Without warning, Rick grabbed Kate by the hips and hauled her into his body. It was his second ride up in Grady's elevator, now as a guest for Sunday brunch, and he well remembered the first, not only for the fantasy fulfilled it had ultimately led to, but for its rather pronounced jolt of a launch, which he'd realized he could turn around and use to his desirous advantage.
"What are you doing?" she asked, though she couldn't fight his hold, standing practically limp in his arms by power of his freshly-soaped skin as it mingled with the linen of his laundered shirt. "God, you smell good." It was barely a whisper, and inadvertent at that, but, as she'd come to learn about him, Rick was never one to let a compliment of any kind simply slide by.
"Stop flirting. We don't have time for you to have your way with me. There are only three floors." He slipped his fingers into the back pockets of her jeans and squeezed. "I missed you yesterday," he told her when she angled her chin up to meet his gaze, "especially after…"
The elevator halted abruptly and the doors opened. "I missed you, too," she said and pushed up for his lips. "I was just so exhausted when I got back here last night. I'm sorry."
She'd had to spend her Saturday working, with her time in New York rapidly drawing to an end, and they hadn't been able to see each other after their Friday of sanctioned hooky spent first in bed and then out at Coney Island dodging the rain, a day that'd complicated her forthcoming departure to a degree neither had yet fully realized.
They stepped out of the car hand in hand, moved for Grady's door. "You don't have to be sorry. I know your schedule can't just magically clear because you've experienced the pleasure of my naked body. You need to sleep sometimes. I understand." He'd delivered it with a straight face, but the smile was in his words. "Thanks for coming down to get me, by the way. The service in this building is excellent."
"You did it for me. Besides, I'm starving, and I felt like having a little something before breakfast," she said before seizing his mouth in a fiery kiss. "If I'd done that in front of Grady, I would've needed more than the two bottles of champagne he bought for the mimosas to deal with him." With her thumb, she swept his lip dry where she'd left her mark. "I told him he has to behave, but he has very selective hearing. You two will probably get along great," she teased.
"So, what, it's like full-on Shaw One and Shaw Two, now? How did I get so lucky?"
"Play your cards right, maybe you'll get lucky later, too," she hinted and dragged his tingling body inside.
xxxx
Grady had overdone it, but he didn't care, Kate wasn't surprised, and Rick was merely along for the ride. They'd finished introductions and poured the coffee, gathered around the table to eat, and there, perched between the man who knew her best and the man who'd surprised her most, Kate was happy.
"K said you're an art man, Rick. I am, too. Can't get enough of it. Art, art, art." Rick and Kate shared a quick snap of a look, because of their earlier night there together, because all evidence screamed the contrary. "Yeah, yeah, I know," Grady went on with a swish of his hand, noting their reaction. "My walls-my very expensive walls-deserve only the best, so until this one," he said, pausing to pinch Kate on the arm, "finally agrees to send me a creation of hers, boring as vanilla they shall remain."
With the association, Rick thought instantly of her skin on his tongue, swallowed a smile with his coffee. "I haven't seen any of her creations, yet, but if they're anything like everything else she does, I'm sure they'll be worth the wait."
Grady reached down and whipped out his phone, and Kate blushed at the sight. "G, you don't have to-"
"Feast your bewitching blues on that, Officer Rick." There on the screen was one of her pieces, and the most striking thing about it was that in addition to being a painting by her, it also appeared to be a painting of her. "She hates it when I do this, but she loves me so much I can usually get away with it."
"Lucky man," Rick replied and then promptly wondered if the implicit sentiment was too much. "Is this you?" He couldn't tear himself away from it, not even to ask.
Kate nodded. "It was then." It'd been a difficult time. She'd been hurt by someone-not physically, but there were bruises-and she'd wanted to know how her heart saw her in the aftermath. Her brushes always called truth out of her, and she respected them for it, even when the truth wasn't pretty. "Okay, can we, maybe, eat something now? G, please?"
Rick relinquished the phone, though he could've stared at it for hours. "I'm ready whenever you guys are, and you'll be happy to know I resisted the urge to stop at Dunkin' on the way here, so I'm on empty."
