A/N: Just another reminder that the italicized sections are cannon. Thank you for the response to the last chapter, you all are awesome! Happy reading.

Disclaimer: The words in italics are directly from the episodes. They are not mine and I intend no copyright. I do not own Castle or anything associated with the series. I just love the write about it.

Solve My Mystery

"You know what I thought when I first met you?" She raises her eyebrow, waiting for his words. "That you were a mystery I was never going to solve." She stays quiet, letting him continue. "Even now, after spending all this time with you, I'm still amazed at the depths of your strength. Your heart." She gives him a small smile, a soft upturn of her lips, and then she has to look away from the truthfulness in his eyes. "And your hotness." She lifts her eyes back to his and can't stop the smirk that spreads across her face. And then she can't stop her words as they spill out. "You're not so bad yourself, Castle." His eyes widen in surprise at the openness of her words and they remain locked in a gaze that sends chills down her spine.

She wants him, has wanted him since that undercover kiss, maybe even before that, but she'll never tell anyone, especially not him. It's the longest few minutes of her life as her head wages with her heart, she wants him, but she's not ready for a relationship with him. And that voice in her heard, that voice of reason, tells her that he will always want more, more than just pieces of her, more than she can give him.

She lets her head win for now, standing as she speaks. "I should go, it's late." She thinks he's going to let her go without another word, but just as she gets to the door to her room he finds his words. "Kate?" She doesn't let the tone of his voice affect her, turning back only to say goodnight as she closes her door.

She won't know for a long while, but he sits there staring at her door for several long minutes, hoping that she'll come back out. All while she stands on the other side of it, desperately wanting to wrench it back open and run into his arms and kiss him senseless. She runs her hands through her hair, knowing that the want she has for him is only going to increase. Finally she grabs the handle and pulls the door open, only to find that he's just closing his.

Disappointment weighs down on her even though she doesn't really have a right to be disappointed. She's the one who walked away from their moment on the couch. She's the one who ran into her room and hid behind her door and her stubborn walls. She retreats, accepting that this isn't the right time, but something in her snaps and she turns around. She's half way across the room when his door opens. They stand staring at one another, silent with shock.

Castle recovers first, clearing his throat and looking down at the ground. "I was just going to get something to drink."

She nods and gestures towards the mini fridge. "Yeah, me too."

He closes the distance between them and then starts to walk past her to get to the fridge when she reaches out and gently grabs his hand, tugging on it until he stops. He looks at her with a slightly confused expression and she smiles, trying to reassure him and her rapidly beating heart.

"Kate, is everything okay?"

She swallows nervously and then she glances up at him. Standing so close to him makes her realize how badly she really does want him. She's tired of fighting it and she might regret it later - he might demand more from her - but she's willing to risk it.

"Castle, I know that this isn't the ideal time for this, and I'm not ready to dive into anything, but I can't stop thinking about that undercover kiss. I can't stop..."

She's cut off by the loud, shrill ring of her phone and he jumps back like he's been caught doing something he shouldn't. His annoyance with the interruption is evident and she doesn't even try to hide that she's annoyed as well.

She whispers a "sorry" to him and then runs to grab her phone, hiding her groan of disapproval when she sees that it's Josh. If she doesn't answer he'll just call again. What reason does she have not to answer? He's her boyfriend, after all, and she most certainly was not about to cheat on him. She doesn't cheat.

She answers the call and tries to keep her voice level to conceal the breathlessness from the dash across the hotel suite. "Josh, hi."

She had texted him to tell him where she was after she and Castle arrived in L.A., knowing that he would worry if she didn't. He's not a clingy boyfriend by any means, in fact she likes that he's nothing like that. He's gone a lot and it's perfect for her, lets her keep one foot out the door. He likes to showing up at her apartment to surprise her sometimes though and if she wasn't there he might worry.

"I just wanted to call and tell you goodnight, hear your voice." She can't help but smile at his sweetness. She wishes she could stop comparing him to Castle; it's really not fair to him. He's not Castle, but he is a good man and he's been good to her.

"That's sweet, I'm glad you called." She listens to him for a few more minutes, letting him tell her about his recent trip and then she bids him goodnight and hangs up. She rushes back out of the room to apologize to Castle. She can't cheat on Josh, but it still wasn't fair of her to leave Castle hanging like she did.

When she gets back out of the room his door is firmly shut again and he's nowhere to be found. She sighs. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Castle. He had to have some type of idea of what was going on, especially after she mentioned the undercover kiss. There's no doubt that he could hear her talking to Josh though, and she's sure he gave up on the moment.

She knocks on his door, wanting to give him an explanation if nothing else. He takes his time opening it and she starts to think he's going to ignore her completely but he finally pulls it open.

"Castle, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…I didn't expect…I want you to know that…"

He holds up his hand, cutting her mess of an explanation short. "It's fine, Kate. I don't need an explanation. You have a boyfriend, and I respect that, goodnight."

Before she can say anything else, form the words that she needs him to hear, he shuts the door and the moment is gone.

They don't discuss it again; in fact they seem to have an unspoken agreement to pretend that night never happened at all. He continues to fall for her, she continues to hide that she's falling for him and the interruptions continue to come.

Once again thank you to Bri for the wonderful beta work. Her friendship has been a great addition to my life.

Thank you to Jill and Nikki for continuing to cheer this on.

Hugs. xo