Sara was momentarily speechless at Nick's confession. Despite all of the flirting they'd done over the years they'd known each other she really had no idea until the previous night that he'd been remotely interested in her as anything other than a friend and the idea that he was crazy about her threw her for a loop even in light of how she was feeling towards him. The idea was both scary and exciting and she wasn't really sure how to react. At the moment she wasn't exactly sure how deep her own feelings went. Last night was certainly exciting, but part of her was glad that they hadn't slept together. In the light of day everything was far more complicated and she just wanted to make sure they were on the same page before they let themselves get carried away. The thought that she wanted to get carried away with Nick brought a smile to her face.

"Did I say too much?" Nick was immediately afraid that the confession that was supposed to reassure her had had the opposite effect instead.

Sara's eyes snapped to his. "Uh, no…I just…wow. I'm not sure what to say, Nick." She hadn't really thought when she'd kissed him last night how that would really affect their friendship and what the implications were for going beyond that boundary.

Nick felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Sara reached out and touched his arm a smile beginning to pull at the corners of her mouth. "Hey, don't jump to conclusions...I just think we need to talk a little before we ice that cake of yours."

"So, you're not turning me down then..." He just wanted to clarify as he tried to fight the insecurity welling up.

"I guess I just want to know, what I need to know is what's happening between us." Her expression was earnest. "I think it's obvious that we're attracted to each other." Her lips turned into a smile again as she remembered the passionate kiss that would have undoubtedly been much more had Catherine not walked in on them. "It's just more complicated because we work together...and we're friends."

Nick's voice was slightly husky as he spoke. "You know sometimes friends make the best lovers." His eyes were full of meaning and he was tempted to just kiss her, but he hesitated because he heard the sound of people beginning to mill around inside the lodge.

"I don't want to have to sneak around like Catherine and Warrick..." Her eyes pleaded with his. If they were going to do this, it was not going to be a secret and they were going to have to take whatever consequences went with dating a coworker, whether or not their was a written policy about it. As it stood right now, it was just frowned on.

Nick reached over and tucked a stubborn curl behind her ear. "I don't want to either." He smiled at her. "I'd be proud for the world to know that you and I are together." Suddenly, he didn't want to resist temptation any longer and so he leaned over and softly kissed her.

The feel of his lips against her momentarily short circuited the logical part of Sara's brain. While she didn't want to hide what was happening between her and Nick from the rest of the team, she didn't necessarily want them to have a front row seat either. Sara pulled away from him reluctantly, not doing a very good job at keeping her smile at bay. "We should probably go inside; we still have an entire day of teambuilding to get through...and I think other people are starting to get up...I think this is going to have to wait until a little later."

"You know I could talk to Catherine and Warrick...I'm sure they wouldn't mind sharing a room..." He looked at her expectantly hoping that they would have time to explore things between them a little more.

Sara smirked and fingered the collar on his shirt. "Let's play it by ear...I just want it to happen when it's going to happen..."

He smirked back. "Well, if I talk to them...if we want it to happen, it can happen...otherwise we might just have a repeat of last night." Nick wished at that moment that they could skip the teambuilding exercises and that he and Sara could just spend time together.

Sara had a mischievous look on her face. "You may have a point."

"So I'll talk to them?" Nick looked at her hopefully.

Sara considered his words for a moment. "Uh, yeah, sure." Something occurred to her that there was one little issue they needed to address before they got caught up in the heat of the moment. "Nick...?"

"Yeah?" He noticed the more serious expression on her face and he furrowed his brow.

"Before we..." Suddenly Sara felt awkward discussing something in such a clinical manner with Nick and she started to fumble with her words. "It's just that before...I need to tell you...if you don't have...uh, it's ok if you don't...what I'm trying to say is..." She smiled and took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm on birth control so if you don't have anything..."

Nick smiled at her and quickly leaned in to kiss her again. As he pulled back, he whispered. "I would have made sure I had something..." He kissed her again, completely blocking out the fact that their colleagues were starting to gather inside the main room of the lodge for the first session.

Sara really didn't care at that moment if anyone walked out and saw them standing there kissing each other as if it was the last time they'd ever get the chance. In most of her life she tended to overanalyze things, but when it came to her love life, she tended to jump in with both feet and damn the consequences. That had led to years wasted fixating on Grissom, and a huge mistake with Hank, but she reasoned that without a great risk, she was never going to find a great love.

Several moments later they pulled apart, both of them smiling. Neither one of them had heard the door to the lodge open up until they heard someone clearing their throat.

"I guess I just have bad timing this weekend." Catherine stood there with an amused smirk on her face. "I just wanted to let you know that we're about to get started...unless of course you'd rather stay out here and get caught."

Nick smirked back. "We don't plan on hiding it."

Catherine arched a single brow at the pair, crossing her arms over her chest in interest. "You mean you want everyone to know that you're seeing each other." She considered her own situation with Warrick, knowing that if anyone in authority found out about it she could face disciplinary action and be demoted for dating a direct subordinate. At least Nick and Sara were at the same level.

"Yeah, we don't have anything to hide." Sara didn't mean for her comment to sound like she was pointing fingers at Catherine, but after the words were out she wondered if that's how it was taken. "I didn't mean..."

"You don't need to say anything, Sara." Catherine knew that she'd put herself in the situation she was in and she wasn't going to begrudge her friends' happiness because of it.

Nick's fingers were laced with Sara's as they stepped away from the railing, leaving their coffee cups still sitting there. He quirked an eyebrow at Catherine. "You know your secret's safe with us."

Catherine smiled appreciatively. "About that..." An idea was forming in her mind and a mischievous look flickered across her face. "After last night I was thinking that maybe we should do a little roommate swap..."

Nick glanced at Sara momentarily and then smiled conspiratorially at Catherine. "Funny thing...we sort of had the same idea."