CHAPTER 11: DATING

It was midnight.

"Hey Gil," said Sara.

"Hi," he replied. Keeping the anxiety out of his voice, he asked, "what happened on your case?"

"I caught a floater on the lake. I am still at my truck, but I had no cell service while I was on the lake with the Sheriff 's Patrol. I am heading back to the lab and probably have a couple of hours of evidence to log."

"So I probably can't see you before we work together tomorrow?" asked Gil.

"Could we meet for dinner around 7?" she asked.

Gil wanted to hold her. He wanted to kiss her. He could wait until 7, but he did not want to be somewhere public.

"I would like to bring dinner over to your apartment," he stated, "will that work?"

"Sure," she said. "I need to get going so I can finish up and grab some sleep. Come over anytime after five and I should be both decent and awake."

Sara hung up her phone with a grin. Grissom sounded hungry. She didn't want to wait, but the cold hours on the lake and the decomposing body took their toll on her. Sara had lemons and body scrub waiting at home along with a hot shower, but she still had to finish her work before going there. Sara headed back to the lab. She quickly processed her evidence and was home before she knew it. Once Sara had showered, she fell asleep quickly.

%%%%%%%%

The knock on her door came just after 5:30. Sara was dressed and ready, but she was still surprised at how early Gil had arrived at her door. He had two bags of take out food and a cake in his arms. Sara grabbed a bag and ushered Gil in to her home. Once the food was out of his arms, Sara wrapped her arms around Gil's neck and kissed him hard.

"I missed you," he breathed.

"Ditto."

Gil unloaded the foil containers of Mexican food onto Sara's breakfast bar and Sara set out the plates. They feasted on vegetarian fajitas, smokey beans, and fresh made tortillas. Gil had brought a carrot cake for dessert, but they were both too full. They moved to the couch and curled up to watch the news.

"Did you bring any condoms?" Sara asked with a grin.

The look on Gil's face clearly showed that he was not thinking that far in advance. It didn't even occur to him to pack any in his wallet. Two organized, accomplished criminalists and yet the dating game was proving their undoing.

"I'm sorry Sara."

"We need to put some in our cars," she said, flashing Gil with a mega watt smile. Sara curled into his body, absorbing his warmth. "Thanks for bringing dinner."

"You are welcome," he replied. "If you happened to be scheduled off for a three day weekend, would you like to go out of town for a night or two? With me."

Sara spun around on the couch and faced Grissom. "Are you asking me out on an official date?"

Grissom said, "It would actually be our second real date, if you count the night we had dinner at the Red Dragon."

"I would take a vacation day in order to have a three day weekend with you," she replied. "But I would ask you out on a date mid-week, so that the weekend would be our third date. Most men get lucky on the third date, you know." Sara flashed Grissom the most mischievous grin she had and returned to her spot on the couch.

Grissom was quiet for a minute and then he realized that Sara would not even need to take a day off. She had just worked a shift on Sunday and he could give her the day without anyone knowing it. He shared the thought with Sara, but she still wanted to take the day off. Either way, his plans were falling in to place.

"Sara," he asked, "will you go out with me next weekend?"

"I would love to," she replied. "Will you tell me what you have planned?"

"No, but you may want to pack a bag. Also, you may want to take a nice outfit." Grissom was grinning as he wrapped his arms around Sara. "We have about an hour before we need to get going. Should we have some carrot cake and coffee?"

Sara nodded and hopped off the couch to pull the dessert together. It was nice to have Gil at her apartment. All his other visits here had been during times of duress. Usually her duress. This was much better.

They drove separate cars to the office. Sara made a quick stop at the market for a fruit and cheese plate for lunch, so they would not arrive at the same time.

Grissom was still limping slightly and was on limited duty. He would be stuck in his office for most of the week. For once, Grissom would make the best use of his time by clearing the paperwork and appraisals off of his desk. If he wanted time for Sara, he was going to have to make a few changes to his work routine. He started by writing the schedule. He only needed the weekend off because they were not going to leave until Saturday afternoon. Grissom pulled the night's assignments together and decided to pair Sara with Warrick. He was not jealous of Warrick, but he did get jealous when Sara worked with Greg. Besides, they were still trying to close the case of the mini market burglaries. Catherine would not be back with the team until after Nick returned.

When the team arrived, Grissom received a warm welcome from all of them. He handed out the cases...a solo hit and run for Greg and another burglary for Sara and Warrick. Sara was also finishing her case from Lake Mead and Warrick had a court date. She and Warrick headed out, so they could get back in time for his court appearance. Greg stayed for a few minutes and updated Grissom on Nick's return. The younger man was happy to take a solo case and even happier to have Grissom back in the lab.

Sara and Warrick returned to the lab about half way through their shift. Warrick headed off to court. Sara noticed that Brass had brought Grissom some lunch, so she headed for the break room and snacked on her lunch while she caught up on her reading. She made a pot of fresh coffee and was surprised when both Brass and Grissom appeared in the break room door.

"Hey Sara," they said.

"Hi."

"How are your cases coming?"

"I am stuck on the burglaries and we are waiting for an id on my floater".

Brass took a chair while Grissom poured three coffees. He placed the sugar and cream on the break room table for Brass and Sara to use. Grissom knew how Sara took her coffee, but he was not going to give this detective any clues.

Sara walked them through both of her cases. Archie was running the video tapes from each mini markets. Brass had brought in a couple of ladies who frequented the markets, but had hit a dead end. Grissom just wanted to be in the same room as Sara. They had talked through her case at home and he didn't see any other connections. Sara finally excused herself and headed to the A/V lab to check in with Archie. When her shift was over, Sara stuck her head into Grissom's office to say goodnight....just like most nights and he smiled.

About fifteen minutes after she got home, Sara's phone lit up.

"Hi honey."

"Hi Gil."

"Today was strange," he replied. "I actually got a lot of paperwork done and the schedule is set. All I could think of was our date this weekend."

"Did you put any condoms in your car yet?" she asked.

Grissom laughed and told her that he bought a new box on the way home and left them in the car. He told Sara that their date was actually for Saturday and Sunday, but he wanted her to have Friday off in case she needed any time to get ready.

"Gil, do you think you will have some time for an early dinner on Wednesday?" said Sara.

"Sure,what did you have in mind?"

"Well, it's my turn to take you out. Casual dress. I will pick you up at 5 p.m. Picnic dinner. That is all I am going to divulge."

Sara and Grissom talked for about an hour before hanging up. The sun was high in the sky by the time the both settled in to their respective beds. Sara focused her attention on their upcoming dates. She had a few things to pick up prior to work and she had to decide on her outfits for wherever Gil was taking her on the weekend. She would have to pump him for more details on Wednesday night.