Thank you so much for all the reviews! I would give each and every one of you chocolate covered Georges, but as there is only one of him, and many of you… well it wouldn't work. And if I could get a hold of just one chocolate covered George Eads, well, no offence to any of you, but I would keep him for myself evil grin . But it seems the one and only chocolate covered George Eads may be reserved for Jorja Fox… lucky girl.

Oh, and one review in particular really cracked me up… in fact I renamed chapter 2 after her little story:-D So thank you, Gizzi1213 for the inspiration!

Ahem, so that's my rant, remember, I own nothing except a few DVDs, novels, a piece of lint, and the CSI pc game. Okay, enjoy!!

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"Nick, you grew up here?" Sara asked as they drove up a long driveway. They had driven past the large skyscrapers of Dallas and past the many subdivisions until they reached the outskirts. Finally, they came to a large ranch complete with tall oaks, a lake, a barn, stables, and even a tire swing tied to a tree.

"Yup." Nick grinned as he watched her reaction when she saw his home. He couldn't believe this was happening. He was actually bringing Sara home with him.

"It's beautiful…" She was speechless. It looked like something out of an old movie.

"Later I'll take you for a walk around the farm. There's even a horse you can have while you're here."

"Really?" Her eyes lit up at the idea causing him to laugh.

"Sure."

"I love horses…I've never ridden one before though."

"Don't worry, it's easy. It's like riding a bike, only you don't fall over so easily. But if you want I can show you the… reigns." He slapped his knee as he burst out laughing at his corny joke.

"Funny." She said, deadpanned.

They were sitting in the middle seat of the minivan with Emily and Kerry in the front. Evelyn and her grandchildren were sitting in the backseat. Emily looked in the review mirror at Nick and Sara.

"I'm surprised you two aren't making out back there!" She teased her little brother, who flipped her off.

"OW!" He rubbed the back of his head when his mother slapped him again.

"Nicolas do I have to tell you again to behave? Honestly I thought we taught you better than that."

"Sorry mom." Sara giggled when he hung his head. Looking back up towards the front he grinned. "We just decided to keep it rated G while there are kids and a grandmother present.

"Nicky you know there's nothing you could do that I haven't seen." Evelyn said.

"MOM!"

"But that doesn't mean it's okay."

"Good."

"Not that I want you corrupting my kids but you two don't seem extremely affectionate."

Nick blushed and looked over at Sara. "We're just trying to keep it low key in front of family. Isn't that right, sweetie?" He put his hand on her knee.

"That's right, honey." She leaned over and kissed him. Each time they did this it was beginning to feel more and more natural to them. It still blew her away how amazing his kisses were, but she felt much more at ease when they kissed.

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"Nick, I really don't think this shirt fits well." She came out of the washroom wearing his Dallas Cowboys football jersey.

"Nonsense, it looks great on you!" He couldn't help but notice that the more that was left hidden the sexier she became. All he wanted to do was find out what was underneath. The fact that it was his own jersey on her turned him on even more.

To be honest, Sara loved wearing it. It was comfortable, loose, and smelled like Nick. There was something about him, he had a spicy and natural manly smell.

"C'mon," He stood up, trying desperately to push the carnal thoughts out of his head. "We've got a football game to play." He grinned as he took her arm and pulled her out to the yard where his family was. His older brother had been barbequing while the kids were running around, playing with the football.

"Okay, we're ready now! The lovebirds are here!" Luke called out to everyone, getting a laugh out of the brother in laws and a chorus of "awws" from their sisters.

Nick tried not to blush as they made their way down to the makeshift goalposts. "Okay, how are we doing this?" He tried to change the subject. "The Stokes men against you outsiders?" He winked at Sara. "Or men against women?"

The girls jumped up and cheered at that idea. Nick's sisters all began bashing their husbands as they ran over to the field. "You're going down!" and "I'll kick your ass!" could be heard while the guys chuckled, thinking they knew who would really win.

"I know the only real reason you girls know anything about football." Nick said to his sisters.

"Of course."

"We only watch it for the butts!" Another one answered.

"Oh I know! Those tight pants!"

"Oooh…"

"Okay, okay, c'mon let's get back on track so we can start beating you girls."

