Nick was grinning from ear to ear as he and Sara made their way back up to the guest house from the lake. "I never knew you had it in you to be quite that daring." His tone was clearly one of admiration.
She smirked at him even as she brushed a dripping tendril of her hair off of her face. "It was your idea."
Nick snorted out a laugh. "Ok, maybe I initiated it, but you definitely took it to the next level." After he'd pinned her down and kissed her on the dock, things had quickly heated up between them.
"I didn't hear you complaining." Sara sounded smug. She knew that Nick had thoroughly enjoyed himself despite the splinter that he'd managed to get temporarily lodged in his tush.
"Oh, I'm not complaining...you just surprised me." He arched his brows suggestively at her. "And for the record...you can surprise me like that anytime."
"As long as you fish my bra out of the lake in the morning." In the heat of the moment, a few things had gotten knocked into the water and they had both gotten wet falling in when they'd tried to get them out. Being as dark as it was, despite the light from the moon and the stars, Sara's black lace bra had been a bit difficult to locate.
"You know, next time, we could just go skinny dipping on purpose..." Nick was only half kidding as he admired how her now damp clothes clung to her wet body.
Sara giggled and pulled at his hand to get him to stop for a moment so she could kiss him. She mumbled against his lips. "And what would your parents think?"
"I've never really much cared what they thought." He smiled at her as she pulled back. "Until recently that is."
"They love you...you know that don't you?" Sara had seen firsthand just what Nick's parents had been willing to give up and she knew that she'd never had that kind of love in her life.
"Yeah, I do." He pulled her into another kiss. "But I don't really feel like talking about them right now."
Once they'd gotten back to the guest house and hung their wet clothes up to dry, they shared a not so quick shower and then put on pajamas and snuggled together on the couch, sipping hot coffee as they searched for something on TV that would be worth watching, finally settling on the Cartoon Network.
Sara let out a yawn that didn't go unnoticed by Nick. "Did I tire you out?" His tone was rather pleased if he had.
Sara's lips curled up into a sly smile. "Maybe a little...but I'm not complaining."
Nick brushed a lock of damp hair off of Sara's face. "You know I never did ask you how long you were staying." He wasn't sure he wanted to know; she certainly wasn't going to put her life on hold for him, as it was, he wasn't sure when he was going to be ready to go back to Vegas.
"I'm not sure." She didn't know if she should tell him that she'd told Grissom she was planning on staying as long as Nick needed her; she certainly had enough vacation time saved up to stay for a while; but she also knew that she'd never been one to enjoy leisure for a long period of time and she'd want to be back at work before too long.
"How come you're not sure?" Nick didn't know how to take that; maybe she was only planning on staying a few days or maybe she wasn't sure how much he wanted her to be there, either way it gave him a nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Sara swallowed and then looked into his eyes. "How long are you planning on staying?" They had known each other for a long time, that was true, but this romantic aspect of their relationship was new, and she didn't want to declare her undying love for him when she wasn't even sure how deep her feelings went, or how he was feeling, especially given all that had happened in the last week alone.
"I hadn't really thought about it to tell you the truth...I just knew I needed a break from Vegas and everything that was going on." He looked at her intently. "Look, I'm glad you're here; I really am, and truthfully, I'd love it if you'd stay as long as I do...but I'll understand if you can't..."
Sara felt the corners of her mouth twitch into a smile and she slid her arms around his waist as she leaned into him as they lounged on the couch. "I'm in no hurry to get back to Vegas...I want to be with you."
Nick looked at her curiously. "Just what did you tell Grissom when you left?"
Sara tried to keep the pink flush out of her cheeks as she rested her head against his shoulder. "That I had plenty of vacation to burn and that I thought you needed me."
There was something unspoken hanging heavily in the air. The fact that Sara had taken an unspecified length of time off to be with him, wasn't lost on Nick. His feelings for her were still being sorted out and he wasn't sure how deep they went, but he also knew that there was something about this thing between them that had all the earmarks of being something that just might be 'it'.
It occurred to Nick that she'd been focused on him, but he wasn't sure that she'd been thinking about what she needed. This whole thing with Amy being murdered and the conflicting feelings he was having about that couldn't be easy on Sara, and he furrowed his brow as he began to stroke her damp hair. "What do you need, Sara?"
"What do you mean?" Sara wasn't sure how to answer his question; she had done her best to not think about how she was feeling about everything. If she had thought through everything, she might not have taken the risky step of getting on a plane and flying to Dallas.
"I don't want this relationship between us to be all about me and what's been going on...it's got to be about you too...what do you want?" He appreciated her more than he could probably ever tell her; of everyone he knew she was the only one that really hadn't smothered him with concern; she had just been there and had been herself in the process.
Sara lifted her head and looked into his eyes. "You; I want you, Nick. I didn't want to admit it to myself for a long time, but after everything that's happened, life is just too damn short; I want to be with you."
"How much vacation time do you have left?" Nick's voice was soft.
"I think about seven weeks." She felt a flutter in the pit of her stomach as she realized how vulnerable she felt at that moment.
"Seven, huh?" Nick smiled at her.
Sara nodded. "Yeah."
"Well, I'm pretty sure that we won't be here in Dallas that long." He grinned at her as he realized that whether either one of them wanted to admit it to the other that there was definitely something deeper going on between them.
"You think so?" Sara was concerned that he might want to return to Vegas too soon.
Nick chuckled softly and kissed her forehead. "Yeah...About a week or two is about all I can handle in one stretch here these days. I love my parents, but I need my own space." He didn't tell her that had considered taking a vacation somewhere else before returning to Vegas, but he reasoned that they had some time to talk about that.
"I understand." Sara smiled as she snuggled against him, content to just be with Nick.