Inside the pizza place, Grissom held Sara's chair out for her. She smiled appreciatively.
"Thank you."
"My pleasure." he said as he took his seat across from her.
"Bowling was fun; thank you for inviting me."
"I had fun, even though I lost."
"I should start playing again." she mused.
"What got you hooked on the game the first time?" he asked.
"Science; it was an experiment. After it was over, I bought a ball and made bowling my weekly indulgence."
"Were you ever in a league?"
"No, I didn't want to make the commitment. What about you?"
"My mother liked it. It was a game she could play that she didn't need her hearing for. She taught me how to play."
"That's nice."
"She's taught me a lot of things; I value each and every lesson."
"Like what?" Sara asked.
"She taught me how to treat a lady, how to dance, manners, art appreciation, respect for all things, and how to take care of myself spiritually, physically, and financially."
"I bet you're close."
"We are; she still works if you can believe that." The server came to take their order. After she left, Sara saw four familiar faces walking in their direction.
"Hey guys!" Catherine greeted cheerfully.
"Hello Catherine." Grissom answered and Sara nodded.
"Fancy meeting you here." she said.
"What are the odds?" Grissom said back with a slight air of frustration in his tone. Sara remained silent.
"This is good food. Lindsey picked it after mini-golf." Sara smiled and was now highly suspicious. First they see Greg at the bowling alley and now these three clowns at the restaurant. Grissom and he shared a quick glance; both knew they were thinking the same thing. The foursome left the couple alone and Grissom noted that they were conveniently seated within eyesight.
"That's awfully convenient, don't you think?" Sara voiced the thought they had both shared. Grissom nodded and started to keep a watchful eye on their co-workers.
"We'll just save our previous conversation for later." he suggested.
"I can do that. Where are we going after here?"
"We can go to my place for drinks or take a walk; it's your choice and we have all night." he smiled.
"I'd like to go out to the desert and look at the stars." Their pizza arrived at that moment. The waitress stopped by Catherine's table.
"She mentioned going to the desert to look at stars." She quietly informed them.
"Damn, we can't follow them there. Thank you; keep up the good work."
"Thank you, ma'am." Nick added. He knew that Grissom had seen the exchange. He continued to play tic-tac-toe with Lindsey.
Grissom took a pen out of his pocket and scribbled a note for Sara to read while she ate her pizza. He covered it up with a bite of his own pizza.
-They're spying on us.- the note read. She nodded knowingly.
"How's your pizza?"
"Delicious; are you missing your meat?"
"Not at all, I don't eat it that much anymore."
"I've noticed." she commented with a smile.
"Really?"
"Yes, I've seen the lunches you bring to work. You've lost weight too. CSI, remember?" she teased and he smiled.
"Funny." he said sarcastically.
"I thought so."
"Anything else?"
"You're a rare breed, with or without the beard, you still look good."
"Thank you, curly hair or straight, you're still beautiful. I prefer curly though." She blushed at his compliment. Gil made a mental note to compliment her more often; he liked the result.
"I'll keep that in mind. We're still being watched."
"I know; I can see them." he said though he never once looked over there.
"Your peripheral vision is that good?"
"Yes, Lindsey is the only one not watching us. The other three are looking over her every ten seconds or so while they carry on their own conversation…We could give them a show if you want to." he suggested and she smiled at the thought of it, but then softly shook her head.
"No thanks. So, what does your mother do?"
"She runs an art gallery."
"With such an artistic background, why science?" She asked and pushed her empty plate away.
"I love nature. My mother has a beautiful garden in the back of our house. I learned all about plants and in the greenhouse, insects were all over the place. I remember spending an entire afternoon watching a spider build his web between two orchid plants. I grew my respect for all creatures as a child, because it was my other who taught me that every creature has a role to fill. It fascinated me and I was able to see nature in action all around me. I lived near the waters edge and would walk on the beach. Sometimes, I would see dead animals and the insects slowly recycle the animal back into the ground. I guess that's why I went into entomology."
"That sounds amazing. I can see why insects intrigue you." They shared a smile.
"What about you, why did you choose science?"
"My high school biology teacher was hot."
"So, you have a pattern for falling for teachers?" he teased.
"Falling for? No. Crushes, yes; there have been several in fact. I've only fallen once." she confessed.
"Who's the lucky guy?"
"A former professor actually."
"Intriguing."
"I still talk to him." she said, enjoying the flirting that was taking place between them.
"Anyone I know?"
