Disclaimer: I don't own Castle. The only profit being made is my own amusement (and hopefully yours).
January
In the middle of January he gets a call from Donna at the Ledger.
"Guess what? My editor says I can list you as eligible bachelor number six this year! When can you come in for your interview?"
He remembers years past, repeatedly checking his phone for any word from Donna, setting his alarm at 3 am to get the paper and see where he landed on the list. This time, he didn't even think about her or her column until she called. "I'm not really interested in being in the article this time," he tells her.
He can almost see her scrunching her forehead in confusion. Or maybe he's just imagining it, because it's something Beckett does a lot. "Why not?" she wants to know.
He can't really put his finger on why not. Because the interview will take time that could be better spent at the precinct? Because Donna will probably write something that will make Beckett upset and embarrass her? He settles for a reasonable explanation. "My daughter's growing up. She's got a boyfriend now. I want her to fall in love and be happy and all that. I don't want her to think that people are numbers, you know?" (And this is a half-truth, because yes, his baby girl is a woman now, and yes, it scares him how fast it happened, but he knows that Alexis had it all figured out long before he did.)
"Huh," Donna says, with a half chuckle. "Very sweet. And mature. Maturity is quite an asset. Are you trying to bargain with me to get the number one spot or something?"
"No. I don't want to be on your list. Really."
"Why not?"
"Why do you care?"
She laughs. "I'm just a curious cat, I guess," she says cheerfully. Pause. "Come on, Rick," she whines, when he doesn't answer within a few seconds. "Tell me. Off the record. I won't say a word to anyone. Cross my heart. Pretty please?"
He chuckles and shakes his head. She sounds like him when he's pestering Beckett. He relents: "Okay, fine, off the record. There's someone."
(He's not thinking about Gina when he says it.)
