Holy crap, she was cold. Her nose was pink and runny. She couldn't feel her ears. Her wet clothes were stiff from the below-freezing temperatures. She'd only gotten wet minutes before, but she was already having flashbacks to when she and Castle were stuck in the freezer. They were hurrying as fast as they could to her car, and she could hear Castle's teeth chattering as he jogged next to her.
Fumbling with her keys with her numb fingers, she finally got the Crown Vic unlocked and cranked. She didn't bother to wait for it to warm at all; she just jumped straight into traffic and aimed the car toward Castle's building. Honestly and truly, the destination was picked only because it was closer than her place or the precinct. They needed to get warm and dry as quickly as possible. She caught a look at his face when she checked to change lanes, and his lips were blueish.
Finally, the vents began blowing air that was warmer… at least, it was warmer than they were. As the car warmed, their shivering calmed (though it didn't stop altogether), and they began getting feeling back in their extremities. Neither of them spoke.
Their warmth didn't last, for they had to bolt through the cold parking deck to reach the entrance to the building. Still silent, they rode the elevator up with their bodies nearly touching, hoping that closeness would help them warm up. Castle dropped his keys while trying to unlock his door, but Beckett didn't chide him for it. She still couldn't feel her fingers very much.
He opened the door but let her go through first, and they practically sprinted in seemingly pre-determined directions. Kate ran up the stairs straight to the guest room's shower, and Castle to his own shower. Both turned on the spray before beginning to undress, hoping to thaw without spending another second in icy clothes. The water was painfully hot almost instantly in both showers, and the cold, wet clothes were peeled off quickly.
As Kate adjusted the water's temperature so the warmth didn't scald her near-frozen skin, she finally began to breathe regularly. The cold had given her a headache, and her shallow breathing made her chest ache. Slowly, she warmed. Slowly, she relaxed. She flicked the plug down and let the tub begin to fill with warm water, sitting and hoping to warm up faster. As she thawed, she adjusted it slowly to hot. Leaning back and finally beginning to feel human again, she considered where she was.
Castle had done much the same, only he plugged the tub immediately. The hot water hurt his cold feet, but warmed him faster. Quickly, he submerged himself in the deep soaking tub, even pulling his head underwater to warm his nose and lips and ears. And he considered where Kate was.
His tub was big enough for two, and had been used by two on more than one occasion. The jets practically made it into an indoor hot tub. Yet, Kate was upstairs in the guest shower, and neither of them had even thought about warming up together. Well, not really, he'd thought it, but he was too dang cold to even bother joking about it. Shutting off the tap, he soaked for a good twenty minutes before he decided he was warm enough to get out. He pulled on the plush cobalt blue robe that was hanging on the hook in the bathroom, and made his way out to find some clothes. He was fantasizing about getting on some warm socks first, maybe five pair, then boxers and pants, maybe three layers, and then shirts, an undershirt, tee-shirt, and sweatshirt, then the robe over it. Maybe then his brain really would believe his body had actually warmed up.
But when he opened the door from the bathroom to his bedroom, he saw Kate, in his closet, looking through his clothes, wearing the big white robe he'd brought home from their trip to Los Angeles, and apparently wearing some of Alexis's socks. Now, why did he find her so damn sexy looking like that?
In the tub, she'd settled in, hoping for a long soak. She wondered how long Castle would leave her alone before he came knocking to see if she'd drowned. He'd probably crack open the door to "look in on her to make sure she was okay." Or maybe he would be more bold and go ahead and bring her a glass of wine and let her soak. He could bring a book with him and read to her while she relaxed. Now wouldn't that be a fantasy come true?
Maybe it really would happen one day. She'd been flirting openly enough lately that he knew she was making forward progress toward being able to have the kind of relationship she wanted. But while he was happy about that, and they were even more comfortable and familiar with one another, still "nothing" had happened. Plenty had happened, really, but nothing like the infamous Page 105. Not even a kiss. So why was she thinking about him coming in there while she soaked? Or maybe she should just go join him in his ginormous tub. Mmmm. That would be perfectly delicious. They'd warm up in no time.
Tempted. She was so tempted. To the point that she wasn't enjoying her soak. She decided she was warm enough and gave up on trying to relax alone. Donning the robe and some fuzzy socks that were folded on Alexis's bed (she saw them from the hall), she slipped into Rick's room. So very tempted. She stood outside of his bathroom door, wanting to just go in. But she couldn't do it. She just couldn't. Dangit.
So she decided instead to wear his clothes and surprise him. Flicking up the lightswitch to his closet, she shook her head at the man's clothes. Stylish suits, dress shirts (wouldn't he like to see her in one of those), Khakis and blazers, and jeans all hung neatly. Cherrywood shelves held folded tee-shirts, flannel night pants, and sweat shirts. As she reached for some warm looking sweats, she noticed some odd looking clothes hanging in the next section of the closet. Costumes. There were almost as many of them as there were Armani suits. One in particular caught her interest.
"Rick, what is this?" He jumped. He didn't know she'd seen him standing there watching her. And he really didn't know if child-like glee or embarrassment was the right tone to take when answering her question.
Please review! I'm addicted to them. I love them like a fat kid loves cake. Ooh. Sorry. Too much Adam Sandler influence today.