In A Song: All I Ask Of You

All I Ask of You pt 4
Note: character thoughts are enclosed in *

Sara stared at the door Grissom had just closed between them in disbelief. *“What the hell was that?”* It certainly wasn’t how she expected the night to end. The whole day was a dream come true and she anticipated a lot more after coming back to the suite with the man she had been in love with for years. *Maybe I was right the first time. Maybe I’m reading way too much into this.* She fought back her emotions, slipped out of her dress and into her shorts and tank top. Padding off to the bathroom to take her make up off, she remembered two days ago when she heard him in his bedroom and smiled. *This is silly. I’m not wrong. It may have been his own hand on his dick but it was my name he was calling. So if he wants me, what is he doing?*

Grissom leaned heavily against the closed door as he removed his tie. Pulling away from Sara this time was the hardest by far. He wanted nothing more than to make love to her, to possess her completely. But no matter what his libido insisted, his head and heart said he still needed to prove himself to her. She deserved that much, and so much more. He was hanging his suit up when he heard Sara in the bathroom and water running. His hand was on his door to go to her when he stopped. *No. This can’t happen tonight. Not like this. She can’t think tonight was about getting her into bed. No matter how much I want her.* He flips his laptop open and starts making plans for the day with Sara with several alternatives, just in case.

The next morning Sara woke to the smell of fresh coffee and smiled. Last night had been the most perfect date she had ever been on, and was now topped off with fresh coffee. It’s the simple things that make life worth living after all. *Either that or I’m just easy.* She pulls on a pair of jean cut offs and a tank top and goes out to indulge in her morning caffeine fix. She froze when she saw Grissom sitting in the living room of the suite. *Oh my God. If sexy was a crime, that man would have a life sentence.* Grissom sat next to the table with his feet propped up on the second chair while he worked on a crossword puzzle. He wore a t-shirt and jeans and his feet were bare. He looked so casual and so utterly sexy Sara could feel the heat rising deep within her.

Grissom looked up from his crossword puzzle and smiled at her. *As if the man wasn’t sexy enough just sitting there, he had to smile.* “Good morning. I thought the smell of coffee would wake you.”

Sara sipped her coffee and looked out the window. “So what is the plan for today Dr. Grissom?” “Well I thought about taking a drive out to near here, spend the day there, and there is a concert in the park across the river this evening I really want to go to.”

“Why? Don’t tell me, classical music outside is relaxing.”

Grissom laughed. “Well it is, but this concert isn’t classical. It’s fun.”

Sara turned to him stunned. “Are my ears playing tricks on me, or did the word fun just come out of your mouth?”

It didn’t take them long to organize their trip to the park and get on their way. An hour later they pulled into Hickory Creek Wilderness Ranch and got their things to do some hiking. At least that was what Grissom had planned, but when Sara saw the horses the plan was gone.

“Come on Grissom. I haven’t been horseback riding in ages. It’ll be fun.” How she talked him into it, he never could figure it out. But there he was on a horse for the first time in his life. Luckily the staff leading the trail ride were used to beginners. Only a short time into the ride Sara looked back at Grissom and saw he looked relaxed and was smiling. She slowed her own horse to allow him to catch up so they could talk. “Are you sure you’ve never done this before?”

“Yes I’m sure. This isn’t exactly something I would forget doing. But you’re right this is fun. And the scenery is beautiful.”

After the ride they returned to the lodge to shower and change before going out to lunch. Sara was surprised when Grissom stopped at a park and pulled a basket and blanket out of the trunk. They found a spot under a tree on top of a hill. At the bottom of the hill Sara could see some vendors and a stage already set up. After lunch Grissom packed up the basket and he stretched out on the blanket waiting for the concert to start.

“So Griss do I get a hint as to what concert we’re at?”

She looked over at him lying on the blanket, his hands behind his head and smiling. She knew his eyes were sparkling behind his sunglasses. “It’s not a big secret Sara. Jimmy Buffett is playing.”

