Stay
Chapter Three
A/N: It's been a while since I've updated this story, so I'll have to ease back into it. I made some small adjustments and corrected typos in the previous chapters. Nothing significant. Thanks for reviewing my other stories. I have no claim to CSI whatsoever.
A week and a half passed and Sara was no closer to mending fences with Grissom than when she landed in Vegas.
Mainly, because Grissom avoided her with the skill of a seasoned running back. Sara was only assigned to work with Grissom along with another team member, ensuring that they would never be alone. Yet, the little time they did spend in one another's presence, the renewed attraction was undeniable.
Maybe it was the deja-vu feeling as the teacher/student dynamic once again developed. Whatever the case, watching Grissom in his element filled her with a sense of longing, guilt and regret.
Sara regretted the years she robbed Grissom of a life they could have had together. Would he ever forgive her? Would he eventually be able to see past the film of betrayal that clouded his vision and kept her emotionally as well as physically at arm's length?
She could see the struggle in his eyes when they were near one another. It was becoming more difficult to fight the magnetic force of their mutual attraction. Sara prayed that eventually he would come to accept her presence in his life as a positive contribution and quickly, for she had so much more to share with him.
Grissom tried his level best to steer clear of Sara. He had no choice in her employment with the lab but he would not allow Sara's presence to disrupt his well- choreographed life. His plan had been borderline successful until tonight. Tonight had been unavoidable. A call came in for a DB with lots of bugs. Apparently, Sara had been the only CSI available to work with him - or so Catherine swore.
Things were going great until they started processing the body. It seemed as if she was reading his mind. Every time Grissom opened his mouth for a request, Sara was already sliding the object desired into his hand. There had been no need for words. She had correctly anticipated his every move.
Their bodies had always worked in perfect symmetry on a personal level, he knew professionally it would be no different. Instead of being pleased with the knowledge, Grissom was agitated, frustrated, and pretty damn turned on! And it only got worse. The pull he felt to Sara was insane. When she was near, he had to touch her. And he did - her arm, leg and hands. Though Sara never moved away or complained when he invaded her personal space, surely she must have found it disturbing that her supervisor was fondling her. Hell, if he wasn't so busy satisfying his primal urges, Grissom would have writing himself up for sexually harassing Sara.
He couldn't help himself. Against his will, past images of Sara's slick body moving beneath him invaded his mind, overriding all rational thoughts. Eight years quickly melted away, leaving Grissom desperate to have Sara again.
When he wasn't touching her, Sara was watching him. Grissom could feel the heat of her stare as he moved about the crime scene. It wasn't a 'I'm just checking to see where you are in the room' stare, it was a seductive 'I can't take my eyes off of you' stare. Sara was slowly driving him mad! Heaven help.
Catherine walked up behind Brass. "Whatcha doin'?"
"Enjoying the show." Brass retuned with a smile as he watched Sara and Grissom silently process the crime scene. Their hands worked in unison as they bagged, tagged and stored the evidence. "Those two always work so...in sync with one another?"
"Yeah. It's been that way since she got here. Not that Grissom allows them to work together often. But when he does, it's like they've got some geek telepathy going on. The sexual chemistry between those two was so intense the other night, by the time they wrapped up the crime scene, I needed a cigarette."
Brass chuckled, then nudged Catherine. "So, why aren't they back together?"
Catherine shrugged, she really had no idea what was going on between the two. What she did know was that if Sara returned with the plan of seducing Grissom - she was succeeding. If Catherine didn't know that he and Sara shared a past, she would think that Grissom was in the throes of a midlife crisis.
One minute he was the cool and reserved Grissom, Bug Doctor Extraordinaire, the minute Sara walks in the room he's a bumbling, stumbling teenage idiot with a crush on the homecoming queen. Catherine never thought she would see the day when Grissom was taken down by a mere woman.
The scary part was that Sara seemed to have no clue of the effect she had on him. And she was no better. Sara's IQ was many digits above Catherine's, of this she was certain. But one heated glance from Grissom and Sara's brain turns to mush. Four years of Harvard education down the drain. In Sara's defense, Catherine would find it difficult to think too if her boss was always had his paws on her! And she stares at him constantly! Jeez Oh Man!
They seriously needed a roll in the hay. If this kept up, Catherine was sure they would contaminate the scene one day.
"Ouch!" Sara grumbled.
"What happened?" Grissom questioned concerned. Immediately at her side.
"Oh, nothing, Just got my finger caught in the latch of my case. It's nothing…"
Her voice trailed off, Grissom already had her hand engulfed in his examining her injury. It was impossible to complete a thought with Grissom so close to her. He was always there. Drowning her senses with his 'Grissom scent,' rendering her speechless. He was reeling her in like a fish on a hook.
Thankfully, they finished up without further incident. Catherine had arrived at some point but never bothered to make themselves known.
The ride back to the lab was uncomfortable until Sara broke the silence.
"We should talk."
"You think?"
"Grissom." Sara huffed. "We have to-." Her words were interrupted by his cell phone.
"Grissom. Yes Catherine, we're on our way back now. Yes. I'm hanging up." He threatened, followed through.
"Keeping tabs on you?" Sara wasn't sure why she was irritated.
Grissom only grunted in response.
Later, Sara entered her home, exhausted. Her body had yet to adjust working the overnight shift. Tossing her keys and purse on a stack of waist high boxes, Sara sidestepped several more and headed to the kitchen for something to eat.
Deciding on a power bar, Sara nibbled while studying the layout of her small three bedroom apartment. A house would have been better but it would do for now. She had not unpacked anything but toiletries and was literally living out of her suitcases. Meanwhile, she had a lot of work to do to get ready.
"I guess I'll start here." Sara mumbled out loud, tackling the boxes marked 'kitchen.'
The thoughtless task, allowed Sara the opportunity to reflect. The first week working at the lab, Grissom wore a shocked expression every time he saw her. It was like he forgot she was there and only remembered she existed when he saw her. Last week things really started to get weird between them.
She and Grissom had worked a case together with Nick. A DB with suspicious circumstances that turned out to be a suicide. Nick took leave out of town on a family emergency, leaving the two to wrap up the case. They were working on the closing notes when their hands accidentally brushed one another.
There was an electric jolt that Sara knew Grissom also felt. Both pretended as if the contact never happened but the tension was hard to ignore.
Since then, they had been on the verge of spontaneous combustion and tonight was no different. Sara felt like she was twelve again, following behind Grissom like he was an eighties movie star idol. She couldn't get enough of him visually. Of course, her mother taught her not to stare, but if possible, Grissom seemed to grow more and more attraction each time she saw him.
Sara shook her head, thoughts like those were getting her nowhere. She needed to stop procrastinating and get on with the business that brought her here.
Sara was putting the finishing touches on one o the smaller bedrooms when the doorbell rang. She opened the door to find Grissom leaning lazily against her door frame.
