A/N: Thanks so much for your support of this story. I love all your reviews even if I can't reply. I'm so glad you're enjoying it as much as I'm enjoying writing it.

Chapter 5

The next time Sandor came into the café, the heat bloomed in her cheeks as Sansa could not help but picture him without his shirt on and remembered what she used that picture for. It seemed indelibly imprinted on her brain.

The girls gave her knowing smirks and made sure she was the one to serve him, moving aside to serve other customers or undertake some task.

Sansa noticed he was dustier today than he usually was, his hair covered in a light layer. She wanted to offer the use of her shower, with the proviso that she be the one to scrub his back. No, best not to. Yet.

"Good morning, Sandor!" she greeted him with a bright smile as she looked into the grey depths of his eyes. Her own then slid briefly to his scars, the grooves of which seemed to collect the dust more than usual. She imagined that in his line of work, he'd have to be careful to keep the damaged skin clean. Not that it detracted from his sheer, masculine sex appeal any, in her opinion.

"Morning, little bird." His eyes drifted from her rosy face up to her hairline. "Any lasting damage? You look flushed," he commented, pointing at the spot where their heads had clashed.

"No, it's fine. Really," she murmured, feeling her face get even hotter. It's only that I'm using your picture to get myself off, that's all. "Thanks for asking. How's Stranger?"

"Back to his usual self."

"That's wonderful. I hate it when our pets are sick," sympathised Sansa. He nodded in agreement. Wanting to keep him here for as long as possible, she searched for something to say. "Tough day?" At his puzzled look, she pointed at his hair. "You're covered in dust."

Sandor reached up and ran his fingers through his hair. Sansa wanted to swoon as his t-shirt rode up slightly, giving her a glimpse of tanned skin. Dear god, she could have reached over and licked it, if she hadn't been standing in her own shop, surrounded by other people.

Looking at his hand, Sandor shook his head. "Ah, yeah. Sanding today. The dust is a bitch. Gets into everything." He rubbed the scarred side of his face, looking at her intently, as if to see if she displayed any disgust.

As if! Sansa nodded her head in sympathy. "I can imagine. I remember when they were doing up this place. Thought we'd never clear the mess."

Sandor looked at her intently for a moment before turning his head to look around him. "Did a good job."

"My sister, Arya, did a lot of the designing. I love it."

With a final look of approval he turned back to her. "Got my croissants, for me?"

Disappointed that he was getting back to business, Sansa nodded. "Of course. And the usual coffee?"

"Aye." That Scottish burr!

As she worked, their eyes kept meeting then looking away again. Did she imagine that his eyes would wander down towards her cleavage, modestly displayed in the v-neck t-shirt she wore before looking back at her face, or hands, or behind her?

On placing his coffee and croissants on the counter, Sansa noticed a piece of wood shaving stuck to his shoulder. As Sandor bent slightly to place his money on the counter and pick up his order, Sansa, taking her courage in her hands, reached up to pluck the shaving off him.

It felt like slow-motion, her hand brushing the soft material. In the fraction of time it took, she felt the hardness of the muscle as well as the softness of the hair that tickled her fingers. Reluctantly, her fingers dragged themselves from his body, the offending piece of wood between them.

Sandor stiffened at her touch, his startled gaze meeting hers. There was a thrum of electricity between them, and it seemed as if neither breathed for a instant. Sansa had never felt such an intense thrill race through her before.

The sound of tinkling china roused them from the bubble they were in. Sandor blinked, as if he were waking up from a daydream and Sansa blushed again at her audacity. Those grey eyes then bore into hers, a question in them.

Smiling nervously, Sansa held up the wood shaving, showing him the evidence. "It...it was stuck to your shoulder."

He nodded slowly. "Thanks, I guess."

Picking up his cup, he turned to leave and a brain-wave came to Sansa. "By the way, if you can't get here to get your coffee, if you're too busy to down tools or whatever, we can deliver to you."

Sansa glanced at Margaery, who was currently delivering an order to a table, thankful that she didn't hear her blatant lie. They didn't deliver as they didn't have enough staff for that, but this was just another strategy in Sansa's campaign. Margaery would applaud it, for sure. And they would only deliver to one person. And Sansa would be the delivery girl.

"You can?"

