"That wasn't exactly what I meant..." She sighed. "It feels like I intimidate people. Do I intimidate you, Mr. Addy?"
She had started calling him Mr. Addy. What did that mean? Did that mean she was upset with him? His other professors had always started calling him Mr. Addy whenever they were angry at him. Was she the same way? Why was he reading so much into her words? Maybe he should focus more on her subconscious signals. His psychology teacher from high school had always said that the subconscious was always the strongest, and no matter what, it would get its way.
She was watching him, what did he do? What should he do? Was there something wrong? Wait, she just moved closer to him. What was she doing? She just adjusted her hair. Did that mean she was self-conscious around him? Did she care what she looked like around him? What was going on?
"Zack?"
She had called him Zack again!
"Are you...zoned out again?"
He snapped out of his thoughts and began nodding. "Yes. I was lost in my mind, and I'm sorry. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be putting these things away. Good night, Dr. Brennan. Have a pleasant sleep."
Did he just say what he thought he said? And why was he walking away? Why did she look disappointed. He sped away, clutching the tray close, as if it were going to jump from his arms.
__________________________
"I don't get it, Angela. I did all those things you told me to do. I acted...what was it again? Coy? Yeah. I did all that. And all he did was wish me a pleasant sleep. Doesn't that mean something?"
There was a pause.
"Okay. Well I kept you up long enough. Good night, Angela. Yeah. See you tomorrow. Bye."
Zack knew she was talking about him. He remembered that the words 'pleasant sleep' were the same words he had said to her fifteen minutes ago. Did Dr. Brennan like him? As Zack paced, Brennan stepped out of her office, absorbed in the case file she was reading.
"Zack! What are you still doing here?" Temperance said in surprise. Zack raised his eyebrows. She sounded pleased.
"I...uh...noticed you were still here...and I was...I was going to speak with you about a matter that has been plaguing me for quite some time now."
Brennan gestured to her office door. "Please, come in."
Zack hurried nervously into the room, plopping down on the couch. "The thing is...I've been..."
Brennan perched on the couch next to him, with barely an inch between their knees.
"I- uh...I've been...Um...I've tried...I lost my train of thought," he breathed, staring into her eyes.
She could barely control her own breathing as she urged him on. "What are you trying to say, Zack?"
He took a deep breath before steadying his trembling knees. "Dr. Brennan. I think...I think then term is...I think I have a crush on you."
There. The cat was out of the bag. Hodgins better be pleased. And now he owed Zack twenty dollars. Jack had claimed that he was too 'pussy' to tell a woman that he had feelings for her, when the time arrived, of course. Zack studied his mentor. Her face was a mask of surprise, her eyes as big as quarters.
In a moment, Zack found himself in the middle of an embrace, one in which his lips were pressed up against the woman of his dreams'. He closed his eyes, thinking that quite possibly, this was a better moment than his own graduation from both university and postgrad school.
In another moment, he was released, Temperance's flushed face mere inches from his own. She smiled, a blush lightly dusting her cheeks with a rosy color.
"Wow." Her breath was sweet and warm, brushing against Zack's chin and lips.
"Dr. Brennan."
Temperance looked confused. "Why are you still calling me that, Zack?"
"Sorry...Temperance. I...I'm a big...befuddled at the moment."
Her laughter rang in the quiet office.
He captured her lips this time, feeling her warmth spread down his body. He was aroused, there was no doubt, but he had been told by Naomi many times that he was...a failure in bed. Instead, Zack continued to kiss Temperance, his lips gently caressing hers.
"Zack," she said breathlessly, "I think I might love you."
And with those words, his world just might simply have exploded. He took her in his arms once more, finally taking charge for once in his 26 years of life. Granted, she was six years his senior, but what did age have to do with love?
Truth
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