Disclaimer: I don't own them, I didn't create them and I don't profit from them, but as always, coffee with George (the man who deserves an Emmy) and Jorja would be nice.
Author's Note: This is in response to Equestrianbabe's Snickers challenge. I hope you heal up soon.
"Hey, Sara." Nick smiled as he walked into the locker room and noticed his colleague standing in front of her locker.
Sara glanced up and smiled. "Hey, Nick. You're here kind of late." It was the end of her shift and if Nick was still here, he'd pulled nearly a double.
"But I'm off for the next two days." He grinned mischievously.
Sara quirked an eyebrow in interest. "You have big plans?" She hadn't gotten to see Nick or Warrick much outside of work since the shift split and she missed them probably more than she'd like to admit.
"I do." He lowered his voice and whispered conspiratorially. "I noticed that you have the next couple of days off too."
Sara chuckled softly. "True." She regarded him curiously. "What are you suggesting?"
Nick had his arms crossed over his chest and he was grinning from ear to ear. "When was the last time you went to the beach?"
She had a skeptical expression on her face. "In Vegas?" Granted, Lake Mead had beaches, but not that she would consider them real beaches since she grew up in California.
Nick shook his head and chuckled. "Not exactly. I was thinking of a little road trip."
Sara considered what he was suggesting for a fraction of a second before she responded. "You're talking about the ocean aren't you?" She couldn't hide her excitement at the prospect of spending some time at the beach swimming and relaxing.
"Why, yes, I am." He could tell that it wasn't going to be hard to convince her to come along. "You game?"
"Yeah, I think I am." She smiled as she gathered her things out of her locker and shut the door.
"Ok, so I was thinking we could grab a few hours of sleep and then I'll swing by and pick you up. If you're still tired you can sleep on the way." Nick began to share his plan.
Sara couldn't help but smile even wider as he talked. "It's only four hours to LA."
"Or we could leave now and just sleep on the beach." Nick suggested thinking that he could handle a four hour drive if he and Sara traded off.
"I like that idea even better." Sara concurred. "Do you want to just meet me at my place in about a half hour?" She reasoned that was plenty of time to drive home and throw a few things into a bag.
"It's a plan." Nick couldn't contain his grin as he realized that he was going to get to spend some quality time with Sara alone without a case in sight. He'd been interested in her for a while now, and maybe just maybe this little road trip might be a good time to test the waters.
Thirty minutes later, Nick was helping Sara carry out a couple of bags to his car. He had half a mind to ask her why she needed so much stuff for a trip to the beach when she launched into an explanation.
"I wasn't sure which beach we were going to, so I brought extra clothes to change into and I wasn't sure how late we were staying, so I brought enough in case we needed to spend the night. I have extra towels because I don't know about you, but I hate using the same towel that's been laying on the sand to dry off with…" Sara smirked at Nick as her words trailed off because she realized that he was finding her little monologue rather humorous.
"I'm glad you're prepared." Nick winked at her.
"Let's just go." Sara countered feeling a bit embarrassed, but glad that she was going to get to spend some time alone with Nick. Ever since the shift had been split up and especially since Nick had been buried alive, she'd realized that her feelings for him went deeper than just friendship, but she wasn't sure what he would think if he knew how she felt.
As they approached the car, Sara did a bit of a double take. "This is new."
Nick shrugged. "Life's too short." It wasn't his department issued Denali that he'd driven but a sporty car built for speed. "I borrowed it from a buddy." He had decided that he couldn't get bitter about what had happened to him; he wanted to appreciate each day and embrace what it had for him and a smile spread across his face. "Let's get going, Sidle."
Sara laughed and climbed into the car, letting herself sink back into the soft leather of the seat as Nick tossed her bags in the trunk and then climbed in behind the wheel. The last thing she remembered for the next few hours was Nick singing along to the strains of some Kenny Chesney song. In fact it wasn't until the car came to a stop that her eyes fluttered open.
"Hey, sleepyhead." Nick grinned at her from his vantage point behind the wheel.
"How long was I out?" Sara felt badly that Nick had driven that far without anyone to keep him awake. She smiled at him apologetically as she looked out the window and noticed that her view was the ocean. "I slept the whole way didn't I?"
He smirked. "Yeah, but it's ok. It's been pretty smooth sailing." He was tired, but the fact that he'd had the chance to study Sara while she slept made up for it.
"Aren't you tired?" Sara furrowed her brow in concern. "You were still at work when I got off, you must have had a long shift."
"Yeah, but it left me kind of wired. Driving has been a good way to unwind. Besides, I can sleep on the beach." He had a satisfied smile on his face.
