Authors Note: Yes, I'm still writing this! Don't worry. :-)

Thanks so much for your lovely reviews! I'm at a rather rough point in my life (yet again it seems) and your reviews have been the highlight of my days!

So I cannot thank you enough! *hugs to you all*

Chapter 11: Castles POV

He floated under a waterfall of hot water running from the smaller, but warmer pool above the one the three of them had first entered. The hot water beat against his shoulders, and he felt himself relax. Alexis was off acquiring a wrist band so she could go down the slide, and Beckett was... oh. He stood up quickly and forgot about the waterfall of water and got a face full. By the time he'd wiped his eyes and moved out of the water she had disappeared round the corner. But she'd definitely been talking to a guy, and she looked - but then maybe he was being paranoid - maybe she wasn't really flirting with someone. And if she were, really he had no claim on her. He frowned. He didn't really want to interfere... but after the other night he had felt they may have a chance. If she was going to play with his heart like this he certainly wasn't going to sit around and watch it!

"Dad, I'm going down now! Watch me!" Alexis called walking around the edge of the pool towards the slide an excited glint in her eyes. He moved across to the other side of the pool where he had a good view of the slide.

"You go girl," he laughed. She disappeared up the stairs and he discreetly looked in the direction Beckett had gone. She had her head thrown back in a laugh, and before he turned away he saw her look over in his direction a smirk on her face. What the hell did she think she was doing? He didn't think she was the kind of girl to toy with his heart like this. She had to know how strong his feelings for her were. He turned back to the slide and saw Alexis waving from the top, he waved back.

"Hey, is Alexis going down the slide?" Beckett slid up next to him touching his arm briefly and his heart lurched in his chest. Where was the guy she'd been flirting with? He watched his daughter going down the slide, and turned to her. Her face was close to his, and she still had that playful smirk on her face, and he watched as she blinked slowly her long dark lashes brushing almost brushing her cheeks.

"Yeah, she did." He answered, maybe a little coldly.

"I saw you watching me," she elbowed him playfully, and he felt anger now.

"So?" He asked. The smirk fell from her face, and he felt a little guilty... But what she had been doing had confused, and hurt him.

"I just wanted to see your reaction," she answered quietly. The smirking, and the looking over her shoulder at him all suddenly came clear to him.

"Oh," he watched her eyes as she looked up at him earnestly.

"Stupid joke, huh?" He raised his eye brows, but felt a smile twitch at the corner of his mouth he tried to fight it back, but lost.

"I guess you got a good reaction though." She smiled slightly.

"I didn't mean to upset you, I thought you might..." She trailed off, and he tilted his head to the side.

"Thought I might what?" She didn't answer and looked at something over his head. "Interrupt in a jealous rage?" They both laughed at this, it was funny because to be honest it was pretty close to the truth.

"No more teasing Castle then." She told him. "I'm going to go to the spa pool, want to come?" She asked. He had visions of doing things in the spa pool with her that were definitely not appropriate for two friends and found himself agreeing to go with her without properly thinking it through. They exited the pool and headed over to the rooms with the spa pools he shivered as the cold air hit his warm body. He watched as goose bumps erupted over Beckett's flesh. He brushed his hand over her cold arm and she looked over at him in surprise.

"You have goose bumps," he commented lightly and took a step further away from her. He had to remember not to touch her so much. Just because she'd made a step over that fine line drawn between them didn't mean she would accept his advances. She was still unsure what she wanted, and she had a long way to go before she made a firm decision. He knew her well; she would weigh up her choices for as long as she can before deciding. She was definitely not as impulsive as him.

"Oh, it's much warmer in here." She told him as they entered the spa room. She was right, the air in the room was so much warmer than outside.

"Sure is," he swallowed hard as some of the visions he'd had when she first mentioned going into the spa pool with her came back, and he realised why it wasn't such a good idea. How much self control did he really have? The spa pools were pretty small, there was sure to be accidental brushing against each other... This was such a bad idea... "I should tell Alexis where we are going." He backed away and out of the room leaving a confused looking Beckett with one foot on the first step into the spa. He walked over to the pool to see his daughter sitting under the waterfall where he had been, and she was talking to yet another girl of a similar age. She seemed to be able to find people to talk to everywhere she went. He waved at her and approached the edge of the pool where she was, and crouched to talk to her.

"Hey dad," she said smiling. "Did you see me go down the slide?"

"Yeah, of course... Kate watched too. Looks fun, I'm going to have to give it a shot later." He smiled at his daughter and then at the other girl. "I'm just going into the spa pools with Kate, okay? So we're in there if you want us." He pointed towards the spa rooms, and rose to his feet.

