Title: Decisive Beckett

Pairing: R. Castle and K. Beckett

Summary: Castle draws the attention of a beautiful young woman, which forces Beckett to face reality.

She was graceful, long limbs with a perfect figure, a breath taking face with ruby red lips and sparkling eyes. She drew me in somehow, I had no idea how but it had happened somehow.

She was the owner of the empty warehouse where our latest victim had been found, and of course she had to be questioned.

Something which I would not complain about, after all I wouldn't have met her if she hadn't been questioned and the events that followed our meeting wouldn't have happened.

3 Days Ago:

Daphne Smith was a stunning woman; her crystal clear blue eyes immediately captivated me. As I sat beside Beckett in one of the interview rooms with Ms Smith across from us, I simply couldn't take my eyes off of her. And of course Kate Beckett being the observant person she was had noticed.

We had left the interview room, Beckett with her notes in hand and from the look on her face it was easy to see that she was upset. But the puzzling part was why exactly.

"What was that back there Castle?" She asked furiously, her hard glare almost making me take a step back.

"What was what exactly?" I asked feeling slightly confused, although I had a slight idea what this was about.

"You were making eyes at her!" Beckett hissed furiously, her gaze moving off of me to somewhere over my shoulder.

Looking over my shoulder to see what had suddenly gotten her attention, my eyes landed on none other than Daphne Smith who was making her way towards us with a pleasant smile on her face.

"Maybe we could get some coffee sometime?" She asked softly holding out a business card to me.

"Um… Yeah." I replied, trying to offer my most charming smile to the woman as I took her business card from her.

Of course my day had gone downhill from that point onwards, Beckett had been livid with me. And I had hated it, when she was mad at me I couldn't stand it; I would do anything to make it right between us again.

But that hadn't happened, I had tried to get back into her good graces but nothing had worked. I had cheered up when I arrived home though, being around my family always made me feel better.

In a moment that I wouldn't ever be able to explain I had dialled the number on the business card that I had accepted from Daphne Smith.

It had been a strange moment in some ways, I had been sitting at my desk trying to finish the latest chapter of the new Nikki Heat book but all I could think about was Kate Beckett. She had been so curt towards me during the day, and I honestly didn't want to mope around feeling sorry for myself the whole night.

And so I had called the stunningly attractive woman who had given me her number earlier that day and had arranged to meet her for that coffee she had mentioned.

2 Days Ago:

I was feeling rather excited, almost eager; I was meeting Daphne tonight for our coffee date at a cute little café.

The woman was definitely beautiful and truthfully there was a part of me that was pleased to have a woman like her paying attention to me. Showing interest in me.

I had been so caught up and determined on one person for so long that being an interest to someone else was a confidence boost that I needed.

"With a grin like that, you must have a hot date tonight bro!" Esposito exclaimed from his place beside Ryan.

"Got a hot date tonight Castle?" Ryan asked looking almost as excited as Esposito.

"Actually, yeah." I said smiling at my two friends.

"Anyone we know?" Ryan asked slyly with a smirk.

"Did you see the owner of the warehouse where Grahams was found?" I asked, knowing that I had just burst their bubble. "Her."

The two men wanted me to be with Beckett almost as much as I wanted it, even though I had just burst their bubble I knew that they would understand.

"You are going out with Smith?" A new voice asked.

"Yeah I am." I said firmly with a nod of my head.

Beckett looked as if though she was about to reply, but instead of saying something she turned around and left the break room stomping to her desk.

Her reaction had confused me, she showed no interest what so ever in me, but her reaction all but screamed jealous and pissed off at me.

1 Day Ago:

I had met up with Daphne last night and it was honestly one of the best nights out that I had out in a very long time, when I say that I liked meeting my fans it was true. Meeting new people and getting to know new people was something that I had always enjoyed.

And even if nothing romantic happened between Daphne and me, I was hoping that at the very least I would make a new friend. She was so very different from the women in my life.

We had sat at the café till the owner had kicked us out; four hours of chatting had passed by so quickly that I hadn't even realized that so much time had passed. It had been like catching up with an old friend without any uncomfortable moments or awkward silences.

And now as I sat in the bullpen beside Beckett's desk in my chair I couldn't stop the grin from escaping when I saw her name flashing on my phone's screen.

"Hey Daphne." I answered the phone happily.

Early this morning when I had arrived at the prescient I was in a good mood, I had a coffee date with Daphne tonight. I wasn't ready to make a move on her yet, a certain Homicide Detective still held my heart.

Beckett was giving me the cold shoulder the whole morning, I couldn't think of what I had done wrong so far I hadn't screwed up or done something insane.

I left the prescient early that afternoon, Alexis was sleeping over at a friend's this weekend and I wanted to at least say good bye to her before she left. I had also just wanted to escape the glacial attitude that Beckett had been directing at me.

After saying good bye to Alexis I prattled around the loft, trying to find something to do before I had to get ready to go and meet Daphne. And writing was not an option; I was actively not trying to think about her, my success rate though wasn't very good in the slightest.

I was just buttoning up my shirt when I heard the door bell ringing, a glance at my watch showed that it was only 7:25 pm. walking over to the door I opened it up to reveal one Kate Beckett, now this was a surprise.

"Hey Castle, can I come in?" She asked softly.

Realising that I had been gaping at her and baring her entrance into the loft like some idiot, I stepped aside holding the door open so that she could enter. I felt uncertain about what to do; I wasn't in the mood for any sort of fighting.

"This may sound rude, but why are you here?" I asked closing the door behind her.

"Let's sit down." She said, not meeting my eye.

I inwardly grumbled but instead of saying anything I led the way to the lounge, taking a seat on the couch right in the corner. She sat down daintily on the other corner, her eyes darting around the place.

It looked almost as if though she was gathering up her courage to say or do something, I just hoped that it wasn't anything too bad. Such as her tossing me out of the 12th or some such.

"I'm jealous." She said quietly, her voice was light yet strained. "I don't want you going out with her."

I had turned around to face her, my eyes never leaving her for a moment. I heard every word, listened to every single syllable yet I didn't understand exactly what she was trying to say to me.

"I don't understand." I said when it became obvious to me that she wasn't going to say anything else.

I watched as she breathed in deeply, her eyes staring straight ahead at the wall before she turned around to face me. Her eyes locking on mine, her beautiful green eyes swimming with so many emotions.

"I want to be with you Castle." She rushed out. "I don't want you going out for coffee with leering Daphne, or some other equal as fabulous woman. I want you."

I leaned back against the arm rest; to say I was surprised at her admission would be an understatement. She wasn't normally one to share her feelings, I watched her for a moment before opening my mouth.

"So if I'm yours, does that make you mine?" I asked, hope surging through me.

"Yes." She answered without hesitating, nodding with her eyes still locked onto mine.

"Good." I said simply, not being able to think of a more appropriate word.

And right now words didn't matter as I reached for her.

FIN.