Cooper took a few long strides ahead of Sarah to open the door for her, then followed her out onto the lawn.<br/><br/>"So. These are the grounds. Immaculately kept, still very much like they were when The Place was first built. It was a fortification, obviously, as you can see from the high walls and the complicated access path. Lots of places to, um, shoot arrows. From."<br/><br/>They strolled across the lawn and Cooper extemporized as fast as he could. He noted every feature of the grounds and buildings, taking his best guess as to their original function based on what little he still remembered from his military history classes, and spun what he hoped was a believable yarn about The Place's past - about which he knew exactly bupkes. After all, it wasn't like anybody had presented him with an employee handbook.<br/><br/>A number of wrought iron pergolas stood around a large granite bird bath, and Cooper took advantage of the symphony of song from the birds gathered there to stop nattering. This was getting ridiculous, he reflected. He had no idea what he was talking about, and it wouldn't be long before Sarah couldn't fail to notice. If she hadn't already.<br/><br/>It had occurred to him at some point that what Mel had actually been saying was "invite her up to your room, fool". Even if he had realized what she meant at the time, he knew it would have been just too weird to make that offer to a girl he had just met. But maybe he had found a plausible segue here - from where they stood, the small patio outside his room was visible. As they had chatted, he had definitely warmed to the girl. And having had the chance to surreptitiously observe her luscious form from every angle as they paused to sniff flowers, he was surely eager to see more of her.<br/><br/>"You know, Sarah," he said as offhandedly as he could manage, "That's my room up there overlooking the grounds. It's got a great view. Care to stop up?"