For a few brief moments Richard Castle found himself staring at Beckett. She was beautiful, just beautiful enough forget his anger. The strapless dress only quelled the hurt that was in his heart. A lie was a lie and he reminded himself of that fact. For the shortest time, he felt a hint of jealousy when he watched her walk away with Collin. You have Jacinda and at least she isn't so complicated that you can't understand her, he reminded himself. Still the anger raged that she would have to nerve to keep that to herself.

Once the case wrapped up, he found himself as ticked as he was before. Richard was on the phone while Scotland Yard and Kate said their good byes. He was too busy talking to Jacinda to notice that Kate had made up a bad excuse to not go with Collin for a drink. For the faintest moment, she seemed to care more for him than she did the agent.

He walked over to her to say good night and out the door he went. Jacinda was waiting on his with a huge smile on her face. Jacinda was what he needed right now. He needed someone who let him know where he stood with her. The bubbly blonde was way simpler than what he had with Kate. It was complicated with her.

"How does a drink sound Rick?" the blonde asked cheerfully.

"Sounds great. I know just the place." Richard smiled a forced smile.

"Anyway you say is great must be." The blonde clearly aimed to please.

At the Old Haunt…

"What made you change your mind Kate? I thought you had a lot of paperwork to do." Collins English accent caught her attention.

"It has been a long week and I needed a drink." Kate answered, trying to hide the brewing storm that was in full swing in her mind.

"I am just glad that you called me all the same. Ladies as beautiful as you are worth the call." Kate tried hard to accept Collin's compliment.

"Thank you. I appreciate the compliment." Kate forced a smile onto her face.

Kate ordered her drink and sat down in a booth with Collin hoping that some good conversation would cheer her up. A good upbeat conversation with a man as good looking and charming as him might well take her mind off of what was bothering her most.

Just as she was getting lost in the conversation, her attention turned to the door. There was that bubbly blonde on Castle's arm. She forced herself to pay attention to Collin. Castle was clearly losing interest in her and he showed no interest "coming back.

At the Old Haunt Bar…

"A wine for the beautiful lady and a scotch please." Richard looked into the mirror above the bar.

Kate was sitting with Collin having a pleasant conversation it appeared. She was smiling, but the smile was clearly forced. Had he not been subtle enough for her not see why he was angry? Was she so completely clueless to her own betrayal? The bar tender got his distracted attention and handed him the two drinks. He made up his mind that he was going to charm Jacinda and possibly enjoy a bit of physical fun.

"You bought this place Rick? It is so nice." Jacinda pointed out after a drink of her wine.

"I have been coming here for years. When I found out that this place was at risk of being shut down, I bought it. This place is so historic." Richard smiled proudly.

"Isn't that the lady from the police station?" Jacinda pointed to the booth behind them.

"I think so." Richard tried to play it off as though he had not noticed.

Richard chose to nurse his drink in silence unaware that he had unnerved Jacinda. The look in her eyes let him know that he had better do something to reassure her of his interest. He would have asked her over to his apartment for the night. He could not do it with Kate not far away.

"Are you okay Rick?" Jacinda put her drink down with a look of concern.

"I am fine. I am just tired is all." He put his arm around her shoulders to draw her close to him.

"I could make you tired if you let me." Jacinda's body language was suggestive in every way.

His mind was clearly up for the distraction, but his heart was not going along with it at all. His heart was having no part of it. Jacinda may have been everything Rick could physically want in a woman but she was not Kate. His irritation with his own messed up heart must have found its way outside of his mind.

"I have a flight tomorrow Rick. When I get back, we can go back to my place." Jacinda was clearly making a hasty escape.

"I am so sorry. I am usually livelier than this but it has been a long week and I am tired." Rick apologized, in a vain effort to make her stay.

"You have no need to apologize. I know how long a week can be and I know when sleep is required. I will call you when I get back." Jacinda kissed him on the cheek and left her glass on the bar.

