I hadn't intended to write this scene from Castle's POV, but it wouldn't leave me alone so I gave in. For those of you who find it redundant to read the same scene from more than one POV, I apologize. Feel free to just skip this chapter.

I leaned back in my chair with a smile on my face. That conversation had gone relatively well. It had taken a great deal of discipline to wait until I knew she was going to be back in town before contacting her, but I had managed to pull it off. I had actually been tempted to follow her home from my party, but I knew that would have only sent her running. I was hopeful that four days of giving her space would work to my advantage.

Four days of giving her space had allowed me to immerse myself in the character of Nikki Heat and I had actually finished the latest manuscript in only a quarter of the time my publisher had given me. If Beckett had turned down dinner, I would've undoubtedly managed to finish the outline on the fourth book in the series before morning.

I replayed our kiss in my mind for at least the thousandth time and wondered if she'd given it a second thought once she walked out the door. Surely the look on her face when she'd stepped away from me meant that it had affected her at least a little bit.

It was time to put the cards on the table. I wanted her to take my interest in her seriously. It had long ago stopped being a game.

I ran my hand down across my face and decided I could use a shave before I left for dinner. If things went well, I was hoping to get the opportunity to get up close and personal with her again. Just the mere thought of having her lips pressed against mine sent a tingle of anticipation down my spine. This could prove to be an interesting evening.

XOXOXOXO

I took a deep breath as I stepped out of the elevator on Beckett's floor. I don't think I'd been this nervous since my first date. Her gift was tucked securely under my arm…I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. I rang the doorbell and waited patiently until it opened.

"Right on time, Castle," she commented as she stepped back to allow me entrance.

"Hello, Kate," I replied as I stepped inside. "You look lovely as always." She was wearing a simple red sweater and a pair of jeans that were well-fitted to her shapely body, but she looked absolutely amazing.

"Thank you," she replied as she closed the door. "Just let me grab my jacket and we can go."

"I brought you a gift," I said as I offered her the package.

"You didn't have to do that," she said as she took a step closer to me.

"I wanted to," I replied. She smelled as wonderful as she looked.

"Should I open it now or wait until after dinner?" she asked, forcing my thoughts back to the conversation and away from how much I wanted to wrap her in my arms and pick up where we'd left off four days ago.

I laughed as she shook it slightly. I could imagine her fidgeting through dinner, anxious to return and open her gift, so I offered her an out, "Since I know you won't be able to think about anything other than what's inside if you wait, why don't you go ahead and open it now."

Her smile made me glad I had made the suggestion. "Let's go into the other room."

I followed her down the short hallway into what appeared to be a library. There was a desk and chair in the center of the room, but that was the only furniture other than bookshelves. I quickly took in the room, estimating that there were hundreds of books on her shelves. I glanced at the first shelves on the left and noticed that her books were arranged in alphabetical order by author. A quick scan brought me to the section that contained the books I'd written…including extra copies of at least two of them. "Quite the collection you have here, Detective," I said as I turned my attention back to her.

"I enjoy reading," she replied simply before ripping into the paper on her gift. I held back a laugh at the gusto with which she made quick work of the wrapping. She apparently was not a woman who felt it wrong to actually tear the paper.

I watched as she peeled back the tissue paper and then lifted the manuscript from the box. It took only a moment for her to recognize what I'd given her and then she lifted her beautiful eyes to mine

"An advance copy of your latest Nikki Heat book?"

"It got the final approval last week," I said as I met her gaze, wondering if she understood how important she was to me. "And as the inspiration behind Nikki Heat, I wanted you to be the first to read it."

I watched as she looked back down at the manuscript and I wasn't sure, but it looked almost as if she was going to cry. Without looking back up at me, she said, "I don't know what to say."

Feeling the sudden tension in the room, but not completely understanding it, I offered her a grin. "Thank you would be okay."

I'd barely gotten the words out of my mouth and she was suddenly in front of me, her arms wrapped around my waist and her face buried in my chest. "Thank you, Castle."

I instinctively wrapped my arms around her and pulled her tighter into my embrace. I wish she would let me hold her like this more often. Allowing myself to inhale her scent, I offered a quiet, "You're welcome, Kate."

All too soon, she stepped away from me. "Come on, let's go to dinner," she said. "Otherwise, I might decide I'd rather stay here and read."

