Lunch with Ned and Carla was rather uneventful, that is until they were about ready to order dessert and Ned dropped the proverbial bombshell. "Carla and I are getting married."
Nick and Sara were momentarily dumbfounded. When they had met Ned several days before, he had been sad and lonely, off on his 'honeymoon' on his own while his bride to be had run off with their scuba instructor. After running into his former college sweetheart, however, Gina was not just a faint memory, she appeared to be ancient history.
Nick slapped Ned on the back. "Congratulations, man." Both he and Sara liked Carla and who were they to judge a lightning speed romance?
"Wow." Sara just smiled a bit incredulously. She had suspected after they'd spent some time with Ned and Carla that they were perfect for each other, but she had sort of assumed that after Ned's failed engagement that he'd take things slow; he just seemed like that kind of guy.
"So we were thinking next week in Vegas." Ned continued, glancing over at Carla who had amusement dancing in her eyes as she surveyed Nick and Sara.
"Vegas." Nick replied, the wheels turning in his mind. One thing he was learning about Ned was that when the guy figured something out, he didn't waste a hell of a lot of time doing something about it. His little gift to Nick a few nights ago was a case in point, without those little packets of 'sombreros' for 'little Nicky' he and Sara might not have had such a memorable vacation.
Carla's laugh was a soft lilt. "We didn't really want to wait, but we both have family that would kill us if they couldn't be there and after what Ned just went through, we decided to forego a huge wedding." She smiled and reached for Ned's hand. "Besides, Vegas is sort of in between and where else can you get married any time day or night?"
"Or by Elvis for that matter." Sara interjected with a smirk, glancing over at Nick as she remembered a case they'd investigated together earlier that year.
Nick's half-hearted chuckle wasn't exactly what Sara had expected for a reaction from him; his thoughts seemed to be somewhere else at the moment.
"Well I don't really care who marries us, as long as at the end of the day, Ned and I are together." Carla leaned in and gave Ned a soft kiss, smiling as she pulled away.
Ned had a grin on his face as he turned back to Nick and Sara. "You'll both come, won't you?"
"Definitely." Sara replied smiling. She squeezed Nick's hand as he still seemed to be slightly dazed.
Nick seemed to recover as he rejoined the conversation with a hearty chuckle. "Yeah, we may be pulling a double, but we'll be there regardless."
"Now about dessert." Ned had a conspiratorial look on his face. "I was thinking maybe we could all split one of those 'Towering Mayan Pyramids'."
"I might have left a little room." Nick patted his stomach and then glanced over at Sara. "But I'm sure Sara can help you out. She eats like a linebacker."
His comment earned him a smack on the arm and an embarrassed look from Sara. "Nick."
Nick snickered and leaned over and kissed Sara on the cheek. "Not that it shows. Sara's the sexiest woman I know."
With her cheeks a definite shade of pink, Sara smiled at Ned and Carla. "So where in Vegas were you thinking about getting married?"
Carla smiled at Sara changing the subject. "We haven't gotten that far, we just called our families a little earlier."
"And they are absolutely thrilled, even if we did take them a little by surprise." Ned was literally beaming.
The waiter arrived just then and Ned put in the order for the cake and ice cream concoction the restaurant was known for and left the two couples alone. When he returned about ten minutes later, all four of them had their eyes popping out of their heads.
Sara scoffed as she looked over at Nick. "I sure hope you're hungry, because I don't think I've ever seen a dessert that large."
Carla just giggled at Ned's determined expression as he regarded the colossal dessert.
Nick leaned over and whispered very softly in Sara's ear. "Maybe we could bring some of this back to the hotel room for later." His tone clearly implied that he wasn't thinking of eating in a traditional manner.
Sara smirked as she leaned over and whispered back, her voice a bit husky. "We've already had one shower today, I really think that would defeat your water conservation strategy."
Nick's laugh reverberated through his chest, garnering quizzical looks from Ned and Carla. He glanced at Sara briefly, noting her raised brows, before turning towards Ned and Carla, shaking his head. "Uh, just a little inside joke."
Ned nodded in understanding; he was glad that things seem to have blazed forward since he'd equipped Nick the other night. He had a feeling that the two of them might just be destined to be together the way he and Carla were, that it was only a matter of time.
The four of them managed to polish off about half of the Towering Mayan Pyramid and as they left the restaurant they went their separate ways. Ned and Carla went off to do a little shopping, while Nick and Sara deciding to go back to the hotel to change and then head off to one of the more secluded beaches for a little sunbathing.
An hour later, after renting a pair of mopeds, they were laying drowsily under the warm Mexican sun without another person as far as the eye could see. Juan Carlos had told them about this beach during their dinner at El Morro, telling them that it was very romantic and that they needed spend an afternoon there before they left Cozumel.
"Mmn, this is nice." Sara smiled with her eyes closed, not sure that she was looking forward to going home soon. She and Nick were lying on their stomachs on a large blanket they had borrowed from their hotel room.
Nick leaned over and kissed Sara's shoulder. "This is nice."
Sara smirked at him as she opened her eyes.
Nick quirked an eyebrow as he slid a hand across her back, his fingers playing at the tie to her bikini top. "I was thinking..."
She let out a giggle.
"We could sure send Greg's mind spinning if you didn't have any tan lines when we got back." Nick waggled his eyebrows and pulled the end of one of the ties, effectively undoing her top.
"Well unless I planned on being naked in front of Greg, which I don't, I'm not sure how he would find out." Sara didn't consider herself an exhibitionist, but at that moment Nick was filling her head with ideas as he reached up and released the tie around her neck.
"Hmm, well he could just take my word for it." Nick teased as he began to kiss a trail along her shoulder blade.
Sara arched a brow suggestively. "Now if you didn't have any tan lines, now that would be something."
"I don't think Greg's interested in seeing me naked." Nick teased as he slid a hand down to give her butt a little squeeze through the fabric of her bikini bottoms.
Sara had a sultry smile on her face as she regarded him. "Well he doesn't know what he's missing."
Author's Note: Krys, the sombreros are for you. :-D
