Sam

When we closed our door, Pete passed out, fully clothed, on his bed and began snoring. "Great!" I moan, knowing that sleep won't come as quickly to me.

Going through my nightly routine, I have only one thing, or one beautiful blonde, on my mind. The more time we spend together, the more I want to be with Cindy, and when we kiss, damn! My entire body feels the wicked aftershocks of an earthquake.

It's only been a few days, but we spend practically twenty-four hours a day together; every day is like speed dating on steroids. I have to say that I've thoroughly enjoyed every second with her and am very excited to see where this goes. I also want to take my time getting to know her before we take this to the next level of intimacy. I want more than the physical passion. We're intellectually in harmony with each other, and our love for detective work outweighs any other relationship that I've ever been in.

I want to know what makes her tick, her fears, her accomplishments, and her best and worst days. What does she think about as she twists that damn pen between her pouty lips, when her brows furl as she's deep in thought, or the beautiful way her eyes flutter open after a deep, intense kiss.

My heart beats faster with every thought of her. I know, but I refuse to admit it to myself: I am falling and falling hard for the woman next door. She's slowly taking pieces of my heart, and I'm freely giving them to her. I lay in bed, put my hands behind my head, and dream of a bright future that includes the woman who has recently invaded every one of my thoughts.

***

My alarm goes off too early for being on vacation, but Cindy and I have a meeting with the FBI. I quickly turn off the evasive noise and chuckle as I watch Pete turn over, still fully clothed from last night. I quietly grab a change of clothes and go to the bathroom to shower. After I'm ready, I leave Pete to his dreams as I anticipate seeing the one who occupies mine.

I step out into the corridor, and a moment later, I see Cindy sneak out of her stateroom and gently shut her door. I smile when she sees me. "Good morning, beautiful!"

Cindy's freshly washed, makeup-free face radiates warmth as she returns my smile with one of her own. "Good morning, handsome!"

I reach for her as I admire the floral sundress and matching sandals she is wearing with a loose braid cascading down her sun-kissed back. I lightly touch the smooth surface of her bare shoulder.

She shivers as I glide the tips of my fingers down her arm before grasping her delicate hand. "Shall we?"

She giggles and grips my hand. "We shall."

On her other hand, she has her bag. I can see in the notebook that she took meticulous notes about the staff members we looked into yesterday. We go to the deck where the Captain informed us to go. At the door, where it reads 'Employees Only,' is standing Dave, the head of security we met with yesterday. He escorts us to a meeting room. Inside is the Captain, his officers, and two gentlemen in suits who I assume are the FBI agents.

The Captain smiles when he sees us enter. "Good morning, Sam and Cindy. Let me introduce you to FBI agents Andrew Cash and Agent Nick Lowell. Agents, this is Detective Sam Kidwell and Cindy Powell from San Diego."

Both of the agents greet us. The agent, introduced as Andrew Cash, reaches his hand out first. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Captain Swaid said incredible things about you both. Thank you for taking time out of your vacation to assist us in this investigation."

After introductions, we sit at the large table in the middle of the room. Since Cindy and I are essentially considered citizens and have no jurisdiction in this matter, we only report our findings. Then, the FBI will pick up the investigation.

We decided to have Cindy report our findings to the FBI, considering part of her job with Benson is to do just that. Her professionalism and detailed account of our efforts yesterday was remarkable. I could see by the looks on the gentlemen's faces around this meeting table that they were surprised and impressed as hell by the efficiency and well-versed abilities of such a gorgeous woman.

She finished and pushed all of our findings over towards Agent Cash. He smiled. "Thank you very much. I'm impressed with you both. You two went above and beyond to help us in this capacity. We can't begin to express how much we appreciate the effort you put into this for us. Do you mind if we contact you with questions? We'll not be offended if you don't want to be bothered for the remainder of your vacation."

I look over towards Cindy, and she smiles knowingly at me. "We would be happy to assist you with anything else you need."

We stand, knowing that we are no longer needed here. Everyone else stands with us, shakes our hands, and thanks us for all our work on their behalf. I take Cindy's hand, and we exit the meeting room. Dave once again escorts us to the door we entered. As we leave, the hair on my neck stands up. I get a feeling that someone is watching us. Cindy looks right at me with what I am assuming is the same look that mirrors my own.

We both begin to glance around, taking in our surroundings. Crew members are coming and going. Some faces we can see, and some we can't. Some are recognizable, and some are not. We went through a lot of names yesterday, which means that we saw many faces. The three faces that stick out are Will Grant, Daniel Marcus, and Doctor Paul Williams. Unfortunately, I don't see any one of them.

Once the elevator doors close as we go to breakfast, I break the silence. "What the hell just happened?"

She looks at me with wide eyes. "Whatever it was, it freaked me out. Was the unsub there? He was, wasn't he?"

I nod, "I felt he was there too. Did you see any of our suspects?"

"No, I didn't. Did you?" She asks, and I swear I hear the fear in her voice.

I pull her close. "No, I didn't."

"If he saw us leaving the employees-only area and put two and two together, he might see us as a threat." She looks up at me with tears in her eyes. "We don't know what this man is capable of."

I hug her tighter. "I promise I will not let anything happen to you."

While I intend to keep this promise to her, would she allow me to be at her side every second of every day for the remainder of this cruise? I'm sure as hell hope so because I don't plan on taking my eyes off of her.

*****