"So, what did you do last night?" Catherine asked. She and Sara were sitting in the break room, Catherine with a cup of coffee, Sara with a soda.

Sara wisely kept her face shielded by her book. "Sat in, read for a while, had a pizza," she replied, praying to God her voice remained level.

Catherine rolled her eyes. "You. Need. A. Life. Or a boyfriend." She looked up at the door as Grissom entered the room. "Hey, Gil, you know what she did last night?"

Grissom's face almost froze. But Sara wouldn't tell Catherine. Would she? "What?" he asked, attempting to disguise his anguish.

"Sat in and read. Tell her she needs to get laid, at the very least."

Sara stifled a laugh and a smirk, and Grissom frowned. "The lives of your co-workers are not actually your concern, Cath," he reprimanded sternly. "For that alone, you get the dumpster dive," he added, handing her an assignment slip.

Catherine pulled a face. "By the sound of it, you need to get laid too. Christ, do us all a favour, and let out that tension. Hey, maybe you and Sara should ...". She was silenced by an icy look.

"One more word out of you, and you get all the decomps that come through this door," he growled, his voice low and threatening. He waited for Catherine to scurry from the room, and then took a seat next to Sara. "So, what did you really do last night?"

Sara closed her book, smiling. "Let's see. This totally hot guy from work took me out to dinner, then we went back to his hotel room, where all manner of erotic and unspeakable things occurred."

"Hmm. Should I be jealous? Is this serious?" He enjoyed playing games like this with Sara.

"Oh, I hope it's very serious. In fact, I was thinking of asking this guy over to my place when we've finished work. I had an idea for a meal, I wanted to give him something a bit special. A nice few hours together before we go back to work and resume our role as consummate professionals, side by side, resisting the urge to go behind the bike sheds." She flashed him a look. "What do you say?"

"I say, I like to bit about consummate. I'll come over to yours after work. I should go home and change, bring some fresh clothes with me." He reached over and squeezed her knee. "See you then?"

"Can't wait."

Sara had already figured out what she would cook for Grissom. At college, she had mastered a starter, an avocado spread, rather like guacamole, but with a variation. She would mash the avocado into a paste, add a little salt, pepper, sunflower oil, vinegar and basil. It all got stirred up together, then was spread on top of thick bread and toasted under the grill. For the main, she had made a simple tomato sauce to go with pasta; she hadn't decided on dessert yet - there were an assortment of ice-creams and cookies.

She heard someone tap lightly against the door, and she wiped her hands on the dishcloth. She nearly melted when she opened the door. There stood Grissom, eyes shining, wearing a pair of tight dark blue jeans, a black t-shirt and a leather jacket, holding a bouquet of roses for her.

"Hey." He smiled brightly, and stepped forward to kiss her cheek. "How are you?"

Sara bit her lip, trying to hold back tears. "God, you're so thoughtful," she sighed, looking at the ceiling and smiling. "Come in," she said, moving away from the door to let him in. She accepted the roses and went to put them in water. When she returned to the living room area, Grissom had already taken his jacket off and hung it up. He held his arms out. "Don't I get a proper welcome?" She approached him, kissing him gently on the corner of his mouth, waiting for it to open up completely. His lips parted, kissing hers, capturing her bottom lip, running his teeth along it gently, then suckling. His hands rested above the curve in her spine, holding him against her, as her hands cradled his head. Her tongue slid along his top lip, then pressed its way in, meeting with his. When they pulled away, he had to hold her steady for a second.

"How are you?" he repeated.

"Much better," she breathed. She rested her against his warm chest. "Are you okay?"

"Fine, thank you. Glad to dish out some revenge on Catherine," he added.

"Oh?" Sara asked, propelling him towards a seat. "What happened?"

"Got grossed out too much by the dumpster. She was wearing a rather expensive pair of trousers."

Sara laughed. "You're evil. Can I get you a drink?"

