The kissing booth was the last place Sara Sidle ever thought she would end up, especially on such a cold day. But here she was, seated, contemplating her bad choice of making a bet with Warrick. A bet she had lost big time! Now, with a frown on her face that could have spoiled meat, she sat and waited for her first customer. And, she knew, they would all arrive soon.
It was sort of funny to her how she and Catherine had come up with this idea of a carnival to raise money for battered women, and she, herself, was about to be abused by lips all day long. She had to laugh at herself now.
And she did find herself smiling a bit as Warrick approached the booth, a huge, satisfied grin on his handsome face, "You look comfy."
"I'm freezing." she said as she adjusted her hat on her head, pulling it down around her ears, "And you suck."
Warrick laughed lightly, "I won fair and square."
"You still suck." she had smiled faintly at him, "Are you my first customer of the day?"
"Sure." he said as he pulled his wallet from his pants, "How much?"
"However much you think I am worth." she pulled her gloves tighter to her hands, "Better make it good."
Warrick grinned as he handed her a five dollar bill, "What do I get for that?"
"A hand shake." Sara smiled, but took the money, depositing it in a small safe at her feet.
Warrick leaned into the booth, gently giving her a peck on the lips, he pulled away smiling, "Now I need some coffee."
Sara watched him leave, her lips still curved in a small grin, but the grin faded as she realized that the gates had been opened to real customers. She moved back on the stool in order to check her stock under the wood top of the booth. There she pulled to the front of the shelf a large dispenser of baby wipes, a roll of paper towels and her pink tinged lip gloss. She had made sure the lip gloss was a minty flavored balm because she didn't want or need to smell spit on her mouth all day.
When she was finally content with her little stock of goodies, she pulled herself back up to the booth and waited.
Around lunch time, Catherine, clutching a small, red bag of popcorn in hand, approached Sara. She looked appologetic as she made her way toward the booth, "I still can't believe you and Warrick went through with that stupid bet." she had turned the bag toward Sara, who declined, "I mean, the popcorn booth isn't that great either, but at least I don't have to get too near the customers." she said as she eyed a rather crooked looking fellow who was coming their way.
"Yeah." Sara said, gently dabbing some more lip gloss on her lips, "But, this is far better than having my face bashed in by some guy." she pocketed her gloss, "Everytime I lean in for the kiss, I talk myself through it by knowing that this money is going for a good cause."
"Yeah." Catherine again offered Sara the popcorn, but Sara again declined, "Aren't you hungry?"
"Nah." Sara smiled faintly, "Lost my appetite when that smoker over there tried to get a bit of tongue."
"Speaking of tongue..." Nick stepped up to the booth, a glint in his eyes, "I sure would pay top dollar to see you two kiss."
"Aren't you supposed to be running the cotton candy machine?" Sara asked as she pulled her sunglasses down to cover her eyes.
"Yeap." he said, "But I am off for lunch."
"Then go get lunch." Catherine said softly as she eyed Sara.
"Twenty bucks." Nick said as he laid the bill on the booth, "You two kiss."
Warrick came up behind Nick, throwing another twenty on the pile, "Make it a good one."
Catherine eyed both of the men and then looked at Sara, "For a good cause." she said, gently arching one brow.
Sara rolled her eyes, "Can't you two get this sort of crap online?"
"Better in the flesh." Nick said with a wink and he and Warrick grinned lightly.
"Fine." Sara took the money and put it in the safe, "Everyone knows we both like men." she smiled at Catherine, "Can't hurt."
Catherine leaned in then, gently placing her lips against Sara's lips and then she pulled away slowly, "Don't let this land in your spank bank boys." she said as she pushed her popcorn bag at the two of them, "See ya, Sara." she said and then she left with a little smack of her butt aimed at the two men.
Warrick and Nick high fived and then left also.
Once again, Sara was alone in the booth. She checked her watch and was grateful to see that she only had about an hour left before one of the interns took over.
Half an hour later she checked her watch again, extemely happy to see that she only had about half an hour left to this torture.
And then she saw Grissom.
Clean shaven.
Beautiful to her.
So beautiful that she found herself catch her breath, only to release it in tiny gasps.
