Katie and Tommy, sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G.

As annoying as it was for someone as eloquent as Rick Castle, it was the only thing that sprang to his mind as he watched Beckett lean toward Demming to press her lips to his. It was the childish soundtrack to his heart clenching and he looked away, knowing he couldn't stay and watch. Not only was this a private moment, but if she turned and found him there, it would be awkward, it would be humiliating and she would see exactly what it was doing to him. So he walked toward anywhere but here, this place where he could see the kiss. He stopped and turned to assess where that left him and he saw Beckett walking on the other side of the glass. She had that soft smile on her lips, the happy one women usually had after they'd kiss someone they liked, the one he wanted to see directed at him, not at the robbery detective.

Castle walked faster in the break room as Beckett almost gained on him and he started to pretend her had been making coffee all along, giving himself a minute to breath around the lump his male vanity would never let him admit to.

"Castle?"

He turned to her and he hoped to God he didn't look as pitiful as he felt.

"What are you still doing here?"

"I was just about to leave myself."

No need to tell her he'd been waiting for her, wanting to invite her to this little Vietnamese place he just knew she'd love. Instead he did what good partners do, even though she had yet to admit he was her partner.

"Good job on closing the case."

"Yeah, well, we make a good team."

That was his Beckett, generous to a fault, sharing the glory with him even if though they both knew she's the one who had figured it all out. Rick gave her the smile she was probably expecting and agreed, even though a large part of him could feel his days as her partner being numbered.

"Yeah. Goodnight."

"Thanks. Night."

He watched her walk away and his smile sank with his heart. She was walking lightly, with a subtle sway to her hips. The way she walked always caught his eye, It was nice to look at, but there was something more, the confidence of a woman who knew she was wanted and who wanted back, it was easy to miss, but it was there. So were the little changes in her appearance. Her hair was the most obvious one; the tousled curls giving her a somewhat just bedded look that appeal to him on a basic level. Then her face was made up stormier, darker, sexier. Her clothing had an edge; the red top she'd worn the day before with that necklace had just begged to be looked at.

She was knowingly becoming more beautiful, which, considering who he was thinking about, was saying a hell of a lot. Kate Beckett was gorgeous. He had always known she was beautiful. He had wanted her from the first moment he had seen her for that reason. for many other later, but he had always seen it. Now, it was like she was more aware of it than ever before in their partnership and it suited her well. It made her even more irresistible to him than before.

The elevator doors closed on her and he let go of the cup he was holding as a prop, sighing as he did. He didn't do lovesick puppy all that well and heartbroken fool even less. He'd been at that point in his life only twice before: Kyra and Meredith. The first because she'd been his first love, the other because she'd given him the biggest blessing in his life. The fact that he was here, right now, with Beckett said one thing: it was real. She didn't really want to believe he did real, preferring to think he could just upset the apple cart, as she'd so gently put it (yeah, he'd gotten it), but truth was he did real better than anyone ever could for her and damn it, he was going to.

Rick strode out of the break room and walked out to the elevator ready to face the challenge of winning Kate Beckett, not to notch his bed post, but because it was real. Until the day she chose to marry Tom Demming he still had a chance, so he would take it.

Katie and Tommy, sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G.

Not on his life!