A/N: Once again, thank you Nat for being my sounding board. And I hope you all enjoy the chapter. Cotton candy-esque.

And Happy Belated Birthday Raquel.

Andy's head slowly rose off of her pillow and she blinked hard a couple of times, raising one hand to block out the sun filtering in through her blinds and directly into her eyes. She felt foggy and groggy, and her mouth tasted tangy. She moved her tongue around her mouth trying to get rid of it, and then moved over a little to get the sun out of her eyes. Then she saw what woke her. Sam was taping against her window and she heard his calls, distorted through the glass, but he was wrapping his knuckles incessantly.

She looked at him with slighted eyes and threw herself back down onto the bed, groaning when he got louder. One arm behind her, she raised it up to him, middle finger high and she heard his laugh.

"C'mon McNally. Work time." He said.

It had been a week since the pipe incident, and the them incident.

So far, so good.

They worked well together still, though there was a bit less productivity. They often found the other watching them and spent time in staring contests, neither willing to break the hold. Sometimes Sam found himself looking at her with the vivid memory of what happened between them, and Andy caught him. She'd been wiping sweat off of her forehead and he was watching her with this intense concentration - a hawk like gaze - calculating, predatory. She had to remind herself why she couldn't be prey. Why they were holding off . They were friends, sure, but they didn't know enough about each other yet. Not that sex constituted a thorough knowledge of your partner first, Andy had had a couple of flings. But... this could mean something. He could be more than another brief relationship along the way.

He stayed for dinner twice more that week, and again, Ruth allowed them a little time on their own on the porch. They'd sit there together, sometimes sitting shoulder to shoulder, and other times Andy would lean back and take the whole thing over, feet resting in his lap where he'd occasionally press into her arches, causing a stirring sigh to leave her. Sam would watch her face when her eyes were closed and her mouth was turned up into a satisfied smile and could study her every curve and hard line that made up her face.

They still ate lunch side by side on the porch, legs swinging beneath them and swapping half their sandwiches. She was better at predicting his moves and was much better about not being under foot. While they worked in the day he played the radio out of his truck and Boo napped in the shade by the house as always. When she took 'Boo breaks' he wasn't quick to get on her about helping him. He watched her huck the ball as far as she could and cheer the dog back to her, always with a smile on his face. Andy had taken to a baseball hat Sam kept on the truck dash but never wore a couple of weeks ago, and now she was growing less shy about claiming a few of the things he had left in there for her own. The night of the incident, they'd been in there, stealing a few more kisses before Ruth would get suspicious and she spotted an old flannel jacket on the back seat, much like the one Ruth had. Andy wondered briefly it was a trade mark St Catharine's residents thing, but she liked it. It was blue and worn and soft, so before she gave him one last kiss goodbye, she put it on, insisting it had grown cold now and the front door was at least 100 metres away. He let her.

He liked her in his clothes. And now, this morning, when she finally let the kitchen screen fall closed with a slam, she had it wrapped around her waist, the hat on over her ironed straight hair and a pair of aviators on her grumpy face.

He didn't approach her, not while she was this tired, and instead waited until she'd downed half the cup of coffee in her clutches.

"It's not even eight yet Sam. What are we doing?" She asked, voice still rough.

"We've got a lot to get done this morning, so we can have the afternoon off."

"I don't want to go anywhere with you. I'm having a nap later." She grumbled, sitting down on the porch steps.

The slam of the door had perked Boo right up, and as she slumped forward, resting her elbows on her knees, Boo was climbing the stairs, turning around and laying next to her, head in her lap.

He looked at her with fake pity and she gave him a bit of a snarl before petting the dogs head and sipping her coffee. Sam walked over to the two of them and squatted down at the bottom of the steps, and plucked off her hat and the sunglasses as she protested with a whine.

"Ruth got into the scotch last night, didn't she?"

Andy nodded slowly, squinting and moving her upper body around in a circle, trying to lean back into the shade of the porch.

Ruth did that some times. Some nights when she was really relaxed and thought she'd gotten a lot done, she'd open up a bottle of her best scotch and have a couple of tumblers. Ruth claimed it kept her in good health. Sam guessed Andy wasn't a big scotch connoisseur.

