A/N: Oh. My. God. You guys are insanely awesome! Honestly, I don't even know where to begin to thank the amazing feedback I've been receiving for this story. Really, I was completely floored when I woke up this morning and my inbox was overflowing with reviews and alerts. You have no idea how happy I am that you guys are enjoying this as much as I am. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Because of your response, I'm on a roll and the story is just flowing like magic. Your reviews are my new drug.

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle. *insert sad face*

Touch

Chapter 4

The minute his lips touches hers, she realizes she has just crossed a line she should not have crossed. Not while they are both seeing other people. Her second thought is that her mind is drawing a total blank because his arms have just encircled her waist and pulled her closer. She fights a moan threatening to escape and tries with all her might to break the kiss, but finds that just like with the touching, this kissing thing seems to render her powerless.

His tongue dart out and gently traces her bottom lip and she doesn't think twice before granting him access. When their tongues touch and immediately start a battle for domination, her mind truly draws a blank and she can only feel. Her entire body is tingling in all the right places and she just wants to pull him even closer to her. He breaks the kiss for a moment and trails a path with his lips on her jaw. She opens her eyes for a second and realizes they are still in the break room. At the precinct. With a lot of detectives out there who would love to gossip about her love life if they ever caught them like this.

Damn it.

Castle is still kissing her jaw and slowly making his way down to her neck. Her legs feel like jelly and her hold on him is the only thing keeping her on her feet. When he reaches her neck and sucks on her pulse point, her knees get weak and she involuntarily tilts her head to the side, giving him better access.

The warning bells start making a riot in her head at that moment. This is wrong. She can't do this. She wants to, but she can't. It's wrong. But it feels so good and this is what she has been dreaming about for months, isn't it?

No, she can't. Goddamnit, they have the worst timing in the world. Seriously.

"Castle." She tries and is embarrassed when it comes out almost like a moan. God, this is ridiculous. "Castle. Rick, please."

He stops and looks at her, his arms still holding her tightly against him. His lips are swollen and his hair is a mess. Wow, she really did a number on him. She traces his bottom lip with her thumb and he kisses it gently.

"We can't do this." She sighs and sees the disappointment in his eyes. "It's not right." She tries to explain and he nods.

"I know, you're right. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that. I just got a little carried away." He is fumbling with his words and she can't stop her hand from touching his cheek. He leans into it and places a kiss on her palm.

"I just… I'm not really sure what is happening here, but I can't do this. We can't do this. It's not right. Especially here."

"Yeah, I know." he says and she almost feels like crying because she doesn't want this to end. Stupid rational side of her mind. She leans forward and rests her forehead on his shoulder. "Should we just forget about it?" she hears the insecurity in his voice and she would do anything to give the answer she really wants to.

"Maybe. For now at least?" she looks up at him and he gives her a sad smile and pushes her hair behind her ear, his hand lingering on her cheek. She mimics his action from just a minute ago and kisses his palm.

"I guess, yeah." He says and leans down to place one last lingering kiss on her lips. She breaks the kiss this time, before she looses control again.

"We should go back out there." She rests her forehead on his for a moment and sighs. This really sucks. "Come on." She extricates herself from his arms and immediately feels cold. Looking around the room, she is glad to notice the blinds are shut. They were really lucky no one walked in on them.

Before they reach the door, Castle turns her around and pulls her back to him, kissing her again. She allows herself to get lost in it for a few seconds and breaks away.

With a sigh, she touches his chest, keeping him at a distance. "Don't make this harder than it already is, Castle. Please."

"Right, sorry. Couldn't help it." He says and there is mischief in his eyes again. She rolls her eyes at him and tries to fix his now messy hair.

"Come on. I've got work to do." She tries to sound annoyed, but fails.

At noon she leaves the precinct to meet Josh. She has every intention of gently breaking things off with him, but when they finally meet at a restaurant a couple of blocks away from the hospital he works at, he doesn't look so good. He greets her with a kiss and takes her hand in his as they enter the restaurant.

After they have ordered, she asks him what is wrong, her determination to break up with him getting weaker by the minute. He tells her that he has just lost a patient that he had been treating for over a year and he knows it comes with the territory, but he can't help but feeling down whenever he loses his patients.

Right then, her intentions fly out the window. She can't do this to him. Not today. She knows she will have to eventually. As soon as possible. After all, even if nothing comes out of this thing with Castle, it's not fair to Josh. She can't date him when she clearly has feelings for another guy. It just won't be today. And she and Castle had agreed that they should put whatever happened behind them so it's all good. For now, anyway.

Things had been surprisingly easy to get back to after their impromptu make out session in the break room. She keeps expecting to feel awkward, but nothing happens. On the contrary, she feels excited, giddy even.

To be honest, she's not entirely sure what to think. Sure, they had been doing this dance for almost three years and recently crossed a few lines in their relationship, but the fact of the matter is that he is still with Gina and she is with Josh. She has every intention to break things off with Josh, but who's to say he will leave Gina for her? And if he does leave her, what guarantee does she have that this thing between them will even work? And if it doesn't, what happens to their partnership?

See, this is exactly why she had avoided crossing the line with Castle in the past. All this confusion was enough to give her a headache. The truth is she is not sure if her heart can handle Castle. And the fact that they have already crossed a huge line in their relationship terrifies her. So for now, she will just take it one step at a time and see what happens.

She is pulled out of her reverie when her phone vibrates in her pocket, signaling a new message.

Going home to try and get some writing done. Are we still on for tonight? I promise I'll be on my best behavior and Alexis would love to hang out with you again. –RC

She sighs and bites her bottom lip, unsure.

"Something wrong?" Josh asks, noticing her frown. She looks at him startled and shakes her head after a moment.

"Not really. Just… something came up and I'll have to work tonight." The words are out before she can even think them through. Where did that lie come from? Damn it, this is all wrong.

"Oh, that's okay. I'm on call anyway." He smiles and takes her hand in his, giving it a light squeeze, before releasing it. "I'll miss you, though."

She bites down on her bottom lip and tries to smile at him. "Yeah, me too." She says and he asks for the check. While he is paying, she texts Castle back.

Yeah, I'll see you guys tonight.