Sara stood in beneath the hot spray of the shower, combing her fingers through her hair to rinse the shampoo from her dark locks. She forced herself to keep her eyes open, because every time they closed, she immediately flashed back to the previous night.

His lips ran over her throat, nibbling where her pulse beat wildly, sending lances of red-hot need into her belly her thighs, everywhere. Then she'd nearly lost her mind when those clever hands drifted upwards from her hips to the front of her blouse and began to flip open the tiny seed buttons.

"Grissom, maybe we should move to the couch?" she whispered.

"No. Not the couch. My bed."

Oh yes, his bed. That beautiful lake of a bed covered in simple teal linens. Grissom hadn't bothered turning the light on, preferring to let the natural light wash through the Venetian blinds and she thanked God for it. She didn't want anything mechanical or ordinary destroying the sensation of being in the moment. She only wanted to feel.

She had definitely felt: the strong muscles of his arms and his shoulders as they wrapped around her body, the warmth of his breath on her ear, the bob of his Adam's apple when she'd laid her lips against his throat.

Somehow she wound up trapped beneath him on the bed, stripped to the waist, as he once again fused his lips onto hers. As she fisted her hands into his shoulders, that mouth working its magic on her skin, she tore open his dress shirt, tossed it aside. 'Now' was all she could think. But when he grabbed her wrist, pressed a kiss to her palm, something shifted the frenetic need inside her into languid longing. Suddenly there seemed to be all the time in the world.

The opening of the bathroom door jarred Sara back into reality. Hoping she could attribute the flush on her skin to the steam in the shower and not of her memory, she peeked around the corner of the curtain.

And lost all the spit in her mouth as she saw Grissom standing there, wearing nothing but a towel loosely slung around his hips and a small knowing smile. The body was definitely the same from the night before, but this time, rather than long-time curiosity it was knowledgeable anticipation that glinted in his eye.

"I just finished washing my hair; I'm just about finished in here."

Grissom arched an eyebrow at her, the devilish grin slowly spread across his face.

"No, you're not."

So saying he let his towel drop to the floor, and stepped into the shower with her.

After their shower, Sara sat in Grissom's kitchen watching him make mushroom and cheese omelettes and contemplated how in the hell this was going to go forward. Certainly there had to be something said, or did there? Should she be the one to set the parameters of this relationship, like what was acceptable at work and what wasn't? Should they tell anyone at work if they were dating? What about if people knew and then started to think that she was getting better cases because her boss also happened to be her boyfriend?

"I can hear your gears gnashing away, Sara," Grissom said, bringing her plate to the table.

"I was just thinking-"

"I know what you were thinking." He sat down beside her, reached for the pepper shaker. "But let me ask you a question. Do you think I would have done what I did without asking myself the same questions?"

Sara's mouth turned upward briefly. "I guess not."

"Take a leap of faith for once in your life Sara. It's not a recon mission on a serial killer. It's a love affair."

Sara reached over, gripped his hand. "I know."

"And we go at the speed you set."

"I know that too. Can I have the pepper?"

When he passed her the shaker, her fingertips brushed slightly over his knuckles, and for the first time in her life, Sara let herself leap.

Greg was on his way out of the trace lab with the sample results from scrapings under the cop's finger nails. Renee's case was wrapped up like a Christmas present when the buddies of the RO sang like Frankie Vallie, leaving Greg and Warrick to focus on their undercover cop. That combined with Nadine's promise of breakfast in bed after his shift had whistling under his breath when Judy approached him. Despite being in two-inch heels she still had to look up at him to give him his message.

"Mr. Sanders, you have a visitor."

"Thanks Judy."

Greg walked to the front entrance of the lab, thinking that he'd find Nadine dropping off something he'd forgotten at her apartment the night before. Instead he found his sister dressed in her cheerleader sweats, her left leg bent slightly. It was a good sign; it meant she was working through her PT.

"Gizmo, what're you doing here?"

"Nick came in to tell Grissom he'd be back to work on Monday, and I asked to come with him, to see you."

"He already has his car back?"

"Borrowed a truck from his buddy; he won't have the Chevy until sometime next week." When she rose, there was only a slight wince on her face and she managed to take several steady steps. She jammed her hands into her pockets as she squared her shoulders to face her brother. "I could use some brotherly advice."

"Things not so hot with Nick anymore?"

"He wants me to move in with him."

"Well, do you want to move in with him?"

Renee blinked, confused. "Why are you so calm about this? I thought for sure you'd want to hop up and down on Nick's face for it, for sure."

"Don't do that, Renee. I'm asking you a question. Do you want to move in with him?" Greg asked, dead serious as he looked his sister in the eye.

"I want to, but I'm terrified that it'll be too quick and ruin everything. I…I love him, Greg, I really do, and he loves me back. It's not like with Kenny; this is the real deal."

Greg smiled softly; for the first time his stomach didn't lurch as if to betray him. Perhaps that's why he'd gotten so tangled up about why his sister and Nick dating bothered him so deeply, that it was because it wasn't some fling but that they'd actually gone ass-over-teakettle in love. Sighing just a little, Greg pulled his sister into a tight embrace.

"How did you grow up on me?"

"I could ask the same thing about you," Renee answered and got a light thump on the head. "So what do you think?"

"I think…you should do what makes you happy."

"Even if it bugs you?"

"Renee, it's not like you'd stay a little kid forever, I knew you'd have to grow up at some point. But the gap between thinking about it and actually seeing it, that's the scary part. Fortunately, I've got Nadine to keep me occupied."

Now it was Renee's turn to grin. "You're really stuck on her, huh?"

"I think I am."

"My big brother's in love," she teased him, earning a second thump on the head.

"Hey, no beating on my woman," Nick said as he came around the corner. He wrapped an arm around Renee waist to help support her weight, kissed her temple. "I really hate to do this, sweetie, but I have to go back into work now. Diane Chase was murdered at her son's wedding so Grissom needs all hands on deck."

"Diane Chase the defence lawyer?" Greg perked up at this.

"Yeah. Go find Sara, tell her to meet you out front. I'll meet you there." Nick turned back to Renee. "You ready?"

Renee smiled at him, let her gaze go slightly off-centre to her brother, who was still watching them with interest.

"Yeah. Take me home."