"I know you like traditional," she said quickly. "So I probably should have waited for you to ask me, but considering our history, I was afraid that might not happen, so I figured I better take the cow by the horns -"
"Bull," he interrupted, amused by her nervous babbling. When had Bones ever been nervous about anything? "Take the bull by the horns."
"Oh," she said. She looked up at him, before going back to tracing her imaginary pattern. Booth couldn't help it. He laughed. A sound full of joy and disbelief. She couldn't have shocked him more if she'd pulled out a knife and stabbed him.
The line appeared between her brows. "I don't know what your laughter means," she said. "Is it a good thing, or a bad thing? I did it wrong, didn't I? Usually, guys ask me to dinner. I should have called Angela and asked her first."
"My laughter is a good thing," he reassured her. "It would be an honor to take a beautiful woman out to dinner."
"Where do you plan on finding one?" she asked.
He opened his mouth to laugh again when he realized it was a serious question. "You Bones," he clarified. "You're the beautiful woman I would be honored to go to dinner with." Okay, maybe she hadn't evolved quite as much as he thought.
He watched her eyes brighten at his answer and his heart skipped a beat. This was what he'd been waiting for; a chance to be with her. A chance to explore a relationship, to make a future with her. It was all he'd wanted for years.
She watched his eyes soften and looked at him curiously. "Are you okay, Booth?"
"Yeah, Bones," he said. Turning back to finish breakfast, he smiled. He was better than he'd been in a long time.