"Well what are we waiting for?" Sara smirked at him.
"You to wake up." Nick teased back as he let out a chuckle.
"Smart ass." She grinned at him as she realized how much she missed the flirty banter that they'd shared over the years.
It was the middle of the week so the beach wasn't as busy as it could have been, but it was still rather full. After hitting the restrooms to change their clothes, they trudged along the sand for a little ways until they found a spot that was far enough from other people that they could get a little sun and a little sleep.
As Sara meticulously spread her towel out and pulled off her shirt and shimmied out of her shorts, Nick was settling himself on his towel on the sand next to her. When he glanced over at her, his jaw dropped. Not only was Sara wearing a bikini, she was wearing a pretty sexy bikini; quite the contrast to his board shorts.
She glanced up and caught him staring. Her brows arched upwards. "What?"
"You wear far too many clothes at work." He couldn't hide the fact that he was very appreciative of how much skin her bathing suit afforded him a view of.
"And you should really see if you could petition to do away with shirts for you and Warrick." Her smirk was broken by a giggle as she considered the ridiculous nature of their conversation.
Nick just grinned at her and lay back on his towel, closing his eyes. "I'll see what I can do for you." He was asleep a few seconds later, one hand resting on his abdomen and the other over his eyes.
Sara pulled out her spray on sunscreen and began to mist herself with it as she studied Nick's physique. Her choice of swimsuit had definitely had its desired effect on him, although now that he seemed to be sleeping, she wasn't sure what to do. As much as she wanted to go in the water, the waves seemed to be extra large today and several surfers were taking advantage of it.
She continued applying her spray on sunscreen watching a group of teenagers playing a game of volleyball and wondering to herself just where in the world one extra perky blond had found a hot pink bikini with day-glow yellow polka dots on it. After a bit of people watching, she finally decided to get a little more sleep herself and lay back on her towel, closing her eyes and enjoying the warmth from the sun as she started to drift off.
Neither Nick nor Sara really knew how long they'd been asleep, but they woke up to the feel of rain falling. A summer storm had blown in and most of the people that had been happily enjoying the beach were quickly gathering their things and getting out of the weather. Nick and Sara wasted no time in doing the same thing, ending up in the car wearing nothing but their swimsuits; their other things hastily thrown into the backseat.
They just sat there staring at each other for a minute and then Sara started to giggle.
"What?" Nick arched his brows at her suspiciously.
"You should have used sunscreen." She pointed to where he had a very distinct pale palm print on his abdomen; the rest of which was looking rather pink after several hours in the sun.
Nick glanced down and then let out a chuckle. "Can't say I've ever done that before. Good thing we have that rule about wearing shirts at work." He smiled as he winked at her.
As the rain plinked down on the windshield of the car, Sara furrowed her brow. "What are we going to do now that it's raining?"
The fact that she was sitting there in a very skimpy bikini was distracting Nick, and he didn't really think about how what he was saying might sound until it was out. "We could get a hotel room."
Sara pursed her lips together and a faint blush threatened to spread across her cheeks as she tried to stifle a smile. "I might think you're trying to hit on me."
Nick hoped that his tone sounded playful as he smirked at her. "Can you blame me if that suit of yours makes me think about getting you naked?" It didn't come out as light as he'd wanted it to sound, and he realized it was because it was true and he really didn't care if she knew.
Sara felt a strange fluttering sensation in her stomach and she tried to stifle it as she started to babble. "A room would be good. We could dry off and get changed and maybe get something to eat. Or maybe I could convince you to go to a karaoke bar and make a fool out of yourself. Or we could watch a movie..."
Nick remembered seeing a hotel near the beach when they'd driven in and he hoped they had a vacancy. Sara continued to babble as he drove and he couldn't help but smile. Fortunately, the hotel in question did have a vacancy and once Nick had gotten the key, he returned to the car to help Sara grab their bags.
"If it ever stops raining we could drive down to Santa Monica and walk on the pier...it's really pretty." Sara informed them as they ascended the stairs to their room.
As soon as the door to the room was closed, however, it was a different story. Their lips met in a fiery kiss, both giving as good as they were getting as they stagger stepped towards the bed, falling onto it in a tangle of arms and legs. It was much later as they lay tangled up in the sheets in each others arms that they noticed that the rain had finally stopped.
"You know, I almost asked Warrick to come with us." Nick was glad that he hadn't, he was sure that the day would not have ended up the same if he had.
Sara propped herself up on his chest and an impish smile flitted across her face as she looked down at him. "Well, I'm glad you didn't...the last hour would have been a little awkward with him here."
The End