CASTLE NEEDS A FAVOR

CHAPTER THREE

Once back, she quickly changed to slacks and a sweater since the temperatures were falling from the daytime warmth, to a cool of the evening. Especially when the breeze came off the bay.

Castle had a private section of the beach, but he knew all his neighbors and they knew him. All of them walked along the beach unconcerned which neighbor actually owned that section of the beach.

It was a beautiful night, with a bright three quarter moon shining down on them. If you looked away from the moon, the stars jumped out at you. Kate was not used to seeing the stars like this. She was a city girl and the lights of New York at night washed out much of the night sky.

The held hands as they walked. They didn't speak for several minutes. They just enjoyed the silence, something in short supply back in the city. Finally Kate broke the quiet.

"Rick, I can't believe this place. It's magical out here. I find it amazing that you ever leave it."

Castle chuckled. "It is nice, and I do love it here, but even peace and quiet will get boring after a time and I wind up yearning for the noisy chaos of the big city."

Kate grinned. "Well, I'm certainly not bored yet. I'm already feeling a little melancholy knowing we have to leave tomorrow night." She turned to him. "What fantastic plans do you have for tomorrow?"

Rick kissed the side of her head. "Oh, tomorrow will be epic." She gave him a raised brow. "As a newbie guest out here, you have to participate in the big sandcastle making competition."

"Big? Aren't there only two of us?"

"Okay, well maybe not 'big', but it will still be epic when I crush you in the competition."

"Crush?"

Rick grinned. "When it comes to sandcastles, I'm a master crafter."

"Really? Modest aren't you?"

"What can I say?"

"Well, I'd say that this won't be a totally fair competition since I have almost no experience in sandcastle building."

"Or, you are just making excuses ahead of time for when you lose."

Kate stopped walking. Rick stopped and looked at her. "Just for that comment, I'm not going to take it easy on you to salve your male ego." She stuck her finger in his face. "I'm going to stomp you into the sand. So what do you think about that."

Rick closed with her and sucked her finger into his mouth.

Kate started to laugh.

They turned and headed back toward Castle's place. They continued to walk in comfortable silence until they were almost out front of the house. There were a couple large boulders sitting right at the edge of the beach.

Kate pointed at the rocks. "Can we sit and talk for the few minutes, Rick?"

He led her over to one of the boulders and let her sit, then he moved to the other and sat. He smiled at her, allowing her the time to gather her thoughts. It was obvious that she needed to say something.

Kate sat there with her hands clasped staring off into the waves gently lapping on the sandy beach. After a couple of minutes she turned toward Rick.

"Can I ask you what you told Montgomery to let him be okay with us being a couple?"

Rick smiled. "It wasn't as hard as you think. He brought up the regulation against partners being in a romantic relationship, but before I could respond he also brought up that I was not an actual member of the NYPD, that I was a civilian allowed to shadow you as a favor to the Mayor. And it didn't hurt that the Police Commissioner is also in favor of the situation."

Kate nodded. "Did you tell Roy about your… condition?"

Rick shook his head. "No, I didn't have to, but I was willing to if I felt I would have needed to. He did read me a mild riot act about what would be and what would not be appropriate in his precinct." Rick chuckled. "He made a point of saying that what we did outside the precinct was none of his business, and as soon as that was out of his mouth he congratulated me and told me it was about time the two of us realized what anyone who saw us together already assumed."

Kate shook her head in confusion. "He really said that? He thinks that most people think we should have been together already?"

Rick nodded. "Yeah, and I don't know about you but I've had several people come up to me and tell me 'it's about time'. I guess more people were rooting for us than I imagined would even care."

"I guess that says something. I'm not exactly sure what it says, but it definitely says something."

Rick reaches over and takes her hand. "I think you know exactly what it says. It says that no one is surprised that we got together. That they think that it was an evitable outcome. I personally am quite pleased that so many others see us as I do. Kate, I hate having to put you through this, but please never forget that I do love you, and I will no matter how this situation finally plays out."

Kate couldn't stop tears from sliding down her cheeks. "But it isn't fair. If we are supposed to be together, why does it have to be like this? How come the way I have to find out that the man I'm supposed to fall in love with is because he is going to leave me?"

