Disclaimer: I don't own Castle and don't profit from writing these stories (except for my own amusement).
SOMETHING NEW
It takes Demming a moment to figure out where he is on the first morning he wakes up in Kate's bed. It's at least several weeks sooner than he might have expected based on how conservative he's assumed her to be. He just figures it's been a while since the last guy; the thought is more than a little flattering.
Kate is just getting out of the shower, smelling more like cherries than ever and wearing a short bathrobe that shows off her long legs. He can't help staring at her.
"What?" she says. "Never seen a woman in a bathrobe before? I know all about your community service record, but you can't be that much of a goody-goody."
He chuckles, relieved that things aren't awkward between them at all.
Her eyes shift from his face to the nightstand. She quickly snatches something from the wooden surface, and he catches a brief flash of gold. He vaguely recalls her taking off a chain from around her neck last night, but he was too distracted to remember what was hanging from it.
She crosses over to her dresser and carefully puts whatever she's holding away. He turns his attention to the nightstand and the stack of books on top of it. One of them catches his attention; its cover isn't wrapped in plastic and doesn't have a library code on the spine. He carefully pulls the book from the middle of the pile. It's a newly bought book, some classic of Russian literature that he's heard of but never actually read. He opens it. On the inside front cover is a handwritten message. Kate, I remember seeing this on your bookshelf. It's one of my favorites and I thought it would be a good place to start rebuilding your collection. Happy reading and stay safe. Rick Castle.
He feels a stab of jealousy as his imagination runs through several less-than-innocent scenarios for why Castle would have access to Kate's bookshelf. He reassures himself remembering Castle's own words. Me and Beckett? No! It's as if the man had never even considered the possibility.
He focuses on Kate now, still facing away from him and rummaging through what looks like a jewelry box. Her hair is still damp and it's wavy. He's known in the back of his mind that her hair isn't naturally straight—he remembers when they were kickboxing, it started to curl as soon as she'd started sweating. He likes it; it makes her look more like Kate than Detective Beckett.
Kate must be able to sense people watching her, because she turns around and shoots him a puzzled look. "What're you staring at?" she wants to know.
To his surprise, all he manages to squeak out is, "Your hair. It's curly."
"Excellent observation, Detective Demming," she laughs. "Keep up the good work, and we may recruit you to Homicide."
"That would be nice," he says. "Unlimited access to amazing coffee and pretty lady detectives."
She giggles at that. "Humans have finally discovered a flaw in Tom Demming. He makes up the cheesiest lines ever."
He winces. It was pretty cheesy. "The curls look good on you though. You should try it at work," he suggests. Suddenly concerned that she could take it as an insult to her current appearance, he quickly adds, "I mean, only if you want to. You look fine the way you wear your hair now."
She dismisses his worry with a wave of her hand. "I change my hair all the time," she tells him. "I had bangs when I first met Esposito. Then this weird layered cut when Ryan came. And," she continues, as she twirls a curl around her index finger, "I had short hair when Castle first started working with us."
Huh. Judging by how long Kate's hair is now, Castle's been with them for a lot longer than it might take for a simple research project. His mind drifts off to consider the growth rate of hair, and by the time he's listening to her again, he hears, "… so I guess it's time to try something new."
"Great," he agrees with a smile.
Something new lasts until a little while after the Wilder case is wrapped up. He's eating lunch with Kate's team and Castle. All of a sudden, Castle remarks that her hair looks like someone named Jenny's, then proceeds to compliment Demming's tie. Demming doesn't get the joke, but everyone else in the room obviously does, because Esposito chortles out loud, Ryan glares at Castle, and Kate blushes ever so slightly and rolls her eyes in a way that makes her look absolutely adorable.
The next time he sees her, her hair is straightened again.