He waved as she walked away and gulped down his drink hard. In his mind, he was calling him every variation of the word "idiot." He had chased off a gorgeous woman and made himself lonely for the night all because of Kate. He drank for the remainder of the time he was there without ever looking behind him.

In the booth…

"You okay Kate?" Collin asked

"I am fine really. I don't get out much these days. I am practically married to my job. Relaxing don't always come easy." Kate answered in her efforts to keep him with her.

"We have that in common. I don't get out much myself. This job demands a lot of attention." Collin smiled at her.

Kate tried to come up with something in response but her mind was elsewhere. Collin was easy on the eyes but the chemistry between them was not the same as it was when she was with Richard. The distance Castle had put between them was taking its toll and she tried hard to hide it in Collin's presence.

"Level with me Kate. What is going on with you right now?" Collin was to the point about her behavior.

"What do you mean? I am just a little tired from the week." Kate tried to hide it but it showed even more.

"I got to get back to the hotel anyway to get some rest before I return to London. Call me if you are ever in London. It would my treat to show you around." Collin merely smiled at her and left her in the booth by herself.

At the bar…

Richard sat there with his third drink angry at himself for scaring off Jacinda and madder at Kate for making him this way. If not for the fact she carried that secret, he and Kate would be sharing a drink together instead of with two people they had minimal interest in. He would have said what he needed to say after that fateful case and they might have been closer than what they were now.

He sat there stewing so long that he had finally had enough stewing and he had to speak his mind. It might not change what had already happened, but at least he could say that he got it off his chest. He was going to let her have it because she deserved that. She was putting him through his own personal version of hell.

He put a twenty into the tip jar and turned to the booth where Kate was staring into space. He would not let that lost look keep him from doing what he needed to do to cure himself of this affliction that haunted him. He had to cure himself of her and all her charms.

The darkness inside his mind and the light in his heart continued to fight with each step he took toward her. He knew he was a little drunk but he had to do this for his own state of mind.

"Castle…I didn't see you here." Kate's gaze fell on his face as he stood at the end of the booth.

"Jacinda had a flight and had to go." Richard tried to hide the darkness with light smile.

"Collin has to fly back to London so he headed back to his hotel room." Kate was trying equally as hard to avoid the unseen issue.

"Why did you lie to me?" the hurt and anger found their way out of the dark caverns in his mind.

"Collin did have to go back to…" Kate clearly had missed the point of the question.

"I don't mean about Collin. When did you remember?" Richard practically whispered.

The look on Kate's face was of pure shock. She had not realized that he had heard her clear as day. She had clearly not realized where he had been when she was interrogating the suspect that day.

"When did you remember? Were my feelings a joke to you?" Richard held back the most violent of his anger.

There were tears coming from her eyes. He was not sure if they were crocodile tears or genuine ones.

"I remembered not long after I recovered. I heard you. I never took them as a joke or something to laugh about. I just did not know what to with it." Kate's anguish appeared to be genuine and sincere.

"You should have told me. I needed to know. You chose to keep me guessing. You deceived me. If you had any feelings for me at all, you would not have done that to me. I thought I knew you but I guess I never did." Richard looked intensely into her eyes.

"I'm sorry Rick. I wish there was more that I could say." Kate's head was in her hands.

"If you have any feelings at all for me, you will allow me one thing. If I kissed you now, would you feel anything or would you lie to me about that too?" Richard knew that he was beyond drunk if he was allowing himself to be tortured this way.

"Castle, you are drunk and I would not do anything to hurt you any further. If you kissed me right now, I would feel more than I have in a long time. Hell I would feel more than what words could convey." Kate answered looking into his eyes.

Castle wasn't sure what to think at the moment. He wanted to kiss her but he would not put himself through more hell than he had already been through. His hands found their way to her face against his will. He was looking into her eyes, about to make another foolish mistake. He was just inches from her mouth when he forced himself to let go and walk away.

He left Kate sitting alone with her own regrets and own realizations. How would she be tomorrow?

Spoilers from Season 3 include Last Call (3x10) and Knockout (3x23). Season Four spoilers include 47 Seconds (4x18) and The Limey (4x19).