"Sure! We don't generally spread that news around, so keep it under your tool belt, and we only do it for our best customers, but I would consider you one of those," she replied, nodding vigorously.

"I am?"

"Of course. You're here almost every day and you love Hotpie's croissants. You definitely qualify."

Sandor seemed a little stunned that he was placed in their non-existent VIP category.

"Well, then…"

"Here, take my number. Call me if you need coffee delivered," she urged, looking for a pen to write the phone number down. One appeared in front of her, warm from being in his pocket. Deliberately brushing his finger as she took it, she wrote on the back of a loyalty card. She didn't know if he registered that she was giving him her personal phone number, not the store one. "There you go."

He took the card, looked at her writing before taking out his black, rather battered-looking wallet and placing it amongst the notes. "Thanks, Little Bird."

"Oh, it's my pleasure, Sandor," she replied, smiling her most charming smile at him. "Hope your day gets better," she called out as he began walking away. Not expecting any reaction, she was thrilled when he turned his head, the good side facing her, and he gave her a tiny smile in return.

"You did what?"

As she cleaned out the coffee machine, Sansa told Margaery about her offer to Sandor. "I made up some bullshit about delivering to only a select few of our favourite customers."

Margaery shook her head in disbelief. "And I thought I was bad."

"Hey, you were the one who called this a military campaign. I just employed a new strategy, is all."

"And what if he calls during our busiest time?"

"You and Jeyne can cover for a little while, can't you? Besides, I've been thinking we need to employ someone else, even if only during the rush times. Maybe a mum looking to work part-time during school hours would be interested."

"Yeah, I've been thinking the same," agreed Margaery. "I think I know just the person. I was talking to that lovely lady, Gilly, who comes in regularly and she mentioned that she was a bit bored now that her youngest started kindy a few weeks ago. I'll have a word with her when she next comes in."

"That's a great idea. She'd fit right in."

"Good. Now, about Sandor."

"What?" asked Sansa, suspicious about Margaery's tone.

"I'm thinking, if you're going to be delivering coffee to him, you need to up your underwear game."

"Huh?"

"Geez, Sansa!" huffed Margaery. "Just when I think you're learning, what with offering a non-existent delivery service to your hunky tradesman, you give me that blank look." Moving closer, she continued. "When, if, you have to deliver that coffee, you may as well deliver that with a free eyeful of what could be on the menu, if you get what I mean?" she murmured with a sly wink.

"Marge! I'm not going to walk the streets of Balmain in skimpy clothes to deliver Sandor his coffee!" protested Sansa.

"Not skimpy. Just…just a little more teasing," refuted Margaery. "Maybe change into a singlet top or something a little more filmy. While wearing sexy lingerie underneath. Just enough to hint. Whet his appetite."

"I can't work in here looking like that."

"You live upstairs! Run up while Jeyne or I get his order ready, change, and then go out to him. Honestly Sans, if he doesn't get the hint after that, then maybe he really isn't interested," Margaery pointed out.

"I'll have to buy some new stuff. Most of my underwear is pretty plain."

Margaery clapped her hands. "If there's anything I like more than shopping, it's shopping for sexy underwear. You and I are going into the city and we are going to load you up with ammunition. Sexy Sandor won't know what hit him."

True to her word, the next day the café was closed, Margaery came by in the morning, had breakfast with Sansa before they set off. Rather than driving into the city, they decided to catch the ferry to Darling Harbour and then walk the short walk up to the city centre.

It had rained the day before, so everything had that clean, fresh feel and the Harbour sparkled under the bright sunshine. Sansa loved sitting outside as she enjoyed the sights of the numerous ferries, yachts and the occasional ocean liner that littered the Harbour, particularly on a weekend. As many times as she had travelled on Sydney Harbour, she never failed to be astonished at its beauty, framed by the Harbour Bridge, almost as iconic as the famed Sydney Opera House.

It was a relatively short journey from Balmain to Darling Harbour that passed the old piers that had been converted into multi-million dollar apartments, and the new public space, Barangaroo, with it's sandstone foreshore and greenery, filled with people enjoying leisurely strolls and picnics. It was hard to believe that it had been a shipping dock, loaded with containers and imported cars, only a few short years before. Darling Harbour itself had been a derelict goods train yard until nearly thirty years ago and was now a premier entertainment area, filled with restaurants, bars and parks, and always a hive of activity, especially at night.

