Author's Note: A Don't Blink side story. Sarah/Josie ficlet set after This Time I'm Gonna Slow It Down on the Deveright timeline.

Unbetaed. All mistakes are my own.

Share This Secret For A Chance

This moment shaking in my hands,
I'll share this secret for a chance
just to be here with you,
just to get lost with you.
~After You, Meg Myers

She's sitting in her office, staring at her notes for the messy divorce case that she's working on, but her mind is so far away from unhappy endings and disintegrating relationships right now that she can't really concentrate. When Josie had decided to pursue family law, she'd been hoping to focus more on the ability to help people start their families rather than end them, but she can't really avoid the unfortunate side of her chosen field. One of the things that had enticed her to join this firm late last year was the promise of pursuing more adoption, surrogacy, and child welfare cases than divorces, but Frank had asked her to work with him on this case, and you don't really say no to a senior partner—not if you have any aspirations of becoming a partner yourself one day. And Josie does.

But right now, the aspirations crowding her mind are of a far more personal variety—like how to convince Sarah Cartwright to take a chance on romance with her.

Logically, Josie understands Sarah's hesitation. Sarah isn't planning to stay in New York forever; she can't make any promises; she's been disappointed by love in the past; she doesn't want to get involved with one of her ex's friends. Emotionally, however, Josie is so not onboard with any of that crap.

She's suffered through a few of her own heartbreaks over the years, but that doesn't stop her from trying. Josie really just wants to grab Sarah and kiss her until the stubborn woman can't remember any of the reasons she has for thinking they shouldn't be together.

That flutter of attraction that Josie had felt on New Year's Eve has only grown stronger over the last four months. It's surprised her as much as it's thrilled her and frustrated the hell out of her, but Sarah is just so comfortable. She knows if she says that out loud, Sarah would probably take it the wrong way, but for Josie, it feels pretty close to perfect. She's had some experience with the kind of attraction that's big and loud and reckless—a fire under your skin that makes you itch and ache and yearn until you're doing the stupidest things—but this is different. It feels more like coming home, slipping into a favorite, soft pair of pajamas, and sinking into your truest self until you never want to leave the moment. It's a very different kind of yearning.

Sarah is smart and sweet and so passionate about her interests, and there are moments when Josie is certain that she feels that passion aimed directly at her through Sarah's shy glances. She really believes that they could have something amazing if only Sarah would agree to try.

They'd almost kissed two weekends ago after they'd gone biking. The day had been gorgeous and so had Sarah. Her nervousness at being back on a bike had faded fairly quickly, and Josie had been treated to the sight of her sparkling eyes and carefree smile as she'd taken in the sites of the city from a very different perspective. Josie hasn't deluded herself into thinking that Sarah had instantly changed her opinion on Manhattan, but she hadn't seemed to dislike it quite so much in those hours that they'd spent together.

They'd flirted through their lunch—well, Josie had flirted while Sarah had blushed endearingly—before Josie had ultimately won their battle over the bill. And then there was that moment at the end of the day, after they'd returned Sarah's bike to the rental shop, when Josie had leaned in and nearly kissed her. She'd wanted to. God—how she'd wanted to! That single, fleeting kiss on New Year's Eve was barely anything at all but still more than enough to make her crave another taste. But Josie wants their next kiss to be the first of many more to come, not a rushed, stolen moment with the potential to send Sarah running, so she'd changed her trajectory at the very last moment and settled for a hug instead.

Who is she kidding? Their almost-kiss had already sent Sarah running. Josie had asked Sarah to lunch twice last week and been refused both times with the excuse of being swamped with work, and Sarah had declined an invitation to visit the Strand with her on Saturday, claiming she'd been busy with a project. Josie doesn't doubt that Sarah is busy with her job, but it's starting to feel like she's purposely avoiding her, especially after she'd turned down another invitation to lunch just yesterday.

Josie really can't do this anymore. When she'd set out to become Sarah's friend, she'd honestly thought she'd be content with just that, but the more time they spend together, the more she's convinced that Sarah could be the woman for her. If there's really no chance they'll ever be anything but friends, then Josie needs to know so she can try to redraw that hazy line that she'd already stumbled over months ago.

