Rating: K
Author's Notes: I just had surgery and had trouble walking for a while. This just hit me. And since I couldn't go anywhere, I was able to get it done relatively quickly. Nick/OC
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The Fourth Date
The alarm sounded and Nick practically bounded out of bed. He was looking forward to today. Not only was he going horseback riding, but he would be taking Brandy with him. They had already gone on three previous dates and things were looking very good.
No strippers this time, he made sure of that by picking her up after work for their second date. She's a lawyer in the district attorney's office, and she's got a pretty good record. In fact, they met when Nick barreled into her in the hallways of CSI.
He had his nose buried in some trace results he had just received from Hodges and wasn't paying attention to anything or anyone. She was walking towards Grissom's office in order to ask him about an explanation on some of the evidence she was going to be using in court. Nick turned the corner and all of their papers went flying into the air.
He was instantly apologizing and dropped to his knees to pick up the papers before he even looked up to see who he had run into. When he finally looked up as the last piece of paper was gathered, he was completely taken aback by her appearance. Green eyes framed by oval lenses in blue thin frames, and red hair pulled back in a professional bun. He would have kept looking, but he noticed the laughter in her eyes and the smirk on her lips. He quickly looked away and gave a nervous chuckle.
He stood up and said, "I'm really sorry. I guess I need to keep my eyes on where I'm going." She stood up as well, and he offered her his hand. "Nick Stokes."
She raised an eyebrow and took his hand. "Brandy Steinman." She glanced at the papers Nick was holding onto. "I think some of those are mine."
"Oh...umm, yeah." He looked through them and handed her a couple of papers. "Here you go."
She took them out of his hands and gave him a slight smile. "Thanks. I'll just be on my way, now." She walked around him and continued down the hallway.
Nick turned his whole body to watch her walk away. "Nice running into you," he called after her. Then the words sunk in and he grimaced. "Nice running into you?" He berated himself, "you really couldn't come up with anything better than that!"
Warrick just happened to be walking past. "Hey, bro, who you talkin' to?"
"What?" The blush instantly stole up Nick's face. "Oh, ah…No one." He shook his head at himself and walked away.
Later, Nick was in the break room sitting behind the table, facing the door, and singing softly to himself. "Brandy, you're a fine girl. What a good wife you would be." He stopped when there was a knock on the doorframe, and looked up to see Brandy standing there. Shock kept him in his seat while he stared at her. She smiled slightly and hesitantly walked into the room. "Hi. I'm not interrupting am I?"
Nick got to his feet instantly. "Hi! No, I'm just eating. Nothing important. Can…what…" He stopped and took a deep breath to calm himself, "can I help you?"
"Actually, I think I can help you." She walked up to the table and put a paper on the table. "I found this with my stuff, and I think you might need it."
He looked down and saw the second page of the trace report he had been looking for all over the lab until ten minutes ago when he decided to give up and take lunch before continuing the search later. "Hey, thanks. I've been looking everywhere for this. Guess I must have accidentally given it to you in the hallway." He smiled back at her.
She smiled back and started to turn away, gesturing with her hand, "Well, I've gotta…"
"Can I, ah, thank you properly," Nick interrupted.
She turned back to him, raising an eyebrow. "Properly?"
"Yeah," Nick came around the table to stand in front of her. "Let me buy you dinner. Tomorrow. Before I have to go into work."
Her face expressed her shock. "Um...ok, I guess. Where do you want to meet?"
They met at a small, little, hole-in-the-wall restaurant; nothing fancy, but it served excellent food. Things went really well. The conversation was interesting, and the silences weren't strained. She was smart, and he sincerely enjoyed picking her brain. When the dinner was over, he decided to press his luck a little further and try for another date. He was pleasantly surprised when she agreed.
He held her hand after the second date.
After the third, he kissed her.
He knew he wanted to do something really different for their next date, which was why he had suggested horseback riding. Nick had told her all about Texas and his parent's ranch during the second date. She had mentioned going riding before, so he didn't foresee a problem.
He dressed comfortably in a short sleeved, button down shirt, blue jeans, and his favorite pair of boots. He grabbed two hats on his way out. One he put on his head, while the other he threw on the passenger seat; a surprise for Brandy. He knew she didn't own one, and it was always a good idea to keep the desert sun off of your head.
He pulled up in front of her apartment and she bounced out of the door; her red hair falling in waves onto her shoulders and green eyes sparkling. He found out on their first date that she only wore her glasses when she was working because she believed they gave her an intimidation factor she felt was needed. She could see fine without them, but it was better if she never had to squint during court. Taking his advice, she also wore blue jeans and a short sleeved shirt, but instead of boots, she had tennis shoes on her feet.
Her eyes lit up at the hat he had waiting for her. Once she entered the vehicle, she leaned over and gave him a short kiss, expressing her thanks and instantly put it on. "You didn't have to, you know."
He grinned and put his truck into gear. "Yeah, I know. But I wanted to." They exchanged another round of smiles. "You ready?"
"As I'll ever be. Let's get this show on the road."
They arrived at the ranch early in the morning so they could ride for several hours and the desert sun would not affect their trip as much. When they finally headed back to the ranch, she issued the challenge that she could beat him. He took her up on it, and they raced back to the ranch. She only narrowly beat him, but she had to admit that she could tell he was holding back.
She hadn't noticed it before, but as she was getting off the horse, her legs hurt, among other things. It was a good thing Nick was waiting beside her horse as she dismounted, otherwise she might have hit the ground.
He quickly caught her and gave her a worried look. "What's wrong?"
She slowly straightened up and walked a few steps away, grimacing in pain. She stopped and took a couple deep breaths to get through the pain. "Nothing…I think I just tried to do too much, all at once." She winced again, "I'm a little sore."
His laughter was not what she had expected and she turned to glare at him, letting him know that it was not appreciated in the slightest. She then turned back and continued walking towards the car. She felt him walk up behind her. Then he picked her up, which caused her to yelp with shock. "What are you doing?"
"Making sure you're in as little pain as possible, since this is kinda my fault."
She wrapped her arms around his neck and let him carry her. "It's not your fault, it's mine. I just forgot to follow some really good advice."
When they arrived at the vehicle, he gently put her down and opened her door. Brandy refused to allow him to help her into the truck, so he leaned against her door, ready to offer any help, if needed. "Oh yeah? What advice was that?"
She settled herself gingerly into the seat as she answered. "Something about saving a horse," she paused and then smirked at him, "and riding a cowboy." She winked at him before she added, "Somehow I think I'd be in less pain."
He instantly blushed and looked at the ground. "Well, ah, maybe some other time."
She flashed him a dangerous smile and said, "I'm gonna hold you to that…But for now, take me home, cowboy."