"Hey," Beckett kicked off her high heels and traipsed into the study where Rick was staring at the TV. He was already in his sleepwear and robe.

"Hi," he smiled and muted the TV as he let his head fall back against the rest. Kate leaned over from behind him and kissed him on the forehead. "You and Lanie have fun?"

"Mhm," Kate giggled and slipped her hands over his shoulders and stroked his chest. "Somehow we got distracted from our little impromptu shopping spree, though, and got stranded in a bar. We'll have to go back and find us dresses for the party tomorrow."

"Beckett, are you drunk?" Castle cocked his head to the side and looked at her amused.

"Nooo," Kate shook her head slowly before she nuzzled his neck.

Rick laughed out loud and nudged her head with his. "Let me guess, Lanie's revenge for skipping town before you two had a chance to properly celebrate your engagement?"

"Mhm," Kate nodded and closed her eyes with a sigh, "There may have been shots involved." Her body slumped against his exhausted as she draped herself on the armrest and Castle pulled her into his lap.

"Tequila?" He guessed and placed a kiss on her temple.

"Kamikaze," Kate groaned and cuddled into her fiancé's arms.

"Gotta love her sense of humor." Rick smiled into Kate's hair.

"Are you saying marrying you is a suicide mission?"

"You okay, sweetheart?" He ran his fingers gently through her hair.

"Mhm, just tired." She opened her eyes and looked at him with pure love. "I didn't sleep well last night, I missed you."

"Missed you, too," he kissed her lips and then licked his, "mmm, do I detect a hint of Dirty Nipples in there?" He gave her a cocky grin and stroked her sides sensually.

"No," she savored his slow kiss and mumbled against his lips, "but I think I've got a little room left for a Cum Shot." She let her fingers trail down the lapel of his robe.

"Are we still talking cocktails?" Rick grinned and kissed his fiancée fiercely.

"No," Kate breathed against his lips, already straddling him. Castle's hand framed her neck as his lips descended down her throat. Beckett moaned and slowly opened the belt of his robe.

"You're gonna need more than a little room left then," Rick mumbled.

"Mmmmartha?" Kate moaned.

"Upstairs in her room," he reassured her quickly that they were alone, "still sulking about 3XK."

"Perfect," Kate purred as her hand continued its descent into his shorts. He was already hard and ready. She realized that came out wrong and quickly added, "She'll get over it."

The phone rang, interrupting their moment.

"Let it ring," she whispered as she stroked him slowly. Castle honored her request and continued to neck her. His lips teased her favorite spot right below her right ear while his hands palmed her breasts through her dress. After a while they grew frustrated with the incessant ringing of the phone and Kate sighed exasperatedly.

"You better take this," she reasoned but couldn't bring herself to stop kissing his neck, "must be important if they're so relentless."

"Could be reporters, I better turn it off completely," Castle groaned and reached for his phone, "actually it's Gina." He showed her the display.

"She'd better have a very good reason for calling you so late," Beckett complained as she pulled her hand out of his pants.

"It's a business call," Rick laughed out loud, "Trust me, with her it's always all about business. Even when I shared a bed with her."

"TMI!" Kate slapped his chest before she snuggled into it to watch the news with the closed captioning on. Castle accepted the call and immediately exposed himself to a barrage from his ex-wife. Gina was clearly not a happy camper; even Beckett could hear her muffled voice. Rick tried to interject monosyllabic answers to questions Gina had apparently meant to be purely rhetorical anyway. Fine. His hand wandered absentmindedly down to his fiancée's legs and stroked her thighs leisurely as he listened to his ex-wife's complaints. When Kate felt him tense beside her, she reciprocated with soothing rubs across his chest.

Beckett rolled her eyes when the news anchor switched to Kristina Cottera for the society gossip. As expected the picture insert of her fiancé popped up immediately, right next to the TV host's head. Kate gagged a little at seeing the two faces so close together but at least it was better than her boobs in his face. Of course, the woman would have to weigh in with her personal experience, having dated the famous Richard Castle once herself. Beckett rolled her eyes again and glanced at her fiancé. Rick was now completely focused on the phone call and not paying any attention to the screen. Whatever news Gina called with, Kate could tell they didn't sit well with Castle and worried him. And of course, Kristina Cottera had to throw in what a magnificent kisser Richard Castle was. What did that have to do with anything? How was that even relevant to the story about a witness coming forward showing Richard Castle's pattern for wrongfully accusing other people. Wait, what? Beckett frowned and blinked hard when she read the closed captions. What the heck?

"Castle?" She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention and nodded her head at the TV where now a middle-aged hippie was interviewed on screen. "Did you accuse this guy of being a serial killer?"

Rick glanced at the screen and groaned, his eyes widening with recognition. "Gina, I gotta go. Heads up, Alexis' arts teacher just sold his story to WHNY's eleven o'clock news."

Kate's head snapped up, "You accused your daughter's arts teacher of being a serial killer?"

Castle winced because Gina was probably yelling at him on the phone. "I apologized to the man and we used our combined connections to get him a showing at that gallery in the village. You'd think he'd be a little more grateful," Castle muttered. "I'm hanging up now. We'll talk tomorrow about the book tour and see what you can do to prevent everyone and their mother from creeping out of the woodwork with stories about me."

He ended the call and met with Beckett's incredulous glare.

"He looked just like the guy from America's Most Wanted," Rick explained. "It was eight years ago! I can't believe the man's still holding a grudge against me."

