Disclaimer: Some imagine CSI to belong to them, but I only dream about it. "I am accustomed to sleep and in my dreams to imagine the same things lunatics imagine when awake." Rene Descartes.

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13

At the end of shift, she walked into Grissom's office to find him milling over some paperwork, "So, you call me in to go to a scene so you can come back here and do paperwork while I process the evidence?"

He looked up at the beautiful woman walking toward him. Memories of their kiss had lingered on his mind all day and were distracting him from doing what he needed to do. "I, uh, need to do your evaluation."

She sat down in the chair opposite him, "And?"

In a hushed voice, "And I'm finding it a little difficult to be impartial with thoughts of…earlier events, running through my mind."

After getting up and closing his office door, "Griss, my work hasn't changed. What we do outside of work has no bearing on what we do while at work. Whatever you have to say to me or have to write on my evaluation, I can take it. But, uh, I am glad that you are somewhat distracted."

Without a word, he dropped the open manila folder in front of her on his desk. After a few minutes of reading, she picked up a pen and signed in the designated spot. "Don't you want to talk about it?"

"Why? You stated in here that I'm very dedicated and well educated. On the flipside, I have a problem with prioritizing and getting emotionally vested in my cases. None of that is inaccurate. There's nothing to talk about."

"Well, that was easy."

"I try."

With a smirk, "I'll keep that in mind." After a moment, "I'm glad that you stopped by before you left, by the way. I mean, other than the fact that I needed to get this done."

"Uh, Griss, I didn't have a choice."

"What do you mean?"

"You picked me up today, remember?"

"Sorry. My thoughts were about the events in the kitchen, not the fact that you don't have a car here."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Good, but back to my point. I don't want you to be mad, and if you are, then I apologize ahead of time and I can change it." 'Please don't let her be mad,' he added to himself.

"Change what?"

After carefully choosing his words, "I, uh, took the liberty of getting you tonight off, since you worked last night for me."

"Oh."

"I also have the night off and I was hoping that we could spend some time together." He silently added, 'Actually, I'd like to spend every second with you,'

"Hmm."

"I do have a plan in mind, if you're not upset. Are you?" He held his breath as he waited for her response. He'd been planning this for days and only hoped she'd go along with his plan. Getting her the night off had been easy because Catherine needed to switch her night off to be with Lindsey tonight and was more than willing to work for Sara the next day. He knew calling Sara in would be no problem. So far, his plan was unfolding perfectly. Now he waited, as if his life depended on it, for the last puzzle piece to fall into place.

"Upset because I get to spend an evening with you instead of working? Not in this lifetime."

After a sigh of relief and a silent 'yes!' his nerves calmed, "Good. Come on, I'll tell you about my plans on the way."

He watched her through the rearview mirror as he drove away from her apartment with excitement running through him about his plans for their evening. He knew that he needed to get some sleep, but he had a couple things to do first. During their drive, he'd simply told her that he wanted to pick her up around six for a proper date. Careful not to ruin his surprise, he'd divulged as little information as possible.

For the first time in his life he was actually celebrating Valentine's Day and wondered whether Sara even realized that the day existed. She hadn't mentioned the upcoming holiday all week and didn't say a word about it when he was talking about his plans for the evening either. Was she, like he, celebrating the holiday for the first time? Not that that mattered to him. All that mattered was that, this year, she was celebrating with him and he planned on this being the first of many years to come. He just needed to make sure he convinced her that he was worth celebrating with.

With that in mind, he was off to the dry cleaners to pick up his suit and that he'd dropped of the day before then to Hallmark. After he finished his shopping, he headed home for some much-needed sleep.

After a couple hours of intermitted naps, the ring of his cell phone woke him up. "Grissom."

"Hey, it's Jim. Did I wake you up?"

"Sort of. What do you need, Jim? It's my night off."'

"I know, but I got a dead body and no one to investigate. Everyone's busy."

"Call someone from days or swing. I'm not coming in tonight."

"You kidding me?"

"Nope. And don't call Sara, either."

"Hmm. So, you just happen to know that she's busy, too?"

"Yes, I do."

"Yeah, well, I already called her. She's on her way."

He sat straight up, "What?"

"Just messin' with you, Gil. Calm down. She said she had plans. Figured you might know something about that."

With a sigh of relief, "Yes, I do."

"My buddy, Gil, has a date on Valentine's Day. Congrats!"

"Thanks."

"What are your plans?"

"Where are you?"

"Don't worry. No one can hear me. So?"

"I booked the penthouse at the Mirage."

"Wow! You move fast."

"Cut it, Jim. I want to have a fancy dinner with her, but I'm not ready for the whole public 'thing' yet. The Mirage has excellent food and they provide in-room meals. I chose the penthouse because it has two bedrooms in case we want to stay the night. You should know me better than to think I'd trap a woman into sleeping with me."

"I do. I just like finally being able to give you a hard time about a girlfriend. You know, they have a spa, too. Did you get her a package?"

"Sara doesn't like spas; the germs."

"Ah! That figures. What did you get her then, since I know you're not proposing?" After a short silence, "You're not are you?"

"Why would it be shocking if I did?"

"Because I know you. And if you're not ready for the public 'thing', then you're not ready for marriage."

Jim was the only person, besides his mother, who could read him. They'd become very close over the years and at this moment he was really glad he had someone to talk to about Sara. "Hmm. Well, you're right, I'm not proposing. I bought her an anklet."

"Sounds like you. Something she can always wear and no one else will ever see."

"Don't make it sound so bad."

"It's not bad, it's just you. You're private: nothing wrong with that. So, call me tomorrow, let me know how it goes."

"You got it."