"Have fun," he could have sworn his daughter was smirking at him in a knowing way, but he decided he must have misread her expression.

..

"Welcome back," his heart began beating so fast he thought he might faint. He hadn't seen Kate looking so sexy before. Her hair was damp and hanging in curls framing her face, and she was stretched out her arms resting against the edge of the pool and her beautiful long legs floating before her... Her toe nails were painted red and she had her mouth just slightly open and... Oh boy, who cared if this was a bad idea he was going to burn this image into his brain forever more. He numbly climbed into the spa and did his best not to touch her as he found a spot in the pool to rest in. The swirling and bubbling water soothed the aching cold from his body and without talking he rested his head against the edge of the pool and closed his eyes. He didn't need to look at her, he could feel her presence close by, and when he closed his eyes he could see her image. He smiled contentedly. What could be better than sitting in a spa pool with a sexy, smart, kind woman like Detective Kate Beckett?

"Should we go down the slide?" He nearly jumped when her voice broke through the silence. He didn't know how long they'd been in the spa for, probably quite a while. He had a feeling he had nodded off briefly.

"Okay," he answered trying to clear his tired fuzzy brain. She stood and her arm brushed his sending shivers up his arm and down his spine.

"Come on then," she lifted herself out of the pool and stood on the edge looking down at him. He looked up, taking in her body just a little bit more... making the most of it. What sane man wouldn't? "Castle..." She said warningly crossing her arms over her chest.

"Sorry," he pressed his lips together trying not to laugh. He got out of the pool and found Alexis heading their way. "We are going down the slide, want to come down again?" He asked. She shook her head and wrapped her arms around her body.

"I'm cold; I've been down a couple more times already!" She smiled. "I'm going to jump back in to watch you guys, and then I'm going to go in and get changed."

"Sounds good pumpkin," he kissed her on the forehead and headed over to the office with Beckett to get wristbands to go on the slide.

...

"You go first," he said gently nudging her towards the slide. She moved away from the slide and put her hands on her hips.

"No you go first!" He noticed the security person standing to the side trying not to look interested in the two people arguing in front of him.

Castle had discovered when he found himself at the top of the stairs (panting a little) that the slide looked much higher from up here than it did from the ground. His daughter hadn't been fazed though, and he didn't want to appear a wimp... He took a deep breath and strode towards the slide. He made for a nice easy slide down, but accidentally slipped at the top and tumbled into the slide his arms waving ridiculously in the air he yelped in surprise and found himself hurtling towards the water below. He sucked in a deep breath and felt the slightly cool water rushing over his head, and the next thing he knew someone had bumped into him from behind. He rose above the water with a soft hand wrapped around his wrist. Beckett.

"Are you okay?" He looked at Kate's concerned eyes and contemplated telling her something hurt, but to be honest he probably wasn't even bruised from the slip.

"I'm fine," he began to move to the side of the pool, but her hand didn't let go.

"I thought for a second... you..." He turned to look back at her, and noted she still looked shaken. He supposed watching someone fall would have been scarier than actually falling yourself. From her vantage point it probably looked like he was going to fall right off the edge. He brushed tucked her wet hair behind her ears, and smiled at her without saying anything and waited for her face to relax. It took a moment, but her eyes softened and he watched her lips turn up into a smile. He felt more than saw her tilt her head up – as his hands were still cupped around her face. Did she want him to... oh screw it; he wasn't going to miss a chance to kiss her. He leant down and pressed his lips to hers. He felt her arms find their way around his neck and she pulled his face closer to hers, pressing his lips harder against hers. Her tongue darted out and he deepened the kiss... Oh God. He couldn't even think of a way to describe what it felt like to be kissing her. Sure he'd kissed her before, but it wasn't on her terms like this... She had decided on the kiss this time. He sighed into her mouth as she slowly pulled away until their foreheads touched.

"Um, that was..." he licked his lips. "Amazing," he said.

"Unexpected," she answered him at the same time. He raised an eye brow.

"Unexpected, really...? What was the tilt-y face for then?"

"I did not have a – tilt-y – face!" She insisted, but he could see the guilty look on her face.

"Uh huh," he said disbelievingly. "Come on let's get out of this water and get warmed up and dressed, its cold." He squeezed her hand before he got out of the pool. She was still standing looking shell shocked when he began walking towards the changing rooms. The moment he had turned from her he couldn't stop grinning like a mad man. He just got to kiss her, really and truly kiss her!

..

TBC.

Authors Note: So, they finally kiss. Too soon? What do you think? Kate & Alexis' shopping trip coming up next!