I run into him at the grocery store, and I quickly lower the takeout coffee from my lips, hoping that he doesn't see the blush that I'm sure is gracing my cheeks. It wouldn't do to be caught with the trendy cup of Dean and DeLuca in my hands. But they carry my favorite kind of bread, and the trip down to SoHo is worth it for the fresh-baked goodness alone. Add a creamy blue cheese and a decent bottle of wine and my night will be made.
"Ricky," I greet, feeling the heat in my cheeks as I lean in to give him a peck on the cheek.
"Uh, Jess… Hi," he hedges, and I don't fail to notice that while I am hiding my coffee, he is also trying to hide something; a shopping basket, behind his legs.
"What you got there?" I ask, peering behind him and into the contents of his basket, noting fresh chicken breasts, pasta, Asiago cheese, prosciutto; the makings of a fine meal.
"Oh, nothing, just dinner," he says, his eyes shifting from me to the display of wines to his right, the bakery counter and dessert selections to his left.
Oh, this is more than just dinner. While the ingredients are pretty average for a meal made by Rick, his embarrassment and barely-hidden eagerness to avoid conversation are a sure sign that this particular dinner might be special.
"Ah," I say, smiling and picking up a bottle of white from the rack, proud that he and Kate seem to have made a step forward. I drop the Riesling into my basket and carry on, quickly following him as he tries to make his escape. "Well, it's about time."
"Yeah, about time," he says, distracted and picking up a pack of chocolate truffles as we walk past the bakery and toward the registers.
I wonder briefly why Kate didn't tell me about this change in their relationship. It must be recent. Last I'd seen of her, she'd been cackling over a few pranks that she and the boys at the 12th had played on Rick. There had been a happy air about her, an easing of some of the tension since the whole ordeal with the serial killer and her mom's case. Still, she had said nothing about any deepening of her feelings towards Rick or about making a decision to dive in. So… why now, and what did I miss?
I dump the half-empty cup of coffee in a nearby trash can, relieved that he seems to have missed my indiscretion entirely, and follow him to the checkout, ready to resume my interrogation. He gestures for me to go before him, but I want to see what else he has hidden in his basket. I shake my head and insist that he goes first.
Laid down flat along the edge of the basket is a single, long-stemmed red rose. He pulls it out and gently places it on the counter. I roll my eyes at the cheesiness of it, thinking that it's not really Kate's style but keeping my mouth shut. He knows her better than I do, maybe she has made mention of it. Or maybe he's just trying a little too hard to be romantic. Either way, it's not a big deal. It's actually kind of sweet. He lays out the ingredients for his meal on the counter, wild mushrooms and heavy cream alongside the other supplies and I almost wish that I could be there to taste the dish. It looks delicious already.
He reaches into his basket for the last remaining item and I about choke on my own spittle. Carefully wrapped in brown paper from the seafood section, the label clearly reads, 'Wellfleet Oysters'.
"Really? Oysters?" I say, raising an eyebrow and smirking in his direction.
"What?" he argues, shrugging his shoulders and grinning. "They're an aphrodisiac," he leers, pulling out his wallet and popping out a credit card to pay.
"Don't you think that might be going a little over the top for Kate?" I ask, worried about his mental health if he thinks the detective will fall for the cliché of oysters, and also slightly concerned about his intentions toward the woman I have grown to really like over the past few months. Besides, she seems to me like more of a Chinese and a good bottle of red, accompanied by a movie by the fire kind of girl.
"Oh, you know… Wait, what? Who?" He looks completely flustered, as though only now catching up to the conversation.
"Detective Beckett… Kate," I say, gesturing to his basket. "What made her finally agree to dinner with you, anyway?"
"Oh…" His face falls a bit before he schools his features into a smile. "God no, this isn't for Beckett and me. I have a date." He looks around as if for prying eyes and ears before his face blooms into a shit-eating grin. "With Ellie Monroe."
Oh, you've got to be kidding me. He actually fell for all that pandering nonsense that the actress was oozing all over him on the talk show? And what the hell is he thinking, dating other people while he's supposed to be trying to woo Kate?
"Seriously Rick?" I ask, not even bothering to hide my scorn. "The actress from the show last night?"
"What?" he asks, seemingly confused by my lack of congratulations.
"I thought you and Kate were… well you know… going somewhere. I've never seen you as happy as you were while she was staying at your place. Her too, for that matter. What in the hell happened?"
"Nothing happened, Jess. She's just… Look, I don't think she's there yet and in the meantime, nothing says I can't have a little fun while I work on getting her to open up."
God, he's being ridiculous. Sometimes I forget that he is a man.
A well-meaning, lovely man; a caring father and a great friend too. But he's also a famous man, with a reputation to uphold. And he's also probably suffering from a little bit of prodding from his agent. It has been an exceedingly long dry spell for him in the tabloids. He's rich and charming, handsome and in the prime of his life; it's expected of him.
He probably has a point too. But it's a point that is going to bite him in the ass where Beckett is concerned. Still, it's a point nonetheless.
"Just…" I sigh, put my basket down on the counter besides his now empty one, and clutch his forearm. "Just be careful, okay? I don't want to see you get hurt."
Regardless of what Rick dating Ellie is going to cause Kate to feel, the movie star has a reputation of her own. I just hope he's going into this with his eyes open, whether the rumors are true or not.