"Can you tough it out for a few hours?"

She grunted, and he looked her dead in the eye until she softened a little bit.

"Can I go make a grilled cheese sandwich first?" She asked sceptically, leaning forward toward him.

"Yes." He nodded, smiling. "But you like you said it isn't even eight yet-"

"I don't care."

He watched as she scrambled to her feet and walked back into the house and laughed to himself, calling after her to make him one too.

After two cups of coffee, a grilled cheese sandwich, and hash browns, Andy was her normal self. She and Sam worked on adding the paneling to the greenhouse. Ruth came out every hour and chatted with them. Almost said she wasn't happy with the sample she'd chosen, but Andy sent her a glare that had her swallowing it down. When Sam told her she was being a distraction, she insisted she was boosting morale and stood there to criticize how he'd let the grass grow a little too long.

Andy was able to shoot her another small look of annoyance but Ruth winked at her in return. Ruth wanted to make sure he had plenty to do to keep him there.

Eventually they called it quits just after one. He tapped her shoulder and nodded toward the house. She smiled and as they walked back side by side, she slipped an arm around his waist, forcing his arm to go up over her shoulders. It felt more chummy than romantic when he patted her arm so she made the immature decision to take the affection out of the equation and pinched him in the side.

"Okay, so what's the deal, why do we need the afternoon off?" She asked as she pushed open the kitchen door.

Andy had expected to see some kind of food on the table, but was disappointed when there was none, and Ruth was nowhere to be seen. When she made a move to open the fridge, Sam stopped her, putting his hand on the door.

"I'm not going to tell you, but I can show you."

"Will there be food?"

"Of course."

She feigned thinking it over, hmm-ing and ha-ing, and eventually Sam grabbed her by the hand and walked her into her room.

"Get changed, and I'll meet you at the truck in five."

He seemed to be quick to get out of her room, but not before checking out the door he had her pressed up against last week. Eyes faltering for only a second she grinned, one eyebrow quirked up in amusement as he awkwardly left her to change.

After very little deliberation on what to wear she slipped off her running shorts and replaced them with denim ones, and peeled out of her white t-shirt and replaced it with a teal racer back tank top. Andy thought about running a brush through her hair but decided against it, throwing it into a ponytail in the end. When she skipped out her room, unable to hide how excited she was for however small of a surprise, and tried to slow her pace before exiting out onto the porch.

Andy saw that he'd changed shirts too, into a fresh black t-shirt, probably just right out in front of the truck and she smiled to herself, wishing she had been out sooner, thinking she could've caught a glimpse.

"Ready?" He called out, tilting his head down so his aviators slid down his nose and he looked at her over the top.

"Yup!"

She jumped down the stairs, grabbing the hat Sam had taken off her head that morning. Fixing it onto her head as she approached, she pulled her ponytail through the back and Sam tapped it's brim when she was an arm's reach away.

"Let's get going."

"Mini golf?"

When they pulled into the lot that was halfway between Ruth's house and town, Andy's jaw dropped, very surprised that this was their first date. That this was Sam's idea for their first date. Not that she was expecting anything... but, this didn't seem like him. When she'd gotten into the truck her palms had started to sweat and she found her leg bouncing up and down in anticipation. It was probably a very good thing he was spurring this date on her. The whole time he drove she inspected his face, thinking somehow the right face would give it away.

"Yeah, I thought you liked mini golf." He said, suddenly seeming less sure of himself then he had when he took his keys out of the ignition.

"From that one time I said Ruth used to take me here to play mini golf? You remembered that?"

"Yeah."

Andy laughed and looked back out at the site, noticing they'd updated it since she'd last played there.

"You said there would be food." She said as she unbuckled her seatbelt and opened her door, trusting Sam had come through.

"There's a hotdog cart!"

Andy grinned at him as he walked around the hood of the truck to her side and stood right in front of her, wondering if a kiss would be warranted, but something held him back. Sam had never been fond of PDA. His hand grazed hers though, wanting to feel her skin on his, and he felt her finger brush against his palm - unsure of latching on. He eventually took that step and wrapped his large hand around hers and then Andy took a step forward and rocked up onto her toes to kiss him quickly on the lips. Sam seemed surprised, and when she pulled back he was running his tongue over his teeth, trying to keep from smiling back.

