Soap Opera Ch 6

Not mine; no money involved. This is perhaps a light PG13.

"And she agreed to go out with me again next Tuesday!"

Greg was so excited he could pass for manic, thought Catherine as he excitedly related the details of his date with Sara.

"Did you try to kiss her?"

"I did. I asked first, and she said I could. It was -" He smiled as he searched for an adjective "-etherial."

"Quick peck?"

"No. Sort of slow, I wasn't aggressive about it, but it was a nice , long, very sweet kiss. She was kissing me back, too."

"Who pulled back first?"

"I did. It went on long enough I was afraid she'd suffocate if I didn't."

Catherine smiled. "Good idea. Rendering a woman hypoxic never makes a good impression."

"So what do you think?"

Catherine nodded. "Sounds like you're coming along nicely. Now you need to plan out the second date."

"I'd LIKE to be planning our wedding."

Catherine chuckled. "You VERY much need to make sure she doesn't know that, not until she's totally under your spell. Now let's talk about that second date strategy again..."

"You're mighty cheerful tonight." Nick took the wrench from Sara's outstretched hand. "Good day off?"

"Oh, yeah. GREAT day off." She was grinning broadly.

"Get plenty of sleep?"

"Yup."

"Get laid?"

"NICK!"

"Me neither." Nick smiled to himself. She was humming the theme from "Casablanca."

"I'm telling you, I don't understand it. Grissom basically told her to get lost less than a week ago, and now she's walking around grinning like a cat eating yellowjackets, humming love songs. One date with Greg did that?"

"It would appear. Don't act so surprised, Nick. Mama's plans are good plans. I wasn't expecting it things to move along quite this well, and definitely not this quickly, but evidently she liked him more than we thought - and was considerably less into Grissom than she appeared to be."

Nick sighed. "I guess. But this is Greggo we're talking about here. His head looks like Sonic the Hedgehog."

"And he's kind, and he's sweet, and he treats her like gold. And he IS attractive; trust me on that. If I were ten years younger I might be all over him myself."

"Hi, Greg!" Greg had been raptly looking over a report when Sara had slipped into the lab; the report fluttered to the floor as he turned to smile over at her.

"Sara! Hi! What are... what are you up to tonight?"

"Oh, you know, just processing evidence from a case. I had a minute, thought I'd drop by and say hi. Hi!"

"Hi! Um, you look nice tonight, not that you don't usually look nice, it's just that tonight you look ESPECIALLY nice."

"Thanks. You look nice too."

He grinned. "Thanks. I, um, would you like to take break together?"

"Yeah, that'd be good. What time?"

"Um, like in about an hour, if that works for you?"

"Yeah, that's good. I gotta go. Meet you in the breakroom in an hour?"

"Okay."

"Bye..."

"Taylor's Cafe alright?" Greg strapped in and turned to look at Sara.

"Yeah, I like Taylor's."

"Me too. They're close, too."

"So."

"So. Night going well?"

"Yeah, we're making progress. Found some tool marks that match a wrench belonging to our main suspects, and it's covered with his prints, so I think we'll get a warrant without a problem."

"That's great!"

"Thanks for taking me out for break."

"Thank YOU for coming." He smiled over at her. "I enjoy spending time together."

"Yeah, me too."

"Here we are." He turned off the car and hurriedly unfastened his seatbelt. "Sara. Um, wait a second."

"What, Greg?"

"I want to... that is, can I kiss you again?"

She smiled slightly. "You don't have to keep asking; I mean it's sweet, but you can kiss me without prior arrangements."

"I'll have to remember that." He pulled her into his arms and slowly, gently touched his lips to hers.

Sara parted her lips under his and he eagerly deepened the kiss. Her blood turned to molten lava as the kiss went from a tentative exploration to a passionate claiming of territory. Never, ever would she have expected this - she was shaking in Greg's arms by the time he finally, reluctantly drew back. "Whoah," she whispered hoarsely. "That was..."

"Yeah, it was." He was panting. "I'd ask to do it again, but we're in a public parking lot."

"Yeah. It'd be best to go on in and eat." She didn't sound convinced, he thought with a smile.

"Yeah, you're probably right..."