A/N: This is the first in a series of one shots I have decided to start. If there is some positive feedback and interest, I'd be happy to continue it.

Disclaimer : I do not own Castle. I do use quite a bit of dialogue from the episode Always Buy Retail in this chapter which is why I insist on writing a disclaimer as a precaution. I hope that doesn't bother many of you.

The phone. Yep, that was definitely his phone and the answer to all his questions at the moment; the perfect excuse to get the hell away from Meredith who was trailing a line of kisses down his stomach. Not that he hadn't been enjoying himself up until a few moment ago, but her telling him that she planned to move back to the Big Apple was a big red light. No more deep fried twinkie.

He hastily moved away from her and in the direction of the buzzing phone on his bedside table.

"Richard, what do you think you're doing?"

"Uh, the phone is ringing Meredith," he stated flatly.

"Yes, I can hear that but don't you think it can wait so that we can finish what we started?"

"Um, actually it's… the precinct, so no, I have to go."

"Ricky!" She whined.

Ugh, this was exactly what he had been dreading, the mere sound of her voice already getting on his nerves. Picking up his phone, Rick read the address Beckett had texted him, informing him that there had been a murder and he was expected to be there in twenty. Perfect. If he left in five he would have time to drop by the coffee shop to grab her order. The thought of the corner of her lips twitching as she struggled to keep her smile and recognition at bay sent a jolt of excitement through his chest.

What was up with that? It wasn't like he had feelings for Kate. Sure, there was the undeniable attraction but that hadn't stopped him from having sex with his ex-wife that morning. On top of that, the fun was in annoying her. And then of course there was the story. Her story. Suddenly he felt a pang of guilt flit through his stomach but he dismissed it immediately. They weren't in a relationship of any kind and she certainly didn't want to have anything to do with him. So why this questioning on his part? It all meant nothing to her anyway. The sad thing was he was afraid that it would soon start to mean a lot more to him than it did to her. Get a grip, Rick, he chided himself, it had only been, what- five weeks? What the hell was wrong with him, anyway?

Who was he kidding? He cared about her. That's what all this was about. He cared about her too much for his own damn good. But for now he just needed to worry about getting out of here and to the crime scene.

Getting up from the floor, he quickly grabbed his boxers and proceeded to get dressed in record time.

"What's this about a precinct? Are you in some kind of trouble?" Meredith asked.

Right- he hadn't told her anything about the 12th or Kate Beckett. Not that it was any of her business, but it was probably best if it stayed that way. He really didn't need her showing up and telling the boys or even Beckett, anything they didn't need to know. Nope, that was not a good idea. Probably due to the lack of reply, Meredith continued with her train of thought, "Have you been a bad boy, Ricky?" She asked him in her bedroom voice. Now that he thought about it, it wasn't that attractive.

"Uh… Yes! That's exactly it! You can let yourself out Meredith," and with that he left his room, grabbed his keys and was out the door.

There just had been no time for coffee, so he arrived at the scene empty handed. Maybe later in the day he could get her that bear claw.

It was all too familiar; the body, the setting, the ritual. This was clearly a voodoo killing. Castle found his thoughts drifting from the conversation and the information Espo and Ryan were delivering.

The thought of his ex-wife moving back was just… unfathomable. First, there would be no sex. Ever. Again. And second, he knew Alexis wouldn't be happy about the move. Of course she loved her mother but even she didn't want to have her around all the time. And then of course there was Martha who didn't bother to mask her feelings for the women in question and felt no shame in showing the world that she disliked her altogether.

"Hello?"

The sound of Beckett's voice drew him from his trance but he had missed her initial remark.

"Huh?"

"You okay," she asked. Was that actual concern he heard in her voice?

"I had sex with my ex-wife this morning." Okay, so maybe not the best move. The look on Beckett's face confirmed that, no, that had in fact not been the ideal thing to say. He could no longer depict any former trace of concerned he might have seen earlier. It was replaced by disbelief and a condescending look. But now he simply had to explain that this was not what he wanted. "My first ex-wife, Meredith, Alexis' Mom. And, she's thinking of moving back to New York. Do you know what that would mean to me? That would be a very special brand of hell, the hell of a deep fried twinkie."

"Deep fried twinkie?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, the guilty pleasure you have that you know is bad for you so you only do it once, maybe twice a year? But a deep fried twinkie every day is-"

"Castle!" Okay maybe she wasn't impressed.

"What?"

"Crime scene," she said incredulously, "Dead body. A little respect here?"

"Ah, I don't think he can hear me."

"Okay, how about a little self-respect then?"

Yeah, good move Ricky, now she definitely doesn't think much of you, he thought.

"Fine."

The case however, that, he could help her with. Then maybe he could get part of his dignity back. Probably not though. Castle told them about the pouch in the victim's mouth and that this was from the voodoo religion. Although she seemed impressed by his knowledge on the religion, he could still feel a lingering sense of… something he couldn't quite put his finger on. Then she asked for the research. Perfect.

He knew she probably liked his books since she had recognized his staged crime scene and sought his help. Okay, maybe it had been more of an interrogation and the other way around, but she sought him out because of them none the less, it had to mean something. So he read to her in his study. Of course, this was for the case but that didn't mean that they couldn't both enjoy it. He caught the pensive look on her face when he looked up from the page and almost lost his train of thought. She was just so mesmerizing when her brow furrowed and she tried to make sense of things. But he continued his reading, seeing as the alternative was very dangerous territory.

