The next evening, a nervous Greg parked in Morgan's driveway. He hopped out of the car thinking of the awkward situation he had put himself in. Here he was, finally on some sort of date with Morgan, yet his parents would be there. He still couldn't read Morgan very well. He didn't know if she felt the same way as him, or was just happy to go out for a night on the town. He knocked on the door, waiting as he heard her call out to him.

Morgan reached the door and opened it wide, giving Greg a good look at her. His breath caught in his throat. She was wearing impossibly high heels, an emerald green A-line dress with a boat neck. The dress hugged every curve and made Greg long to touch her. She'd curled her hair and it fell in soft waves around her face. Yet, she was completely oblivious to Greg's reaction. "I'm just going to switch purses, come on in." She gestured to the couch in the living room as she walked over to the coffee table that had miscellaneous items scattered over the top. She chose a few items to finish putting in her purse and then looked over at Greg. "Are you ready to go? I'm really excited about seeing Vegas from a different point of view."

Greg rose from the couch and followed her to the door. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her as she walked on those high heels to the door.

Morgan turned suddenly and caught Greg staring. Being a little flirty, she asked, "Like what you see?"

Greg smiled, but deflected the comment. "I just can't figure out how ladies walk on such high heels. But yes, I do like what I see." He came up beside her as she reached to get her keys out of a bowl beside the door.

"Ready?" She smiled up at him as she opened the door. He walked outside and waited for her to lock her door. When she put her keys in her purse, he offered his elbow for her to hold onto. "Don't want you to break an ankle before you see the great sights of Las Vegas." Said Greg.

Morgan laughed, as she gladly tucked her hand in his elbow. All too soon they reached his car. As he opened the car door for her, Morgan backed up to avoid being hit by the door. She backed solidly into Greg. Surprised, he put both hands on her hips to steady her. Instantly he regretted it. Heat rushed through his body and the urge to move his hands down the curve of her hips got stronger.

Morgan turned around to apologize, She opened her mouth to speak, but when she looked at Greg, she clearly saw the desire in his eyes. Neither of them moved, until the moment was broken by a car racing by. Greg blinked and backed up, while Morgan hopped into the passenger seat. Inwardly, Morgan felt happy that she had a clear indication that Greg still felt the way she'd suspected he'd felt for a while. But she was disappointed the moment was ruined.

The drive to the theater started out awkwardly, both unsure what to say. Finally Greg brought up their latest case and the awkwardness dissipated.
Upon parking in the cavernous parking garage, Greg got out of his car and went over to make sure Morgan was able to climb out of the SUV in her heels without falling. He was rewarded with a big smile from her. She placed her hand on his upper arm to steady herself as she carefully climbed down. Once again, he offered her his elbow and she grabbed and held the crook of his hand as they made their way into the theater. They both ignored the fact that they were walking much closer than two colleagues should. The tension was building between the two and it was getting much harder to ignore.

They met his parents at the bar outside the theater. Greg bought a round of drinks as the four of them chatted.

"So Morgan," said Mrs. Sanders. "Are you a native of Las Vegas?"

"Born and raised until my teens. Then my parents got divorced. I moved to L.A. vowing never to set foot in Las Vegas again." She laughed. "But for some reason, I came back."

"Are you happy here?" Quizzed Mr. Sanders.

"I am. I am." Morgan said thoughtfully. "Things happen for a reason and I am pretty sure there are a few good reasons that keep me here." She snuck a look at Greg out of the corner of her eye. He was looking down at his beer, but he smiled into it as he took a sip, clearly getting her meaning.

The elder Sanders also understood Morgan's hidden message as they gave each other a knowing look. Mrs. Sanders knew that Greg was besotted with Morgan by the way he talked about her when describing the cases he was working on. She could always hear the smile in her son's voice whenever he mentioned her name. Up until her visit, she couldn't tell if Morgan had any feelings for her son. Now she was satisfied that she knew the answer to that question. Emboldened, she asked another probing question.

"You know Morgan, I do apologize. When I bought the tickets, it never occurred to me that you may be in a relationship with someone else and wouldn't be interested in coming with us. I really hope I did not intrude on other plans you may have made."

Subtle, Mom. Thought Greg with an internal smile. He knew what his mom was doing, but he wasn't going stop her. His mom was dealing with a trained CSI. If Morgan wanted to deflect the conversation, she would have no problem redirecting the flow of conversation. However, he was hoping to hear Morgan's answer. As far as he knew, she hadn't been seeing anyone.

"My plans were laundry and grocery shopping tonight. It's pretty hard to date when you're practically married to your job."

"Yeah." Agreed Greg. "You'd think that living in Las Vegas where everything is open 24/7, you could find another night shift person to date. But it is harder than you'd think. Most people who work the night sift are cocktail waitresses, strippers and casino workers. I have dated a few of them, but they just don't connect with me."

"So true!' Morgan jumped in to agree. "I went on a date with a club manager a while back. He took me to a late dinner and then he wanted to bring me back to his club to enjoy the late show. He seemed like a good guy and I'm up for adventure. What he didn't tell me was that he managed a strip club and he tried to bring me front row to the 3 am college girl Wet T Shirt Contest. He was actually surprised when I told him it wasn't the kind of club I was interested in."

"What about you, Greg?" Asked his mother as she finished her drink. "You haven't mentioned dating anyone lately. Any stories?" She looked at her son with loving eyes. As a mom, she thought her son was the greatest catch, but after he went though a wild phase in his twenties, he really didn't mention going on dates much. She'd figured when he stopped dating so many different woman, he'd find one that he wanted to be with and settle down quickly. To her sadness, Mrs. Sanders found that Greg had seemed married to his work. Until Morgan started working for the crime lab, she was beginning to lose hope of Greg ever finding someone to share his life with.

Morgan glanced at Greg. She doubted he'd told his mom about his fling with Alison or his date with the serial killer. Greg paused for a few seconds. She could see him measuring his words, trying to find a happy medium between the truth and wanting his mom not to worry. "I've gone out for the odd beer after work or breakfast with a lovely woman on occasion." He said, "but nothing really has managed to come from it. Work just gets in the way."

Even though his parents didn't know he meant Morgan, her cheeks still flushed a little. She was hoping to blame it on the alcohol if anyone said anything. Just then, Mr. Sanders looked at his watch and announced that they'd probably want to head in the theater. The four of them rose from the bar, and headed off to join the people arriving for the Cirque show.

Greg had a hard time keeping his hand off of Morgan's lower back. As much as he told himself it was to keep her near him, he knew he just to be close to her in general. He didn't know if it was the alcoholic drink or the fact that something felt different about the two of them together tonight. But he really wanted to treat this night as a date and maybe tell her he'd like to take her out again. He just had to get up the courage to ask her.

The four of them sat in the theater, his parents and then Greg, followed by Morgan. When they sat down, Morgan realized that the woman in front of her had to be six feet tall. Despite the wonderful seating arrangement of the theater, she would have a slightly obstructed view. Instinctively, she moved her head closer to space in between the couple in front. Greg noticed. "I'd offer to switch seats with you, but the person in front of me is taller than the woman." He said with a shrug. "You can lean on me though, I won't bite." He winked at her. Inwardly he thought of his mom. If she had the power, he was sure she'd have arranged this seating issue, leaving Morgan to have to sit close to her son for the entire show. He chuckled to himself.