Sara lay on the beach gasping. Finally, finally, she'd gotten the hang of it! Surfing wasn't as easy as it looked on television, not by a long shot, but after Greg showed her how (and spent hours helping her practice) she managed to do it. Not really well, and only for a few seconds, but she'd surfed!

"You did it!" he screamed. "I'm so proud of you! You did it!"

"That was... so much fun..."

"I told you ! " He squatted down beside her. "I knew you'd love it."

She sighed. "That was great."

"Ready to do it again?"

"Oh, yeah..."

A few hours later, they were watching the sun set from their table on the deck of "Alice's Restaurant."

"I'm glad you still eat seafood," said Greg. "If you didn't you'd forever miss Alice's famous Pina Colada shrimp."

"This is so good. I want the recipe."

Greg grinned. "I HAVE the recipe. Any time you want I'll make them for you."

"You cook?"

"Of course I cook - very well, I might add. I'm a chemist, and great cooking is all about knowing exactly what it is you're doing to the food. Plus, I'm a Taurus. " He smirked. "We're all really good at cooking and making love. We take our time at both, pay attention to what we're doing, never try to hurry things along."

"Oh, really? I knew you were a Taurus - I thought that just made you stubborn. And full of bull."

"Nope. There's more to this bull than stubbornness. You should make a point of finding out."

"I might have to do just that." She chuckled at his look of astonishment. "What are you going to cook for me, Greg?"

"Lime Tanquerey Juniper salmon, Pine Nut Rice Pilaf, squash casserole, and a nice salad. Cheesecake for dessert."

"Sounds good."

"It will be." His eyes sparkled. "Food and sex are very much alike, you know."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, they are. Both can feed the heart and soul as well as the body. Both can made carefully to show love and nurturing, or carelessly taken from random sources just to feed the hunger. You can overindulge or deprive yourself, share or eat alone. They mean what you make them mean."

"And what do they mean to you?"

He shrugged. "I have partaken at times just to feed the body, but overall I go for the whole mind/body/emotional experience. I would rather cook for myself when I'm just hungry instead of grabbing fast food. And you?"

"The same I suppose." She toyed with a shrimp tail. "I guess I never had you pegged as someone who attached a lot of emotional significance to the whole physical thing."

He shrugged. "You pegged me wrong, then. I like to bullshit, but I'm not entirely shallow."

"No! I didn't mean I thought you were shallow; I just... I don't know. In my experience, the physical is just physical for guys, even if there's a relationship involved the sex is just that - not really making love, just fucking."

"There's a real difference between the two. Maybe you've just been involved with guys who lacked the depth and sensitivity to understand that."

"Maybe. Or maybe they just didn't give a damn about me."

"Either way, you've definitely been picking the wrong guys. Sometimes, someone who's been in the background of your life might be the one who could make you happiest, but you look right past them because you're so accustomed to having them as part of your life they've become almost invisible to you."

Sara looked at him for a few moments, then touched his cheek. "You aren't invisible, Greg," she whispered softly.