I laughed, but there was no doubt in my mind that she was serious so I quickly followed her to the door. I helped her into her jacket and then opened the door for her. It took her just a moment to lock the door behind us and then she surprised me by taking hold of my arm as we headed toward the elevator. It was definitely going to be an interesting evening.

XOXOXOXO

I enjoyed the smile on Beckett's face when I told the cab driver to take us to Jackson Hole. I smiled back at her as we settled in for the ride. "Just because we agreed on burgers and fries doesn't mean we have to have second-rate burgers and fries," I told her.

"I'm beginning to think you're a food snob," she told me with a laugh. "First the espresso machine and now this."

"If that were the case, I would never be able to eat during the course of a workday with you," I replied. "Besides, maybe I'm just trying to impress you."

"Then I should probably tell you now that I'm not easily impressed," she replied. "Even if I do occasionally enjoy a cup of good coffee."

"That was actually more for my benefit," I told her with a grin. "I cannot stand bad coffee."

"See," she returned with a smile of her own. "A food snob."

I let out a sigh and dropped my head in mock shame. "Alas, there is no hope for me. Richard Castle, best-selling author and food snob."

"Admitting it is the first step to recovery," she dead-panned.

"What if I don't want to recover?" I asked as I met her gaze again.

"Then there's no hope for you, Castle."

"There's always hope, Detective Beckett," I retaliated.

I watched as her gaze drifted from my eyes down to my lips before quickly returning to my eyes and couldn't hold back the grin on my face. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who'd been thinking about that kiss the other night.

Oh yeah, it was definitely going to be an interesting evening.

XOXOXOXO

We were seated in a corner booth, with Beckett's back to the wall as was her custom. Unfortunately, Jackson Hole didn't provide the same level of discretion for clientele as La Bernardin would have, so we'd already been interrupted several times by fans of my books asking for autographs. I made it a point to never turn away a fan when it wasn't unavoidable, so I smiled and signed my name countless times throughout the course of our meal.

I apologized after each interruption, hoping that Beckett wouldn't get pissed and want to cut the evening short. After the fourth apology, she smiled at me. "Why don't you ever just say no?"

"Without readers, my books wouldn't be a success," I explained to her. "And I would absolutely hate to lose a fan because I came off as arrogant or unapproachable in public."

"But what about the times when you really just don't want to deal with another fan?" she asked.

I smiled softly as I answered her. "Those are the times when I stay home, because I know that going out in public brings the possibility of being recognized." After a pause, I asked, "Does it bother you?"

She thought about it for a moment and then said, "When it creates havoc at a crime scene, yes. I guess I'm starting to get used to it the rest of the time and just chalk it up to part of what makes you…well, you."

I pondered that while the waiter refilled our wineglasses and asked about dessert. It was somewhat refreshing to realize that she actually spent enough time thinking about me to be able to say that something in my life was part of what made me who I am. Perhaps this attraction wasn't as one-sided as she wanted me to believe after all.

XOXOXOXO

We walked out of the restaurant and I watched as Beckett zipped up her jacket and wrapped her scarf around her neck. I zipped up my own jacket against the chill in the air and then looked to her with raised eyebrows. "Do you feel up for a walk?"

"A walk would be lovely," she agreed.

We fell in step together and headed down the sidewalk. "I love the city during the holidays. The lights and decorations give it such a festive feel that it's easy to forget all the bad things people do to each other."

"I wish I felt the same way," she replied. "To me, Christmas in the city just means more dead bodies as people are overcome with depression and decide that the only way to deal with it is to take their own lives or to strike out at those whom they feel are responsible."

I hadn't expected that, but realized that I should have. As a homicide detective, her perspective would undoubtedly be skewered by the violence she dealt with on a daily basis. I reached for her hand, wanting to ease some of the burden she carried, but not knowing how. Instead, I offered what I could, "Then we should make this Christmas season one that doesn't remind you of dead bodies but gives you something else to focus on for a while."

She surprised me by lacing her fingers with mine and squeezing my hand instead of pulling away. Even more surprising though was when she leaned into my shoulder and asked, "Is that why you brought me a murder mystery to read? To get my mind off of dead bodies?"

I had to laugh at that. She had a very good point. "Maybe I should've thought that through a little better?" I offered.

"Nah," she replied with a smile on her face. "It's a great gift."

I kept her hand in mine as we walked, feeling a surge of excitement that she allowed the simple contact. We walked like that for several blocks, one of us occasionally pointing out a storefront with decorations that we liked, but for the most part just enjoying each other's company.

