A quick thanks to all the kind reviewers! I appreciate you all taking the time to review my little story, and I'm absolutely thrilled that it's been well received! Thank you thank you thank you! Reviews make my day, they really do! Also, another thank you to my beta reader Nic! You're awesome!

Chapter 6

"You ok?" Horatio inquired softly from his seat next to Samantha.

Samantha turned her bleary eyes to Horatio. "You had to book a flight that left at 5:00 a.m. didn't you?"

Horatio chuckled. "I'm sorry. We have to check in at the convention by Noon. The later flight would have cut things very close. Better too much time than not enough."

The low grunt from Samantha suggested she had other thoughts on the matter. She closed her eyes and soon found herself drifting off to sleep. Horatio couldn't help but watch Samantha sleep in the seat next to him. Her mouth was slightly parted and Horatio imagined some of the wicked things he wanted to do with that mouth. Horatio shook his head feeling quite a lot like a dirty old man. Take it easy Caine.

It was a full flight and Horatio had taken the window seat at Samantha's suggestion. "Weak bladder." She had said. Samantha sat next to him in the middle seat and an elderly gentleman with silver hair and kind brown eyes sat next to her on the isle. With some amusement, Horatio noticed Samantha's body begin to slide slowly down the seat. A small lurch in the plane sent Samantha's head crashing into Horatio's shoulder.

Samantha's eyes flew open and she lifted her head from Horatio's shoulder. "Oh, I'm sorry!"

"Not a problem." Horatio commented softly. "I'm used to being up this early… if you need a shoulder to sleep on, I don't mind in the least."

Samantha shook her head. "No that's ok, thanks. I'd probably end up drooling all over your shoulder."

Horatio nodded. "Ok."

It wasn't more than five minutes before Samantha settled back into her seat and once again her body made its slow rightward decent into Horatio's shoulder. This time, Horatio did his best to brace some of the impact and Samantha sighed in her sleep and snuggled deeper into Horatio's shoulder. Her hands automatically came up to cradle her head against his body. Horatio glanced over at the elderly gentleman who smirked at him from the other side of Samantha.

"Lucky man." The man said simply.

Feeling slightly guilty for not denying the comment, Horatio adjusted himself to a more comfortable position and wrapped his left arm snugly around Samantha. It wasn't long before Horatio too drifted off to sleep.

Horatio and Samantha slept for the duration of the flight. As the plane began it's decent into Minneapolis, a flight attendant walked down the isle to ready the passengers for landing. She stopped short at the site before her.

It was hard not to smile at the site of the red haired couple sleeping soundly in their seats. The man had his arms wrapped protectively around the woman as she slept soundly with her head on his chest. What a stunning couple, the flight attendant thought to herself.

Leaning forward slightly and smiling apologetically at the elderly gentleman in the isle seat, the flight attendant sought to wake them up. "Excuse me… Ma'am? Sir? We're beginning our decent into Minneapolis."

Horatio snorted softly as he woke, his eyes fluttering open as his head fell forward from its perch on the window. He reached up with one hand to rub the sleep from his face, finally glancing down at the woman who stirred softly against him.

Samantha sighed with contentment at the deeply masculine scent that assaulted her nostrils when she woke from her slumber. Frowning slightly, the fog in Samantha's mind began to clear and she remembered where she was. On a plane. With Horatio. Uh oh. Shifting her body out of his arms, Samantha glanced over at Horatio.

He smiled at her, the sleepy look in his eyes telling her he must have dozed off himself. "Good morning." He said softly, his deep baritone voice seeming an octave lower than normal.

She smiled back at him, resisting the urge to shudder with delight at the sound of his deeply masculine voice. Not to mention how good he looked with sleep tussled hair and a slightly unbuttoned shirt. "Good morning." She said. Glancing down at Horatio's chest, Samantha groaned in embarrassment. Horatio followed her line of site to the small wet patch that spotted his dark blue shirt. He promptly burst out laughing. Samantha couldn't possibly have been more mortified that she had managed to drool on Horatio, but she found herself joining him in his bought of laughter.

"I'm sorry." Samantha managed to sputter between fits of laughter.

Horatio wiped a tear from the corner of his eye as he finally got his laughter under control. "No harm done. It will dry." Glancing out the window, Horatio noticed the Minneapolis skyline.

Samantha glanced past him and smiled. "Sweet home Minnesota."

Horatio nodded and the two of them slipped into a comfortable silence until the plane landed.

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"I can carry my own bag you know." Samantha complained as she walked alongside Horatio through the Humphrey Terminal of the Minneapolis Airport.

He threw her a sideways glance. "I'm sure you can."

She narrowed her eyes at him but said nothing more about the bags. She could tell by the look on his face that arguing wasn't going to do any good. Horatio Caine was a gentleman in every sense of the word.

Walking through the sliding doors after a trip up the escalator, Samantha waved for a cab, which promptly pulled up to the loading zone. Placing the bags in the cab's trunk, Horatio requested the driver take them to the Grand Hotel in downtown Minneapolis.

Arriving at the hotel about twenty minutes later, Horatio paid the cab driver and smiled his thanks at the bellhops that promptly swarmed the cab to take their bags. Allowing Samantha to step through the doors, which were being held open by more hotel staff, Horatio followed her inside

"Can I help you, sir?" The hotel receptionist asked sweetly. Samantha couldn't help but think for a moment that the girl was too cheery for her own good.

"Yes, thank you." Horatio replied. "Horatio Caine and Samantha Higgins checking in please."

The receptionist typed their names into the computer. "Ah yes you're here for the convention." She frowned a moment as her eyes scanned a note on the computer screen. "Well Sir, we have a slight problem. Apparently a handful of our regular rooms have been double booked due to glitch in our computer system. The manager is of course ready to honor your reservations, but is only able to do so if you accept 2 single rooms at one of our sister hotels in the city, or are willing to take one of our two room suites at no extra charge."

Horatio turned and arched an eyebrow at Samantha, his expression clearly saying, "Well, what do you think?" though he hadn't said a word.

Samantha hoped her answer sounded as nonchalant as possible. "We can share a room." Samantha thought she saw a flicker of surprise pass over Horatio's face before he turned back to the receptionist.

"You heard the lady. The suite will be fine, thank you."

Smiling sweetly, the girl made the necessary corrections to the computer and handed them their room keys. "I'll have your bags brought to your room." Horatio was about to say thank you before Samantha's voice interrupted him.

"No need, thanks!"

Horatio turned in time to witness Samantha heading towards the elevator with both of their bags in toe. Sighing, Horatio darted off after Samantha and quickly relived her of his bag. He would have taken hers as well had it not been for the death grip she held it with and the defiant smile she flashed him when he realized she had no intention of letting him carry her bag. Horatio had a distinctive feeling it was going to be an interesting week.