can deal with this. Bones has dated before. None of them ever last long. Blondie will be history by the time you leave Vermont. And until then, the inconvenience of sharing a room with her partner will keep Bones from…Booth felt a burning blush creep up his throat even though he was alone.

He heard the murmur of voices through the wall. He couldn't make out words, but for some reason Bones sounded annoyed. Well, good. Maybe Blondie had done something stupid and this ill-conceived relationship would end before it really began.

You don't know when it began. They could have been screwing like rabbits before you even…

He was a masochist. That was the only explanation for why Booth was still standing here listening to his partner be seduced by some dumbass professor, all the while contemplating just how long they'd been fucking each other while he was home in D.C. missing her.

He heard the beep that indicated that a keycard had been inserted into the door, then the click of the lock disengaging. He very briefly contemplated grabbing his things and vacating the premises. Maybe he could slip out around the busy couple before they even noticed his presence.

In the past, he might have done just that, but Seeley Booth was tired of sitting idly by while his partner fished for love and acceptance amongst the world's worst scoundrels.

It wasn't exactly a secret that Temperance Brennan was generally a poor judge of character. That fact pretty much always came back to bite her in regards to her love life. Booth had lost count of the number of losers she'd dated. And every time they left her, or something happened and she was forced to see the error of her judgments. And every time her doubts were reaffirmed; everybody leaves, men are only out to satisfy biological urges, love is simply a series of chemical reactions and some equally as ridiculous scientific babble. And every single time Booth was left to pick up the pieces, to chip away at the wall that she'd begun to rebuild around herself; the wall he'd carefully and patiently been destroying since he'd met her.

Well, not this time.

The door opened and instead of forcing out an apology and slipping out of the room, Booth stepped forward and allowed a wide smile to grace his features.

Bones had her back to him, a hand on Blondie's chest.

"Logan, really, you need to…"

Blondie spotted Booth and a small smile appeared on his own face. He cleared his throat.

Bones hadn't moved from the doorway. She still had her hands on the idiot's chest.

"Uh, Tempe," Blondie started.

"Logan, please…"

Oh, God, she wasn't begging, was she? Bones should never have to beg for anything, especially not… Booth couldn't even contemplate the thought. He cleared his throat.

Bones spun around and the shock in her eyes would have been comical if Blondie hadn't been standing there smirking.

"Heya, Bones," Booth said with his best charm smile.

"I…you…"

Oh, yes. This was going much better than he'd anticipated. Speechless Bones. If she wasn't rattled, Booth was sure he didn't know what was.

Booth ignored Bones and stuck his hand out to Blondie.

"What's up? I'm her…"

"Seeley," he heard Bones say and his voice faltered. She very rarely called him by his given name. "This is Seeley," she told Blondie.

"Seeley, huh?" The guy said. "That's a different name. I'm Logan Hart."

"Old family name," Booth shrugged. "Good to meet you. Bones tells me you two went to school together?"

Bones had taken a step back by now, her hands falling from Hart's chest. The fact that she was keeping quiet while the men conversed told Booth that she was pretty uncomfortable.

Hart chuckled softly. "Bones, huh? Because she works with bones, right?"

For some reason, the fact that the guy had figured that out on his own annoyed Booth. Most people had to have it explained to them.

Booth gave an almost imperceptible nod.

"Yeah," Hart nodded. "We, uh, we dated some in grad school."

Meaning they'd slept together.

Bones took a deep breath like she was about to speak, but Booth beat her to it.

"Well, thanks so much for making sure she got home safely, there Hart. But I've got it from here."

"Oh, I thought maybe…"

Bones finally seemed to come back to herself. "Good evening, Logan. I assume I'll see you soon?"

"Well, yes, but…"

"Alright then," Bones said with a smile. "I hate to kick you out, but Seeley and I have a lot to discuss."

And wasn't that the truth. Booth was sure he was in for the verbal ass-kicking to beat all verbal ass-kickings. Hell, maybe she'd throw in a little actual ass-kicking just to mix things up a bit. Forget the fact that he had screwed up her date, he'd also broken into her hotel room and was planning on staying.

"Uh, yeah, okay. Goodnight then."

Bones hardly even waited for him to finish his statement before she was shutting the door in his face.

"Bones, I…"

She held up a hand to silence him and fitted her eye over the peephole in the door. She watched for a few moments, probably making sure Hart was really gone, before she rounded on him with a glare.

"Why are you here, Booth?"

He took a step towards her, fully aware that he probably looked like a predator stalking his prey.

"Seeley, huh?"

"Booth…"

"What is that guy to you?"

Her mouth opened in unrestrained indignation.

"That is none of your business. Now, why are you in my hotel room?"

"How come you didn't introduce me as your partner?"

She stopped retreating, put her hands on her hips, and cocked her head to the side.

"Maybe because he already knows that. I told him earlier."

He took another step towards her, bringing them dangerously close. She didn't back away. "In the lecture hall?"

"Yes."

"But you didn't tell him my name?"
She faltered for a moment, blinking up at him a few times, and he knew that the next thing out of her lips would be a lie.

"No. I just told him that you were my partner and you were here to see me speak."

He nodded slowly, knowing that calling her on her lie at this point would not further his investigation any. He was fairly certain Hart had some part in why he was here. He just wasn't sure what part that was yet. Or even why he was here, for that matter.

"I didn't, however, tell him that you were staying with me," Bones said through her teeth. "Mostly because I didn't know you were staying with me."

