A/N: Wow, ummm, there's nothing I can say other than sorry for the wait.
Previously on A Simple Search
He's keeping his eyes closed, he's decided that if he's dreaming or even if he's lying on the floor of his office after a knock to the head, he'd rather stay this way than open his eyes and find out it's all been in his head. He can feel the hands on his chest move, and before he's even missed the feeling he gets a gentle slap to the cheek that has him opening his eyes instantly, but not regretting it at all like he feared. He's looking down into the nervous face of his detective, and despite the expression she now wears at least he knows he didn't imagine any of what just took place, but what she says next makes his heart beat fast in fear. Nothing good usually comes from words like these.
"We need to talk"
Kate spent the next five minutes calming him down. He'd outright panicked after hearing her last words and the look on his face as he tried desperately to backtrack and think of something that could explain away the two kisses they'd just shared was almost comical. If it hadn't been so important she may have actually laughed in his face, but they really needed to discuss things rather than rely on subtext and presumptions.
She might not love the idea herself, even though she suggested it, but she knew they needed to do something. She wouldn't let them take a backwards step now.
Castle's heart rate was slowly returning to normal, or as normal as it could get with his detective still so close whilst wearing a swimsuit. They'd moved into his office and sat side by side on the sofa rather than on opposite sides of his large desk, and her attire was somewhat distracting.
Even though she felt rather exposed sitting in Castles study with next to nothing between her and the plush leather of the seat beneath her, she knew from the look on her partners face that she had to make the first move. He seemed to be on the verge of denying anything had happened in some sort of attempt at pandering to her usual reaction of running after something so surprising and personal. She needed to take control of the situation; that's why she was the one that said they needed to talk. That's why she was the one that moved them into the study, and also why it was Kate who sat them down on the sofa when Castle made a slight move towards his desk chair. She was used to taking the lead, it was the basis of a job that she was very good at, but it looked like, if they were to get anywhere, she'd need the same skill set in this moment with Castle.
"Castle, there's no need to panic, honestly." He didn't look convinced, but she forged on nonetheless, not waiting to see if he'd interrupt. "We do need to talk because, stop me if I'm wrong, but things have changed"
He managed to find his voice at her earnest expression, he didn't want to get his hopes up but it looked a little like things were progressing in a slightly more positive direction, so he dived in, "Yes, things do seem to have changed."
"I don't think we can go backwards from this Castle, but we can't stay where we are either. There's too much at stake to not discuss it."
Castle was listening very intently, he nodded his agreement, but as she finished her sentence she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and his concentration faltered and then deserted him as her reddened lip emerged. He found himself leaning forwards, licking his own lips in response, suddenly remembering the taste of her from the kisses in the hall. The Kryptonite metaphor had never been so apt; he was powerless.
Sensing his distraction Kate finally looked at Castle only to find him a lot closer than before and he seemed to be leaning closer. She swallowed as she took in his expression, his face rapidly blurring as he neared; she knew what he was going to do and as much as she didn't want to stop him, perhaps that was for the best, for the moment at least. She put a hand to his chest; pausing his movement, "Castle, hold on a second. Don't you think we could be moving too fast?"
She certainly got his attention. It had been quite a while since he'd heard anything so absurd, "Seriously? You've got to be kidding. How is this too fast?" He pulled himself back and repositioned himself on his side of the sofa. She obviously needed to get a few things straight first, but if it meant they could go back to the kissing, then he had no problem facilitating that in the slightest. "How long have we known each other for Kate?"
She looked at him questioningly, "What's your point?"
"You can't deny we've been getting closer. I don't think I'm wrong in saying that I might have even spent more time with you than I did with my last ex-wife. How can you say this is fast when we've been building up to this point from the beginning?" He was on a roll now, realising that they had a chance at something great, seeing the light at the end of a tunnel he hadn't even realised they'd entered.
She coughed out a breath as he finished talking; he really thought they'd been building up to this from the start. It was written all over his over expressive face, "You think I was into you from the beginning? During that first year I couldn't stand you!"
"Perhaps not 'into me' strictly speaking, but there was mutual interest certainly. All I'm saying is we've been getting closer and there's been something there from the start."
"Yeah, if you call annoyance something" Suddenly Kate felt uncomfortable with the conversation; there was no way she'd admit to being anything less than mildly irritated with him that first year. His ego was big enough, and that first year he was nothing if not a jackass.
"Regardless of that first year then, that I'll concede, but we've gotten closer recently. We know each other better than most couples. We spend hours over food or even during movies talking about everything and everything, it's never been just case related. Do you think I ask everyone woman I know for advice about Alexis, I trust you with her, doesn't that say something? We've already gotten to know each other, so how can this be too fast?"
The detective regarded her writer and her expression softened. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right; they do know a lot about each other. If she looked at it closely, it could actually be possible that she talks more to Castle than she does to Lanie. She justifies it by thinking that she simply spends more time with him and that Lanie is currently spending a lot of her time with that fireman pin-up, but that just proves his point doesn't it?
"I guess when you look at it like that, it's not that fast, but that's not my only concern. If this doesn't work out then I don't want to lose our partnership at the precinct. At the risk of feeding your ego, we work well together and I don't want to go back to how we all were before you brought your crazy theories along to cheer us up." Castle had to smile when she said that and Kate couldn't help but smile in return before continuing, "We're a better team with you there and that matters; to me and to the boys Castle, plus if we were a couple they could split is up anyway. It's against the rules for couples to work as partners." She was actually getting worked up at the thought of losing him so decided to stop there; that last thing she wanted to do was to start tearing up.
"I don't think you've got anything to worry about. I have total faith in us. We can make it and if they find out we're a couple at the precinct then we'll have to deal with that when it happens. As you so often like to put it I'm not a cop, so the rules shouldn't apply. We can be discreet though, and if we're honest nothing will actually change."
Kate looked uncertain, she could see the possibilities but she couldn't help but think of the pitfalls; neither of them had the best track record with relationships, but the longer she thought about it the more she thought about the up-side as well. The kisses they had shared already were just the tip of the iceberg; she could see how amazing they could be. All she had to do was take a chance. The problem was did she think she was ready for a relationship with Castle? More importantly, could she survive the fallout if she wasn't?
A/N: Right, I'm actually going back to write more right this second. So here's hoping it doesn't take me so long to post the next one.