"Unholy Storm. You dragged me in here so that you could read from your own book." It wasn't a question; it was a statement and made with that unimpressed look on her face that suggested he was wasting her time.

"Hey, there's a lot of good stuff in here and some of it is factual," he said attempting to defend his writing. She got up and by the looks of it his last sentence had failed him miserably. "Where are you goin'?"

"I have a murder to solve!"

"I thought that's what we were doing," she kept putting her coat on so he got up, "Okay, okay, I'm just kidding. I do have another source."

"And you call your ex-wife a deep fried twinkie." And there it was. He never should have shared that information, really, what the hell had he been thinking? Absolutely no good could come from her knowing this.

"Oh, trust me, as annoying as you think I am; she's a million times worse."

"What about Alexis? Maybe she misses her mom; maybe it'd be a good idea to have her back in town."

Okay now Beckett thought that he was a selfish bastard who didn't even care about his daughter and that simply wouldn't do.

"Woah, Beckett. Look, it might've been insensible to share this information with you this morning but really, you don't know Meredith. Alexis and I have talked about this several times. Do you not think I've beaten myself up every day because she's never had a mother figure in her life? Look, the thing is, even if she were here, Meredith wouldn't act like her loving mother. She would probably be here just as much as when she's in LA, so never. Don't you think that would hurt her even more? Knowing that her mother is not even an hour away and that she can't even bother to come over for dinner once a week? I've thought about this, okay?"

Okay maybe he had said too much. She didn't want to hear this. Castle couldn't read the look on her face. There was a flash of something he desperately wanted to see more often, but in a second she had tampered it down and she was walking away from him again.

"Fine," she said over her shoulder.

Kate was finding it very had to concentrate. What was he even thinking? Did he not have one ounce of self-respect? Sleeping with his ex-wife and then telling her about it when he practically insinuated that they should have slept together during that first case. Why was he even still here? He evidently didn't care about her, but annoying her though, that was a different story. And then when she turned him down he simply wouldn't take no for an answer so he got himself admitted into the precinct. When he was here, Castle went out of his way to drive her insane and then out of the blue he'd do things like bring her coffee. The coffee he knew she liked because he observed her.

Oh, that's right; he was also basing a book off of her. Because she inspired him. Apparently that wasn't enough, though. And even that, which she thought had been sweet, came down to meaning absolutely nothing when Meredith had shown up and said that she had once been his inspiration. Did he not know what he wanted himself?

But that woman had just set her off. She walked into her precinct, acting all superior, pulling out the 'I pay taxes' card and acted as though she couldn't believe Castle was following her around. Then she got all possessive, like she owned him. She was his ex-wife. She didn't mean anything.

That whole situation was entirely infuriating. He was supposed to be interested in her. Not that she cared. But that's what it was supposed to be about. He was supposed to keep following her and she would keep ignoring him. Sleeping with his ex-wife was not part of the deal.

What the hell are you even thinking, she thought to herself and made a face of disgust. They weren't in a relationship and she didn't care that he was sleeping with his ex-wife. That's what it was supposed to be. Except it wasn't, and even Kate didn't have the strength of mind to convince herself otherwise. What on Earth could she tell him? Something like: 'Would you stop sleeping with you ex-wife, because it's really starting to piss me off', simply wouldn't fly. The truth of it was that there was absolutely nothing she could do or say about it. It was none of her business.

Honestly, Kate had no idea why she was beating herself up over this. It's not like she was in love with the man. She just-

Sometimes, she couldn't stop thinking about his lips and what they could do to her body if she let him. He had a reputation and although that was one of the things she hated about him, it drove her insane. But she said no. Because she was above him. Not above him, like that; superior, yes, that's what she meant. But then he was there every day and his hands-

"Beckett, you calling it a night?"

"Castle, we need to talk." Shit. Why had she said that?

"Uh, sure, what's up?"

She got up, her mind a step behind her body, which pulled him along by the sleeve of his shirt into the break room. Beckett shut the door and glared at him.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her tone forewarning.

"I, uh- Well…" Castle stuttered, oblivious as to what brought on this confrontation.

"Why are you sleeping with your ex-wife?" She asked more precisely, poking him in the chest forcefully.

"Oh, that. Well, technically we aren't sleeping together anymore, because that's not going to happen again. But, uh… Why-"

"Really? What's stopping you now? You've slept with her already so why not sleep with her again?"

"I- wait, are you-"

Kate cut him off mid-sentence, fisted the lapels of his shirt in her hands and captured his lips with hers. Her body had driven her forward and taken what was hers. What she had been thinking about for the past five weeks. There was no way she was letting him say that word. Castle grunted, completely taken off guard by her sudden move but recovered quickly, his hands spanning her waist. He nipped at her bottom lip, the one he'd seen her pull between her teeth when she was deep in thought. He sucked it into his mouth and Kate let out a small moan. Her hands migrated to his hair and she swiped her tongue across his bottom lip, begging for entrance. Castle gladly opened up to her and their tongues dueled in a battle for control Rick was happy to let her win.

Suddenly Kate pulled back.

"I'm not jealous. But, you have no right to tease and annoy me like that if you're going to go home to your ex-wife," she said, her tone equally as threatening as before.

"Fair enough. Kate, I just didn't think you'd care. Trust me, if I'd had the slightest idea that you were interested, it never would've happened."

"Well, I'm full of surprises, Kitten."

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed that and that there wasn't too much dialogue from the original episode. I'd love to hear what you all thought in your reviews!