So here is the chapter you guys have all been raving about, I hope it lives up to your expectations.

Rick was just finishing up setting the scene, a quaint table big enough for two was sitting in the middle of the room; a nice red table cloth was draped over it. He had set up two small candles to burn softly in the centre of the table, hiding away in cups that glowed with the light from the flame. He placed two wine glasses on the table and quickly checked on the food when he heard a knock at the door. He looked over at the clock and smiled, 7:30, not a minute past.

Rick straightened his shiny dark blue dress top, checked his hair in the reflection of the oven and briskly made his way over to the front door. When he twisted the door handle and pulled the door open, he was speechless. Kate looked beautiful, her long twisted curls bouncing around her delicate face where he noticed she had applied a little mascara and a soft shade of lipstick, her chest rising and sinking with each breath; and those eyes. She was a vision of beauty, confidence...and hotness.

"Wow...you look gorgeous, Kate."

She blushed. "You're not so bad yourself, Castle."

Rick quickly stepped aside so that she could get through the door and he couldn't suppress the sound he made as he swallowed hard when she walked past him. Her back was completely exposed, or mostly, all except for the black ribbon that criss-crossed over her back; he picked out the thin black bra strap concealed under the ribbon and he had to try and remember how to breathe. He had to mentally kick himself in the head to get control of himself again so he could close the door and walk Kate to the table. She was amazed at how romantic and intimate he had made such an open room, the lights were still on but they were very dim, and she suddenly noticed a soft melody playing. When she saw the wine glasses she rolled her eyes, but smiled as well.

"Wow Rick, you really went all out tonight, music, candle-light; wine."

"Yes, well, I felt that this date was a little too special for my usual game-plan."

"And what might that be?"

"The kind of game-plan that involves spending a lot of money in one night, waking up in the morning with someone else in bed with me and then reading all about it on page 6; but you're not that sort of woman." He took a step closer to her, breathing in that scent of cherries. "You're not that kind of girl and you never will be."

"And how do you know that?" She asked while trying to keep her breathing even, she could feel his own hot breath on the back of her neck.

"I know that because I know you, I know you are far too intelligent, clever, gifted and real to ever be that sort of person. Of all the women I have ever dated, and that is quite a lot so I think I know what I'm talking about, there isn't a single one of them that could ever be as beautiful as you; inside and out."

Kate bit her lower lip to hide her grin, every time she heard him say something like that it made her heart beat faster. "You are such a charmer, aren't you?"

"I try."

They walked over to the table and Rick pulled out her seat for her, he had done this before but it felt special. She couldn't recall a single one of her past boyfriends who had done that for her, they had sometimes opened doors for her, usually footed the bill; but they had never gone so far as to pull out her seat for her when sitting down to a romantic dinner. She watched as Rick zipped over to the kitchen and she couldn't help but wonder what he had chosen to cook after all. When he returned, he placed two plates of spaghetti Bolognese down on the table and retrieved a bottle of red wine.

"1998 Chateau Neuf de Pape." He announced as he opened the bottle of expensive wine and poured it into their glasses.

He placed the wine in a bucket of ice on the counter and sat down across from Kate. He lifted up his glass and she did the same, lightly clinking them together before taking a sip. Kate savoured the taste of the rich red wine as it slipped down her throat, before placing her glass down and beginning to eat. The two of them ate quietly for a while, just sharing small talk here and there. Rick would make a joke every now and again and Kate wouldn't be able to stop smiling. They kept away from the topic of work, neither of them wanted to bring up the subject of her new partner tonight.

As they finished the food and quite a bit of the wine, Rick stood up to deliver their plates to the sink. When he came back he turned up the volume on the music and held his hand out to her. "May I have this dance?" He asked her, and she noticed that while his face was full of confidence and playful cunning, his eyes were filled with nervousness and hope.

