It took him a while to remember the moment. He was thrilled at the idea of the track but couldn't remember when, exactly, they had talked about this in the past until the man in charge, Joe, was giving them safety instructions. He kept saying the word "lap" until it hit him, and Castle started bouncing on his toes. When Joe turned away to get their helmets, Castle pulled Beckett in for a tight hug and growled "Coffee in bed for a week says I'm going to lap you." She rolled her eyes but grinned widely because he had remembered when she mentioned this in passing, in a parking lot in Jersey. "You're on" she replied, pressing a quick kiss to his lips.
Almost topping Kate on a motorcycle was watching her long body disappear into the window of the race car, winking at him just before her head disappeared. He hesitated at his window, staring at her with his mouth slightly agape before she raised her eyebrows impatiently through the windshield and gestured for him to get in, revving the motor for good measure. For her part, she'd never tell him just how sexy it was watching him in that fireproof jumpsuit, grinning boyishly at him from under the helmet. She shook her head slightly to clear the images dancing before her eyes and focused on the starting flag.
The flag fell down and she slammed on teh accelerator, jumping out, their cars running head to head. She heard him giggle - just straight up giggle - over the built in headphones in her helmet. She easily pulled ahead, and he fell into line right behind her, never accelerating or moving, just keeping pace.
"I finally let you drive and that's all you've got Castle?"
"What can I say Kate, I like the way you look from behind." He paused. "You're smiling aren't you. I know you're smiling."
The truth was he loved the racing but was paralyzed with fear of fiery car crashes. Not for himself, but of her. And if he pulled beside or ahead of her...he liked to know exactly where she was on the track so he could see where she was.
"Only because I'm kicking your ass. I always knew I was the better driver."
"Two weeks" he growled and hit the accelerator. She was the better driver he realized. And she could certainly take care of herself. In reality they were probably both safer if she knew exactly where he was, rather than the other way around. He pressed his foot to the ground and jolted in front of her. She narrowed her eyes and tightened her grip on the wheel. It turned out he wasn't so bad himself. They mostly kept pace with one another, occasionally one pulling ahead of the other until they approached the finish line on the end of their 50th lap.
Both cars roared across the finish line and then slowed to a stop. They looked up at the board, wating the results with bated breath and...Castle's car had won. He whooped so loudly that Beckett actually grimaced in her car at the sound blaring through her headphones. In his haste to get out of the car Castle's legs tangled in the window netting and he fell ungracefully to the track. She easily exited and stood over him, frowning but he could see the smile in her eyes. "I won" he said. "You won" she indulged reaching down to give him a hand up.
He pulled on her arm, tumbling her to the floor next to him, where she landed with an "oomph" between their cars. Taking advantage of the cover granted them by the race cars, and ignoring the almost unbearable heat radiating from the engines, Castle trapped her with his legs and went to kiss her. The audible knock from their helmets, which kept their faces separated by at least 3 inches, made them both laugh. Kate reached up and pulled off her helmet, her long brown hair cascading over both their faces as she leaned in and kissed him slowly, tongues dancing together. She broke the kiss - too soon he thought - when she heard Joe's voice as he approached and scrambled to her feet.
They held hands, fingers intertwined, as the exited the race track. She leaned into him, hiding from the sudden chill in the air, and he released her hand to wrap his arm around her. "Can I drive?" He asked as they reached the motorcycle. Beckett literally laughed in his face.