Welcome back to my fluff fest known as "The Secret Series". Since "Jingle Bones" took off so well, it's been named as the first in this series. This takes place in season three, only a few weeks after Jingle Bones ended, and now it is Valentine's Day. What twists will lie ahead of our great secret pair? Read to find out.

The Bones of the Heart

Prologue:

"You've gotta get outta here." Temperance Brennan said without much enthusiasm.

"I'm proud of you, hon. Using such slang as 'gotta' and 'outta'." Seeley Booth mumbled against her shoulder.

Brennan groaned in anguish. Sure, she came into the lab early enough that none of the others on her team were there yet, and she wanted him out of there before they started showing up. She didn't need her co-workers and friends to see that she was sad to see Booth leave anymore.

"Just give me one more kiss and I'll go." he promised.

Brennan didn't give the statement much trust, so decided to make sure he was going to go after this. She pulled him down to her by his tie, pouring everything she had into that ten second period of passion. When she broke it, Booth stumbled backwards. She laughed while he just shook his head.

"I'll talk to you later, I gotta go clock in." He said while heading for the door.

"See you later." she said while she went back to organizing her file cabinet. She looked out into the lab to see if anyone else was there and saw the little show she and Booth would've just performed. It didn't appear anyone else came in; she didn't expect it, either. It was still seven o'clock in the morning and she was the only one crazy enough to think coming in that early was worth it.

Brennan spent the next few minutes trying to scrub away the permanent grin that had etched itself across her face. Ever since she and Booth decided to pursue their relationship secretly, she'd been experiencing a wonderful feeling of total and complete bliss that she couldn't really put into words. It made her feel good that, for once, she could just shut up and enjoy the sensations that Booth was creating in her.

A few minutes later, the team came pouring into the lab, all wearing expressions of sadness and hatred of Mondays. Brennan just sat in her office until either the groans had stopped or someone needed her to do something. The latter took favor when Angela made her way into her office on the way to her own.

"Sweetie, do you live in this office or are you just insane?" her best friend asked her.

"I believe in getting things done that need to be done." Brennan replied easily.

"'Cause organizing the file cabinet is the most important thing on your to-do list?" she prodded.

"Right now it is."

Angela's expression turned to shock. Her friend was learning to hold her own in an argument better in the last few weeks. Angela actually gave into her a once or twice. Something was up.

"Are you okay, Sweetie? You've been so…happy…these last few days."

"If I'm happy, why would something be wrong?" Brennan shot back. She only hoped it was convincing. Booth had been giving her a crash-course in lying due to Angela's 'mind-reading' ability. He'd said if he could tell she was lying, so could Angela. Brennan was also trying to be careful that she didn't actually lie to her closest friend, just leaving out key facts.

Nothing seemed to escape Angela though, "Who's the guy?"

Damn it, she thought. "Why do you always assume I'm in a good mood because of a male figure in my life?"

"Because if there's one thing I recognize in this world, it's the scent of a man. Who is it?" Angela pried.

"No one, Ange. I just finished my latest novel very far ahead of schedule, so I'm glad I don't have to worry about that." Brennan said straight-faced and directly into her eyes, just like Booth told her to.

"Oh. Well, in any case, Cam wants to see you to get your findings on that case that you were working yesterday." Angela said while looking rather disappointed.

"Sure, thanks." Brennan said while jogging to get her lab coat.

"Bren?" she called.

"Yes?"

"If there ever is a guy…" Angela smiled.

"You're the first to know, I got it." she said from the doorway.

I just got away with that horrible excuse? Huh…, maybe this lying thing isn't as hard as I thought it would be. Brennan thought as she strolled into autopsy to find a very tired-looking Cam.

* * *

Angela was annoyed. She walked up to Hodgins' desk and plunked herself in the space he kept clear of papers just for her to sit there. She breathed out a harsh sigh.

"What's wrong, babe?" Hodgins didn't need to look up from his microscope to tell that the love of his life was irritated with someone, most likely Brennan.

"Brennan just bold-faced lied to me." she griped.

Hodgins looked up, "What?"

"Yeah, and it wasn't some cheap half-assed number too. Her eyes were solid and really looked truthful." Angela ranted.

"And you let her get away with such a travesty?" Hodgins chuckled. "How did you even tell?"

Angela gave a grotesque look, "Hodgy, I know this woman like the back of my hand. I can tell when something's up with her. I think it's a good something though." her face lightened a little.

"What 'good something' would that be?" Hodgins was completely into the conversation now, forgetting all about whatever he was examining.

"A man." she stopped to squeal slightly, "She doesn't want me to know what's going on and I don't think she knows I know, but I do!" it came out in a rush.

"Slow down, Angie, take a deep breath, and then tell me, quietly, what's going on?" he felt like a high school girl waiting on his overly-excited friend to fill him in on the current gossip.

Angela took his advice and lowered her voice. "Have you noticed that she's been, like, unworldly happy for awhile now?" she whispered.

Hodgins mulled that for a moment, "Come to think of it, she hasn't been chewing us out or basically told us all we're idiots for some time now."

"Exactly! So I went to her office to see what was up and she said that she was happy because she got her last book done early so she won't have to worry about it." she said.

"Well…what's wrong with that? Maybe she is just happy for her book." he shrugged.

Angela sighed. Men, such simple creatures, she thought. "Maybe, but I think it's more. I'm gonna get down to the bottom of this." she stumbled to her feet.

"Whatever. I love you, my little sociopath." he called as she walked away.

Oh, Hodgy, Angela thought as she retreated to her office to plot, if you only knew the extent of that statement right now…

***

Uh, oh...what's Angela thinking about? You're gonna have to review to find out...