Booth forced a smirk and walked around her to flop back down in the sofa. "Sorry to ruin your fun, Bones, but there wasn't a room available for three towns."

"You didn't…You know what, never mind." With that, she huffed off to the bedroom, throwing over her shoulder, "You'll sleep on the couch, of course. And order some dinner while I change, I'm starved."

Booth smiled to himself as he reached for the drawer beside the couch where he'd found some takeout menus earlier.

No tongue lashing, no physical violence, and Bones was even still open to eating dinner with him. Things were certainly looking up.

Temperance leaned back against her closed bedroom door with a sigh of relief. She was pretty sure Booth had believed her story. He probably assumed that she and Logan were sleeping together, and that was fine with her. His presence here this evening had just solidified her claim to Logan that Booth was her boyfriend.

She went to the drawers where she'd unpacked her belongings and grabbed a pair of soft, navy blue yoga pants. She folded the trousers she'd been wearing and placed them on the chair by her bed, then slipped into the sweats.

Booth being here had been positive in more ways than one. She'd been so distracted by lust out there in the hallway that she'd nearly just allowed Logan into her room and been done with it. It wasn't that she liked him much, or at all really, but he was a good-looking man, well-built, nicely proportioned, and he had been a fine lover in college.

His soft lips had been caressing her own, his tongue slipping in and out sensuously and she'd nearly thrown caution to the wind and invited him in. At the last second, just before she'd slipped her keycard into the slot, her mind had slipped back to a month prior, and the betrayal that Jared Booth had committed. He'd made her think less of Seeley Booth, and that wasn't a crime that she could take lightly. She had no idea where the thought had come from, but it had led to another memory; the speech she'd given at Booth's birthday party about Alpha males and how Seeley Booth, even though he was humble and self-sacrificing, was the very essence of one. She'd remembered her promise that she would never again be distracted by shiny baubles, and she'd recognized Logan Hart for what he was; an arrogant, self-centered, too-determined fool whose colorful plumage and shiny baubles had very nearly ensnared her. She'd been trying to force him out of her hotel room and hopefully out of her life when Booth had made himself known.

Temperance replaced her silk blouse with a white, long-sleeved t-shirt, and slid her feet into fluffy white socks. She removed the necklace she'd put on earlier, and released her hair from the bun she'd eventually twisted it into. Then she took another deep breath and exited the bedroom, ready to deal with Booth and any questions he might have left to ask her.

"Comfy?" He asked, glancing up from the sofa, a soft smile tilting his lips up at the corners. "I ordered Chinese, that okay?"

She nodded. "That's fine."

He patted the cushion next to him and she moved to sit there.

"It should be here soon," he told her, then turned his attention back to the program he'd been watching.

She continued to stare at him. He was too relaxed, too unconcerned. Why wasn't he continuing his interrogation? Why wasn't he trying to convince her of how big a jerk Logan surely was? Why was he just sitting there watching television like he had not a care in the world?

"You okay?" He asked, not taking his eyes from the TV.

"What?"

"You're just sitting there staring at me," he said. He glanced away from the show briefly and their eyes caught and held. "Is something wrong?"

She shook her head quickly. "No, no. I'm fine."

He watched her for a few moments with eyes that always seemed to see right through any charade she decided to pull. If he noticed anything amiss, he didn't comment. Finally, he turned back to his show and Temperance was released from the hold his dark eyes had taken on her.

She tried to absorb herself in his program, but her mind was spinning endlessly. Did Booth suspect what was going on? Had he been here on purpose just now, to trick Logan as she had planned to do? To get the other man to back off? If so, then why hadn't he said anything? Why hadn't he turned to her with a smug grin and said something like, 'You're welcome, Bones. I'm glad I fix your little problem for you.'?

She thought she knew Booth fairly well having worked with him for four years now, but she had absolutely no idea what was going through his mind at this moment. She wished she had his talent with people. She wished he'd stop ignoring her like he wasn't fully aware of the turmoil currently occupying her brain.

She was saved from either having to break the silence or go mad by the knock on the door. She stood and crossed the room, Booth hot on her heels. She had the door open and was reaching for her purse on the sideboard when Booth's hand sneaked around her and he handed the delivery boy a bunch of bills. The kid thanked Booth, handed her the bag of food, and was off down the hall.

"Booth, I was going to…"

"I know, Bones."

She spun around to glare at him, but he simply took the food from her and headed for the small kitchenette.

"You can get it next time, okay?"

"But, you paid for lunch," she protested. She was used to his chivalrous ways by now, but that didn't mean that she had to like them.

"Just let it go, Bones."

She glanced down at her empty hands. "Let what go, Booth? I'm not holding anything."

He laughed that damned laugh that told her she was amusing him. "It's a figure of speech. It means, just forget about it, okay?"

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him as he opened containers.

"Mmmm, lookie here, Bones, fried dumplings."

And before she could so much as take a step back, he picked one up in his chopsticks and was holding it to her lips.

She opened her mouth to tell him that she was a gown woman and that she could feed herself, and he took the opportunity to slip the dumpling between her lips. She, of course, had no choice but to chew and swallow it. It was rather delicious.

Booth smiled and handed her a pair of chopsticks and a tub of lo mien.

"Relax, Bones. I'll let you treat me to breakfast in the morning."

She rolled her eyes and dug into her noodles. She supposed her worries could wait just an hour or so. She was awfully hungry, after all.

A/N: Thanks again for reading, and don't forget to let me know what you thought!