Chapter Seven: Warmth

[Thanks to Milander and Csibugman for reading this chapter, but a slapped wrist for tricking me into giving them the chapter in the first place.]

It was long past midnight and the barn was still loud and lively. Grissom and Sara ate at the table they had claimed earlier.

Many long tables along most of the wall at the far end of the building, was covered in free food and soft drinks. A few people were eating, others were drinking, talking and the rest were dancing.

"Thank you for bringing me here." Sara said as she stabbed some salad with her fork.

Grissom swallowed his bite of burger and smiled. "It was my pleasure."

She smiled and looked around the space where they were sitting. It was reasonably quiet while the majority of the music was a distance away.

"You want another beer?" She asked, watching him set his just now empty bottle back on the table.

"Sure." He nodded.

Sara got up and headed for the bar. She had to push through a loud group of what looked like cowboy wannabes. "Excuse me." She called politely and smiled as two men parted to let her though. "Thanks."

"No problem honey." One man in a bright white shirt and dark blue Levis jeans with a large cowboy hat, smiled. He followed her up to the bar a minute later. "Can I get these?" He offered.

Sara shook her head and smiled. "No thanks, I've got them."

"I'm Rob." He introduced himself as he ignored her decline and placed some money on the bar.

"And I'm able to pay for this myself." She said curtly, pushing the money aside and handing the lady the money, both exchanging knowing 'men!' smiles.

"At least let me know your name." He inquired, plastering on a huge smile.

"She's unavailable."

Sara grinned as she turned, beers in hand, to Grissom standing behind Rob. "Hey." She said cheerfully.

Grissom smiled and took the beers from her. "Hi. You done with making friends?" He asked teasingly, nodding his head towards the group.

Her grin widened. "Yep." She hooked her arm through his and turned her head back to the others. "Thanks for the offer though."

Rob tipped his hat at them before being pulled back into conversation with his group of friends.

~*~

"So, let's recap." Grissom said suddenly as he sat back in his seat and looked at her with a smirk. "Picked up on time. New and exciting place. Drinks, dinner, dancing. Rescuing… what else?" He teased.

Sara laughed softly and sipped her third beer. "Hmm, didn't know you were keeping tabs, but let's see." She thought for a moment, casting her eyes over the table, then up to his face. She took a breath before speaking. "Charming, gentleman, social, fun, funny, night in shining armor, and…" She looked him over and grinned. "Definitely hot in those jeans and that blue shirt."

He looked down at himself and blushed. "So?" He shrugged, looking back up.

Sara pursed herself and tilted her head, giving the impression of deep thought. "6 out of 10. She finally concluded.

Grissom laughed out loud. "What'd I miss?"

She shrugged and finished her beer. "Night's not over yet." She told him.

He nodded and smiled, watching her with his eyes as she went back to observing the others in the large room.

~*~

It was now closing in on 2.30am.

Sara stretched and stood up. Grissom grabbed his jacket and waited for her before moving for the exit.

"Ready to go?" He asked gently, sensing she was tired.

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah."

"Let's go then." He offered his arm and led the way out of the barn.

As they entered the night air, the cool breeze hit them and Sara shivered.

"Here." Grissom offered as he shrugged off his jacket and pushed it over her shoulders. "Better?"

"Thanks." Sara smiled, pulling the jacket closer and taking a deep breath against the softness. "Mhmm. Smells like you." She said dreamily.

"Should do." He teased, taking a step closer.

Slipping her arms into the sleeves, Sara blindly reached for his hand as it brushed against hers.

They walked down a row of cars and trucks before cutting through a line to reach Grissom's Tahoe. Grissom squeezed her hand before releasing it to search for his keys.

Padding his pockets, he looked up. "Uh." He smirked and moved to stand in front of her.

"Clear night." Sara said softly as he leaned forward to dig into his jacket pockets that were current occupied by her hands.

"A little chilly." He smiled, reaching his hand around hers to grasp his keys.

She shook her head. "No, it's lovely and warm right now." She found his eyes as they look at her.

"I'll remember that the next time." He kissed her lips, only a brush, before stepping back to press the keypad to unlock the car.

"So sure there's gonna be a next time?" She asked as he opened the passenger door.

Mulling this over for a moment, he shrugged. "Well, there's room for improvement."

~*~

The Tahoe pulled up to Sara's apartment at 3.46am.

Grissom got out and walked around to open the door. He escorted her up the path to her building and followed her up the stairs to the landing. As they reached her door, Grissom reached out and grasped her hand, turning her.

"Can I, do something that I've been wanting to do, all night?" He asked hesitantly.

Sara nodded and reached up to smooth out his collar.

Moving closer, he cupped her face in his hands. At first, his kiss was just a touch. His hands fell to her shoulders as his lips tasted hers.

Covering his hands on her shoulders, Sara pulled them down to hold them and pull him against her.

"When can I see you again?" He whispered against her mouth.

Laughing softly, she kissed his chin. "You see me every night."

"No." He droned. "Personally? When can I see you, outside work?" He looked into her eyes as he kissed her again; placing gentle light kisses against her skin as he spoke.

"Hmm, where we going?" She asked, returning the kiss before hugging him.

"Dinner, my place?" He closed his eyes, relishing in being allowed to hold her.

For very good reason, the offer of dinner at his place, made her stomach crap. She could picture him and Catherine entering through the front door and immediately grabbing at each other, not waiting to reach the bedroom.

She sighed heavily, though trying to hide the sudden pang of hurt in her heart. "I don't know Griss."

"Okay." He hugged her tighter, trying to reassure her of his intentions. "Your place. Here." He turned his head and kissed her neck, sending tiny shivers up her spine. "I'll take you anywhere you want." He told her.

