Nick smiled at her as he tucked a stubborn curl behind her ear. "Yeah, I guess it's not."
Sara looked at him expectantly.
Nick's fingers lingered against her cheek as he looked at her intently. He had thoroughly enjoyed spending the evening with her, and he wasn't ready to see it end quite yet. "What would you say to spending the night together?"
Sara's eyes widened and she felt her cheeks flush as she sucked in her breath in surprise. Nick certainly had a reputation around the lab, but she was incredulous that he would be so forward. Her voice wavered a bit as she spoke. "Nick."
Nick's eyebrows shot up and he pulled his hand away as he realized how his words must have sounded. "Uh, that's not what I meant."
Sara's face still registered shock.
Suddenly, Nick's tie seemed to be inordinately tight. He raised his hands in surrender. "I don't want to have sex with you."
Sara wasn't sure whether to be relieved or insulted. Confusion flickered across her face.
Nick grimaced. "I mean I do want to have sex with you; just not tonight." He realized as he watched Sara's expression that this wasn't a much better statement than his last one.
Sara raised a single eyebrow and still didn't say a word.
Nick felt completely flustered. "Uh." He swallowed hard. "I, what I'm trying to say is, I'm attracted to you. I just think it's too soon to cross that line."
Sara crossed her arms in front of her body.
"I mean assuming that you're even interested in me like that." He couldn't read her expression. "Because that's pretty presumptuous of me to assume that you are just because I think you're the sexiest woman I've ever met."
Sara felt the corners of her mouth twitch ever so slightly upwards at his declaration of sorts.
Nick put a hand to his forehead and let out a deep breath. "This is coming out all wrong." He gave Sara a sheepish look.
She pursed her lips together in an effort to keep from smiling.
Nick's eyebrows shot up again. "I mean, I really do think you're sexy as hell, I just don't think, I mean, I just meant that you and I were already here and we're not working tonight." Nick was incredulous that Sara Sidle could leave him so utterly tongue tied.
Sara reached over and touched his arm, her smile slowly spreading across her face. "You're cute when you're flustered."
Nick let out a nervous chuckle and shook his head before looking into Sara's eyes. "Can I try that again?"
She looked at him with a bit of amusement as she stepped towards him, resting her hands on his biceps. "Just so I'm clear. You're attracted to me?"
Nick nodded.
Sara began to smile as Nick's hands rested on her waist. "And you wouldn't mind seeing me naked."
Embarrassment flashed across Nick's face. "Sara."
She looked a little smug. "But it seems to me that you still haven't officially asked me on a date."
Nick tried to smile. "I was trying to get to that before I put my foot in my mouth."
Sara smirked. "Is that what that was?"
Nick let out a soft chuckle. "I'm really sorry, I guess I'm a little nervous."
She giggled. "Yeah, I can tell, although I'm not sure why since I plan on saying yes."
Nick pulled Sara a little closer. "You are, are you?" He let out a soft chuckle.
Sara nodded with a smile. "Yeah."
"Are you busy next Sunday?" He looked at her expectantly.
"Sunday?" Sara replied curiously.
Nick smiled. "Yeah, it's the Fourth of July."
Sara felt a faint blush creep into her cheeks. "I'm pretty sure I'm off the calendar since they'd have to pay me time and a half."
Nick played coy. "Well, what a coincidence. I have the night off too."
Sara chuckled. "Has anyone ever told you that you're a goof?"
He raised an eyebrow and tried to sound stern. "Hey, I'm in the middle of asking you on a date here; do you mind?"
She giggled. "By all means, continue."
He grinned and his voice softened. "Do you want to go watch fireworks together?"
Sara nodded. "Yes, but on one condition."
Nick chuckled. "Oh, and what would that be?"
"Tell me why you call your sister 'Zippy'." She smirked at him.
Nick raised an eyebrow at her. "Before I do, what exactly did she say to you?"
Sara smirked. "Exactly?"
Nick rolled his eyes slightly and chuckled. "What did she say?"
"Well it seems you talk about me. A lot." Sara smiled.
Nick knew he'd been caught. "Ok, so I might have mentioned you to her before."
Sara continued, a flirtatious tone in her voice. "Apparently, you've been mentioning me for a few years."
Nick cleared his throat. "Ok, so I might have said something about you when I first met you."
Sara giggled. "Admit it, Nick. You like me, and you have for a while."
Nick feigned confusion. "I'm not sure what you're talking about, Ms. Sidle."
"You're a horrible liar." She grinned at him with a smug expression.
"Ok, so I'll admit that I like you. Is that a bad thing?" Nick grinned back at her.
Sara shook her head. "No, I'd say it's a good thing. Now why do you call her 'Zippy'?"
"She likes clowns." Nick stated with a smirk.
Sara looked at him a bit doubtfully. "Clowns."
Nick nodded. "Lisa insisted on dressing up as one every Halloween until my mom made her a clown suit. She earned extra money in high school doing parties for children as 'Zippy the Clown'. The name just stuck."
Sara giggled. "And did you ever perform with Zippy; say in your tutu?"
Nick protested. "They only dressed me up that one time."
"Sure." Sara looked unconvinced as she smirked at him.
Nick decided to try and change the subject. "So I was going to ask you something before I put my foot in my mouth earlier."
Sara looked at him with interest.
"Since the cruise is almost over and we'd usually be up all night anyway at work, do you want to go do something else?" He looked at her with a hopeful expression.
Sara furrowed her brow. "So basically you want to spend the night with me?" She couldn't keep the mischievous smile off of her face.
"Now how come you can say that, but when I do, it comes across completely wrong?" Nick teased.
Sara smirked. "I have an idea, let's go back to my apartment and watch a movie or play a game or something that doesn't involve me wearing these shoes anymore, my feet are killing me."
Nick let out a soft chuckle. "Deal."
"And one other thing." Sara continued with a smile.
"Name it." Nick smiled back at her.
"Thank you for this." She slid her arms around his waist and hugged him close. "I had a really good time tonight, even if Hank tried to ruin it." She stepped back for a moment before leaning up and pressing her lips against his softly in a brief kiss.
Nick couldn't get the grin off of his face as she stepped away. He reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze as they made their way to the stairwell leading to the lower decks. Though Nick had gotten cold standing on the deck with his suit coat wrapped around Sara, the simple kiss she had placed on his lips had left him feeling very warm.