Scene 8

When Grissom pulled into the driveway of his townhouse in Henderson he was pleasantly surprised to find Heather's Mercedes parked there and the lady herself seated on the top step of his porch waiting for him with a book in her lap. She placed a book mark between two pages as he climbed out of his vehicle.

"Hi. Have you been here long?" He asked as he walked to the steps and extended a hand to her.

"No, I just got here." She said accepting his hand and coming to her feet.

He took a moment to look her over. Long dark hair flowing loose around her shoulders, vivid green eyes, a tempting mouth, a slender frame clad all in black today. She was wearing a silk camisole under an open blouse made of some gauzy material he couldn't identify. The skirt that hung to a point just above her knees was probably silk as well, and draped in an outer layer of the same gauze-like material as her blouse. She, of course, wore her favorite knee high leather boots with this ensemble, and finished it off with the black opal pendant that hung on a gold chain around her neck. He knew that this particular piece of jewelry had once been her mother's and although it was a fine piece of jewelry, the sentimental value she attached to it made it worth far more to her than any monetary value it had. He thought, not for the first time, about how beautiful she was; built petite like her paternal grandmother; only a good six inches taller than the old lady that he had come to think of as the human embodiment of a force of nature. Like her grandmother, she was raw power wrapped in the delicate form of woman; a triumphant symphony of contradictions and although he could stand in this spot and admire her form endlessly, it was her eyes that captured the better part of his attention this morning. They were sparking with amusement; partly because she knew exactly what he was thinking, but there was something more today. Something more that he couldn't quite decipher.

On the one hand, she looked like the temptress she truly was, and on the other, the excitement that glittered in her eyes gave her a child-like quality that he'd rarely seen before.

He wondered if he'd ever really figure this woman out and then decided that if he spent the rest of his life with her and if he lived to be a hundred and four that would give him another fifty-two years to try. He doubted he'd succeed, but damn he could have fun trying.

"To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?"

She smiled a sweet smile that made his insides quiver and shrugged one shoulder as if she'd decided to stop by on a whim but then she wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered in his ear. "Happy birthday Gil." She relaxed her hold just enough to lean back and look him in the eye.

"I should have guessed you knew it was today when I first saw you sitting here." He leaned in to kiss her and received the most chaste kiss she'd ever given him; their lips barely touching before she pressed her palms into his chest and pushed back gently.

He frowned, cocked his head to one side, and was on the verge of asking what was wrong when she smiled and whispered, "Let's go inside. Your neighbor across the street is watching us through her front window."

He nodded, led her across the porch, unlocked his door, and pushed it open allowing her to enter first after taking a quick look inside to see that nothing was amiss. He closed the door behind himself and before he could speak he found himself wrapped tightly in her embrace with her mouth against his.

He surrendered to the kiss; to her. He closed his eyes and every thought drifted away except for the ones that pertained to her. She kissed him until he heard himself groaning and felt his hands moving, as if of their own volition, trying to find their way beneath her blouse.

Suddenly, and completely without warning, she broke the kiss with a startled yelp.

That sound coming from her at that precise moment perplexed him; nearly frightened him. He pulled back quickly and realized what had evoked such a response from her.

Hank had heard them come in and had come to meet them without either of them having been aware of his approach as their attention had been only for one another. The big dog stood on his hind legs behind Heather; his fore paws on her shoulders, and he was licking the back of her neck in a deliriously happy greeting.

Grissom groaned in frustration as Heather complained, "Hank, stop Boy that tickles! Gil, please call off your dog." She squirmed trying to free herself from Hank's overzealous display of affection.

"Hank! Down! Now!" Grissom scolded.

Hank immediately dropped to his belly and did his best to look pitiful with wagging tail and pleading eyes.

Heather stepped away from Gil and glanced down at the dog smiling which Hank took full advantage of by letting out the most pathetic whimper Gil had ever heard.

Heather took pity on the dog and leaned down to pat his head and rub him behind the ears the way she knew he liked. "I know big guy, I love you too, but…" she hiked her thumb in Gil's direction, "I don't even let him lick the back of my neck. That's just…ewww!" She shivered at the thought alone.

Gil chuckled. "All the things that you had to have witnessed while running a fetish house, and that's the one and only time I have ever seen you wrinkle your nose in disgust."

Heather shot him a stern look; "Well I'm sorry if it disappoints you, but that is just…yuck…and it tickles too."

"And it isn't just Hank's licking you object to, but even mine?" He inquired with a wicked gleam in his blue eyes.

"It's just the back of my neck."

He watched in amusement as she trembled again in revulsion.

"Don't ask me why. I can't explain it. Any other part on my body you feel inclined to explore with your mouth is just fine, but you will stay away from the back of my neck… unless you feel like sleeping alone."

"And if I don't feel like sleeping alone?" he asked pulling her back into an embrace.

She pushed gently against the wall of his chest. "Let me go Gil. It's a good thing Hank interrupted when he did; we were getting carried away."

"What's wrong with that?" He asked with a lazy grin, but let her go anyway; simply because she'd asked him to.

"It would have messed up my plans for your birthday. Now you go fix yourself a quick breakfast while I go upstairs and pack your bags."

"I can't think of a better way to spend my birthday than in bed with you, so unless your plans include… wait, did you say 'pack my bags'?"

"I did."

"Why; where are you taking me?"

She glazed his way with a care-free shrug. "Well we don't have to leave. If you'd rather go upstairs…"

"Woman, where are you taking me?"

"I'm taking you out for dinner Gil."

"Dinner…but Heather it's…Oh, I don't know. What time is it?"

"It's 8:41 A.M." She said without taking her eyes away from his face to look for a clock.

"First of all; how do you do that? And second; it's too early for dinner."

"First, the truth is, I don't know how I do it. I've been able to since I was twelve; that's all I know. Second… did I forget to mention that we're having dinner in Temecula?"

His jaw dropped. "We're going to Temecula, California for dinner?"

She hummed an affirmative answer, "Umm hmm; you go get a bite to eat and I'll go pack for you."

As she headed up the stairs a thought occurred to him. "You're assuming I'm off tonight Heather."

She stopped mid-way up the stairs and glanced back at him; giving him one of her 'I've got you right where I want you' smiles "No. I'm not assuming anything Gil. You are off tonight. In fact you are off until Monday night."

She left him standing right where he was; rooted to the floor, in stunned silence.

After a long moment he moved toward the kitchen; shaking his head as he went. At least now Catherine's comment about his not having any time for reading this weekend made sense. She was aware of Heather's plans; whatever they were, and had conspired to make them happen. There once was a time, not so long ago even, that the thought of those two women working together to manipulate his weekend would have made him highly uncomfortable, but as he thought of the woman upstairs packing his suitcase he realized that she wasn't taking him all the way to California just for dinner. If all she had planned was dinner, there were plenty of nice places right here in Vegas for that, and she wouldn't need the whole weekend either. There was definitely more to her plans than just dinner and knowledge of that fact gave him a rush of anticipation akin to the one he felt when he climbed into the seat of a rollercoaster that he'd never ridden before.