Nick looked at Sara for a moment as he held her close. A serious expression spread across his face. "I have a little confession to make. I don't really cruise the aisles at Home Depot looking for hot women."
She bit her lower lip to keep from giggling.
"I mean I definitely think you're attractive, Sara. I've been trying to figure out how to tell you that for a while now." His brow was furrowed and he looked far too serious as he continued to ramble. "It's just that I wasn't sure you'd feel the same way, and I wasn't about to just hit on you and risk ruining our friendship.
Sara was completely amused at his need to explain himself and she finally pressed her lips against his to silence him. Nick seemed to get the message fairly quickly, responding eagerly to her kiss.
As he pulled away a few minutes later, Nick let out a soft chuckle. "You already knew that didn't you?"
Her hands rested on his shoulders and Nick's arms had completely encircled her waist. She smirked. "I was pretty sure you didn't go to Home Depot to pick up women, but I didn't know until just now that you've felt that way about me."
It occurred to Nick that he really didn't know for sure how Sara felt about him. He was fairly certain that she wasn't the type cross that boundary of friendship unless she was feeling something, but she hadn't really said anything except that she definitely thought they should be doing this. The problem was, Nick wasn't sure what 'this' was supposed to mean. Did it mean kissing, or was she implying far more. He was a wise enough man to not press the issue, especially since she was his friend and they worked together; there was no room to confuse the lines when they were around each other this much.
"Why are you so quiet?" Sara looked at him with a slightly perplexed expression on her face.
He realized that he'd been so deep in thought that he hadn't said anything after her last statement. He smiled softly at her and cleared his throat, a little embarrassed. "I was just thinking."
She raised an eyebrow at him as if to ask him to elaborate.
"I just don't want you to get the wrong idea here." He knew the second the words were out of his mouth that she was probably going to take them wrong.
Sara tensed.
Nick shook his head. "I didn't mean it like that." He smiled nervously. "It's just the location. Maybe we should go in the other room. As sexy as I find you, I'm not sure that this is the best place to explore us." Panic flashed across his face at how that must have sounded. "I mean what's going on between us, what we're feeling I mean."
Sara was completely amused at how flustered he was. She leaned in and kissed him softly and then pulled away, a smile on her face. "I understand. We probably should talk about this instead of making out in your bed if we want to still be speaking to each other in the morning."
Nick let out an uncertain chuckle. "Something like that." He cleared his throat again and loosened his hold on her. "I should put the work lights away anyway."
Sara smirked and let her hands slide down his biceps before rolling onto her back and glancing over at him. "I'll put the chair back in your dining room." She glanced up at the ceiling fan and then back over at him. "We really did do a good job."
Nick pulled himself off of the bed and grinned. "Yes we did."
As Nick disappeared down the hall carrying the work lights, Sara sat up and touched her lips as a smile spread across her face. She wasn't really sure exactly what was happening between her and Nick, but she definitely wanted to explore it further and as much as the idea of staying in his bed appealed to her, she knew that they both needed to know exactly where this was going to ensure they didn't harm their friendship in the process. She stood up and walked towards the door, picking up the dining room chair on the way.
There was a bit of an awkward silence as Nick walked into the living room and locked eyes with Sara who had just returned the chair to its place at the dining room table. He smiled at her and then gestured towards the kitchen. "I don't know about you, but I'm hungry again."
She smirked and then let out a soft chuckle. "Food might be good."
"I could order something. We could go out. I'm not sure what's in the cupboards." Nick was rambling again. He had never been quite this flustered by a woman before, but then none of them had been Sara; this was the first time he'd fallen for someone who was his friend first.
Sara regarded him with a bit of amusement at how nervous he seemed to be. A smile flickered across her face as she stepped towards him and reached out and touched his cheek with her fingertips. "Nick, it's just me."
He smiled at her. "I know." She seemed to be the picture of calm and that made him even more nervous.
She leaned up and pressed her lips to his in a sweet kiss, caressing his cheek with her fingers as she pulled away and looked into his eyes. "I'm nervous too, but we'll just take this slow, ok?"
He grinned at her. "You don't look nervous."
She smirked at him. "I'm a good actress."
Nick let out a deep laugh. "Yeah, you are. I would never had guessed that you were nervous about this. You seem so calm."
"Why wouldn't I be nervous?" She looked at him curiously. "You're one of my best friends. It's risky to go from being friends to lovers." Now it was her turn to fumble with her words. "Ok, so we're not lovers yet, but we will be, I mean we're moving that way, aren't we?"
The word 'yet' clicked in Nick's brain and he couldn't wipe the grin off of his face at the prospect of crossing that line, someday, hopefully sooner rather than later. He leaned in and kissed her, maybe a little too long if he was being honest with himself. He pulled away, the grin still clearly etched on his face. "Ok, we're going out then because I'm not sure I trust myself to be alone with you right now." Nick confessed, his thoughts drifting to just how good she had felt in his arms as they lay in his bed kissing and just how much more he wanted.
A hint of color infused Sara's cheeks. "Ok then, out it is."