"Oh you're going down Nicky!!" Sara said and gave him a little shove.

"Bring it!" He nodded his head and began jumping around her, pretending to intimidate her.

Sara burst out laughing as Nick jumped and danced around her, trying to look tough. "Nick you're ridiculous!"

"If you two are finished flirting, we'd like to get this game started before you become indecent." Nathaniel teased them, causing Sara and Nick to blush.

Sara took the ball to start the play. "72, 43, 18, HIKE!"

Nick immediately stood up and stopped the play. "Wait, wait, wait. Hold on there." He put his hand up to stop everything.

"What?"

"Oh come on you're just saying random numbers."

"So? Sounded good, didn't it?" She laughed.

"Nicky stop stalling so we can get on with beating you guys!"

"Ooooh…" Some of the guys winced. When the girls ganged up on their two brothers, the husbands were smart enough to stay away.

Finally, they began the play and the women scored the first touchdown. The trash talk was getting more vulgar so Nick's parents brought the kids into the house to get ready for supper.

"You're going down Nick!" Sara grinned as she bent down in front of him.

"Oh you think so?"

"You bet."

"I'm counting on it." He winked. Sara's jaw dropped and she grinned back at him.

As soon as the play began, Luke threw the ball to Nick. Usually, he would run the touchdown for the men, since each of them were covered by their wives, and he was always the only single one. Luke was generally the captain of the team since he was the oldest, and he would always pass to his little brother. This time, he forgot that he too was being covered. As soon as Nick made a run for it, Sara tackled him to the ground.

The football was soon forgotten as he rolled her over and pinned her to the ground. "Oh that's it Sidle!" He laughed and began to tickle her sides.

"Nick stop!! STOP!! NICK!!" She screeched and laughed, kicking her arms and legs wildly.

"OW!" He froze suddenly when her foot came in contact with his groin.

"Oh God!" She realized what she did when he fell off of her and ended up on the ground in the fetal position. "Nick are you okay? Oh my God I'm so sorry…"

"No….it's…okay…j-j-just…give me…a minute…" He said through a clenched jaw.

"I'm so sorry Nick…"

"I know…not…you're fault…"

"Well actually you were tickling me. Serves you right." She grinned evilly.

"C'mere, I have to ask you something."

"What?"

"Come closer." She knelt down beside him. "Will you kiss it and make it better?"

Sara's jaw fell to the ground when she realized what he said. "NICK!"

Nick burst out laughing when he grabbed her sides again and rolled her over. "I'm kidding. It was only a fake out. But you did come really close to a place I hold dear though, so I'm not going to tickle you anymore." Sara giggled when she realized and smacked him in the arm.

"You're horrible."

"Yes, I am. But how about we really give them something to talk about?" His grin was wider than she'd ever seen as he spoke in a quiet voice so only she could hear. His face was getting closer to hers until their noses were almost touching.

"What do you mean?"

Without answering, Nick swooped down and kissed her passionately. His hand rested on her hip and the other one on the ground beside her while her hands began to move over his muscled back.

"He's only acting. He's only pretending. It's not real. He's putting on a show. He's not really doing this." Sara repeated in her head over and over again as she eagerly kissed him back, praying that he figured she was just playing along with him.

Nick kissed her soundly and tried not to moan as she put her hand on the back of his head, encouraging him further as he eased his tongue inside her mouth. He chastised himself for doing this. As far as she was concerned, this was only pretend. But how he wanted it to be for real. He just couldn't help himself as he continued to kiss her as they lay together on the grass.

Suddenly someone kicking his foot broke him out of his reverie. "Wha…" He looked down, wide-eyed to see Sara staring back at him intently. As they were best friends he could generally read her like an open book, but her expression at the moment was unreadable.

"Break it up you too." Michael, Kerry's husband, said with a chuckle as he looked down on them lying in the grass.

"We do have kids around, you know." Joanne told them with a big grin. Nick realized then that he was surrounded by his brother, sisters, and his brother-in-laws, while he was lying on top of Sara, kissing her for all he was worth.

"I—I—I'm sorry. I gotta go." He said and got up, running into the house.

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TBC…