"I'm not evil, I'm just, and I'm fine for the moment, thanks." He thought for a moment. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

Sara considered it. "Depends. How personal?"

"I just wanted to know what you see in me," he said truthfully.

"Quid pro quo. I tell you, you gotta tell me." She took up position next to him, a hand on his knee. "I've always been attracted to you, ever since Harvard."

"I was much younger then," he interrupted.

"Shut up and let me finish. God, you were sexy. You still are, especially when you go into teaching mode." She suppressed a shudder. "And you're very different to most guys I know - thoughtful, serious but with that undercurrent of humour, considerate, kind, naive - you have what I look for in a guy. After my family life, it used to be about seeking protection in a man, but you offer more of that than anyone else I've ever met."

He sat for a moment, trying to absorb what she'd said. "I've never ... I've never looked at it like that. I always look at the whole age thing - I was concerned that your attraction to me was based on a subscription to seeking paternal approval."

"Fair enough. So. What about you? What have I got that Lady Heather lacks? That Terri Miller can't provide?"

Grissom winced. "No talk of other women when I'm with you. They don't belong here." Sara nodded. "You're beautiful. You're young. You have this energy that I can't help but want to tap into. You won't stop working until you have what you need. You're focused, you're so intelligent, you have so much empathy, you're not afraid of anything, and you have a sensuality about you that I can't describe. Most importantly, you understand me and my work - you don't make judgements based on me about my line of work, because you do exactly the same thing." He shrugged, finding that the more he was with her, the more he found it hard to find the right thing to say. She was a witch, using some kind of physical magic to befuddle him.

She smiled. "You must be the only person who doesn't find me intense, or serious. That always used to turn men off."

"Oh, no, I would say that you are intense, and you are serious. And they're good qualities to have. That way, you tend to be more conscientious, in all aspects of your life," he added with a wink and a smirk. "I find that intensity very ... sexy. I gotta admit, it's a turn-on for me. To see that look you get in your eye when you're on to something. And I notice it a lot when we're alone together too. But not only that, you know when to chill out and relax. You have a sense of humour, and you're not afraid to use it. It just happens to be a bit more intelligent and quirky than a lot of people are used to." He covered the hand that was on his knee.

Sara blinked back more tears. "I'm gonna go and check on the food, okay?"

Grissom nodded, understanding that he had probably astounded her with what he had said. But he meant it. He meant every single damn word of it. "You need a hand? Or you want me to leave you for a bit?"

Sara silently praised God, so happy that he understood that sometimes she would need down time, or alone time. "I should be okay," she said. "I'll give you a shout if I need help. It shouldn't be too long, anyway," she said.

In all their years of knowing each other, he hadn't even known she cook. He had always gotten the impression that she ordered take-out, or snacked on junk. Then again, she had virtually no fat on her, so she couldn't have been all that unhealthy.

He was especially impressed with her avocado recipe. "You just made it up?"

Sara nodded. "The first time I made it, I'd gone to eat half of the avocado, but it wasn't ripe enough, ad I didn't want to waste it, so I figured I might as well try and make something with it."

He smiled. "You're a true genius. And somehow, it doesn't strike me as a surprise you're serving something like this tonight."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Didn't you know that avocado is an aphrodisiac?"

"Sure I did. But I certainly don't need an aphrodisiac when I'm with you. You're enough of an aphrodisiac as it is. I'd probably die of sheer ecstacy eating this and looking at you at the same time."

He kept on smiling. "Really? I'm still finding it hard to get over the fact that you're attracted to me."

She shook her head in exasperation. "You're really annoying sometimes, you know that?" He nodded. "Why can't you just accpet the fact that I think you're damn hot? You've lost most of the weight you put on, even though you still looked sexy then, and with that beard, your eyes just smoulder at me. It makes you look all existentialistic and gorgeous. And I'm having a hard time keeping my hands off you."

"Glad I'm not the only one," he replied.