"And he was so perfect up until this point," Grady mocked with a sigh. "If he wears his uniform next time, I'm sure I can forget all about it."
"Food, G." Rick started to get up, but Kate hooked his arm. "He can get it," she said with a grin, and Grady turned for the kitchen with the makings of a pout.
Rick pushed back against his chair, leaned in with the hope she'd meet him halfway. "Whatever the story behind that painting was, it was beautiful. I'm glad I'm here with you now, though." She touched his cheek, kissed him just as Grady came back into the room with a serving tray in his hands.
"Now I see why she wanted me to go alone. Can't say as I blame her," he said with a wistful puff. "I swear the two of you, like this, makes me happier than a Real Housewives brawl. Who wants a bagel and schmear?"
Rick felt amused, though he wasn't sure why. "G's obsessed with reality TV," Kate explained with a tone. "Whenever he says something I don't understand I assume that's what it's about." She reached for a half with sesame seeds, tore off a bite. "It happens a lot."
"I'm just saying you're as adorable as Ryan Gosling with kittens, and whenever the wedding plans commence, please remember I look fabulous in lavender. Rick, bagel? The quiche is almost ready, also. It's to die for. Save room."
And there it was: Grady's big mouth. Kate had known. She'd said as much. She'd told him he couldn't be trusted to keep it shut and he'd sworn otherwise, and she had no one to blame but herself.
"What the hell's the matter with you?" she asked as Rick looked on, his amusement in her exasperation cloaked by his mug. "Shut up and eat your schmear, G."
He drew a knife exaggeratedly across his pumpernickel and coated it. "Well excuse me for loving love, Katherine. Excuse me for being happy to see you happy." Kate narrowed her eyes. "Oh, do not give me that face, honey. You are and you know it." Then he turned to Rick. "Whatever you've done-I won't ask over breakfast because I am a civilized man-I thank you for it. It has been far too long."
The timer on the stove began to beep in the background and Grady pushed back from the table again. "Why don't I go get that," Rick suggested and hopped up before anyone could stop him.
"Oven mitt's on the counter," Grady hollered. "That last asshole wouldn't have offered to get the quiche out of the oven or anywhere else," he told Kate once he'd gone. "I just like him, I'm sorry. I got carried away. I love you, and this is exciting for me. You know what happens when I get excited."
"You pick out my wedding colors?" Kate responded with a playful grumble. "Just cool it some, okay? I like him, too, but this is really new and I don't know what's-" Rick came back into the room and she curbed her thought.
"Should I…Do you want me to go back in there?"
Kate smiled softly at Grady. "No way, bring that thing over here. We were just saying how hungry we are."
"And thirsty-this brunch needs some booze. I'll pour the mimosas, be right back."
She kissed Rick once more when he sat, because Grady was right. It had been too long.
xxxx
"Where the hell you been, Hotshot?" Mick called out to Jordan from behind the bar. "It's good to see your face in color for a change. Oh, and would you look who came back. Ditched Artsy-Fartsy, I see." Kate flashed him a smile, which he reciprocated tenfold. "I like a smart woman. A Beam and a Sam Adams, yeah?" Despite his years, Mick still never forgot a face or a drink.
The two wandered toward the end of the bar, away from the scattered few off-shifts already settled there, on a slow night by all accounts, which both rather appreciated. They toasted without a word when Mick delivered and returned to his post, Jordan still in the dark about why it was Kate had extended the invitation to begin with.
"Not that I don't appreciate a fine whiskey on a Wednesday, Kate, but is there something you need?"
Even after a month spent in her company, Jordan still managed to inspire a pinch of nervousness in Kate, a shyness in moments when the two were alone. It wasn't anything she'd done intentionally, of course, but in the way a student might wish to impress a beloved teacher, so too did Kate, that ambition a byproduct of her sincere esteem.
