Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Leverage or anything else related to the show.

Sophie shook her head in disgust as she watched Nate inhale his fourth barbequed rib. She could not understand what it was people found so appetizing the cooked meat drenched and dripping with a thick tangy sauce. It totally blew her mind that people would actually eat them for breakfast and then probably lunch and dinner too.

"Oh come on Soph. Just try one. You just might be surprised" Nate told her as he finished off a rib and picked up another.

"Fine, but I'm only doing it to save you from yourself. If you eat any more of these you're going to be sick" her tone sounded resigned as she picked up a rib and held it in front of her. She looked at the rib for a few seconds as though pondering it. She closed her eyes and screwed up her face before bringing the rib to her mouth and taking a bite. She chewed cautiously, then opened her eyes in surprise and took another bite before she was even finished with the first one. "Not bad" she said in between mouthfuls. Nate just watched her, a knowing and triumphant smile on his face.

Two weeks later Nate came down the stairs of his apartment to find Sophie in his kitchen with her back to him. She quickly shut the fridge and tuned to face him and warm smile on her face. Knowing her as long as he did, he could tell from the look on her face and the sound of her voice as she greeted him that she was hiding something.

He narrowed his eyes trying to hypothesize what she was up to. "You're here early" he said.

She looked him evenly in eyes not giving anything away. "Is that a crime now?" she asked teasingly. She could tell he wasn't going to buy this excuse but kept going with it anyway deciding to take the defensive route knowing that would hinder him a little. Maybe there was something I wanted to work on, some cases I wanted to go over or a possible case I discovered and wanted to talk to you about".

Nate proceeded carefully not really wanting to start any arguments over this. "Those are all good reasons" he said smiling at her. "But none of them are why you are here". He walked over to where she was standing so that there was barely half an inch between there bodies. He looked down into her brown eyes with a playful look in his own. He reached towards her. His hands wrapped around the towel sitting on the counter behind her. He handed her towel and turned and walked away. "You have a bit of barbeque on your lips".

She wiped the small trace of barbeque from her face and threw the towel at the back of his head. "I hate you".

"No you don't"

"Fine. I don't." She stared at the back of his head as he walked over and flopped down on the couch. "I am going to get you back for this".

Nate turned around and smiled at her. "I'll be waiting".