A/N: Since these silly author notes appear to be making a liar out of me, this is my last one ever. One more chapter after this, and many more throughout the summer once I get enough time to write them all out… stay tuned. Thanks for your time and the great reviews. I really appreciate them.

I turned down the radio as I dialled hit her number on my speed dial. "Hey, what took you so long?" Sara offered as a greeting as she finally picked up after five rings. I could hear her smile.

"Yea, sorry. I slept later than I meant too," I apologized guiltily. It had taken me a lot longer to fall asleep than I had anticipated --apparently excitement overrides exhaustion-- so when my alarm went off I tried to buy a few extra minutes of sleep… but the fifteen minute snooze somehow stretched into a good forty-five minutes. Add in time for showering and the customary preening that precedes any visit with the lovely Ms. Sidle and that left us with a little over two hours before shift. "Did you know that your house line is off the hook?" When she hadn't answered her phone I had gone straight to the car, worried about her. I didn't want to call her cell because to me they represented work and tonight I wanted to leave work behind. Even if this was supposed to be a casual night I wanted to call her at home, pick her up at her door, and give her flowers like I would any other date. It wasn't until I had almost reached her street that I had finally given in and dialled her cell number.

"Oh, uhhh, yeah… I had, ahhh… some telemarketers phoning while I was trying to sleep so I just left the phone off. I figured it was fine since you normally call my cell anyway." Her hesitance meant that she was withholding something -- she was never very good at lying to me -- but I decided to let it pass for the moment.

"So are you ready to go?" I asked, sounding overly eager again. I couldn't wait to see her. I had trouble waiting for the full 3-second pause at the stop sign just before her building.

"That depends on where we're going…"

"Well, I had planned on renting a movie… but since 'Stokes' is antonymous with 'punctual' we've missed that window. So I was thinking that we could just cruise the Strip for a while?" There's always something crazy happening on the Strip.

"Sure... And then yes, I am ready. How long will it take for you to get here?"

"When do you want me there?" I asked as I pulled into her apartment complex and silenced the engine.

"An hour ago," she responded immediately. I unbuckled my seatbelt and reached for the flowers on the seat beside me. I got out and closed the door softly so she wouldn't hear it through the phone and began to jog towards her building, careful not to let it show in my voice.

"Sorry," I blushed guiltily. I wanted to be there an hour ago too. "Maybe a slightly more reasonable time?" I reached the door just as it was about to close after a woman a few feet ahead of me. I grabbed it just before it clicked shut and smiled proudly. I wouldn't even need her to buzz me up.

"Fine," she feigned exasperation and then laughed. "ASAP please." I continued my quickened pace across the lobby.

"That's more like it," I made it to the elevators and managed to slip in just as they began to close. "I'll be there in thirty," …seconds. I smiled wider at my wit.

"See you then," she replied.

"Bye." I flipped my phone shut just as the elevator doors did the same. I reached over and punched the button for the third floor.

As soon as the doors sprung open to reveal her floor I jumped out and sped over to her door, knocking soundly before my nerves got a chance to catch up. As I waited for her I ran my hand nervously down the front of my shirt to smooth out the invisible wrinkles. At the sound of her feet padding towards the door I did a quick breath check with one hand and hid the bouquet of flowers behind my back with the other.

"Hey," she greeted me in surprise. The gap in her teeth were proudly displayed in a large smile as I whipped my hand around to the front of me to offer her flowers. "Oh Nick, you didn't have to do that," she said as she accepted them and promptly buried her nose between some pedals.

"Of course I did; I was late," I replied as she stepped aside to let me inside. Suddenly I was taken capture by my nerves and insecurities. Do I lean in and kiss her? Are we at that point yet? I certainly would like to get into the pattern of kissing her… Are the lips too forward even if there's no tongue? Cheek? Maybe cheek's the best bet for now.

After a quick peck on her left cheek I took a step back to gage her reaction; I wasn't pleased. "What was that?" her voice bounced between her giggles.

Shit! I felt my face flare red and averted my eyes as I racked my brain for one of those suave Texan lines from earlier... nothing. They're a lot harder to come up with her openly laughing at me. "Oh… I just, ah -- well, you know – it…?" I trailed off with an embarrassing squeak. I finally looked over at her helplessly and offered a weak shrug.

"Aw," she said, still chuckling slightly. "I didn't mean to embarrass you." She blindly placed the bouquet on top of a small table a few feet away and stepped towards me, cupping my face affectionately. "I just thought that we weren't going to take this slow…" she offered as an explanation for her untimely amusement.

"We're not." I spoke quickly. "…unless you want to…" I added as an afterthought. Sara just shook her head. She had quieted her giggles but her smile and the glint in her eyes let me know she wasn't quite done laughing at me yet. I reached out and placed my hands on her waist, stroking the right one with my left thumb. "I wasn't really sure what to do…" I turned my head slightly from side to side and let my eyes dart around the room as if in search of eavesdroppers. Then I dropped my voice to a conspiratorial whisper and leaned in closer, "I'm a little nervous." I confided with a wink.

"Good," she whispered back, "me too."

"Good," I repeated. I removed my hands from her waist and placed them over top of hers, which were still residing on the sides of my face. After a beat I gently swept them away, giving each palm a departing kiss. "Think I could try again?" I asked with a wide smile as I caressed her hands in mine.

"Just this once," she grinned brighter. I dropped her hands and headed back through the door and into the hall. As I was just about to close her door behind me, her amused voice added a warning: "better make it a good one, Stokes." I didn't bother responding. I just pulled the door shut, counted three Mississippi's, and knocked again. The door swung open easily, revealing a very smug Sara Sidle. "Hey," she reused her original welcome. She glanced down at my hands and then back to my face, smirking. "What? No flowers?" I just rolled my eyes, reached out and pulled her towards me. She stumbled slightly but my arms were wrapped around her quickly enough that it didn't matter. I brought our lips together and received the same rush as before. I will never get tired of kissing her.

When I finally stepped away, I kept my hands on her waist. "So…" I cleared some of the huskiness from my throat, "Better?"

"Much," she purred and slid her hands away from their place around my neck, down to my stomach and around my waist for a hug which I gladly returned. "But you still lose some points for coming empty-handed." I let out a sigh in mock frustration. She peeled back to look at me with her pleased smirk and kissed the tip of my nose. I wrinkled my nose at the odd sensation... and to appear manlier… boys don't like butterfly kisses, you know.

"I'll make up for it later," I promised stepped out of her embrace. "I'll buy you something pretty on the Strip."

"You're on!" she squealed excitedly. She quickly deposited my flowers in a vase of water, grabbed her jacket and then we went out for the first time as a couple, our fingers laced together proudly.