Giving up on her notes for the moment, Josie reaches for her phone and dials the number that's become very familiar to her, waiting for the call to be picked up. It takes four rings before she hears Sarah's voice, "Thank you for calling Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. Sarah Cartwright speaking. How may I help you?"

Josie grins despite the heaviness of her own thoughts. "You could save me from eating lunch alone," she teases, but she suspects that Sarah can easily hear the hopefulness in her voice.

There's a beat of silence on the other end of the line before Josie hears what she thinks is a sigh. "I wish I could, but…"

"You're busy," Josie finishes for her with a frown, slumping back in her chair in defeat.

"I really am," Sarah confirms softly. "The firm started a huge restoration project last week in addition to the Chelsea Blue construction, and there's so much to be done. I'm going to be working really closely with Matt on the exterior designs for this one."

Josie's lips quirk into a small smile. "That's awesome, Sarah," she says earnestly. She's happy that Sarah's boss seems to value her talent—it bodes well for her future at the firm, even if Sarah is still planning to use the experience she gains there as a springboard into a reputable firm in Michigan.

"I'm really excited about it," Sarah confesses.

"I'm glad. Maybe I could take you out to celebrate?" Josie suggests, twirling the phone cord around her fingers. "When do you think a good day would be for us to get together?"

There's that damned silent pause again. "I...don't really know. It's kind of hard to predict my schedule right now."

Josie refuses to be deterred. "If lunch is bad for you, how about dinner? Whatever night you're available," she adds quickly.

"A…a friend dinner?" Sarah asks hesitantly.

Josie really wishes she'd refilled her coffee cup—or grabbed a bottle of water to keep at her desk—before she'd made this call, because her throat is suddenly dry, and she could really use a drink. "If…that's all you want it to be," she offers tentatively before taking a breath and taking the plunge. "But Sarah…the truth is…I really like you. A lot. I'm also very attracted to you, and I would love to take you out on a real date and see where it leads," she confesses.

The silence is really not her friend.

"I feel like there's something there between us," Josie continues gently, "and I think you feel it too, but if I'm wrong about that then just tell me now, and we can forget I ever said this and just have a friend dinner." Which is kind of a lie, because Josie knows that neither one of them will be forgetting this conversation happened, but she'd rather have Sarah as her friend than not at all.

When Sarah finally responds, her voice is barely more than a whisper. "You're not wrong."

Josie can't suppress her smile at the confession, and a flutter of happiness erupts in her belly. She's relieved to finally have the verification that this attraction between them isn't one sided. "I think we could have something really great, Sarah. Do you think you can give us a chance?"

The whispered, "Yeah," is more than enough to have Josie grinning like an idiot, and Sarah follows it up a second later with an even more certain, "Yes."

"Good. That's really good," Josie murmurs, closing her eyes in contentment. She has a really, really good feeling about this—like Sarah just might be the woman Josie can build a life with. Sarah is an architect, after all. Building things is kind of what she does. "When can I take you out?" she asks hopefully.

There's a little pause again, and Josie can almost picture Sarah nervously scraping her teeth over her lower lip. Even the imaginary version of it is adorable. "I guess…Saturday will work," Sarah finally agrees.

Josie throws a fist up in triumph, leaning back in her chair just a second after she pushes it off in a half spin. "Perfect," she gushes, planting her feet back on the floor and attempting to regain a little decorum instead of getting up and dancing around her office like she really wants. "I'll call you later and we can talk about the details, okay?"

"Okay," Sarah agrees, sounding a little more confident—a fact that makes Josie really happy.

"I'll let you get back to work now," she offers reluctantly. Lord knows she has her own pile of work to sift through. "Goodbye, Sarah. We'll talk soon," she promises.

Josie listens for the soft, "Yeah. Bye, Josie," and the click of the phone before she finally hangs up hers. Then she continues to ignore her work to sneak onto the internet and start researching first date ideas for a Saturday afternoon.

She intends for it to be the first of many.