I heard a muffled sound somewhere in the recesses of my mind. I rolled over in hopes that it would go away. Then it hit me, someone was knocking at my door. As consciousness overtook me, I realized that Nick must be standing at my door. I reluctantly pulled myself out of bed and stumbled to the front door to answer the insistent knock. When I opened the door, Nick looked like he was trying to restrain a smile at my rumpled appearance. "I woke you up."

I shook my head. "I was awake." I hoped that I looked more awake than I felt.

He chuckled at me as he walked in. "I woke you up."

"I was going to get up." I knew that he didn't buy my story by the expression on his face.

"I woke you up." He leaned over and kissed my cheek.

"You said that already." I think that there was a distinct whine in my voice.

Nick couldn't contain his smile. "I'm here to make dinner and I think you need to get ready for work."

I raised an accusing eyebrow at him. "You don't think I look ready for work?" Even when I'm tired I can be funny. At least I'd like to think I can.

Nick shook his head, holding in a smirk. "Not unless you have a profession I don't know about."

I tried to stifle a chuckle and swatted at Nick. "This is not skimpy lingerie." I hardly thought my flannel pajamas could be confused with a hooker's ensemble, unless of course I lived in Alaska.

Nick grinned, wrapping his arms around me and leaned in to kiss me. As he pulled away he looked into my eyes. "I wouldn't mind seeing you in skimpy lingerie, but this definitely isn't it."

"Oh, so now you don't like my pajamas." I tried to sound indignant, while trying not to smile.

Nick chuckled, resting his forehead against mine. "I'm not going to win here am I?"

I shook my head. "No." I leaned up and kissed him, giggling against his mouth. I pulled away smiling. "I'm going to go get ready for work."

"I'll make dinner." Nick grinned as he let me out of his embrace.

I left him to cook and I made my way into the bathroom to take a shower. When I had returned to the kitchen dressed for work, I noticed that Nick was wearing my apron and I'm not sure what he was cooking, but it sure smelled good.

He glanced up at me as I made my way into the kitchen to inspect the food. An amused smile flickered across his face. "Hungry?"

I nodded. "What is this? It smells great."

He chuckled at me. "You'll just have to taste it and find out."

It was delicious. I think there was eggplant in there somewhere. As we ate, I thought to myself how much I liked spending time with Nick like this. Still, I didn't want to rush my thoughts about him, I couldn't afford to have another broken heart, I needed things to go slow until I knew how serious he was.

I realized that we still needed to talk about how we were going to tell the rest of the team about our relationship. I watched Nick for a few moments and he finally looked up at me realizing that I was staring at him. A quizzical expression flashed across his face. "What is it? Do I have something on my face?"

I shook my head and smiled. "No. I was just wondering how we were planning on telling everyone that we're dating."

He grinned rather widely. "I can think of lots of ways I'd like to tell them, but something tells me that most of them might be considered indecent."

I think my face turned red and I started to laugh.

Nick winked at me. "Just kidding, Sara." He studied me for a moment, his expression more serious. "I could just tell them that I've fallen for you and I'm going to do whatever it takes to woo you until you fall for me."

I don't think I expected him to say that. I mean, somewhere, deep down, I think I wanted to hear that from someone someday, but I didn't expect Nick to say that now. I think he made it pretty clear about how serious he was, and now I just needed to figure out how serious I was. I was quiet so long that I finally realized that Nick might be feeling a little uncomfortable. When I looked up at him, I was surprised. He didn't look scared or uncomfortable at my silence. When I looked at him, I saw the same expression I'd seen right before I'd kissed him. He adored me.

A smile flickered across my face and I finally responded to his comment. "You could do that, or you could just tell them that the stubborn Sara Sidle has finally figured out what an amazing man Nick Stokes is." I took a deep breath and continued. "Nick, I care about you, a lot, but it's going to take me more time before I'm where you are."

"I can wait." He smiled at me softly and reached across the table and took my hand in his, squeezing it.

I chuckled nervously and glanced up at the clock. "Not to change the subject, but we're going to be late for work if we don't leave soon."

Nick let go of my hand and started to gather up the dishes.

I looked at him and shook my head. "Nick, we can do those later; we really need to get into work."

He just raised an eyebrow at me and grinned. "Sara, it will only take a few minutes."

I walked over to the door and put on my coat, standing their impatiently as he quickly did the dishes. He walked over to me and leaned in to kiss me and suddenly my impatience was forgotten.

He pulled away and smiled. "It only took a few minutes, Sar."

"I know. I just want to let everyone know so we don't have to have another Greg-like interrogation." I think I had a pout on my face.

Nick chuckled at me and put his arm around my shoulder as we walked out to his Denali. The drive to the lab seemed extremely short and I think I realized that I was nervous about going public about dating Nick. Especially since Grissom had asked me out twice in the last couple of days and I wasn't sure how he was going to take the news. Not that I cared what he thought per se, but he was our boss and I didn't know if he would allow us to continue to work together. Still, we really needed to tell everyone.

Warrick was the first one we encountered as we entered the break room. He was already sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee and he studied us with interest as we both grabbed a cup of coffee and joined him. "How's the hand, Sara?"

I smiled at him. "The doctor says it seems to be healing nicely and if the X-rays at the next exam look good, I can take this stupid splint off."

"That's good news." Warrick took a sip of his coffee and glanced over at Nick. Amusement flashed across his face. "So, Nick, are you sure you won't let me set you up on a blind date?"

I tried to restrain my grin as Nick shook his head and glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, winking. "I'm sure."

"Because I know this really nice girl." Warrick continued.

Nick chuckled. "Nice girl, huh?"

Warrick nodded. "She could be your type. Why don't you let me set you up?"

Nick raised an eyebrow at Warrick. "Could be my type? What exactly is that supposed to mean, and where did you meet her anyway?"

"She's the friend of this girl I met at a club." Warrick replied, taking a sip of his coffee.

Nick chuckled. "Sorry, not interested, man."

Warrick raised an eyebrow. "You're slipping man. You need to get back out there or you're going to end up like Grissom."

Nick chuckled and glanced over at me, raising both eyebrows.

I decided to rescue Nick. I walked over to him and slipped my arms around his waist, tilting my head back as I grinned at him. "No he won't." Nick wrapped his arms around me as I leaned up and kissed him briefly. I glanced over at Warrick to see his reaction.

Warrick's face registered shock.

Trying to be as nonchalant as possible I grinned at Warrick. "I took Nick off the market a couple of days ago."

Warrick's face was priceless. "Excuse me?" He looked at me with disbelief.

I looked at Nick and grinned. "Nick and I are dating."

Warrick looked at Nick with a curious expression.

Nick just nodded. "Like the woman said, I'm currently taken, so I'll have to decline your offer to set me up on a blind date."

Warrick just stared at us and began to chuckle. "I knew something was up this morning." Warrick gave me a serious look; one that I would expect from an older brother. "If he hurts you, Sidle, let me know, I'll kick his ass."

I grinned at Nick. "I'll keep that in mind."