The food was gone and the waitress had long since removed their plates, filling their coffee several times over before Nick and Sara even broached the subject of leaving the café. They had dropped Sara's rig off at her apartment before they'd gone out to eat and neither one of them seemed to want the date to come to an end quite yet. The waitress arrived at the edge of their table again, intent on refilling their cups for the umpteenth time when Nick glanced up at her with a smile, putting his hand over the top of his coffee cup. "Thanks, Margaret, but I think we're done."
Margaret gave Nick and Sara a knowing smile and went to fill the coffee cup of another patron.
Nick smiled at Sara, seemingly intent on memorizing how she looked at that moment. "You ready to get out of here?"
"I guess so." Sara smiled at him. She wasn't sure how long they'd been sitting in the café, it seemed like they'd just gotten there, but based on the number of people that had occupied the table next to them since they'd arrived, she was sure a considerable amount of time had passed, and it seemed that somewhere in there, the café had stopped serving breakfast and had moved on to lunch.
Nick unconsciously reached for Sara's hand as they walked towards the entrance of the restaurant. Just the feel of her hand in his gave him butterflies, a sensation that he'd not felt for any woman in longer than he could remember. His heart flipped in his chest when Sara glanced over at him and smiled.
"Thanks for breakfast. I had a really good time." She truly had enjoyed spending the morning with Nick and despite the fact that they both had to work that night, she didn't really want the date to end yet.
"Good." He grinned at her as they approached his Denali and as they stopped by the passenger door, he leaned down and softly kissed her.
Sara smiled against his lips. She was still feeling giddy that Nick wanted to be with her and the sensation of his lips against hers was causing her stomach to flutter. She pulled away and looked into his eyes. "Do you want to come over for a while? We could watch a movie or something."
There was just something about the way that she looked at him that made Nick grin; he was definitely falling and he didn't want to do a thing to make it stop. "I think I'd like that." The prospect of spending even more time with her was intoxicating. He dipped his head again and stole another kiss before stepping back and opening the door.
As Sara climbed into the passenger seat a thought occurred to her and as she considered it, she became nervous. She knew that Nick had dated a lot of women and she wondered what his expectations were for a first date. He had told her that she was the most beautiful woman that he'd ever known, but as doubt reared its ugly head in the back of her mind she wondered if that was part truth and part a line to get her into bed. It wasn't that she hadn't had the occasional carnal thought about him over the course of the last four years, but that had been in her mind and the prospect that a very real intimate encounter might be imminent left her feeling very uncertain. It had been a while since she'd been with someone and she wasn't sure she was ready to cross that line with him just yet, but at the same time she found the idea very appealing.
Nick held Sara's hand most of the way to her apartment and he didn't really wonder why she had fallen silent; they had always been able to spend time together and not feel like they had to fill up the silence to be comfortable with each other. He pulled into her lot and parked the SUV, glancing over at her with a smile as they descended from the vehicle.
They stepped inside her apartment, and Sara headed straight into the kitchen. "Do you want something to drink? Are you hungry?" Her nerves had begun to cloud her thinking.
Nick let out a soft chuckle as he came up behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders. "We just ate, Sar. I'm fine."
She felt her cheeks flush and her throat constricted slightly as she turned around to face him. "Sorry."
Nick could tell that she was nervous about something, but he assumed that it was because this was the first time they'd been alone, really alone together since they'd decided that they wanted to move beyond friendship. He smiled at her and let his hands rest on her shoulders again. "Relax, it's just me."
Sara smiled, but it felt forced. She knew that he was right, but her uncertainty about his expectations and her desires gnawed at her. In the back of her mind she assumed that he expected sex on the first date; if word around the lab was correct, and as much as she wanted it and wanted him, she just wasn't sure. They made their way into the living room and settled themselves on the couch, Sara snuggling against Nick as she flicked the TV on.
Nick laughed. "And everyone thinks I'm a Discovery Channel junkie." He couldn't resist teasing her as an episode of 'The New Detectives' came on.
Sara giggled and elbowed him. "You are."
They sat there in companionable silence just watching TV and sitting close for quite awhile. Nick wasn't sure how long they'd been sitting like that but as his fingers trailed up and down Sara's arm he had the most incredible urge to kiss her. He leaned over and kissed her forehead and then her cheek and then her lips.
In the back of Sara's mind the words 'this is it' were flashing red and despite the warning bells going off, she decided to throw all caution to the wind and just go for it. She responded eagerly to his kiss, letting out a soft moan as she opened her mouth to him. She felt his fingers tangling in her hair and she found herself grabbing fistfuls of his shirt as she moved closer to him. They traded deep hungry kisses for quite a while and when Nick began to kiss her neck, Sara reasoned that she should give him some sort of indication that he had a green light despite the fact that through her lust clouded mind she heard a nagging voice telling her that she really wasn't ready for this with him. She released her hold on him and began to unbutton her blouse, certain that Nick would get the message.
It wasn't until Nick began to kiss her jaw as he made his way back to her mouth that he opened his eyes for a moment and saw her fumbling with the buttons on her blouse. As arousing as it was for him to see the delicate pink lace of Sara's bra, he knew that this was moving far too quick and he needed to put the brakes on while he still had some semblance of coherent thought and self control.
As Nick pulled away, he saw fear in Sara's eyes and he felt a pang of hurt coursing through him. It was evident to him that she thought that this was what he wanted. He furrowed his brow and reached up and tucked a curl behind her ear. His voice was a husky whisper as he looked into her eyes. "Sara, I don't think we're ready for this."
Sara winced, both from embarrassment and a feeling of rejection. She pulled her blouse closed and wrapped her arms around her body. She wasn't sure she could look him in the eyes. "You don't want me?" There was confusion in her voice.
Nick's tone was soft and he hoped that she didn't misinterpret what he was trying to say. "I do want you. I think I've wanted you for a long time, but I don't think we should rush this."
Sara didn't move as he continued talking.
"I want our first time together to be special, when we're both ready, not just because you think that this is what I want." He couldn't keep the hurt out of his voice; hurt for her and hurt that his past had contributed to what she thought his expectations were.
Sara closed her eyes and whispered. "So I just made a complete fool out of myself then." Her throat seemed to constrict even as relief washed over her that Nick wasn't any more ready for this than she was.
Nick reached over and pulled her close, whispering into her ear. "Hey, I'm really flattered, and I'm looking forward to when we do take that step." He felt her relax against him and he let out a soft chuckle. "I just don't think we're ready for hot monkey sex just yet."
Sara couldn't help but laugh and she pushed out of his embrace, her blouse falling open again.
Nick raised an appreciative eyebrow at her as she quickly refastened the buttons on her blouse. "I always pictured you as a lace kind of girl."