Hi guys! This week was really tiring, so that's why I didn't have the chance to upload this chapter earlier, sorry for that. I also actually had another little part to add to this chapter, but I didn't like that ending, so this is it for now. But the good thing is that this means a part of the next chapter is already written, and that one shouldn't take as long as this one. I also wanna thank you for all the reviews/alerts/favoriting, you're the best and I'm glad people still read this story. I'm trying to put a bit more action in the next chapters, just to keep you from falling asleep ;)

Anyway, have fun!

Disclaimer: If Castle would've been mine, I wouldn't be broke.

Martha almost had tears in her eyes, seeing her son with this passion for a woman. She hadn't seen that before, and she was now sure those two were destined to be.

Lanie was proud of her girl, and her plan. Damn, she was good. This bet was hers to win. And she didn't expect to see the panting duo somewhere in the next hour. They definitely had better things to do then hanging around when they could do way more.

Alexis had made up her mind, too. Seeing her dad like this had changed perspective, and she'd seen Kate too. Their passion and love was equal, and she didn't want to be in the way of something that strong. She would give this a chance.

Even Esposito and Ryan had fallen silent. Instead of the usual flirting and banter they were used to see, it was damned serious now. "She definitely let him win that bet two years ago." Esposito whispered." And the only response Ryan could bring out was a "Definitely." On his right stood Jenny, smiling at the sight of two people so much in love.

Pretending to be a couple would be harder then Beckett thought. She and Castle had agreed to pretend they'd hooked up after this dance but never kiss, only almost-kisses, it would drive Lanie crazy. But it would be hard to not really kiss him, after this. Damn. Who would've thought a passionate dance would really let out so much feelings in the movements?

And Karpowski was just happy she'd put in extra money on tonight.

"Okay, when nobody's watching, we're going to my office." They were now just dancing like everyone else, trying to blend in. And it wasn't as easy as they had hoped. Every time Castle or Beckett looked up, others quickly shifted their eyes back or turned their heads suddenly away. Didn't they know she was a detective? It was slightly uncomfortable, but they tried to ignore it, focusing on each other.

"But Lanie has to see it, so we have to keep an eye on her." Castle already turned his head, searching for the M.E. en felt Beckett's slap almost immediately at the back of his head. "Subtle," she hissed in his ear. That was so hot.

The first step of their plan was giving Lanie a 'hook-up-moment'. If they'd go to his office, hand in hand, she'd think about only one thing. They weren't going to kiss in front of her, but if they wanted to be believable they'd have to disappear for a while. It didn't seem like such a good idea to Beckett anymore. She'd suspected Lanie would keep an eye on them. But now... now everyone seemed to watch them, and the whole precinct would think the same as Lanie would.

In the meanwhile, Castle had a hard time ignoring the seductive swinging of Kate's hips. Focusing on Lanie wasn't really what he'd had in mind for tonight. Well, nothing what had happened so far had, actually. Not that he had problems with it, not at all. But he'd felt her, and wanted more. He wanted her body pressed against his, sweaty, out of breath, his hands on her, the feeling of her nails digging into his skin and-

He startled when he felt her hot breath in his neck. "Castle, focus," she hissed. "And now to your office." He didn't have to think twice before he grabbed her hand and made their way trough the crowd. "Lanie's on the right, near the couch. Don't look at her."

The stepped hastily towards his office, passed Lanie right in front of her. To make them look more suspicious, Beckett turned her head backwards, as if checking if anybody had noticed them.

Castle paused a moment before entering his office, and she almost bumped into him. "Can't wait, Detective?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Damn eyebrows.

"Just- Shut up," she said, and pushed him through the doorway, closing the door softly behind them. (Not everybody had to hear that the doors were locked now.) She leaned against the door, her eyes trying to adjust to the darkness. "Castle, don't you have a light in here?"

"Yeah, just –" She could hear him stumble, uttering an "oomph" when he bumped against his desk, ruffling papers, and had to suppress a giggle. Kate Beckett never giggled. Especially not in front of him.

"What's wrong, Castle? Afraid you can't handle me with the lights on?" This caused another bump, sounding a little bit different. Apparently he had bumped his head this time.

"Beckett," he gritted through his teeth, "stop distracting me. I'm trying to find the switch of my desk lamp. And it's under my desk. And it's dark in here." She rolled her eyes. How on earth was it possible to not find a switch in a room you spend so much time in?

"We've got time, you know. No need to hurt that pretty head of yours." This was ridiculous. Five more seconds, and she'd crawl under that desk herself. She took a step towards his desk, but stepped on something, and shrieked when she fell.

Lanie couldn't help herself but stepped closer to the door. She was no eavesdropper, she was just leaning against that door by coincidence. To her own surprise, she heard a small scream. They surely weren't wasting their time. It was silent for a moment. Then she heard them laughing, and heard Kate say "Sssht, maybe they can hear us!" The laughter was quickly muffled and barely audible anymore, and she had heard enough. There were limits, and she didn't need to hear everything. She'd get it out of Kate anyway. With a big smile on her face, she returned to the living room.

"Beckett, you okay?" he'd found the switch, but clearly two seconds too late. She lay on her back with her arms above her head, clearly surprised by the fall.

"Did you hit your head?" He knelt down next to her and bent over her to take a better look at her head. He touched her hair gently, pushing a couple of strands out of her face. Worry was all over his face, his eyes scanning her for bruises or scratches.

"No, I'm fine," she grumbled. "What the hell took you so long?" She wanted to stand up, but Castle pushed her gently but firmly back.

