"Ian is rather cute, don't you think?"

"What? No…Bones. Guys don't consider other guys as "cute."

Bones looked over at her partner with a slight smile. "He asked me out to dinner tonight. I think that I will accept."

His eyes were dark as he met her gaze. "He wants more than dinner from you Bones."

"Are you suggesting he merely wants to have sex with me?"

She could be so naïve sometimes, he fumed. "No. I am not suggesting anything. I am telling you that if you sleep with that man, you are just another notch on his bedpost. You deserve more than that, Bones."

Bones was always amazed at how Booth had such a hard time with her sexual appetite when it didn't line up with his stodgy view of relationships. Yet, she didn't exactly want to just be a notch, so she had learned to trust the instincts of her partner when it came to people's intentions. "And what is it that I deserve Booth?"

Booth reached his hand in his pocket and fiddled with the poker chip that was a permanent resident there. He just didn't want to see his partner hurt, right? Yeah, that, but if he wanted to be completely honest with himself, he just didn't like the idea of Ian the womanizer touching his Bones. Like he said, she deserved much more than that, more than Ian. "You deserve respect Bones, for starters. Ian does not respect the women that he sleeps with. They are conquests to him. You are a special woman that demands respect, not one to be made a personal conquest by the likes of Ian Wexler."

"You don't like him much, do you Booth?" Bones was touched by Booth's words, even though she wouldn't show him that.

"I like him jut fine Bones, I just don't want you sleeping with him." Booth had no problem with Ian as a person or colleague. The only problem he had was his intention towards his partner.

"You now have a say in my sexual behaviors?" Anger tinged her voice. Her amusement was now gone, replaced by irritation. She was a grown woman who did not need Seeley Booth telling her who she could have sexual relations with.

"Bones…No, but…What I'm trying to say is…never mind. Sleep with whoever you want Bones. I've got work to do." Booth threw up his hands in frustration and defeat. He had tried to tell her what he thought, and it backfired on him. Temperance Brennan hated being told what to do, and when she thought someone was, she often did the exact opposite in protest. He had probably just pushed her into Ian's eager arms, and bed. Damn it. He tried to vow that next time he would just keep his mouth shut, but he knew he couldn't do that either. He would try at every opportunity to enlighten her to the ways of people, and to let her know exactly how special she truly is. Maybe he would just outright tell her next time.