Keep Showing Up
Chapter 12
Kate had long since relaxed with shared laughter and the sense of completeness she only associated with Castle when the first touch came; his hand at her knee. He was pulling her focus back to the screen and the gesture was meant only to get her attention. She followed his silent request and he regaled her with exploits from his weekend while Kate tried not to move her leg. If it was an unconscious move on his part she didn't want to draw attention to it, and if he'd done it deliberately she sure as hell didn't want him to take his hand away. It felt like a guilty pleasure; her allowing herself to enjoy these moments of tenuous contact.
An infinitesimal increase in pressure and a tiny circling movement against the inside of her knee told her he knew perfectly well where his hand was. He used his left hand to click to the next image.
Kate caught a brief glimpse of close-up shot of Castle's face before he hastily clicked passed it with a groan.
"No, no, go back! I want to see that!" Kate laughed and leaned closer. She reached for the touchpad with her left hand, her arm coming under his where it sat against her knee. Her right hand came to cover his, holding him in place.
Castle made a feeble attempt to move to the next photo and Kate batted his hand out of the way and clicked backwards. Someone had taken a photo of Castle with his mouth disgustingly full of cake; he had two finger-stripes of chocolate icing down one cheek.
"I'd been messing around with one of the other writers; she was seriously hoeing into the chocolate cake! I had the camera in her face pretending to take photos and this was payback."
Kate laughed and shook her head at his antics. She wanted to ask about the icing stripes painted on his cheek, but the way she was leaning forward saw her with her arms encircling one of his, his hand trapped between her knees, and the contact distracted her. Aiming for a casual movement she took her hand away from the touchpad and let it come to rest on the bare skin at the inside of his elbow. He leaned slightly back into the movement.
Beckett breathed through the nervous tension that resulted from the departure from their long established status-quo and gave herself a mini pep-talk; she could ease into this, she was doing fine, this was a small enough gesture that she could retreat if she needed to. The tiny caresses at her knee reminded her how badly she didn't want to retreat.
He clicked on to the next photo. He didn't falter in his narration but the slight change in his demeanour was as noticeable to Kate as she suspected hers was to him. If he'd drawn attention to the contact she would have pulled away, instead he continued to share his weekend with her.
When the initial increase in tension faded to a dull throb in Kate's veins she allowed her body to relax into his arm. Her chin came to rest on his triceps, his elbow angling into her sternum, his forearm resting on the length of her thigh, her hand still sitting atop his at her knee; it felt both strangely casual and wonderfully intimate at the same time.
She felt him still once again at her movement and she silently begged him to keep going; to keep talking, to keep everything else the same as it always was and let her make this one tiny, and enormous, step forward without having to explain it.
He must have gotten the message. He clicked on a photo of the city skyline. "This was the view from my room."
"Looks gorgeous," she said, her voice a whisper compared to his excited commentary. She was acutely aware of every part of their bodies that were in contact. Heat curled in her belly and she revelled in it. If she couldn't find the words she needed to be able to talk to him then this, at least, was a way to show him that she was making progress.
"Have you been to Miami?"
"No, I haven't."
"The hotel was right on the bay. You should see the boats that were docked there! They have sunset dolphin cruises out to the islands in the summer," he turned his head slightly to look back at her, not enough to dislodge the grip she had on his arm but it was enough to bring their faces to within inches of each other.
"Next photo," Kate reminded him, her fingers tightening slightly at his elbow.
Kate saw his eyes close and then flick open again as he turned his attention back to the computer. He clicked on the next photo but said nothing for a long moment. His arm was no longer relaxed where it pressed into her stomach and she suspected he could feel the way her heart hammered in her chest.
"Is that by the bay?" she timed her question to coincide with a slow swipe of her thumb across the sensitive skin above the inside of his elbow.
The fingers at her knee gripped in response and he swallowed before replying, "No, there had a cascading waterfall in the restaurant."
His finger was idle on the touchpad for a moment and Kate could practically feel him thinking. "Listen, maybe we –"
"Next photo, Castle," Kate interrupted. It was taking every inch of her courage to touch him like she was. If he retreated now she wasn't sure she'd know how to reach out again.
Her attention was hardly on the screen when the next photo appeared; she focused instead on trying to relax into his side. She battled with the unrelenting image of his hand travelling up her leg. As much as she knew she needed to be the one in control of this, another part of her wished he would just take over; run his hand up her thigh, press her back into the couch, and kiss her senseless. It wouldn't take much; she was half way to losing her sanity as it was.