Running her hands up his back, she stepped back. "Here, but just dinner." She informed him, making sure any ideas he was having, were dampened. She pulled her hands from him and turned to unlock her door.

Watching her push the door open, he couldn't help but press up against her back and hug her, kissing her neck and breathing in her scent as he whispered into her ear. "I love you." He let her turn around and he smiled at her. "See you tonight."

She nodded as she shrugged off his jacket and handed it to him. "Night."

~*~

Walking down the corridor, Grissom stopped at DNA to retrieve his DNA results and give Greg a lecture on his loud music. As he past the break room, he spotted Sara standing in front of the sink, presumably washing something.

He moved into the room, making sure it was only the two of them before getting close enough to touch his chest to her back. "Hi." He whispered into her ear.

"Hello." She whispered back, turning off the tap. "Where you been?" She asked, reaching to her left for the towel to dry her cup.

"Autopsy." He answered.

"Ah, anything interesting?"

He sighed. "Nothing."

"Well, I got something to tell that may interest you." She said as she dropped the towel and turned around, trapped between him and the counter.

"Hmm, sounds interesting." He hummed, his eyes wandering from her brown eyes to her smiling mouth.

She pushed him back to get to the coffeepot. "It is." She poured coffee into her cup before continuing and turning to see him sit at the table. "You're taking a risk aren't you?" She asked, suddenly turning serious and the smile faded.

Grissom shrugged. "In what?" He stubbornly asked.

Sara sighed and sat down beside him. "You can't bring personal stuff to work. I'm not ready for this Grissom."

"Ready for what?" He leaned forward, closer. "You're the one who asked me out and said you knew what to do."

She sipped her coffee and shook her head. "That was before everything."

"You don't know what to do?" He asked.

"I do, but it's difficult. I can't just start dating you and tell everyone, not after everyone was so happy you and Catherine together." She said with bitterness, but sadly.

"Hey," He called softly, trying to break through her dark thoughts. "That's gone now."

Sara nearly slammed her cup down on the table, just about spilling her coffee. She leaned forward and stared at him. "That was only 4 months ago Grissom. You can't honestly think that this won't be frowned at? I'd be accused of manipulating you and talked about constantly. I don't want that."

"I don't either, but I want you and I want the others to know that I love you." He stressed, taking her hand and squeezing it. "I don't care if they think I'm just going through some kind of crisis, because I know I'm not and so do you," He looked into her eyes. "Don't you?" He asked, slightly worried.

She nodded and her frown softened into a slight smile. "I just don't want to rush things and have it fall apart."

"It won't. I won't let it happen." He promised.

Sara gave him a shy smile and slowly pulled her hand from his. "Don't make promises you might not be able to keep."

He grinned and sat back, scooping up her coffee. "I'm promising to keep my promise."

"We'll see." She told him, catching his eye before taking her cup from him and finishing her coffee.

~*~

Warrick, Nick and Grissom worked a double homicide while Sara and Brass investigated a robbery gone wrong.

"Hey, Griss?" Warrick looked at his boss. "How you been man?"

Grissom stood up and turned to his colleague and friend. "Good, why'd you ask?"

Warrick shrugged. "No reason, just been a rough a few months for you, that's all."

"Oh," Grissom smirked. "I'm good, no, great, actually." He nodded and went back to his work.

Warrick didn't seem convinced and watched on worriedly as his boss worked.

~*~

Brass stopped beside Sara and sighed. "If it was an inside job, we've run out of suspects."

Sara nodded. "I know." She looked off to the side and spotted something in the mudded grass. "Though, something may have just popped up."

"What you got?" Brass asked as he crouched down next to her.

"Some really good footprints and two cigarette butts."

Looking around, Brass cheered up a little. "That could mean that this was premeditated."

"Yup. Guy waits outside before going in and doing what he came to do."

"Was that the robbery or the murder?" Brass asked.

"We'll soon find that out." Sara stood. She bagged the new evidence and cast the footprints.

~*~

"It's one thing to stand so close to me in the break room, but to kiss me in your office is too much. Anyone could walk in." Sara protested, holding out her hand at arms length to keep him away from her.

"Nick and Warrick are processing evidence-"

"So should we now you mention it. And that was the reason I'm here in the first place." She interrupted.

Grissom tilted his head and smirked. "Really, so you weren't meaning to participate in that kiss just now?"

Sara huffed and gave his chest a quick shove, but broke out into a smile and a giggle. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were serious about this dating and loving, thing."

Waiting for her to stop giggling, he sighed. "You still don't believe me?"

She tampered her laughter and pulled on a frown. "It's hard to forget what you did. It's hard to forget what I did. This won't happen over night Gil, you have to be patient."

"I've been patient and I'll continue to be patient until you believe in me and trust me again." He swore, talking her hand to hold it.

"Are we still on for tonight?" She asked.

"I wouldn't cancel on you, well, not within reason, say a case, but yup, I'm game." He teased.

Closing the distance between them, she wrapped her arms around his neck and gazed into his eyes. "So, if you didn't turn up, it'd be because of a case, work?" She asked curiously.

He nodded. "But I'd ring." He told her. "But, if I get called during dinner, then it's you, not work."

Seeing the sincerity in his eyes, Sara kissed him lightly once, then twice, before finally breaking the tension with a passionate, first, proper kiss.

Grissom moaned into her mouth as he pulled her tightly against him. "God, I love you more than anything."

"Hmm, I love me too." She giggled.

A moment later, the door to Grissom's office opened and standing in the light was a tall slim figure with a very angry and surprised look on their face. "Am I interrupting something?"

TBC