Rick pulled her over next to him on his boulder. "I can't answer that, Kate, and I'm sorry that you are going through this, but I have to say that you being here with me is what's keeping me from falling apart."

Rick sat there holding a teary Kate in his lap as the moon slid down the starry sky until it met its demise in the water of the bay.

After Kate had cried herself out the couple slowly walked back into the house. It wasn't all that late yet, but both were tired from their walking in town, and then the walk along the beach.

Also, crying can take some out of you. Kate's mind was spinning. What was she doing? How could go through with this charade with Rick? Then she took a deep breath and thought, how could she not.

He needed her. He needed to provide the best he could for his family and to do it he was asking her to become part of that family. Kate realized something that moment. She realized that had they had the time, she could see herself ending up with Rick in the not too distant future. Given the time, they could have come to this point naturally.

But they weren't given the time and now she was being asked to play a part that she now knew she wished could be real. Would a few more weeks with this wonderful man be worth the pain of devastation once he was gone. Could she turn her back on his wishes, on Alexis?

Rick was always fond of saying the heart wants what the heart wants. After these past few weeks with him, her heart wants Rick. But not just the few fleeting memories they might make. She wants what she knows she can't have. She wants forever.

How can she have that now? Would time heal those wounds of loss, and let her move on after?

He led her up to the bedroom. Neither said anything as they both stepped into the shower to wash off the sand and dirt, and massage their tired muscles.

They kissed and fondled each other while under the multi-jet shower heads. He set it on a timer that would randomly change the spray pattern. It added a little adventure to their wet make out session.

After quite a bit longer than a normal shower should take, they exited and went about drying off. He toweled off her and she toweled off him. Their actions were deliberate, one might even say reverent. She even let him dry her hair.

Kate made no effort to put any order, or style to her mane. She just let it go where it wanted to. She wound up with a mad mass of curls going every which way, but she didn't care. It was dry.

Rick lay on the bed, propped up against the padded headboard. His smile was tender as he pulled back the covers to allow her to slide in. She walked up to the edge of the bed. A few tears escaped, but her expression was one of determination. She had made a decision.

"Rick," her voice was soft but firm. "I need you to make love to me."

His smile grew some as he pulled back the covers a bit more.

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Kate lay back staring sightlessly at the ceiling. She could hear Rick's soft snoring. It was kind of cute. She stifled a giggle. She turned toward the sound, but all she could see was a dark lump lying next to her.

Her body was spent. Her limbs were like rubber, she felt boneless and she never hurt so good like she did now.

Kate Beckett wasn't a woman who slept around, but she was no virgin flower either. She'd had her share of boyfriends in her younger days, and had enjoyed the pleasures of sex. But last night wasn't sex.

She had never had someone worship every part of her body like Castle had. No one had ever shown how much they adored her like Rick did. She hadn't known that she could experience being loved like she had been loved last night.

She stared out into the darkness with tears sneaking out of the corners of her eyes.

Was it real? Did she really mean that much to Rick? He'd said that he loved her and before his 'condition' entered the picture he had hoped that they would have the chance to become a couple. He said he'd wanted them to be an us.

But was it mostly his fear and need to provide for those closest to him that drove his passion? Was she just the best available fit, or would she still have been 'the one' if they'd had the time to find out?

Kate was a strong willed, confident person. But he was freakin' Richard Castle. He could have practically any woman he wanted. Why would he want her? She was nobody special. She was a cop with an obsession to find out who ordered her mother's murder.

She had trouble seeing herself as his first choice if he'd been given the time. She knew that he had shown interest in her over the years, but that was just the playboy talking, wasn't it?

It hadn't even been a full three weeks since they started their faux relationship, but he was acting more and more like it was the real thing for him. Was it? Could it be?

The thing that was really screwing with her emotions was she felt that she was falling in love with him, for real.

If that was true, what did it mean? Wouldn't it hurt that much more when he…left her? If it were just friends who had to say goodbye it might be survivable. But if she were really in love with him could she survive?

She laid there in the sinfully comfortable bed crying for who knows how long when she finally felt some movement beside her.

A hand reached over and stroked her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

She lay still for several moments her breathing gradually slowing down. She finally turned toward him. She still couldn't' see his face, but she felt his breath on her face.