"Need? No. Sorry, no," she answered with a flush of embarrassment. "I didn't mean for this to be some mysterious thing. I just, I wanted you to know how much I've appreciated your help and your guidance through this process. I know you didn't want to do it, and I'm sorry you had to-both you and Rick. If it's any consolation at all, though, I learned a lot from you, and I promise I'll try my best to honor what it is you do every day and to do it in a way the NYPD can be proud of."
"It wasn't entirely painful," Jordan deadpanned on the other side of a deliberate pause. "And despite my job-instilled inclination towards the contrary, I believe you. I'm sure Castle does, too. Thanks for not inviting him, by the way. I can actually hear myself think." They turned to one another, shared a chuckle. "I'm half expecting to hear he's applying to the LAPD, honestly."
Kate swallowed a hasty gulp of her beer that stung when she sent it down her throat. "Why would he do that?" she all but coughed out.
With a sidelong glance, Jordan tipped back her glass. "You're not a dumb woman, Kate. Neither am I. Let's not pretend we are. My partner is skilled at many things, but subtlety isn't one of them, no matter how much he chooses to believe otherwise, and I've seen his…whatever with you since day one. I'm no Kreskin, but I'm pretty sure we all have."
Kate's head was spinning, probably beyond what all the booze in the place could ever manage, she imagined. "It's not…We're not-"
"Relax, Kate, you're not sitting in the box. I didn't ask any questions. You're an adult. Castle's an adult at least once every couple of weeks. Whatever you are or aren't, be it. There isn't time for much else, and it's a lot easier than fighting it." Kate sat beside her silent, her fingers busy doing what they always did, picking at the label of her bottle. "He's a good fucking man, Kate." Downing what was left, Jordan pushed off her stool and slid her jacket back on. "But don't take my word for it. Investigate," she encouraged cleverly. "I need to go. Thanks for the drink, and for the promise."
"Don't be a stranger, Hotshot," Mick said as Jordan walked by him for the door.
"Fix your damn goddamned floors, Mick," she responded without taking a beat.
He came down the line, stopped in front of Kate and leaned over the bar. "How the hell those two are partners, I'll never know."
Kate understood, though. To her it made complete sense.
xxxx
She hadn't planned on going over there, and Rick wasn't expecting her, but he was all she could think about, even as her cab made its way toward home from the bar, so she'd jumped out and ducked into the subway, instead, headed east.
"The Mets are winning," her text message sent from the sidewalk in front of his building read. "Are you a happy detective?"
It took a couple of minutes, but a response finally came. "I'd be a happier one if you didn't ditch me at the precinct. And for Mick's? My heart. That's our place."
Her face lit up in a grin, sparked more by the recollection of his earlier groaning or by the sappy sentiment, she wasn't certain, but she set her fingers to a reply. "So buzz me in. I'll try to make it up to you." Within but a second, it seemed, the door rattled and she went inside, found Rick leaping out of the stairwell into the lobby. "Guess our time in the gym's been effective." She dropped her phone into her bag and approached, tugged him in by his tee. "Mick's is our place, huh?"
"Well, I'm open to other suggestions, of course. You want to come up and...make a list?" he asked suggestively.
Kate pushed her arms around his waist, locked her fingers at his back. "I mean, I did just come all the way out here, and I was kinda hoping we could just make out, but I guess we can do your thing, if that's what you really want."
His apartment door was barely shut before they were on each other, her bag dropped to the floor along with the shirt she'd yanked frenziedly over his head. The ballgame was on in the background, the crowd seemingly cheering them on in their enterprise as they fumbled for the sofa, and Kate couldn't help but giggle as she caught sight of the score when Rick nudged her playfully down onto the cushions.
"They're losing now? They were just-" He nipped at her neck, apologized to the spot with a tickle of his tongue, and she lost her words.
"Mets," he panted, the only explanation required. "I was thinking about you." He captured her mouth, open and hungry. "About this. God, I'm going to miss this." Her whole body softened beneath him, almost like a switch had been thrown, and he recognized it immediately. "Hey, what's wrong? Did I do something? Did I hurt you?"
He hadn't, but there was definitely pain, pain with every thought of not seeing him, of not being close to him, and of there not being anything she could do to change it.
"I am, too," she whispered and wrapped herself around him.
