Company - Chapter 7
Once again, thank you all for the wonderful, kind words on last chapter and every chapter of this story.
"All right, everything is just about ready; the salad has been made and will be dressed just before we eat, the pork chops are slow-cooking, and the veggies will go into the oven once Alexis gets ho–you okay?"
Kate blinks, turning from the window to face her – well, for lack of a better term – her boyfriend. Rick cocks his head, scanning her face, chuckling at her crinkled nose in response to his scrutiny.
"Mmm, yeah," she says. "I'm fine. Just thinking."
He settles beside her, nudges her with his shoulder. "About? You've been looking out the window like you're waiting for a suspect to come out of the building across the street. Wait – is there a suspect in the apartment building across the street? Are you using my place for your stakeout on the same night we're having dinner with my daughter?"
She laughs, knocking her head against his arm. "No, there's no stakeout, Castle."
"Well, that's unfortunate. It would be so cool – my first stakeout!"
"Your only stakeout," she reminds him, lifting an eyebrow. "Unless you're moonlighting as a P.I. and I don't know about it."
"No," he denies, "but that would be a great plot point in my next book. I need to write that down."
To her amusement, he actually does twist to grab a pen and the first sheet of paper he can find, scribbling the idea down with a look of concentration. Kate gives the paper a glance, only half-serious in her effort to see his notes, but he feigns scandal anyway.
"Spoilers, Detective."
She grins, dotting a kiss to the back of his neck. "Can't spoil a conversation I was part of, Rick. Unless… wait, are you already writing?"
Rick looks down at the paper, shifting in his seat. "Kind of? Just notes, really."
Her heart thumps a little harder in admiration; he's written a few times in her presence in the month and change since they made their relationship official, but never off the cuff like this. The fact that he can just jot down ideas and notes when the mood strikes is impressive. Sexy, too.
His pen lowers a minute later and he turns his head to catch her eye. She can read the question on his lips. She hadn't answered him, not really, allowing him to change the subject instead, and he still wants to know what's up.
She sighs, giving in. "Are you sure I shouldn't, I don't know, leave and come back?"
Rick blinks, stiffening at the idea. "What? Why would you need to leave and come back?"
"I – because I'm the guest? And shouldn't the guest arrive after everyone is home? You might want to talk to your daughter – or she might want to talk to you – before she meets me?"
His posture softens as he reaches over, covering her knee with a broad palm. "Kate, Alexis and I talked before we planned tonight's dinner. That talk is why we're having tonight's dinner. Well the talk, and apparently I mentioned your name twenty-three times in one conversation and she said if I was going to talk about you that much, she wanted to meet you."
She laughs, offering a sheepish smile before lowering her chin, allowing the heat from his hand to soothe her nerves. "What on earth were you talking about that you mentioned my name twenty-three times? That's ridiculous."
Her boyfriend laughs, giving his head a shake. "I don't remember. Our plans for the next day, maybe. It may have been the week I conned you into taking a long lunch and then we didn't actually eat more than a quick bite on the way back to the precinct."
Horror floods her. "Rick, did you tell your daughter that? Tell me you didn't talk to your teenage daughter about us using my lunch break to fu–"
"What? No. No, we most definitely did not talk about that. I'm just saying it was around that time."
"Three weeks ago," she muses. "How did she take it? Hearing you talk about me?"
Rick's thumb brushes her kneecap. "She wasn't upset, which is what I think you're worried about. She wanted to meet you, Kate. She said exactly that; I didn't put her up to this."
"Okay," she breathes, biting her lip. "Has she met any of your other girlfriends?"
She twists, wanting to see his face as he answers. Not that she thinks he won't be truthful, but he tends to deflect when he doesn't want to go too deep into things. They're alike in that way, she's coming to realize.
"A couple at most. Admittedly, I haven't always been the poster boy for relationships. I never introduced her to anyone when she was little, and there haven't been many women I've dated more than a few times since she got older. Of course, Alexis knows Gina, but…" he trails off, piquing her interest.
He brushes her hair behind her ear, swiping his thumb over her cheek. "It's going to be fine, Kate," he says instead of elaborating further and she files the name Gina away for another time. Maybe.
"But if you want, I'll buy her a pony and we can say it's from you."
Kate laughs, shaking her head. "Something tells me your daughter might see through that. Especially given my salary."
"Well, the offer is open."
Reaching over, Kate pats his knee. "I think I'm good. But um, what did you tell her about how we met?"
Thankfully he hears what she doesn't ask: did he tell his daughter about their past, or just their present.
"I told her we met at the park, hit it off, and started seeing each other."
Her lips lift. That was one way to describe the earliest weeks of their time together this time around. "Okay, that's good. I just wanted to make sure you hadn't given her some watered-down version of when we met the first time."
"She's clever enough that she would draw her own conclusions about that weekend. Better to keep it to ourselves, I think."
Kate nods. "I think so, too."
"Our sexy little secret?" he suggests, dipping his head, brushing his nose over hers. Kate hums, lifting her chin to meet his lips.
"Something like that," she agrees against his mouth, scratching her fingernail against the seam on the inside of his thigh.
Rick grunts, fingers tightening on her knee, skimming higher up her leg. She's playing with fire, teasing him like this when they both know his daughter could come through the front door at any moment, but she can't help herself. She's been sleeping with him for close to five months, and the newness, the want, hasn't worn off yet.
He pitches closer, ready to push her back against the cushions, when the clatter of a key in the lock jolts them apart. Rick makes a hasty retreat to his cushion, schooling his face into something that should resemble neutral, while she sucks in a deep breath and swipes her thumb over her mouth to make sure what little lip gloss she'd been wearing isn't now smeared all over her face.
"Rick," she hisses, gesturing for him to do the same. He does, quick to rub the mauve color off his skin, though she's not sure how successful the move really is.
They turn toward the door as it swings open. Kate can only hope her cheeks aren't as red as they feel, that she and Rick don't look as guilty as the pounding of her heart suggests they do. They've been so careful up to this point, discreet about being together when and where Alexis might see her, and the night they plan to make a formal introduction, they almost get carried away.
"I'm home." Alexis calls as she steps into the loft. Kate can't help but watch her, noting the girl's vibrant red hair, her keen eyes, even the way her smile widens when she spots them. "Hey Dad, dinner smells good. Hi! Are you Kate?"
Kate nods, running her hands over her jeans as she gets to her feet. She meets Alexis halfway, holding out her hand. "Nice to meet you, Alexis. I've heard so much about you."
Alexis laughs. "You too. My dad, um, he talks about you a lot."
"So I heard. Twenty-three times in one conversation?"
The girl nods, her eyes sparkling with mirth. "And it wasn't the first time, either."
"Ohh kay," Rick jumps in, joining them in the middle of the living room. Kate watches Alexis grin at her father, stepping into the bear hug he offers. "Why don't you go change, Pumpkin? We'll get the rest of dinner ready."
"I think you're just trying to get rid of me," Alexis quips, knocking a kiss to his cheek. "But Kate's here all night; plenty of time to tell her how goofy you are."
Rick narrows his eyes as his daughter pulls away. "Not cool, baby bird. Not cool."
Alexis just shrugs, flashing an innocent smile before she runs up to her room.
Kate waits until Alexis is gone to turn to her boyfriend. "So," she starts, hooking her finger in his belt loop and tugging him into her. "How many times have you mentioned me to your daughter?"
Thank you all! Until next chapter.