A/N: Hey guys, so I realized that my page/section breaks are not showing in my story, so I tried a different kind of symbol/letter to divide it. I can't believe I didn't notice it before. It always annoys me when people don't do that in their stories because it makes it seem so unorganized, so I apologize for the mishap. I hope you enjoy the chapter!
**I do not own Castle or its characters
As soon as Kate walked in the door, she began peeling off the layers weighing her down, one by one. First the keys, then her purse, coat, boots, gun and badge. She floated by the kitchen grabbing a half empty bottle of wine she opened the night before and a glass. Next, she headed towards the bathroom, setting down her glass and bottle on a little wooden table near her bathtub and turning on the faucet so that it would reach just the right temperature. After pushing in the plug, and pouring in her favorite cherry and vanilla bubble bath, she walked back out into her living room towards the bookshelf, stripping her clothes as she went. She didn't care that her windows were open to the outside world; no one was home at this hour anyways.
She considered each of his books, as they were always her go to books when she just wanted to relax like this after a rough day. She reached out and plucked In a Hail of Bullets from the shelf and made her way back towards the awaiting sliver of paradise.
That book meant more to her than any of the others, maybe even more than the Nikki Heat's. It used to be her mother's. After Johanna passed, Kate found this book on her shelf and decided to give it a try. She knew her mother was anxiously awaiting the next book, so she figured reading something her mother loved, would make her feel closer to her somehow. She ended up falling in love with the book too and proceeded to read every one of Castle's works. She had never told him this, but his books gave her that little bit of peace when the rest of her life was going to hell.
It was also the book she stood in line for an hour for, to get signed. At the time, his first Derrick Storm book was hitting the shelves, but even though everyone was waiting to get that signed, she wanted him to sign her mother's.
Dear Kate,
I hope that one day the sadness leaves your beautiful green eyes.
-Richard Castle
Even back then, he was able to read her like a book.
She soaked for the rest of the afternoon, letting all of the day's grime melt off her the best it could. Looking at the clock, she decided it was time to start getting ready to go out with Lanie, so she pulled the plug and drug herself out of her mini oasis.
It technically was only five, but she knew with the mood she was in, she would drag this process out right up until about 30 minutes before Lanie was supposed to arrive at eight. She could be quick as lightning when she was called in for a case in the middle of the night, but sometimes, she just liked to be a little lazy and take her time when there was no rush. Plus, she didn't know what she was going to wear, so that would take some time.
Wrapping the towel around her damp body, she moseyed into her closet. She had a couple of options that fell under Lanie's 'sexy as hell' category: her red, strapless, skin-tight dress or her black, deep-v, open-back dress, also form fitting. Honestly, her red dress was straight up hooker and she really wasn't in the mood to be fending off that many guys. She didn't want to deal with any of the creeps found in the clubs, but that was pretty much unavoidable under a dress code of 'sexy as hell'.
Damn it, Lanie
So, she decided that the black would be the slightly better option. She grabbed a pair of sleek black stilettos to match and made her way back to the bathroom to fix her hair and makeup.
It was nearing seven o'clock and she was already completely ready to go. She could only drag out her beauty process for so long. Just then, her stomach let out a growl and she realized she and Castle never went to eat lunch. Well I guess I should eat something…
On her way over to the pantry, a knock sounded at her door. She stopped and double-checked the clock.
7:01 PM
Lanie is really early….did I hear her wrong? She asked herself.
But it wasn't Lanie, she opened the door to none other than Castle, holding what looked like a bag of Chinese takeout.
"Uh hey Castle"
She was met with silence. Castle's mouth hung open as he took in her appearance. She looked stunning, her hair was perfectly curled with soft tendrils framing her face, her eyes shadowy and dark and as beautiful as they always were, and her lips had slightly more color in them than normal. She was wearing a little black dress that perfectly hugged her curves and cut down low in the front. And on top of that, her legs, seemingly endless, reached to the floor, landing in none other than black, four-inch heels.
"Castle"
"Hi….I, um, you look….stunning." He breathed.
She smiled as a blush crept up her neck and tinted her cheeks a soft shade of pink.
"Thanks…what are you doing here?"
"Oh, right, sorry, um….well I just wanted to make sure you were alright and I know that you don't like to cook and sometimes you forget to eat and it's really important that you eat plus it will make you feel better so I brought some Chinese cause I know it's your favorite and...sorry I'm rambling."
"Its…"
But Castle butt back in before she could respond, "I should have called, you look like your busy, and you said you wanted to be alone…"
"Castle"
"What?"
She reached out and touched his arm, "Thank You." She smiled.
"Oh…You're welcome."
"Would you like to come in?"
"Sure, that'd be great."
"Your timing is perfect, I was just about to try and find something to eat, but Chinese is infinitely better."
"Wow you were actually going to eat? I'm impressed Beckett."
"Ha Ha Castle." She chided as she handed him a pair of chop sticks and grabbed the Chicken Lo Mein first.
"So, why are you all dressed up?" Castle questioned.
"Lanie insisted on a girl's night."
"You sound super excited."
"Mhm, I'm the epitome of excitement."
"I see. Oh! Is this what Lanie was referring to when she left today yelling 'sexy as hell, Kate' into the bullpen!"
"Yeah," Kate chuckled.
"Well, you certainly fit that requirement."
Kate started to blush again and tried to turn away to hide it, but she failed to do so before he noticed and mentally smirked.
They continued to talk throughout dinner about random odds and ends. By the time they finished, it was a quarter to eight. Kate was cleaning up the remaining boxes, while Castle was checking out her bookshelf, when she heard a knock at the door. Oh no, that's Lanie! If she sees Castle…Oh no…ugh I'm so screwed. She mentally chastised herself for not pushing him out a little sooner. Lanie is going to pester her about this all night.
"Is that Lanie?"
"Yeah it should be, I'll get it."
"Hey girl, you ready? You're lookin' sexxyyy. I'm glad you listened the first time otherwise I would've made you go change."
"Hello to you to Lanie," Kate said as Lanie brushed past her into the apartment."
"Good Evening Doctor Parish"
"Castle? Hey! What are you doing here?...Am I interrupting something?" Lanie questioned.
"Not at all, I was just leaving."
"Oh, alright." Lanie replied, confused.
Castle headed towards the door and Kate turned to follow.
"Thanks for dinner Castle."
He turned and smiled, his blue eyes twinkling with sincerity.
"Always. Have fun ladies. See you tomorrow Kate." And then he was gone.
Kate. He had only used it a few times before, and every time it got to her. Whenever he did, the air seemed to thicken around her, making it harder to breathe. Not many people called her Kate nowadays since she was always working under "Beckett". Only the people close to her, special to her, called her Kate.
"Earth to Kate…" Lanie called.
Kate turned to face Lanie, mask set in place.
"I'm here, you ready?"
"Un uh, you are not getting out of this that easily…Castle brought you dinner? Did you ask him to bring you dinner?"
"No…"
"So he just showed up with your favorite kind of food and ate dinner with you."
"Yeah?"
"Good Lord, woman. How many signs do you need?"
Kate just stood there, refusing to take the bait. She rolled her eyes, "Come on Lanie, let's go."
And with that, they headed out the door, but not without Lanie adding, "This conversation, is not over Kate."
Oh joy.
A/N: Thanks for reading. Reviews are greatly appreciated.