They sat together on the couch, neither speaking, a photo of six colourful cocktails with umbrellas visible on the laptop. Clearly he was still waiting for her.
"Is this from the cabaret bar?" she asked finally. The way she sat, her body slightly behind his, tight against his side, it would be only the slightest of movements to rest her head against the back of his shoulder. She wondered how much more of this either of them could take. Her head on his shoulder was a far cry from him pressing her back into the couch but it was starting to sound almost as good.
"This is earlier in the night, before the comedy show, and before the dancing started."
"Did you get a photo of the conga line?" she dipped her head and pressed a smile into the cotton of his t-shirt.
The muscles under her hand and lips flexed. "I had one of the waiters take a photo." He clicked rapidly past several shots until he stopped on an image with about a dozen people, drinks in hand, one leg raised, smiling broadly for the camera. Castle was at the back grinning like a fool.
Beckett snorted into his arm, "It's a good one," she noticed the drink he held jammed full of umbrellas and her laugh came again. Castle chuckled with her. He turned his body towards her and the pressure pushed her legs away. He held tight with the hand at her knee to stop her from continuing the movement.
His other hand touched first at the fingers caressing his elbow, and then skimmed around his own arm to find the side of her neck and tangle in the base of her hair, holding her against him. He twisted his torso and rested his lips at her temple, "You ready to start on dinner?" he asked gently.
"Dinner sounds good," Kate replied.
The hand at her head released her, and he gentled his grip on her knee. Kate relaxed the hold she had on his arm and leaned away so she was no longer draped against his side. Rather than simply stand up, Castle slid his hand to find hers and helped her to her feet. He kept hold of her a moment longer than necessary and then stepped forward, his hand at her back, and ushered them around the lounge. He didn't lose contact with her back until they got to the kitchen and he pulled out a chair for her.
Beckett took a seat at the kitchen bar and, with her elbow on the counter and her head supported by her palm, she watched Castle move about the kitchen.
"Beef stir-fry alright?"
"Whatever you're making is fine. We could order in if that was easier."
"No, I'm happy to cook. I chopped the vegetables earlier so it won't take long."
He pulled a frypan out of the cupboard, and then several covered containers out of the fridge. The oil was in the pan and the heat on before he looked up at her again.
"You're right, the staring really is unnerving."
Kate laughed, "Maybe it's time to call in the cavalry." She shot a glance upstairs to indicate she meant Alexis.
"Do I need reinforcements?" he shot back.
"I think you're probably safe for now."
"Then why don't you open the wine?"
"Sounds like a plan," Beckett chose one of the bottles and moved around the other side of the kitchen to the drawers for a bottle opener, "Although I will warn you, apart from that handful of corn chips I haven't eaten since this morning."
"Then make it two really small glasses. The room already feels like its spinning, I'm not sure adding alcohol is a wise decision," he smiled to let her know he was teasing, even if the words were true.
Kate took down the wine glasses and poured two small serves. She leaned against the counter at Castle's side and waited for him to finish putting the marinated beef strips in the pan. He pushed them around a few times with the spatula before washing his hands at the sink and crossing back to Kate.
He held his hand out for his glass, but his eyes were on her face; searching. She felt stripped bare and had to force herself not to look away. Instead she stood up straight and passed the glass over. Both hands came up to take it from her and he very deliberately covered her hand with his own as he slid the glass out of her grasp.
"Okay," he said, as if agreeing with something she had said.
He took a sip of the wine and then sat the glass back on the counter. Reaching in behind her he took several of the containers and started opening lids. Kate relaxed against the counter again, one leg crossed over the other, happy now to watch her partner cook.
The smell of frying garlic and ginger must have wafted up the stairs. Alexis almost bounded down the steps, a curtain of red hair flying behind her.
"I'm so hungry! That smells incredible," she said while she were still halfway down.
Although his body remained sideways to hers, Castle reached out and ran his hand down the length of Kate's arm. When it reached her fingers he didn't try to hold her hand, instead he brushed his fingertips gently over the edge of her thumb and let his hand fall away. It was almost as if he were reassuring himself that she was still there or, more likely, seeking to calm her in case she became spooked now that they were no longer alone.
