Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, but I do own my own ideas and words.

A/N: I'm doing it again. I think. If enough people care, this will become another one of my 26 drabbles in the alphabet thing. That is, if we ever get new episodes... oh well. I can rewatch if needed.

Almost

She heard his, "Thanks for the gum," but didn't register it until she ran her tongue her teeth looking for it and realized it it was missing.

The revelation made her pause. What had she been doing?

Ok, so Booth was good-looking, both powerful and kind (an unfortunately rare combination) with a big heart and a soft spot for kids. Sure, so he was an incredibly attractive man who exuded sex and made her normally glacial control crack and melt, but still.

She'd intended it to be a peck on the lips, held until she'd counted to five very slowly in her head, and instead it turned into something completely different.

God lord, but the man could kiss. She'd LIVED with men who couldn't affect her that way.

And then he'd taken her gum.

It was out of hand. She was willing to admit, because she was generally pretty honest with herself (when she understood herself), that she'd wondered what it would be like to kiss Booth. Now that she knew, there was no point in doing it again. It was irrational, illogical, and she would just put it out of her head. She might have managed to convince herself, except for a little voice in the back of her head that reminded her...

She'd almost asked for her gum back.