"We don't want you to fall again, Beckett. Just stay there for a minute, will ya?"

"Castle, I'm fine. Now tell me, what the hell took you so long to find a damn switch in a room you spend so much time in?"

"Good thing I like soft and thick fluffy carpets," was his only response, supplemented with a grin.

"Castle." She was now leaning on her elbows, not wanting to interrogate him lying flat on her back.

"Okay, okay. Couldn't find the switch, that's all. Can happen, right?"

"Why am I actually not surprised? Now, what did I step on?" She wanted to sit up, but felt a dizziness entering her head so decided to just lean on her elbows a little bit longer. She did not want to end up on the ground. Again.

Castle looked at her feet, and saw a little police car toy. "A police car."

"Castle, can't you be serious for just one minute? Jeez." So now she tried to sit up again, slower, and saw the little toy. Her mouth formed an 'o' in surprise that he was right and that she did step on a police car. Well, sort of. They looked at each other, and couldn't help but laugh. She was beautiful when she laughed, and he wanted to hear that beautiful sound more often.

"You know, usually people end up under a car, not on it," Castle commented when he had some air back in his lungs.

"Sssht, maybe they can hear us!" Their laughter turned into chuckling, and after another minute they finally fell silent.

"So, what's the next step?" They were both still sitting on the floor, now leaning against his desk and closer to each other then necessary. "Waiting?"

"Lanie has to suspect a make-out session,"

"That's not hard."

"And no boinking, so yes we're gonna wait, but not too long anymore."

"We can make it a quicky," he waggled his eyebrows and got an eye-roll from Beckett as response. No surprise there.

"Really, Castle? Our first time, a quicky in your office?" Oops, where did that come from?

"Kate, I suggest that one: we're on first name basis now, and second: you deserve more then just a quicky." He waited a moment and saw her flush heavily. "But the carpet's really soft. And I'm always good, no matter where. Bet you are too." He gave her a defiant look.

She couldn't let him have this one, or let him notice how fast her heart was beating in her throat. "Oh, you've got no idea." He stared at her with big eyes and swallowed. A smug grin appeared on her face. "Rick, what did you expect?" she purred into his ear, continuing the teasing. He was so easy.

He shook his head, trying to put all the images from his fantasies away and suddenly stood up. He grabbed her hands without asking and pulled her up too. "I think our make-out session is over. We can't keep just kissing forever." They indeed wouldn't let it take so long to go father than that.

"Um, indeed. What time is it?"

"1:15 already. How long have we actually been in here?"

"Long enough, come on." She carefully opened the door and pulled him quickly out with her, hoping they didn't draw too much attention.

"Come on, Rick," she said suggestively, and stepped towards the living room with his hand still in hers. What she didn't expect was that he'd recover that quickly. He pulled her against him and put his hand on her waist, touching her bare skin.

She felt it tingling, but ignored that feeling. "What are you doing?"

"Don't you want to be convincing?"

"Yes, but I don't think-"

"Well then let's be convincing then." He instinctively gave her a peck on her cheek, surprised by his own action. So was Kate, but she didn't say anything this time, and just kept smiling. She'sprobably planning where to hide my body after this isover, he thought.

"Come on. If we're gonna play it like this, I want a drink first," and she headed towards the bar.

"Good thing these are low-alcohol," he mumbled more to himself than to her, but she'd heard it anyway.

"And good thing I don't have to work tomorrow. Too bad that doesn't count for every cop in here."

"Oh?"

"Most of them are on call tomorrow. Gates won't be happy if half of her precinct arrives with a hangover tomorrow."

"Well, I suppose I better behave then. And stay out of her sight for the rest of the week."

"I suppose." Inside, she hoped he just meant keeping low-profile, and not actually staying away.

"Guys! Guys! Guys!"

"What's up, Lanie?" Ryan asked suspiciously. Lanie was almost jumping out of her skin, full of excitement apparently for who-knows-what. Although they had an idea what that could be.

"They did it! They did it! Oh, I'm so proud of my girl!" She almost screamed in a high-pitch voice.

"Who did what?"

"Castle and Beckett. In his office. Guess the bedroom was too far."

"The bedroom? Wha-" Ryan started, but was interrupted by Esposito. "Ah, Lanie!" he wined, "too much information!"

"I heard them." She clearly took no notice of what they said. "Would that be enough to win the pool?"

"Lanie, it's Beckett we're talking about. Beckett. I really don't wanna know those details. Weren't you just gonna tell us if someone reported a kiss? Because that was the condition you wanted to be followed so strictly."

She sighed. "But this is much better! Look, there they are," she squealed and pointed at the writer and the detective. Castle had his arm around her waist, his hand on her bare skin and she didn't seem to mind a bit. She kept smiling, even when he gave her a peck.

"Wow Lanie, that was one hell of a saliva exchange," Esposito said dryly.

"Javier, they probably just don't want to draw too much attention. You know how they are. Besides, see all the rumples in Kate's skirt? They definitely-"

But Esposito had already put his hand over her mouth, effectively muffling the rest of the sentence.

"Too. Much. Information."

"Yeah, we still have to look her in the eyes every day at work. The scenes you're suggesting are more Castle's thing," Ryan said.

Lanie pulled Esposito's hand away. "Fine," she said grumpily. Couldn't they be a little bit more enthusiastic? "But keep your eyes open, both of you. If they kiss, we will know it and win that pool," she grinned. The boys smiled conspiratorially, but didn't really feel the need to see their boss making out with Castle. Or more. They shivered one more time before the three of them parted.