She was thankful that no one was around to see her nearly hyperventilating, her gloved hands gripping the booth top.
She watched as he stopped over at the popcorn station, he and Catherine talking for a moment and then he moved on over to the cotton candy station.
She held her breath and let it out slowly.
A young guy stepped up to the booth, handing her a dollar bill. She kissed him, not aware that she hadn't taken a breath until he left.
She went about her clean up routine which consisted of her wiping her mouth with the cool, wet baby wipe and then drying it off with a paper towel. Then she spread the gloss over her lips, grateful for the cool, minty touch of the applicator.
This time, with shaking hands, mainly because she had taken off her gloves, she dropped the wand. It landed below her feet in the dirt, the tip covered in brown now.
She leaned down, careful to pick it up. She cleaned it off with a wipe and then a paper towel.
Only a few more minutes to go.
She glanced around, thankful that no men seemed to be coming her way.
Except one.
"Oh God." she said through clenched teeth.
"How did you end up in there?" Grissom questioned as he stepped up to the booth, "Who tricked you?"
"Well, " she found herself saying as her left hand gripped tightly around the top of her thigh, "I made a bet with Warrick, " her voice became grainy, "and I lost."
"I thought you knew better than to make bets." he had said softly, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Apparently not." she moistened her lips without even knowing she had done so, "How's the case?"
"Dead body on a roof." he said, and then added, "How much have you made today?"
"Two hundred and forty dollars." she smiled at him, "And fifty cents."
"Someone gave you fifty cents?" he looked almost confused by this, "You're definitely worth more than that."
Sara's grip tightened on her thigh, "Thanks." she said softly as her eyes quickly darted from his lips back to his eyes.
Sara felt her heart clench in her chest as she watched Grissom pull his wallet from his pocket, "I've got sixty." he said softly, a grin pushing at the corners of his mouth, "But you better make it really good."
Sara smiled lightly, hardly able to calm her shaking hands, "I've never had a complaint." she had said as she deposited the money.
"I'll be the judge of that, Miss Sidle." he had said as he put his wallet back in his pocket, "May I come around?"
Sara felt dizzy, the air around her all of a sudden seemed drugged, causing her to feel tingly all over, "Sure." she muttered as she pulled her cap tighter to her head, her lip quivering slightly.
"You're freezing." he said softly.
"I'm fine." she said with a shrug of her shoulders, her heart hammering so hard in her chest now.
She felt her hands digging into her thighs again as he neared her.
He smelled good.
Clean.
He smiled gently as he placed his hands over her own, squeezing them softly, "I should have done this a long time ago."
Sara grinned, her lips still twitching nervously, "It would have been cheaper."
Grissom leaned in then, his body warm against her knees, his hands still clasped around her hands.
Sara closed her eyes as his lips met her lips, a jolt of electricty pulsing throughout her body. And, only seconds later, to her utter surprise, his tongue, warm and very inviting, slipped slowly past her own causing her to reach up and pull his mouth tighter against her lips. She could taste her minty lip gloss, mixed with his saliva and it made her feel even closer to him.
As his tongue pressed against hers over and over again, she slid her hand down his freshly shaven face, feeling every pore that made his existance possible.
They stayed this way for a few moments, grasping each other, in the cold air, their mouths still locked in a fevered kiss.
When they finally parted, to Sara's dismay, he stared at her, "That was definitely worth it."
Just as Sara opened her mouth to say something, they both heard clapping. Looking around they had seen Catherine, Warrick, Nick and a few others, grinning wildly and clapping loudly.
Sara looked back at Grissom, "I didn't know we had an audiance." she almost blushed.
"Well," Grissom said quietly as he slid his thumb over her bottom lip, "let's show them what we are really made of."
"Right boss." she grinned as he leaned in, his lips covering her lips with such force and want that she gripped onto the back of his warm neck, pushing herself up on the stool so that her body pressed against his. He answered the pressure of her body, by putting his arms around her, his mouth still hot and wet against hers.
Sara finally had found her warmth.
And she realized, as she moaned into Grissom's warm mouth, sometimes lip abuse wasn't so bad.