Deciding to get straight into some serious shopping, the girls walked the few blocks to Pitt Street Mall, the main shopping area. They started at the large department stores, where Sansa picked up a couple of gorgeous matching sets, decorated with bows and frills. Margaery led them to La Perla, who stocked some exquisite lingerie.

"I love this place," sighed Margaery. "I've lost count of the amount of money I've spent in here."

An hour and a half later, Sansa walked out of it with balconet bras, push-up bras and their matching bottoms, as well a couple of lacy teddies and a gorgeous corset in white with pale blue lace and ribbons, matching pants and thigh-high stockings. It cost a grotesque amount of money, but Sansa couldn't help smiling as they walked out.

"When Sandor sees that corset, he is going to bust a ball," laughed Margaery. "Maybe both."

"Well, that would be a shame, wouldn't it?" giggled Sansa. "I want those balls in one piece, thank you very much."

"Don't you mean two pieces?"

"As long as his 'tool' is in working order, I don't really care," came the retort.

After a leisurely lunch, they shopped a little more, Sansa buying some more revealing tops as advised by her friend.

Shopped out, they walked back to Darling Harbour, deciding to stop at the Lindt Café to treat themselves to one of their divine hot chocolates before catching the ferry back to Balmain.

"Well, I think you have enough 'arsenal' there to take over a small country," quipped Margaery.

"I've spent so much today," replied Sansa shaking her head. "I can't remember the last time I spent so much money on underwear. Or clothes, for that matter."

"Consider it a gift to yourself, Sans. We've worked really hard this last couple of years and I'm proud of us. The café's going great, we have built a loyal clientele and we have great staff. I think we deserve a reward, don't you?"

Sansa nodded. "Yeah, you're right. We've put all our efforts into our business and it's paying off." Reaching out, she took her friend's hand. "Thank you, Margaery. For everything. For befriending me; for encouraging me to do what I really wanted to do with my life, not what my parents wanted for me; for being a wonderful business partner and finally, helping me with this thing I have for Sandor. I'm lucky to have you."

Margaery's hand tightened on hers in response as her other wiped at her eye. "Stop it! You're going to make me ruin my makeup and I wear little enough of it these days that I want to look stunning for a while longer," she replied with a shaky smile.

"You don't need the makeup to look stunning, Marge."

"Thanks. Neither do you. And I'm lucky to have you, too!"

Enjoying their drinks, they chatted a while before making their way back to the ferry pier. Being summer, it would be a while before the sun set, but the afternoon sea breezes had blown in as usual, making Sansa's hair swirl around her head.

After disembarking, they walked the few blocks back to her apartment, picking up some Chinese food on the way.

"Hey, want to come to the Bath's tomorrow?" asked Sansa as they ate on the balcony. "It's promising to be a hot one."

"Sure, why not?"

The Dawn Fraser Bath's were a Sydney institution, now named after the famous Australian Olympic swimmer. It was a harbour tidal salt-water pool that had been around since the 1880's. During low tide, there was a small beach for the kids to build sandcastles and was frequented all year round, even in winter, though Sansa was not that keen.

It was a short drive, or, if she was feeling energetic, a slightly longer walk. It was likely to be busy and parking was at a premium, so she suggested they walk and cool off once they got there. There were kiosks there to buy lunch.

Sansa suggested Margaery stay over and she could borrow one of her bikini's and clothes the next morning. Tired after their long day, Margaery accepted happily. They watched some sappy romantic comedy that they both loved before heading to bed. Sansa was so tired, she barely spared Sandor a thought before she drifted off.

A/N: I'm probably biased, but I think Sydney Harbour is the most beautiful harbour in the world and, like Sansa, it takes my breath away every time I'm on the water, day or night.

In my heyday (when I had the figure, pre-children, pre-mortgage) I was obsessed with La Perla lingerie. I would happily spend a good deal of my pay on skimpy scraps of material but they were sooo pretty!

And Lindt hot chocolates are to die for! I used to travel an hour to get one but now the factory opened up only 3 minutes away and they sell hot chocolates. It's probably not a good thing :)