Kate shook her head amused, "Only you, Castle. What did you do? Call the FBI?"

"Something of the kind. Alexis wouldn't talk to me for weeks after that, threatened to move to LA to live with her mother."

"How old was she?"

"About ten. She was so mortified; she wanted to switch schools. Good thing she's in Costa Rica, she'd be so embarrassed by all of this."

"Aw, c'mere," she pulled his head closer and ran her fingers through his hair. Castle followed her invitation willingly and let his forehead rest on hers. "Listen, Lanie and I talked about what's going on and originally I wasn't going to say anything because it isn't my place but she encouraged me to…"

"Honey, don't be stupid," he interrupted her, "your opinion always counts. And what's that nonsense about it not being your place to say anything? You're going to be my wife, you've got a say in everything that affects us."

"Right, but this isn't really about us. Well, it kind of is, but it's really about you. I know Paula and Gina are very good at their jobs, but I can't help but wonder if they're wrong this time."

"About what?"

"You," she shrugged her shoulders, "I respect your decision to refuse engaging with the media out of principle but it hurts me that all they print about you are defamation and lies."

"Kate, I'm a big boy; I can take it. You know the truth, and so do the people I care about. We released a statement to the press this morning, that's all we can do for now. Anything else will make things only worse."

"I know," she sighed, "but you can't tell me none of this affects you. Because I see how it bothers you."

"Of course it does but as long as I've got you, I don't care." He kissed her soundly. "This is what's important to me right now. Am I angry? Hurt? Disappointed? Of course! But everything becomes more bearable with you at my side."

"I can feel how tense you are from Gina's call," she rubbed his arms. "What happened?"

"Nothing just some idiots cancelling their attendance for tomorrow's party. We've had three requests from bookstores today to postpone the meet the author events at the end of the week. They're worried that either nobody will come or that everyone will storm the stores and they'll have to hire extra security. Paula's still sorting that out and it could be that we postpone the book tour by a week or two." He sighed. "I can't even be angry at them, those are legitimate concerns. I'd never forgive myself if someone got hurt by the mob at a book signing of mine."

"Are you afraid Black Pawn will pull Nikki Heat?"

"I don't know. Gina said her new boss was very supportive of the series despite everything that happened. Paula's ironing out the details for a contract extension, locking in a deal for two more books. So far nobody's put the negotiations on ice."

"I think they're wrong," Kate blurted out. "I think you should go out there and tell your story. It isn't right that people hear from Alexis' sixth grade teacher and not you. Just leave out the part about 3XK still being alive because that will make you look desperate and delusional."

"What if they ask me questions about us?"

"So what?" Kate shrugged, "After tomorrow everyone will know anyway. I'm not embarrassed to be associated with you, Castle. On the contrary, I'm quite proud I've reeled in the white wale."

Rick smirked, "That still nags at you, huh?" He would've loved to see Kate's face at that party when the socialite compared him to Moby Dick for the first time.

"I'm proud of you, Rick. You know that, right?" She looked him deeply in the eyes. "Lawson doesn't change anything. I came back to New York to stand beside you and support you through this trial because I love you and I'm so very proud to call you my fiancé."

He swallowed hard. "I love you, too, Kate. So very much. And I'm so proud and honored to have you for my future wife." He kissed her passionately. "Are you sure, though? I don't want to hurt your career anymore than I already might have. I want the FBI to know how amazing you are."

"Castle, people will keep digging into Lawson's accusation. I mean even Alexis' old teacher crawled out of the woodwork. They'll find out the truth about us anyway, only they'll twist it and taint it to make our love look like something tacky and sleazy. Wouldn't it be better if the truth came from you?"

"What if it blows up in our faces? Once it's out there, we can't control it. They can still sensationalize our romance to make it look like an affair straight out of Basic Instinct."

"But at least we'd be able to control when, where and how the information is released." Beckett reasoned. "The longer you wait, the more it will look like you tried to hide something when someone else leaks the truth. And we don't have to hide anything. We didn't do anything wrong. I will not apologize for trusting my partner and having faith in the man I love. Besides, I would have done the same thing for Javi or Ryan."

"We didn't exactly do it right, either, now did we? I don't want you to lose your job."

"Granger already knows everything."

"Even that we were involved while I was under investigation?"

"Mhm," Kate nodded, "he wasn't thrilled but he didn't fire me right away, either. Maybe you can talk to Paula and Gina about a way to disclose our relationship in a non-sensationalist way."

"Well, we can certainly have our fun tomorrow on the red carpet and see how long it takes the paparazzi to notice your engagement ring."

Kate sighed and cuddled with her fiancé, pulling Rick's arm over her shoulder, "I wish Jameson Rook was real. He's a man with journalistic integrity; he'd print the truth without adding his personal spin to sell more papers. He'd know our real story is so much more extraordinary than any of the speculation by Lawson and the yellow press could ever be." She played with his hand, interlacing their fingers, admiring her engagement ring, imagining what their hands will look like entwined one day with matching wedding bands.

"I love you," Beckett whispered and turned her head to kiss her future husband. She caught him gazing into the distance with that look on his face she knew all too well. He was concocting a plan. She kissed his neck and startled him out of his reverie.

"Huh?" He raised his eyebrows at her.

Kate smiled and scratched the scruff on his chin, "Come to bed with me, Rick, it can wait till morning."