"Hot dogs first though, please." Andy mumbled, tugging him toward the gate.

"You read my mind."

They approached the rental booth to get their equipment and the sixteen year old behind the counter only seemed interested in dealing with Andy.

"I'm going to get the food, I'll meet you at the picnic table." He leaned over to whisper in her ear.

As he gently pressed his hand into her lower back before he walked away, and she felt a tingle ran up her spine and bit her lip as he walked away. When she finally turned back, she was left to deal with the leering teen.

When she finally got their stuff without any further hassle she found Sam quickly among the few other bodies at the course, and smiled broadly when she saw her lunch waiting for her.

"Hey. Did you grab the balls?" Sam asked grinning, very assured of the obvious innuendo.

Andy only paused for a brief moment, and was thankful she hadn't been drinking anything at the time.

"How long have you been thinking about that one?"

"Since I sat down."

She smiled at him and shook her head, laughing as she placed her legs over the bench and sat down.

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't touch my putter, buddy."

They ate quietly for a bit, until Sam got a smudged of mustard above his lip and Andy motioned to the spot on her own face while he tried to blindly wipe it away. Every time he missed, she laughed harder and eventually he swiped a little from his hot dog onto one finger and wiped it on the tip of her nose.

"Ready to get your ass kicked?" She asked as she watched him take his very last bite, and reached for a napkin to clean off her nose.

"Oh no, I don't think you understand McNally, I literally helped rebuild this course. There's no way you're going to win." Sam insisted, taking a sip from the soda they were sharing.

"Wait, for real?"

"Yeah. About five years ago, I was on leave after a short stint and I was getting really bored sitting around Sarah's house so she kind of volunteered me."

"She volunteers you for a lot of manual labour huh?" Andy asked, polishing off her hot dog as well.

"No, Ruth was all me. After Sarah introduced us and I found out that she'd been doing a lot of the upkeep herself, I volunteered myself. For once."

"Aww, that's kind of sweet."

Andy propped one elbow up on the table and gave him a sappy kind of look and his face drew down in a fake pout.

"No. It's manly. And honourable."

"Mhm."

"That's enough out of you McNally, let's get golfing."

He stood and grabbed the longer putter off of the table top where she'd left them and grabbed the red ball, and waited for her to do the same before leading them to the first hole. A straight forward sink with no raise.

They both got hole in ones. It remained that way for some time. Each taking a moment to think about the angles before attempting to sink a shot. But then they got to the ninth hole and things got tricky.

"Why does the course seem harder now?"

"Because it is. That was part of the refurbish." He informed her with a smug smile.

Andy groaned and set up her shot, thinking she could maybe do it in two, but not one. This would be tricky.

"Well, you know, maybe you could help me with my form." She said sarcastically as she began to get into her putting stance.

"Yeah? Settle up behind you and show you the moves?"

"Yup. Because isn't that the purpose of a mini golf date?"

Sam watched as she straightened her arms and brought the putter back a bit, testing how much weight she would be giving it, and before she got comfortable with her choice, his chest brushed up against her back and his arms framed hers, taking the weight on himself as she sank into him.

"You're such a cliché McNally." He whispered in her ear.

Sam felt her shiver just a little and felt like she couldn't stay still wrapped in his arms... in a manner of speaking. She shifted her weight from foot to foot, and inadvertently wiggled a little to get set for her shot, and Sam stiffened for a moment behind her. But his fingers re-gripped Andy's hands and she leaned back into him even further, feeling his deep and steady breaths against her back.

And then he sunk the shot.

"No you didn't." Andy laughed, hard, as the truck slowly crept to a stop, and Sam turned the engine off, leaving the music on quietly.

They had been out for far longer than Sam had planned. They'd bet that the loser buy the winner ice cream and Andy insisted the best place was in town down by the water. So they went there. She mentioned that she'd eaten nothing but junk all day and they went for a walk on the waterfront trail.

