"Did someone say Starbucks?" A bleary-eyed Greg Sanders just happened to stagger into the locker room just as Nick and Sara were on their way out. He was on his second shift after not getting very much sleep and his Blue Hawaiian coffee was long since gone.

"Uh, yeah...we we're just gonna take a break and go out for some coffee." Nick didn't want to make a big deal out of the fact that he wanted to go to Starbucks alone with Sara in front of Greg; he still had half a mind to find a way to torture him for overhearing his cell phone conversation and then jumping to conclusions.

"Great. I'm dying for a good cup of coffee and everything is backed up so I won't have any results for a while." Greg was clearly inviting himself along; something that he'd done numerous times and he had no reason to think that this time his company wouldn't be as welcome as it had been all the other times.

Sara glanced over at Nick briefly; she really didn't want to talk about what she thought Nick wanted to talk about; she needed to be able to keep her mind focused on work until the shift was over and then she'd allow herself the luxury of focusing on Nick. Greg was the perfect excuse to put off that little conversation, but truth be told, that also probably meant that she'd have to wait until after shift to kiss him again. Maybe that talk was worth the kiss. "Uh, Greg...why don't you try and grab a nap...Nick and I can bring you back some coffee."

Nick tried to restrain his smile; Sara's idea was of course genius. "Yeah, man, you look terrible. Little bit of shut eye'll do you wonders." He hoped his tone sounded subtle enough so that Greg didn't clue into the fact that he and Sara wanted to be alone. Until he'd had a chance to talk with Sara about the fact that he wanted to date her; he didn't need Greg knowing that they'd been on a date. Greg was certainly a good guy, but he had a tendency to be a bit of a motor mouth.

"The break room couch is pretty comfy." Sara smiled at the lab tech turned CSI; she knew full well how comfortable that couch was because of everyone in the lab, she'd probably spent more time taking cat naps on it than anyone else.

Greg let out a yawn. "Yeah...that sounds good." He only hoped that a nap and a cup of coffee would be enough to him get through the shift. He had been working with Grissom on a case and the thing about Grissom was that he got so tunnel visioned that he didn't notice when it was time to take a break.

"You want it black or do you want a latte?" Sara could feel Nick's arm brushing against hers and a smile flitted across her face as she quizzed Greg.

"Black is fine...thanks." Greg let out another yawn and then turned and headed towards the break room.

Nick whispered conspiratorially to Sara. "Nice footwork there, Sar." He wanted to make it clear to her that he was looking forward to spending a little bit of time alone with her and that he appreciated that she'd been able to get Greg to stay behind without having to be blunt with him and tell him that they wanted to be alone.

Sara smiled, but before she had a chance to say anything back to Nick, Grissom intercepted them in the hallway with a rather harried expression on his face.

"You're going on a coffee run?" It wasn't really a question, but more of a statement to confirm what he'd learned from Greg. "I take my coffee black." Grissom looked at Nick and Sara expectantly.

"Ok." Sara answered without skipping a beat. She figured that the lack of Greg's special blend of coffee coupled with a busy shift and a backlog in all of the lab tech queues was making for a bunch of tired and potentially cranky lab staff. "We'll bring back enough for everyone."

"Great." Without another word, Grissom turned on his heels and went back in the direction he came from.

Nick snickered. "That's gonna be one hell of a lot of cup holders, Sar." He wondered if she'd really thought about just how many people in the lab would be clamoring for coffee once they got back.

She smirked at him and bumped her hip against his. "I happen to know that we can get enough for everyone in disposable dispensers...but we might have to wait a little while." She glanced at him over her shoulder and arched a single brow as she sauntered towards the front doors of the lab.

Nick purposely walked a little bit behind her so he could watch the little sway in her hips. He'd be more than happy to pick up coffee for the entire LVPD if it meant he could spend a little extra time with Sara. He figured they could order the coffee and then maybe go back out to the Denali and make out a little bit; that is if their talk went well. He made a mental note that he really needed to watch himself. He did not want to take the same tactics with Sara that he had with every other woman that he'd been interested in. There seemed to him to be a lot more at stake in wanting to date her.

They reached his Denali and Sara turned to face him. "Look, I think I know what you have on your mind..."

Nick hadn't planned on talking to her about this in the parking lot, but if this was the time, then this was the time. "You do, huh?" He opened the passenger door for her and waited as she climbed in.

A seed of doubt sprouted in her mind that she actually did know what he was going to say and she just smiled at him as he closed her door and then loped around to the other side of the SUV and climbed behind the wheel. She glanced over at him as he slid the key into the ignition. "I think I do."

"Ah, so now you only think you know." Nick could tell she was a little flustered and he really had no intention of stringing her along. However, given that she didn't want to have this conversation in the locker room, he thought it was a good idea if they didn't have it in the parking lot of CSI either. He turned the vehicle out of the parking lot and headed towards the closest Starbucks.

Sara cleared her throat a bit nervously. "I just felt like you wanted to have a serious conversation." She felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that perhaps she had been mistaken.

Nick reached over the console and gathered her hand up in his, giving it a soft squeeze. "I do...I just thought we should get away from the lab after what you said in the locker room."

"Yeah." The feel of Nick's hand holding onto hers was distracting. Again she really didn't understand how she could have thought that asking him to father a child for her would have been a good idea. She had found that her emotions were far more involved than she wanted to admit and even though Nick was giving every indication that he was interested in her; she was still afraid of getting hurt.

Nick smiled at her. "I had fun with you on our date, a lot actually, and I was just thinking that maybe just going on dates isn't enough." He hoped that this was enough of a lead in for what he wanted to ask her.

The first thing that ran through Sara's mind after what he'd said was that he just wanted to sleep with her and she felt a wave of disappointment which came out in her tone of voice. "Oh."

Nick realized that somehow he'd said something wrong, only he wasn't sure exactly what that was. He thought that maybe he should just spit it all out and then see if she understood. "I don't want to keep taking you out on dates...unless we're dating each other exclusively that is...I don't know if I could handle you seeing another guy while you're seeing me...I know this is a little soon since we've only been out once...ah, but we've known each other for years...I feel like...well, I know that I want to be with you." He glanced over at her to gauge her reaction as he pulled into a parking spot at Starbucks. "But I understand if this is moving too quick...we can go slow."

Sara really wasn't sure what to say to that so she did the next best thing; she leaned over the console and kissed him. Her voice was a little husky as she pulled away. "I don't think I want you seeing anyone else either."

"Not a chance, Sara." Nick grinned at her and then leaned in to kiss her again.