“Wait a sec. The bug guy who listens to opera arias in the office and gives Greg a hard time about his music is at a Buffett concert? Now I know something is wrong because Dr. Grissom wouldn’t do this.”

Grissom stood up. “You’re right. I can’t listen to a concert like this. Wait here.” He walked down the hill and Sara lost sight of him in the crowd. The first band was just starting when she saw Grissom walking back up the hill carrying a box. He sat it down on the edge of the blanket and resumed his position lying down next to her. He reached into the box, pulled out two cold beers and opened them, handing Sara one before tucking his hand back under his head. “Now I can listen to Buffett.” He glanced over at her and chuckled at her expression, which was somewhere between disbelief and a beached fish. “Sara you really should relax. How many times have I mentioned you need a diversion from work?”

She laughed and took a sip of her beer. “Well figuring out the puzzle that is Grissom has been my diversion. But it seems that on this trip I’m finding out that the pieces I had figured were wrong.”

Grissom repositioned himself so he was leaning back on the picnic basket and pulled Sara over closer to him so she was leaning against his shoulder with his arm around her. “So you’re finding out that things you know about me are wrong?”

“Yep and it’s a little unsettling too.”

“Like what?”

Sara glanced over her shoulder at him. “Like you pay attention to what people are saying in the break room. I thought you were in your own world and didn’t. I knew you drank scotch or good wine, but never pictured you kicked back on a blanket with a beer. The stuff you told me about your aunt and your college roommate hit me from out of left field too. I mean it’s so normal. Everyone in the lab expects everything about you to be so, I don’t know, different.”

Grissom chuckled, “What did you expect me to be spouting Latin at age 3 or something?”

“Griss you finished a PhD in Biology at 22. You played poker to finance a body farm. You watched boxing to learn about blood spatter. You don’t do anything else the way everyone else does. Why would we think anything about you is normal?”

Grissom finished his beer and put it back into the box. “You’re right. I guess I thought if anyone was really interested about something about me, you would ask.”

“Oh yeah like that works. When we had that case at the deaf school I asked you if you were going to tell us how you know how to sign, and you said no. No one asks you anything personal because you don’t answer normally. Anything we have found out about you has been case related, and even then it isn’t much.”

Grissom looked down at the woman in his arms and smirked. “So what would you like to know? I can promise you that anything you ask, I will answer.”

Sara sat up and turned to him. “That’s sweet Griss, but it isn’t just me. The whole team has been trying to get to know you for years.”

He smirked and looked down at the blanket. “I know. I’m not used to people wanting to get to know me, not the real me anyway. Having people around who don’t want anything from me is hard for me to handle.”

“So why do it now? Why me?”

Grissom took a deep breath. “You would ask me that. After you were trapped in that room with that maniac and I thought he was going to slit your throat, it hit me that something could happen to you and you wouldn’t know how I felt about you. After Nicky was taken it really hit home that anything could happen to any of us. There are so many parts of the job that we can’t control. Sure the cops clear the scene, but things can still go wrong. After we found Nick and knew he was all right, I promised myself I was going to try harder with everyone, but especially with you. I really want to make this work, Sara. I’ve been a coward far too long.”

She leaned forward and captured his lips with hers with an insistent kiss. His fingers tangled in her hair as he held her head and his tongue gently brushed against her lower lip. Sara tried to deepen the kiss, but he pulled back before she could do more than brush her own tongue against his lips leaving her groaning in frustration. He smiled and pushed her hair back behind her ear. “We are in public so we should behave ourselves.” She smiled back at him and leaned back against his chest once again.

The concert was spectacular and Sara had a wonderful time. She hadn’t had that much fun at a concert in a long time. On the way back to the hotel Grissom stopped by a convenience store for gas and Sara went in for drinks. On her way to the counter a rack of small boxes caught her eye. Her mind wandered back to the concert, the feel of Grissom’s arms around her, leaning against his solid chest, and that smell that is uniquely Grissom. Her stomach got that familiar flutter and her heart began to pound. A wicked smile blossomed across her face as she thought of a plan to get just what she wanted, and she had six days to do it.