"I'm not going to get hurt," he assures me, swiping his card confidently and paying for his groceries. "Hell, this might be exactly what we… what I need…"
Oh jeez, he isn't? Is he? But the pleased way that he's loading his groceries into his shopping bags suggests that it's exactly what he is doing.
"Making her jealous is the last thing you want to do, Rick," I warn.
This harebrained idea of his is surely going to backfire. Kate is the type to fight fire with fire, not to admit defeat and confess to her fears. Making her jealous is probably the last way to make her fall into his arms and he's delusional if he thinks otherwise.
"I have no idea what you are talking about, Jess," he replies, shrugging off my worries.
His side-eyed glance in my direction suggests otherwise. He knows exactly what he's doing. And he knows that I know.
"Right..." I lament, turning to face him properly and holding both his arms so that he's looking me in the eye. He needs a dose of the hard truth. And who better than me to deliver it? "You are going to ruin everything you've accomplished so far by doing the naked pretzel with Miss Monroe, Rick. Please… think with the guy up here…" I let go of him arms and give him a tap on the forehead. "Rather than the guy down there." I give his crotch a long stare before pointedly glaring at him.
"It'll be fine," he assures me, leaning in to kiss my cheek and picking up his bags.
"You're making a mistake," I caution him again as he starts to turn away from me.
He stops for a second, clearly thinking it over, but I can tell the moment he decides to go for it anyway, a determined expression masking the quick flash of fear. "I know what I'm doing," he says, almost as if trying to convince himself.
He's clueless. But he won't be deterred; I know that face. Best I can do is support him when it all falls to pieces, and try to mitigate the damage on Kate's end when she finds out. On the bright side, I can almost taste my 'I told you so' moment.
I shake my head and give him a smile. Hell, maybe he does deserve a little fun. Kate's no easy woman to navigate and he has put in a Herculean effort just to get to this point with her. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe a shove is what she needs; gentle prodding can only work for so long. Right?
Yeah… right. This is so going to end badly.
"Be careful," I say, leaning in to give him a quick hug.
"I'll try," he grins back.
I raise an eyebrow before throwing him a wink. "Sure you will, Ricky."
He throws me a confident wave as he turns and heads toward the door. "See ya, Jess!" he calls.
"Don't say I didn't warn you," I murmur after him to the tinkling of the store's bell.
He is an idiot.
They are both idiots.
Ellie had led to Demming.
Kate had arrived in a huff a couple days into Rick's brief affair with Ellie, more determined than I have ever seen her to prove to herself that she didn't need him. I had talked her down with a cup of tea and a lengthy discussion regarding men and their lack of common sense when it came to the opposite sex. I'd advised her not to go out and find the next hot guy for retaliation sex and she had seemed to be in agreement.
The handsome robbery detective had shown up exactly at the right time though. Rick was still licking his wounds, and Kate was open for a change. When she'd told me about their sparring session, I knew exactly where it was leading and had tried to warn Rick. Rendered mute by pride, he'd ignored my advice to talk to Kate and had, inexplicably, given the detective his blessing.
He spent the next few nights in the Hut, drowning his sorrows in caffeine and furiously writing on his laptop. He swore up and down that he wasn't jealous; Schlemming, the smarmy jerk in his book, a barely concealed jab towards Demming, told otherwise.
Though I kept it to myself, I couldn't help but silently cheer Kate on for unintentionally giving Rick a taste of his own medicine.
Naturally, it didn't work any better for her.
Demming led to Madison. And while it was only a single date that led nowhere, it did more damage than both of them realized. Rick had waved away my concerns and assured me that whatever had been brewing between him and Kate was over. Kate had brushed it off, and covered her hurt by gushing over Tom. It didn't take a rocket scientist to see how hard she was trying to force feelings for the robbery detective while stubbornly refusing to admit any for Rick.
Now, I find myself sitting alone in the coffee shop wondering how in the hell they could get it all so monumentally wrong, wondering if there was anything I could have done or said to make them stop for a moment and not act out of hurt pride and wounded feelings.
They are both still painfully pining for the other, while at the same time, pigheadedly refusing to actually do anything about it. If ever I get the chance to have them in the same room together, I am going to make it my duty to get them talk to each other.
Or perhaps just smack some sense into them. That would work for me too.
Either way, I have had it up to here with their refusal to see what is right in front of them.
The last straw came just this afternoon, when Rick strode in for a cappuccino and revealed that he had decided to take Gina to the Hamptons for the summer. Gina… The ex-wife and publisher. It's almost like he is trying to ruin everything at this point. Not two days ago, he was hiding out in the Hut with his phone on silent, doing everything to avoid her calls.
I haven't talked to Kate yet, but no doubt she has played no small part in this horrendously bad plan of action on Rick's part.
Gina… Good God. And I thought Ellie was going to end badly. When will Rick ever grow up? And when in the hell will Kate realize what's before her?
The bell rings above my door and I look up, not entirely surprised, to see none other than one half of the very object of my frustrated musings.
"Kate?" I greet tentatively, noting the puffy eyes and tightened jawline.
Her lip wobbles. "Can we… can we talk, Jess?"
Kids are back in school, summer is over and a semi-normal schedule is back in place. There's hope that I might update this more frequently from now on. A little bit of hope anyway.
Thoughts?
Also, yes, this is all completely new material. Nothing past chapter 9 is recycled.
Thanks to the usual suspects. Avi for yelling at me to write, Nic for coming back from the newborn dead to yell at me some more, and Kellie for the awesomesauce beta on the fly.