As promised...
"Hey, Josh!" a man waved from him across the dance floor, motioning for him to come over.
Josh's eyes shifted briefly.
"Hey, that's my boss. Look, I know I'm putting you on the spot here, but can't we just push the reset button on tonight? Let's just enjoy ourselves. We can talk more later," Josh said hopefully. "I gotta go say hi to him. You get your drink though, and meet me over there?"
"Josh, I can't…" Kate started, but he had already released her and started to walk away.
Damn it. Now I REALLY need a drink.
Kate made her way to the bar and ordered a Grey Goose martini.
"Straight up, with a twist. But I'll take two olives on the side," Kate told the bartender. She pulled out her phone from her clutch as she waited for her drink. No messages.
Castle watched from the entrance to the grand room. He had seen Kate and Josh intertwined on the dance floor, barely moving to the music, obviously having an intimate discussion. His shoulders slumped a little in disappointment. Of course Castle had known all along that she was coming with Josh, but actually seeing them together, standing with their bodies so close, well, it was harder to watch than he thought it would be. Her relationship with Josh was still a bit of a mystery to him, but gathering from the physical closeness Castle observed before him, he could only assume they were pretty serious. Getting any information from Kate about Josh had been like pulling teeth with tweezers. She had finally opened up about Josh a little when they had gone out for drinks to talk about Gina. Originally Castle hadn't wanted to bother Kate with his relationship issues, but he realized that she was pretty much his best friend that was female, well, really his best friend period.
Surprisingly, Kate had seemed alright with talking about it as far as he could tell. While he had blabbered on about why he didn't think he and Gina would work the second time around, Kate hadn't really offered up as much on Josh other than the fact that he owned a motorcycle, had played basketball in college, and was a heart surgeon that had won various awards for his research. Pretty much Mr. Perfect. Well, with one big exception. He apparently wasn't much of a reader because Castle did recall Kate saying Josh had never read any of Castle's novels, including the Nikki Heat books. Castle had desperately thought this might be a red flag because he knew how much Kate loved to read, especially his books.
Unfortunately, Castle wasn't seeing any flags from his vantage point tonight.
Castle started to walk toward the dance floor, but decided against it. He didn't want to interrupt their "moment", and when he finally talked to Kate he wanted it to be alone. So instead, he turned to the side door that had a sign indicating that it lead to the silent auction room.
What am I going to say to her?
'Hey! So… I missed you like crazy these last few weeks. Probably even more than Alexis because at least I got to hear her voice on the phone every day when she called me.'
No, that would definitely send her running and probably get a "not-appropriate-cause-we're-seeing-other-people" admonishment. Although technically, that was only half-true now. . .
'Hey, Beckett. So Gina and I… we're done for good this time. What was I thinking, right? Trying to date my ex-wife? What happened you ask? Well, besides the obvious incompatibility issues that shadowed us from our ex-marriage and into this relationship, I broke it off because, well, I realized she'll never make me happy like you do…'
He paused.
I can't believe I'm having mock-conversations in my head. I'm a writer! So why is it so hard to put into words what I'm trying to say?
Because I don't want to screw this up. Not with her.
Castle sighed as he entered the silent auction room.
He wandered from table to table, perusing the various items up for bid. There was everything from autographed baseballs from several Yankee players, to spa packages, to vacations with destinations as varied as the wine country in California to a 7 day Alaskan cruise. Pretty typical stuff for a fundraiser, until he came to the second to the last table and saw his own image staring up from the table. It was the picture of him taken from the dust jacket of his books, blown up to the size of a 7x10 photo. Next to that was a picture of Kate that he couldn't quite place. Her hair was shorter, just above the shoulders, cut in layers. She was wearing a dark blue button down shirt, her arms held across her chest. She was smiling, but it was definitely not the carefree Kate Beckett smile that he dearly loved but so rarely saw. He knew all her smiles, and frowns too, for that matter. He studied the photo carefully. No, this smile concealed a bit of annoyance.
The Cosmo photo shoot! Of course. She was definitely annoyed that day.
He found himself grinning as he remembered how mad she had been at him when the photographer had arrived with the 2 models scantily clad as police officers. Soon after, she had told him this would be their last case together, but here they were, nearly a year and a half later. They had come so far in their relationship.
If we can just take it a bit further… somehow I have to tell her how I feel.
Castle glanced at the paper next to the photos that had a brief bio on him and Kate along with an explanation of the ride along. The lower half of the page contained the bids. The page was about half full already, however Castle's ego was not satisfied with the dollar amounts people were putting down. He quickly checked over his shoulders to make sure no one was watching, removed a pen from his inner tuxedo jacket pocket, and jotted down a dollar amount, essentially tripling the last bid. He printed "Richard A. Rogers" in the space for the bidder's name along with his cell phone number.
Won't hurt to run the price up a bit, seeing how it's for charity and all.
Several people were approaching the table, and Castle didn't want to be recognized especially after what he'd just done, so he slipped out a second door that led back to the main room. The door put him on the same side of the dance floor as the bar, and about 30 feet from where Kate stood at the bar sipping her drink.
He took a deep breath and made his way towards the bar, suddenly feeling nervous.
Suck it up and just talk to her.
His gait slowed as he neared her. Her back was turned to him, and it was quite the view. Her beaded gown dove steeply down her well-toned back, past her narrow waist, finally ending mere inches from one of her most attractive assets. Her mahogany colored hair was done in loose curls that cascaded past her shoulders. Castle found himself holding back a sudden and very intense urge to wrap his arms around her waist and bury his nose in her locks.
Has it really only been two weeks since I've seen her?
Kate still hadn't noticed him approaching, so he decided to play with her a little bit, standing directly behind her. He took in a slow breath.
For the love.
The scent of almonds and cherries wafting from her was irresistible and invigorating. It also made him bolder.
He swallowed, put his mouth as close as he dared to the back of her neck, lightly resting the fingers of one hand on the bare skin of her waist and whispered, "So how's my favorite brunette?"
Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think. Next chapter is taking shape... and yes, there will be resolution of Josh, don't worry!