It was scary how well he knew her; but this time the gesture was unnecessary. Despite the unrelenting butterflies that danced in her belly she was perfectly content with the slight shift in their relationship. She wasn't ready to draw back, if anything, his measured reaction to her advances made her want to keep pushing.
"It's not ready yet, but help yourself to some wine," he teased his daughter.
She tilted her head and, with pursed lips, gave him a disapproving stare. "I'm glad you could come for dinner, Kate." Alexis said while stealing a carrot.
Castle swatted the girl's hand away and mock-growled at her.
"Seemed like the right time for it," Kate agreed. She headed around the counter to join the girl on the other side of the hob and as she did she pressed her hand firmly against Castle's back.
He turned to watch her, and she flashed him a small smile before reaching out and linking her arm with Alexis ' and coaxing her towards the dining table.
They each took a seat either side of the corner of the table, Kate propped her foot up on the edge of the chair and hugged her knee to her chest. Alexis rested both arms on the table and leaned towards her.
"What did you get up to today?"
"Not much. A few friends and I met for brunch, but, I have to say, I can't wait to hear back about an internship. I'm not sure how it happened but it seems I missed out on the idle-procrastination gene."
"We closed that last case yesterday," Kate started, wanting to let Alexis know that her contribution had not gone unnoticed.
Her voice was pitched low, and Alexis replied in kind, "Dad mentioned it."
"I realise that you weren't talking about the case, and perhaps we'll finish that other conversation another time," Kate noted Alexis' surprise that she were willing to mention the discussion that skirted around the feelings that Castle had for her. The girl looked briefly in her father's direction and Kate had to restrain herself from looking around to see if he was listening, "but I thought you would want to know that your comments helped point me in the right direction. The family has answers thanks to you."
"The family has answers thanks to you," Alexis' hand flittered briefly to Kate's arm and then settled back on the table, "but I'm glad I could be around to help."
Alexis' smile hardly touched her mouth, but her eyes lit up and a faint pink blush rose along her cheeks which was enough to make Kate glad that she'd mentioned it.
"You ready to make him sweat a little?" the teenager's expression had turned devious.
"What did you have in mind?" Kate asked.
Alexis' voice was slightly louder when she spoke next; loud enough to be heard over the sizzling of dinner if someone happened to be straining to hear, "Yours is a Harley, right?"
Kate grinned, enjoying herself already, "A '94 softail, yeah. But I know something that would be perfect for you; Electric Motorsports makes a fully electric motorcycle that is incredibly sexy."
"Really?" Alexis sat upright "Have you ridden one?"
"I haven't. I'm kinda partial to the roar of a petrol engine myself, but you'd love it. It's light-weight, and the sports model goes hell-fast!" Kate grinned shamelessly.
"What's it called?"
"It's a GPR-S. You should google it."
"I'm going to!" Alexis actually stood up from the table and run upstairs. Kate had to give her extra points for participation.
She forced the smile from her face before joining Castle back in the kitchen.
He was predictably curious, "What was that about?"
"Just talking to Alexis about my motorcycle," she replied, before taking a mouthful of wine and then busying herself pouring more. She held out the bottle, "You want another?"
"I'll get this out first. I'm nearly done if you want to grab plates?"
"No problem," Kate carried the wine back to the table and then set about getting down plates.
"What about your motorcycle?" he asked, pushing.
He was interrupted by an excited squeal from the stairs, "You are right! It is sexy! Have you seen the silver one?" she clattered down the stairs with her notebook in hand and ran to set it on the kitchen bench to show both Kate and her father, "Is this it?"
"Yeah, that's it. Does it show the specs?"
"What is it? Why are you looking at motorcycles?" Castle asked, looking accusingly at Kate.
"Kate took me for a ride on hers the other day."
"She did what?"
"Relax, Castle. We stuck to the speed limit the whole way."
"What's wrong with your vespa?" he turned his attention back to the woman he had some hope of reasoning with.
"I think something a little more grown up would be more appropriate for college, don't you, Dad?" she asked, her voice super-sweet.
"No, I don't!"
Kate carried the plates and cutlery to the table to avoid having to meet his eye. She was setting them around the table when she heard Alexis say quietly "Dad, did you know that Kate has a tattoo?"
Castle's reply was a strangled, "What?"
.
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AN- Is it wrong that we like to tease Castle?