"We should bring Boo next time."

There was more tentative hand holding and when they got to a nice bench along the way, he put his arm around the back and Andy sunk into the side - just like when they were on the swing. She told him about her school back home and her friends. She told him about this girl in most of her classes whose mom worked with her dad who she always somehow ended up partnered with. A Peck as it turns out. So he told her about how he'd worked with her brother a couple of times on stings and short ops.

And well, it got Andy thinking.

They stopped on the drive back to Ruth's and got coffee, despite the growing darker and the moon rising higher, and in an attempt to bring her out of her shell, the way she'd been all afternoon, he told her about his very first sting.

"Yep. I'm not going to lie, I felt very exploited." He chuckled, listening to her snort again.

As her laugh wound down she kept her eye on him, thinking about how easily she was going to fall.

He pushed the console up, hoping she would come over to his side. Instead, she rested her back against the passenger side door to face him, and brought her legs up to the seat, tucking them under her.

"Do you like stings, and stuff?"

He thought about her question, wondering how to explain it to someone who'd never been through it. As he'd had to do before. There was nothing like knowing it firsthand.

"Yeah, I mean, it's kind of a huge adrenaline rush. Never being able to drop the ball, talking your way out of something... when you do it, it's this incredible feeling. It's hard but, it feels good when you get it." He said, only glancing at her a couple of times while he explained.

"You aren't scared?"

As soon as she said it, she saw it hit a nerve, and Sam repositioned himself, sitting a little straighter. Andy held in a breath afraid that she'd crossed a line. She knew he couldn't really talk about it in any kind of detail... but if this was his life, there were things she wanted to know.

"Oh it can definitely be scary." He said, passive, looking out the windshield at Boo sleeping on the porch. "It's not always easy. You don't always get away. But I've got a great team."

She nodded, thinking it was time to move away from the topic but she didn't know what to say. Not for a couple of moments.

Sam sat there stewing as she tried to find a good segway but eventually gave up.

"I had a lot of fun today." Andy said, sort of stating it as a question, hopeful that he'd forget about whatever was on his mind. She pushed her back off of the door, and slid forward on the seat, taking over the middle seat.

He cleared his throat and shook his head a bit before turning back to her, at first just staring until he had to smile at her wide eyed worry.

"Me too." He agreed, his lips turning up a little as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Andy could tell that he hadn't totally shaken what she'd said and in attempt to turn back time, she shot forward, catching his lips in hers.

He was receptive. He opened his mouth and let her explore, and his hand moved to her head and the other to her thigh, somewhat keeping her at bay. She was a little aggressive so Sam used the hand on her cheek to move to her jaw and pull her back just a little. Release the strain on their mouths and make the kiss teasing, promising. He drew back, forcing her to retreat with a quiet moan, before he smiled and kissed her so softly. His lips were still wet from her and with his palm still on her jaw, he slowly, torturously, licked his way into her mouth. Andy was restless, every once in a while biting on his lower lip causing him to laugh a bit. But she slowly ran her hands down his chest, reminding him that this wasn't her first time at the rodeo. No, she knew how to drive him crazy. She just had this need for him at first that couldn't be restrained. And that thought drove him crazy.

"Andy," Sam said, pulling back because if her hands drifted any lower he was going to get himself into a situation. "I think we should say goodnight now."

She pulled back hands moving up to hold his face in her hands and he noticed the lust drunk look in her eyes. She bit on her lip a little and he shook his head, and placed his hands on her legs, moving her back to the other side of the truck.

"Oh no you don't." He laughed.

She smiled and broke herself out of her own trance, and looked around the cab, before remembering she hadn't brought anything with her.

"You already stole my flannel, so there's nothing left for you to steal."

"Oh ha ha. Very funny."

She opened the door and slid off of her feet, having to hope that her legs would hold up when she hit the ground. She always felt a little syrup-y after kissing Sam.

The door slammed and Sam started the truck up again not willing to leave until she was safely inside. Then halfway to the porch, she turned around, jogging back. He put the window down, ready to ask her what was wrong.

But when she got right up to his door, she reached in the window and pulled him down to kiss her, one last time.

"Okay, night."