"Okay. So we only have two more to do and we're done." Kate rubbed her eyes and handed Castle the report that had just come off the printer.
"Great. We should make it home by Leno."
Her head jerked up. "What?"
"10? We should be finished by 10."
"Oh my god! I totally let time get away from me! I had no idea it was this late." He shrugged at her. "Castle, what are you still doing here? You should have gone home hours ago!" She was shuffling papers messily into a pile and shoving her hair into a ponytail.
"You were still working." He said innocently as he scooted his chair closer to her.
"That didn't mean that you had to stay. This is my backlogged mess, not yours."
"Well it's my pleasure to help you clean up your messes, Detective." He leaned in closer to her and smiled. "But I think the rest of these can wait until morning. I'm getting you out of here."
She smiled a grateful smile at him and then shook her head. "No, Castle. Really. I'm just going to get these done and then head home in a bit. I'll see you in the morning." She turned back to the computer but was quickly whirled back around by Castle. He took her by the arm and pulled her up, grabbing her purse and coat with the other hand. "Kate. Listen to me. You need to eat. You need to sleep. And then you need to come back to work in the morning and finish this. But for right now you're going to let me take you to get some food."
They were halfway to the door and she didn't feel like arguing. She just let him lead her wordlessly into the elevator.
"See how much better this is than paperwork?" He asked.
She smiled a little and he handed her the Coach bag he'd been carrying and walked behind her, taking her coat and gently wrapping it around her shoulders, letting his hands linger. She didn't want to fight it, she simply leaned into him and closed her eyes. "Castle?"
"Hmm?" His voice was breathy, deep…sexy.
"I could really go for a burger." She smiled and turned toward him, closer than she realized.
He smiled at her, one of those 100-watt smiles that she had grown to love. "I think Remy's is still open. So a burger we can do."
The elevator doors opened a few seconds later and Kate wrapped her arms around his, holding on a little tighter than necessary. He was caught off guard for a moment before placing a hand on top of hers and leading her out of the elevator and into the night. Kate didn't know where this was going, but she knew that she'd had the perfect day. Everything was better when Castle was around. Paperwork included. And she knew that holding onto him was definitely something she could get used to. And as he smiled at her, she knew that he was feeling it, too.