"Rick… I love you." There she had made up her mind and said it.

"Good, because I love you too." He managed to lean close enough to find her lips. The kiss was soft and tender. She found herself gasping for more when he pulled back.

"Go to sleep. We can talk in the morning."

He pulled her over so she could spoon into his embrace. Surprisingly she was suddenly sleepy and had no trouble drifting off.

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Castle woke up to a dual disturbance. The sun was shining through the glass sliding door out to the patio, and a breeze was also coming from the same area. He was sure he'd closed the door and pulled the drape before they went to bed.

He rolled out of the bed and while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes he moved to the door. He slipped through the partial opening and stepped out on the porch that looked out onto the bay. The morning sun was shining down. It already felt like it was going to turn out to be a warm day.

He looked over and saw Kate laid out on the patio recliner situated just outside the door. He tipped toed up behind her. Her eyes were closed and a little drool came out of the corner of her mouth. She had fallen asleep…again.

He smiled as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. She mumbled and tried to shift her position on the lounger. He played with her tangled hair, then kissed her on the top of her head. She finally began to wake up. With an accompanied yawn she sat up and turned toward him.

"Oh, hi. I guess I fell back to sleep." She swiveled and faced him. "It's really beautiful here."

He grinned. "I suppose I could change my will and leave the Hampton House to you instead of mother."

She swatted his leg. "You'll do such thing." She bit on her lower lip. "I think we need to talk about all this and where we are going to go with it."

Rick sat down next to her. "Have you made up your mind on what the end point of this should be, or more specifically how far you are willing to go?"

Kate chewed her lip some more. "I'm working on it. I promise you that I will have given you my decision by the time we get home so you'll know how you will be going forward, whether with me or without me."

Kate jumped up. "But first, I'm hungry. I don't normally eat a breakfast, but this sea air seems to arouse my appetite."

Castle smirked. "That's not all the sea air arouses."

She slaps him on the arm, then runs into the bathroom. "Just for that, I'm not going to let you shower with me."

"Kaaate!"

Breakfast was fun. The two of them worked together to prepare the morning feast. Castle worked the stove and grill. While he had the bacon, sausages, and pancakes going, Kate was slicing bread for toast, and bananas, strawberries, and grapes were put into a serving bowl as toppings for the pancakes or just finger food.

Kate also put herself in charge of the coffee, if only to make sure she got a couple of cups with her breakfast. She also made a pitcher of orange juice. Kate wondered if they had too many conflicting sweet fruits.

After eating their fill, Kate was ready to go back to bed since she was so full she could hardly move. She did not eat like that. Especially for breakfast.

They took their time cleaning up after. They were slowed down by too many hands landing on too many body parts. Quick ambush kisses and a lot of eye sex contributed to the lengthy clean up.

Rick grabbed Kate from behind and twirled her around to face him.

"You need to go up and change into your swimming suite, it's time for the sandcastle battle!" The kid in Castle was definitely showing.

Kate was full and wanted to just lay about in the sun for a while, but Kate knew there was no way she was getting out of this.

Kate waited patiently as Rick made several trips between the storage shed behind the garage and the beach. First he brought out two large pails filled with various hand shovels, scoops, and shaping tools. Then came an assortment of plastic cups and glasses, and several different sized pails all to use to shape various parts of the castle. Lastly he brought out a large plywood partition which he put up between two designated areas of the beach which were to be the areas where the contestants would erect their castles.

Kate walked around the area looking at everything that Castle had brought out, just to make some stupid sand castles?

"How long have you been collecting and saving this… stuff?"

Castle struck a proud pose. "Since Alexis was a little girl."

Kate shook her head. "You still think she's a little girl."

He dropped his head. "Yeah, but she is getting so much better at this, I probably wouldn't be able to beat her anymore. It's lucky I won't have to match up against her again."

"No!" Kate exclamation surprised and startled Rick. "As of this moment, there will be no mention of any dying, or leaving, or condition. We shall live our lives as we would, as if we had forever." She fell to her knees in the sand.

Rick rushed over and gathered her into his arms. "Oh, Kate, if only we could. We can choose not to for a while yet, but the time will come when we must face the cruel truth. And when that time comes, I hope that you will be able to accept that which I would give you for your benefit and that of my family… our family."