We had been walking for quite some time when I noticed her shiver against me. I immediately stopped and looked over at her. "Are you cold?"

I could see the struggle in her eyes about admitting it, but the harsh reality of the New York winter won out. "A little bit," she replied.

I released her hand and stepped out into the street to hail a cab. The fact that she didn't even protest my sudden actions convinced me that she was probably much colder than she was letting on. I felt like an idiot for having not noticed sooner. I wanted her to look back on this evening as enjoyable, not remember it for being miserably cold walking through the city.

It was only a moment before a cab pulled up beside me and stopped. I opened the door for her and waited until she slid over before joining her in the backseat. She was already giving her address to the driver when I closed the door.

She looked over at me then and smiled. "This was nice, Castle."

Relief flooded me at her soft words, so I reached for her hand again and pulled it into my lap. "I agree. We should do it again sometime."

I watched as her eyes dropped down to our joined hands and then back up to meet mine before she replied, "We definitely should."

I wanted desperately to kiss her then. Her cheeks and nose were red from the cold, but her hand was warm in mine and her eyes absolutely sparkled with merriment. Afraid that she would feel trapped in the confines of the car, I forced my gaze away from hers and shifted a bit in the seat.

In an effort to lighten the moment, I decided to ask her about the duplicate copies of my books she kept in her library. I wasn't surprised by her answer that she had one copy that was autographed and one that was for reading. I imagined that to be the case when I first saw them. Her reticence to answer my question about how long she had to wait in line to get the first one signed intrigued me though. Not willing to push the issue tonight, I allowed her the change of subject when she asked.

Hopefully, there would be plenty more evenings when I could probe into the mind of the extraordinary woman who was Kate Beckett.

The conversation continued in a lighter mood until we reached her apartment building. She turned to me then and said, "Thanks for dinner, Castle. I had a good time tonight."

"Aren't you going to let me walk you to the door?" I asked, appalled at the thought of our evening coming to an end in the backseat of a cab.

"You'll just have to come back down and hail another cab," she pointed out. "You might as well just keep this one."

I had to admit that her logic made sense. However, there was no way that I wasn't going to at least see her inside the building. I leaned up to the driver and said, "I'll just be a minute," knowing that he would wait with the meter running. I then opened the door and climbed out before offering my hand to assist Beckett.

As soon as she was standing beside me on the pavement, I closed the door and took her hand again.

"Castle, this isn't necessary," she protested.

"At least let me make sure you get inside," I replied.

I didn't miss the slight eye roll she gave me, but she decided to humor me nonetheless. When we entered the building, the lobby was nearly deserted. I led us to the elevators and pushed the call button, and then I released her hand so I could turn to stand in front of her.

"I had a lovely evening, Kate," I told her as we waited for the elevator car to arrive. "Thank you for your company."

I had intended to leave it at that, but she had once again dropped her eyes from mine. I lifted my hand to her chin and tilted her face up to mine, wanting to see her sparkling eyes one more time. As soon as her eyes locked on mine, I knew I was in trouble. As if being drawn by a magnetic force, my lips slowly lowered, desperate for another taste of her.

Her eyes closed just before my lips brushed against hers and in that instant, I knew she wanted this as much as I did. My lips closed over hers, my tongue tracing lightly back and forth against the seam of her lips. I felt her sigh into my mouth as her lips parted in invitation. I lowered my hands to her waist to anchor her to me as I tasted her mouth, my tongue gliding against hers in an erotic dance.

I felt her hands around my neck, securing my mouth to hers and I allowed myself to deepen the kiss. I wanted to know everything there was about her, but more than that, I wanted to share the same of myself. It was intoxicating being in her arms, her tongue sliding gently against mine as her fingers played with the hair on the back of my neck.

I have no idea how long we stood there like that, but the ding of the elevator finally brought us back to our surroundings. We stepped away from each other slightly, neither of us really wanting to completely break contact. When the elevator doors opened on an empty car, I leaned down and brushed one more gentle kiss against her lips and then forced myself to step away from her. I was afraid that if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to let her go.

"Good night, Kate," I said simply, not really trusting myself to say more.

I knew then that the grin on her face would be the subject of my dreams that night. The doors had already started to close before she replied, "Good night, Castle."

I stood there until the light above the elevator indicated she had reached her floor and then I let out a deep breath and headed back out into the cold. There was no way in hell I was going to be able to stay away for four days this time.

Thanks for taking the time to read. Please feel free to drop me a line.