"I'm having fun telling you about him."
"I know, but I want a name."
"How about you; have you ever fallen?"
"I'm still falling if you want to know the truth." Sara felt the heat flood her whole body with his confession. The look in his eyes was captivating and Sara just stared for a few seconds.
"Who's the lucky woman?" she whispered.
"I'll tell when you do." he said just as quietly, neither one willing to break the gaze.
"That's fair." she agreed. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the waitress approaching the table and sat back. This move snapped Sara out of her trance as well.
"Would you like dessert?"
"Only if you do; think Brass is waiting outside for us?"
"I wouldn't put it past them." They ordered dessert and asked for the leftovers to be boxed up. They each had a brownie sundae.
"I haven't had one of these in ages; it's so good." Sara was practically moaning over the taste. Grissom filed the sounds away for a more appropriate time.
"This is a first for me."
"What is the one food you can't resist?" she asked.
"I don't know; what's yours?"
"Ice cream; half of my freezer is full of it." Grissom sat and thought for a minute.
"I guess mine would be my mom's pancakes."
"Yummy."
"Oh, they're the best. I make them, but it's never quite the same." Sara watched Catherine's table start to eat their pizza and motioned to the waitress for the bill while Grissom was lost in a memory.
"Here you go folks, have a good evening." The waitress said.
"Thank you." Grissom looked back at Sara.
"What's going on?"
"We can escape. They just got their food."
"Good call" He pulled out his wallet and settled the bill quickly. Sara grabbed the leftovers and followed him out the door. Catherine, Warrick, and Nick all managed to have their mouths full when the geeks left. Lindsey was too busy texting her friends to care. Nick was the fastest and followed them to the door. He came back with slumped shoulders.
"I missed them; call Brass." Catherine picked up her phone.
"Brass."
"They just left."
"I saw them. They're on foot and they've already disappeared into the crowd."
"Damn."
"They figured out your little game is my bet."
"We'll see; I guess I'll see you at work in a couple of hours."
"Are you going to corner him?"
"It's their night off. We're not allowed to call either one of them unless the sheriff gives us permission. They're maxed out on overtime."
"Well at least the grill will be nice and hot when you put him on it."
"You can count on it."
"I'm going to see if I can find them."
"Keep us updated. The boys and I have to work. I'll see you later."
"Bye." Brass hung up and started to drive around, looking for them. Grissom and Sara had seen Brass' car when they left the pizza place. They put the leftovers in it and walked into the crowd. What Brass didn't know is that they walked a block or so and then doubled back after they noticed Brass leave the place; presumably to look for them. They drove to his place to collect a few things and he took her to the desert like she asked.
They parked the car and spread a blanket out on the dusty ground. The Vegas strip was only a glow in the distance. Grissom opened a bottle of wine and poured them both a glass.
"Thank you."
"You are most welcome; do you think we escaped?"
"Yes, when we got back to the car. Jim was gone and the other three were still eating."
"I'm glad we're finally alone." he said and moved ever so much closer to her.
"Yeah, why?"
"I want you to get to know me. I can't do that with an audience." He was holding her gaze again, much he had done in the restaurant.
"I see. Well as part of me getting to know you, I do believe you lost three times over." she hinted at him.
"What would you like to know?"
"Do you have a porn stash?"
"Yes; it' diverse and eccentric, but t qualifies. I'll let you see it if you want."
"Maybe. What's the most outrageous thing you've ever done?"
"Do you swear never to tell another living soul?"
"Yes." Sara answered immediately.
"I once made a cast molding of…myself and loaned it to the porn industry. I receive monthly royalty checks due to my copyright." Sara was stunned. In all the possible answers that raced through her mind when she asked the question, that one was never even considered.
"Oh. My. God. How did…"
"A girl I was seeing at the time talked me into it. Her roommate's cousin was in the industry and found it. She borrowed it for an audition and it goes on from there."
"What's it called; I've never seen your name on a box."
"That's four questions." he reminded her.
"Technically I never asked the last one. You answered what you assumed I was going to ask." she said. He sighed.
"It's called, 'The Stinger'." Grissom would go to his grave remembering her reaction.
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A/N: What do you think Sara's reaction will be? I will post the answer soon enough. Thank you all so much for the reviews. I love them. Please keep them coming. I've started to go back to Confidentiality and have written a few sentences of chapter 40. Hopefully, I'll post another chapter on it soon.
Have a great day everyone! Kelly