Chapter 7. Adding plot makes it harder to keep up the steamyness. And yet, I do my best to deliver. Ok, so I initially didn't like this chapter, but then I re-read it and I think it's exactly what we need. A little bit of an agonizing slow-down. On with the show!
Sara stood outside the DNA lab a few days later, evidence in hand and nerves shot all to hell. She had avoided Greg more than ever before, refusing to even walk by his lab, until now. No one else was around, and she really needed the skin sample she held in her shaking hand processed and compared. She watched Greg putter around his lab, bobbing his head to the silence and the song in his head.
"You've been standing there for five minutes." He finally said, bending over a blood sample from another case, "if you don't want to be near me, you can just leave the sample by the door, take ten paces back, I'll pick it up and smoke-signal you the results." The usual lightness his voice held was still present, but something was different.
Sara walked in and placed her sample on a nearby counter. Greg's back was still facing her, and she simply stood there, unsure as to what to do next. She knew what she should do; she should have apologized to him, told him everything was a huge mistake, turned around and walked out. Instead, she just stood there, staring at his back.
"You know, I'm not going to disappear if you stare at me long enough." Greg said.
"I didn't want to...before... I..." Sara trailed off, not knowing what to say or how to say it.
"Yeah, I know." He replied, taking a pause as if considering whether or not to say what he was thinking. "And I'd be willing to forget about it if you'd just stop acting so weird."
Somehow, this simple phrase made Sara's heart sink to the bottom of her stomach. The last thing she wanted to do was forget about it. She had been replaying the feeling of him pressed against her, his lips on hers, for days.
She leaned against the counter behind her and heaved a sigh. "I'm... not sure I..." she stopped herself, unable to fathom that she was about to confess something so personal to Greg of all people. But she had been more personal with him only a few days ago, and that had been so easy; she couldn't have stopped herself if she'd wanted to. Being intimate in a completely different way with him seemed like an exceedingly daunting task. Taking another deep breath, she continued, "I don't want you to forget about it."
This was not nearly as easy as pulling the man into a kiss by the waist of his pants.
Greg turned to face her. "Uh, then what do you want me to do?" he asked, not pushing her, but simply searching for an answer.
"That, I don't know." Sara replied slowly; everything seemed so agonizingly slow when she was with him. The only thing that wasn't was the beating of her heart and the easy blush that lived on her face when he was near. Saying she didn't know was a lie. She knew exactly what she wanted him to do. She wanted him to grab her, take her in his arms and give a repeat performance of the locker room incident; maybe up the rating to a firm PG 13.
Ignorant of Sara's current inner turmoil, Greg smiled, rolling his eyes a little. He walked over to where she was still leaning on the counter, and placing his hands on the smooth surface on either side of her, stood in front of her, his arms stretched to their full length, the warmth of his body radiating onto hers. Looking her in the eye, the smile never leaving his lips, he said "Ok," nothing more. He then leaned in, letting his lips barely touch hers, like butterfly wings, like air. He lingered there for a moment, letting his eyes focus on her reddening cheek.
Sara breathed in sharply at the anticipation of what was to come. Greg surrounded her, and all she could do was wait for him to put the slightest amount of pressure on her lips. She thought she'd never breathe again. She closed her eyes and willed her heart to calm it's frantic pace. Memories of Greg's hands, body and scent enfolding her flooded through her mind as she waited for him to kiss her. Instead, he backed up slowly, turned around and went back to his original task, leaving Sara motionless where she stood. "I'll page you when I'm done with your sample."
Sara was frozen to the spot. Even after the kiss in the locker room days ago, even after every infuriating little touch, nothing she had experienced had been as intense as the moment before Greg had pulled away from her. She'd never felt more exposed and alone as she did the moment after.
Taking what seemed like the millionth deep breath of the day, Sara finally composed herself as much as possible and slipped out of the room, wondering how many more chances she'd get to tell Greg what she really wanted.
So what did you think? R&R and tell me your thoughts!