Kate smiled warmly and slipped her hand into his. He pulled her to her feet, placed his left hand on her waist and led her into a slow waltz. The music was slow and gentle, but it made both of their hearts beat like crazy. They moved smoothly throughout the room, completely in sync with each other as they danced together; Rick made sure that they didn't move too quickly or wildly, afraid of hurting her by causing her surgery scar to pull. Their eyes were locked, green meeting blue, as they turned and swayed to the music. They stopped when Kate stumbled a little, falling into Rick, the wine and spinning starting to make her a bit dizzy.

They both laughed, sitting down on the couch together, Rick sitting on the corner with Kate cuddled up against his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her a little closer, smiling as she continued to laugh.

"I think you've had enough wine for tonight, Kate."

"Probably more than enough." She laughed.

He loved the sound of her laugh, that look in her eyes when she was happy. He stared into her emerald eyes and she couldn't stop smiling, she bit her lower lip and grinned. He leaned closer and ever so softly brushed his lips against hers, she released her lip for the kiss and when he started to pull away she followed. His hand came up to cup her face as the kiss deepened, lips parting, tongues exploring; hands roaming. Before either of them knew it, they were in the same position they had found themselves in yesterday, Kate's leg wrapped around his waist, his hand running up and down her exposed back, his fingers leaving goose bumps in their wake. Her hands were tied around his neck, playing with his hair and stroking the back of his neck.

Something in the back of her head started telling her that this was going too quickly when she felt his hand slip underneath her shirt and start caressing her shoulders, but she really didn't care. She wanted him and he wanted her, they trusted each other, they were comfortable with each other; so why not let herself take that chance.

As his mouth left hers to trail kisses down the side of her neck, she chuckled softly. "This really isn't first-date behaviour is it?" She said playfully, making it clear that she didn't want him to stop, she was just having a little fun.

"What if we counted each year that we've known each other as a date?" He suggested, only pulling away long enough to say it before going back to kissing her neck.

"That would mean that this is our fourth date...I guess I can live with that." They both laughed, their lips coming together again.

His finger started to wind around the loose end of the ribbon and she grinned against his lips as he tugged on it a little. The knot held fast and when he tried and failed again, she took control. She slowly undid the buttons on his shirt and ran her long fingers down his torso from his chest to his abdomen; this simple action resulting in his arms going limp at his sides. She started to move against his body, rocking up and down and pulling a loud groan from his lips. They stood up off the couch and, still in a tangle of arms and legs, they started to make their way towards Rick's bedroom. Kate remembered where it was from when she had lived here and as she kicked the door open, Rick trapped her against the door frame, kissing her senseless. His hands crept lower and lifted up one of her legs to wrap around his waist. Without waiting for encouragement, she kicked off the ground and wrapped both legs tightly around his waist, wriggling a little against the bulge in his jeans.

She grinned deviously when he groaned and she clenched her legs together to pull his groin against hers harder. Rick was so distracted that they almost didn't make it over to the bed, but when she felt him fall back on her and the touch of the soft sheets of the bed, she wriggled into the middle of the king-sized bed and drawing him up with her. He settled in between her legs, running his hands up and down her thighs while his lips plundered her mouth. She pushed his shirt over his shoulders and arched her back so that he could get his hands underneath her lower back to undo the knot that held her top on. He didn't take long to release the ribbon and her top started to slip down her shoulders. He pulled her top away and started kissing down her jaw line to her neck. A black bra was all that was left of her torso, but as he kissed down her chest, she tensed.

"Stop...stop."

He immediately did as she asked and he looked up at her, searching her eyes for an answer of some sort. "Are you ok? I didn't hurt you did I?" He looked so worried, guilty of maybe having hurt her due to his selfish need for her.

She breathed deeply and kept her eyes locked on the ceiling, fighting back tears. "No, no, you didn't do anything wrong...it's just..."

He crawled up closer to her face, pulling himself away from where she didn't seem to want him to be. "It's just what?" He asked softly, stroking her head, giving her all the time she needed. There was along moment of silence before she found her voice again.

"The...the scar..."

He frowned for a moment before realisation hit him. She was terribly self-conscious of her scar from the shooting, and judging by the look on her face, she thought it was ugly; disgusting. Rick pulled back a little and placed a gentle kiss on her collarbone, then another further down and another, slowly kissing lower until he was just above the scar. He looked down at the circle of tortured flesh, slight burns around the edges. He leaned down and placed another kiss just above it.

