Sara had felt the hunger in Nick's kiss and she had seen it in his eyes, and that both pleased and scared her. This step they'd taken to go on a date had definitely pushed things beyond the bounds of friendship; a friendship that had always felt safe and comfortable before. This new territory was going to take a little adjusting to, regardless of how tempting it was to let herself get carried away by the moment. Nick wanted her that was clear; what wasn't quite as clear to Sara was exactly how much she wanted Nick. She was definitely attracted to him, and the more that she spent time with him, the more attracted to him she became, but she had also spent the greater part of the last four years fixating on Grissom and she needed to let her feelings for Nick unfold at a natural pace without a physical relationship clouding the issue for her. She wanted to focus on someone because she cared about them and wanted to be with them, not because she saw it as a personal challenge to prove something to herself.

She felt a flutter in the pit of her stomach as she settled herself on the couch next to Nick and he slung an arm over her shoulder. Sara let out a giggle as Nick flicked the TV on with the remote.

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "What?"

With the sound of some made for TV movie droning in the background, Sara smirked. "I feel like I'm on a date with the high school quarterback and your parents are going to come home any minute."

Nick smirked back at her. "I was a wide receiver actually, and my parents are in Texas." He let out a soft chuckle. "Besides, this is your apartment."

"I know that." She felt a slight pang of sadness at the state of her family, but quickly covered it up with a smile as she gently poked his chest with her finger and looked up into his eyes. "But for some reason I have a feeling that you've had this scenario play out a time or two."

Nick laughed and reached out and wrapped his hand around hers and held it against his chest. "Maybe I have." Nick was hoping that his reputation wouldn't hinder his pursuit of Sara. He had thought about the possibility of being more than just friends with her for some time and as the evening had progressed he began to consider that because of their friendship, just casually dating each other just wasn't going to work. He wanted to be with Sara, in a relationship, and if she needed time, then he would give her time.

Why Sara had taken so long to notice what was right in front of her for so long baffled her and she smiled as she impulsively leaned up and placed a soft kiss against Nick's lips. She was definitely going to enjoy exploring these feelings she was having. She noticed Nick's smile as she pulled away and she felt a fluttering sensation in her stomach again. "I just wanted you to know I was having a good time."

"Good." Nick's smile spread into a grin and he couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her. "I'm having a good time too." He dipped his head and kissed her slowly, savoring the feel of her lips against his, and the taste of her mouth as she let him deepen the kiss. When they broke apart several minutes later, they were both grinning like fools.

"Maybe we should watch a movie." As much as Sara loved kissing Nick, she didn't want things to get too intense, especially after their earlier conversation. If her intuition was correct, there would be plenty of time for getting carried away sometime in the future.

"Maybe we should." Nick winked. "What have you got in mind?"

Sara really had no idea what movie she wanted to watch, she had just known when they'd pulled up in front of her apartment complex that she wasn't ready to say goodnight quite yet. She glanced at the TV. "We could just see what's on."

Nick furrowed his brow as he studied the scene on the TV before him and then turned back to face her with a sheepish grin. "You're not set on this movie are you?" From first glance it appeared to be one of those melodramatic 'docudramas' loosely based on someone's life.

Sara tried to feign a serious expression. "Do you have a problem with this movie?" She knew that if she insisted, that Nick would watch the movie with her, but she wasn't remotely interested in it herself.

"No." His tone was teasing and he could tell that she was toying with him.

"Good because I was really looking forward to this one." She smirked as she settled herself back to watch the TV trying to look interested in why Shelly was seeing Dan even though her sister was engaged to him and she was married to his twin brother.

Nick watched Sara out of the corner of his eye and then reached over and poked her softly in the ribs.

"Hey!" Sara yelped and then giggled as Nick tried to tickle her. "The movie." She wasn't even paying attention to the movie anymore.

"You don't even like this movie." Nick was smiling as he watched Sara squirm.

"Ok, ok, we don't have to watch this." Sara finally got a hold of his hands and continued to giggle as she tried to catch her breath.

"That's what I thought." Nick had an amused grin on his face as she let go of his hands.

Sara smirked. "Ok, Mr. Know-it-all, what do you want to watch?" She crossed her arms over her chest as drank in the way his muscles flexed underneath his shirt.

Her glance wasn't lost on Nick and he tucked that look in her eye away in his memory banks for a later time, perhaps when any nasty doubt should surface. "Let's see what's on." One of the things that Nick liked about Luna Cable was the fact that they had a channel guide accessible from the remote, and he was glad that Sara had finally come around and sprung for digital cable during her leave of absence over the summer.

As they scrolled through the viewing options they simultaneously pointed at the TV.

"Oh, stop there."

"Yeah, I haven't seen that in a while."

They looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Nick was the first one to talk. "I never figured you for a 'Smokey and the Bandit' kind of girl."

Sara let out a soft chuckle and smiled at bit smugly. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me yet." She was definitely going to enjoy getting to know Nick better.

Nick grinned at her and then leaned over and kissed her chastely as he selected the movie. "Ok, 'Smoky and the Bandit' it is."

They settled back to watch the movie and somewhere along the line they began to toss out ideas of who they'd like to see recast in the movie if it was ever remade. The results of that line of conversation had them dissolving into fits of laughter which continued until the credits rolled up the screen.

And then after sharing a few more lingering kisses, Nick went home and Sara headed off to bed with a contented smile on her face. Yes, getting to know Nick Stokes on a romantic level was going to be interesting, and she couldn't wait until that second date.