The smell of food cooking lulled Sara out of the sleep she'd finally fallen into. Emily and Archie had outdone themselves with a vegetarian lasagna and the conversation around the dinner table was lively. Sara couldn't help but smile as she kept glancing at Nick out of the corner of her eye; she'd had a rather racy dream about him during her nap and she wondered to herself what he'd say if he knew what she was thinking about just then.
Nick hadn't gotten any sleep at all and with everyone else seemingly occupied with a member of the opposite sex, he felt like the odd man out. He wanted Sara in the worst way and yet he didn't necessarily want the rest of the people who had come along for the weekend to know that. He was doing his best to not get caught stealing glances at her, but he wasn't sure he was being too successful when Warrick caught his eye and raised a single eyebrow at him with a smirk firmly etched on his face. Nick had simply smirked back; Warrick had more than a few times suggested to him that he thought he had a thing for Sara, something that Nick hadn't denied, but hadn't actually confirmed either.
They had all finished eating and were now just sitting around the table talking putting off the inevitable of washing dishes. Greg cleared his throat. "Uh, I think Chloe and I are going to go for a little walk, there are a few constellations that I wanted to point out to her."
Sara quirked an eyebrow at him and tried to hold in a smirk. "I didn't realize that you were an astronomer too, Greggo." She was pretty sure that it was just an excuse for this newly formed couple to be alone in the cover of darkness.
As Greg and Chloe stood up from the table, Greg countered. "Ah, well, there are lots of things you don't know about me." He arched both of his brows as if to say 'I've been asking you out for years; here's what you're missing'.
The pair was nearly out the doorway when Warrick mumbled under his breath loudly enough for the rest of the table to hear. "I'm sure the stars aren't the only thing he wants to point out to her." He had seen the two of them making out earlier; he couldn't blame Greg really she was a pretty girl with a nice personality and she seemed to be really into Greg, but it didn't mean he couldn't razz him about it.
"Warrick Brown." Tina smirked at him; she'd had exactly the same thoughts, but hadn't wanted to bring it up around the table full of people that she was just getting to know.
Emily piped up. "Well if I know Chloe, she'll probably beat Greg to the punch." Of the two of them, Chloe was definitely the wilder of the pair, but they had become good friends when Emily had moved to Vegas and who was she to judge; she had after all seduced Archie on their first date by going skinny dipping.
"So who's making breakfast in the morning?" Nick queried. Not that he was hungry right this minute with his belly full of good food, but he knew at some point he'd get kitchen duty and he just wanted to be prepared.
"Uh, I think Tina volunteered us." Warrick had learned very quickly that Tina was a damn fine cook and he was greatly benefiting from her culinary skills; he had the hit the gym just a little harder to keep that tire from taking up residence around his middle.
"Ok, then I guess that means you and I get to do the dishes, Nick." Sara glanced over at him, having come to the conclusion that if everyone else had already paired up that by default they were going to be cooking and cleaning buddies.
"You're on." Nick confirmed, already reaching for plates and cutlery to carry over to the sink; this was exactly the opportunity he needed to spend some quality time alone with Sara and maybe push things a little to see just how receptive she might be to more.
As Nick and Sara settled themselves in the kitchen, the other two couples seemed to disappear without saying much and the pair settled into an easy rhythm with Nick washing and Sara rinsing and putting them into the dish rack, their hands brushing against each other and sending little jolts of pleasure surging down every nerve ending. It wasn't until they were down to the last couple of plates that Nick decided he needed to make a bold move, or at least some kind of move no matter how lame it might be. He reached around Sara to grab an already washed plate from the rack. "I think I missed a spot on this one, what do you think?" He effectively had her pinned between the counter and his arm.
Sara glanced over at him a bit curious as to what he was up to when she could see perfectly clear that the dish was clean and only then noticed that he'd moved closer and their faces were just inches apart. She felt a fluttering sensation in the pit of her stomach and she found herself turning to face him, glancing at his lips and noticing that he was doing the same to her. The thought that he might actually be getting ready to kiss her registered in her mind only a fraction of a second before she actually felt his lips softly pressing against hers and his body pressing hers against the counter in front of the sink. Her arms slowly drifted over his shoulders as she allowed him to deepen the kiss.
Nick's mind was racing wildly as he realized that not only was he kissing Sara, she was kissing him back rather eagerly a thought that caused him to reach up and slide his fingers into her hair. For a first kiss this was pretty damn incredible and as he finally pulled away to catch his breath a little he could see in Sara's eyes that she seemed to be thinking exactly what he was; he wanted to do it again.
Just as they leaned in for another kiss, the door from the deck banged open and a soaking wet Greg hobbled in, leaning on Chloe and causing Nick and Sara to spring apart. "I swear I didn't see it."
"You don't have to apologize, how were you supposed to know where the top of the ladder was?" Chloe looked very concerned as she pulled out a dining room chair and helped Greg sit down.
Sara cleared her throat. "What did you do, Greg?" Clearly he'd injured himself somehow.
"I tripped on the top handhold for the ladder on the dock and fell in. I think I sprained my ankle." Greg was milking it and Chloe seemed to be buying it.
Nick tried to restrain a smirk. "Uh, you fell off the dock." He could see how this had gone down, Greg and Chloe had probably been making out and Greg in his effort to move things along had probably been far more interested in where his lips were instead of where his feet were.
Sara bumped him with her hip and interrupted. "You should probably elevate that ankle; maybe get some ice on it." What she really wanted was to be alone with Nick and if that meant that she helped Greg and Chloe along so they'd have an excuse to spend the night in the same room, well, then so be it.
"Sara's right, man." Nick was picking up on the vibes Sara was sending his way and he quickly jumped into action and found a bag, filled it with ice and even dug up a kitchen towel.
"Yeah, I probably should lie down and let it rest so I don't miss out on the rest of the weekend." Greg was eyeing Chloe and it was obvious that the gears were quickly turning in his mind. He had been immediately smitten by her long dark hair and deep brown eyes; the fact that she had a model figure didn't hurt either.
"Let me help you, Greg." Chloe's smile was genuine, but there was definitely mischief behind her dark eyes; she knew that Greg probably hadn't hurt his ankle as badly as he was making it sound, but that was ok, this just gave her an excuse to play nursemaid.
As Greg hobbled down the hall with Chloe, Nick glanced over at Sara with a sexy grin. "Looks like Greggo's otherwise occupied."
Sara looked back at him with a sultry smile of her own. "What do you say after we finish the dishes that we watch a movie or something?" She definitely wanted to revisit that kiss again, but the moment had been broken when Greg and Chloe had come in and she thought that maybe under the guise of watching a movie in the dark, they might just recapture the mood.