"Rick...please." She whispered.

He paused for a second and then leaned back down and placed a loving kiss on top of her scar. He looked up to see tears running down her face and he wished that he could take that pain away from her. He kissed her scar again and looked up at her. "It's beautiful, Kate, it isn't ugly or horrid, it is just a mark. It carries a great pain with it and sometimes it might hurt, but it doesn't mean anything. It doesn't make you any different than before, you are still the beautiful, intelligent, selfless, caring, strong woman that I met years ago. It doesn't mean anything if you don't want it to, Kate, it is just a mark." He reached up to wipe the tears out of her face as he whispered gently to her.

Kate looked down at him and found she was able to breathe again. Rick saw a faint, weak smile cross her lips and he smiled back. He pulled himself up to lie beside her and he pulled her into a warm embrace. Kate buried herself in his arms and cried quietly against his bare chest. He rubbed her back soothingly and kissed the top of her head, all the while whispering sweet nothings to her. Whatever they had been building up to a few minutes ago was completely forgotten, the two of them slowly coming down from the heat they had created together and drifting into a calm silence.

Rick wished he had never let it get this far, he should have known better, they had only just gotten past her lie and his leaving; they were moving too quickly, they needed to slow down. He shouldn't have pushed her into this, even though she had wanted this as much as he did, he should have thought about what problems there could be for her. She had been through a lot in the past few months and he had been selfish and taken advantage of her willingness, he should have thought about her first. She started to drift off into sleep and he realised that she wouldn't be going home tonight, but she couldn't sleep like this.

Rick carefully lifted them both up and swung both of their legs over the edge of the bed. She groaned in complaint when he stepped away from her to grab something for her to wear. She was half-asleep when he returned to kneel in front of her with a comfortable T-shirt and a pair of track pants with pull-strings. She looked down at what he was holding in his hands and she managed a tired smile. She looked into his eyes and saw the silent question hidden in the deep blue. Kate started to undo the button and zipper on her jeans and she let Rick help her pull them off and to pull on the track pants, he helped her to her feet so he could pull them up over her hips and tie the knot. She sat back down again, quietly thanking Rick for making sure she didn't fall too fast, then it came time to put the shirt on. Rick pulled the shirt over her head and helped her put her arms through the sleeves. She was so tried and weak, everything that had happened in the past two weeks was sucking up her energy.

But before Rick could lay her down and tuck her in, she stopped him, knowing that she shouldn't sleep in her bra. She tried to tell him that but she was so tired and it was such an embarrassing thing to ask, but somehow he understood. He kept his eyes locked on hers as he slipped his hands underneath her shirt, undid the clasp, brought his hands back out, slipped them inside the sleeves and pulled the straps down and over her arms, freeing the constricting item and allow it to just fall to her lap. He still kept his eyes on hers as he picked up the bra and wrapped it in her jeans, placing them both at the end of the bed. She was impressed with how focused he had been, not even glancing away from her eyes as his large warm hands caressed her naked skin. He stood up then and helped her to lie down and get into the bed, pulling the covers up to her shoulders before grabbing something resembling sleep-wear and going into the en-suite bathroom to change out of respect.

When he returned, he thought that Kate would be fast asleep, but she was still awake and waiting for him. He slipped into the bed beside her and wrapped her up in his arms, kissing the top of her head and whispering a heart-felt goodnight to her before allowing himself to fall asleep. The last thing he said before he closed his eyes was, "I'm sorry, Kate."

Yeah, I know, but it would have been too soon, I told you there was still a few things they had to work through. Anyway, I would like to thank everyone who had reviewed this story or added it to their story alert and/or favourites list,I logged on today to discover this story has 68 reviews, 71 favourites and 174 alerts! The highest amount of alerts I've ever gotten on any of my stories was 57 so my mind was totally blown. Thank you guys so much for all your kind words of encouragement and thank you for making my day better every time you review. Now, onto that Brunswick character...