Kate turned away to hide her tears from him. She moved toward the house.

"I'll be back shortly. I have to use the bathroom." She then ran toward the house while a dejected Rick looked on.

Kate paced around the spacious first floor powder room. It contained no bath or shower, but it had multiple toilets and sinks, with several cupboards for towels and other cleaning and washing items. It was also adjacent to a room that contained an extra-large washer and dryer.

Kate stood in front of a large mirror unsuccessfully fighting her tears. She told herself again that she didn't know if she could do this. She wanted to help him in any way she could. She could no longer deny that she loved him, but because she loved him playing this game with him was tearing her apart. How could she go back to the city and pretend that everything is wonderful.

They had all their friends and family convinced that she and he were now a couple, and it could be said that it was now no longer theatre. But how long could she fool all of those friends who were so happy for them when she was constantly aware that he won't be there for their happy ending.

"Kate? Are you alright? We are losing the best time of the day for sand castle making. In a few hours it will be too hot. Also, we'll have to leave before dark to get back to the city in a reasonable time. Are you about ready?"

Bless him, she thought. He knew she was falling apart so he comes and acts like it's nothing. It's just good old Sandcastle Castle urging his opponent into action.

She wiped some tears from eyes. "I'll be out in a minute. Go back to the beach, I'll be right down."

"Okay, see you there."

She spent a few more minutes getting her shit together. After all, she had a sandcastle completion to win.

Kate stood in front of her designated area. Rick's was just on the other side of the barrier. The size of each area were approximately the same. Well, as close to being the same size without actually measuring them. She was surprised he hadn't measured them.

Castle stood next to her and put his arm around her shoulder. "Okay, the rules are simple. Anything goes. You can use any of the provided utensils to craft your castle. Even your hands." He grinned, she gave him an eye roll. "You can use anything lying around within your area." He pointed to a large boulder at the edge of the sand in Kate's area. "Even that."

She frowned at him. "That has to weigh several hundred pounds. I didn't see a hydraulic lift in the tools you provided."

Castle shrugged. "I'm just telling what you can do, not how you do this."

Kate squinted at him. "You know, just because you're being a smart ass, I'm not going to go easy on you. Your ego is just going to have to take a beat down for that."

"Oh, you are on Kate Beckett. You are so on." He scrambled back to his side of the partition and held up his hand while looking at his watch. "You have two hours starting… now!" His hand dropped, and so did he.

Kate started with the moat. All castles had to have a moat. She was surprised that Castle's place here in the Hampton's didn't have one.

The four corner towers came next. She used three different sized pails to shape them. Once she had piled them one on top of another on top of another she had a tiered affect, but that wasn't what she wanted. She grabbed a slender trowel and carefully shaped each tower until she had four conical towers at the four corners of her castle.

She next used a fairly large pail to form the six sections that formed the base of her main building. Next she used a slightly smaller pail and stacked four sections on her base to form the second floor, then two slightly smaller for the third floor, and finally one yet smaller pail for the fourth floor central tower.

She ran down to the water to fill a large pail with water and brought it back. She wet her hands and began to massage her various tower sections with her wet hands to smooth out the transitions from one section to the next and from one level to the next. It also aided in keeping that sand together.

Now she needed something for the walls. A memory fought to the forefront of her mind. She ran back to the big bucket and found what she needed. An ice tray.

It took a bit of time to work out the best water to sand mixture such that she could form the cubes in the tray and still get them out without them being sludge, or too dry and crumble. She persevered and was able to finally have enough blocks to build her wall between her corner towers.

She glanced around and found a piece of driftwood which she was able, with the use of some of the smaller sharp edge shapers, to break into a mostly rectangular piece. That became her door/drawbridge.

Kate didn't have a watch like Castle so she didn't know how much time was left in the competition. She was just about to ask Rick when he shouted out. "Fifteen minutes."

Kate spent the rest of her time carving out windows in her various towers with the smallest of the trowel like shaping tools. She worked right up to the moment Castle shouted "Time!"

She was pleased to see that Castle was as covered with sand and mud as she was when he walked around the partition and gazed upon her two hours of, harder than she thought, work.

"Wow!" he exclaimed as he put his dirty arm around her waist. "That's amazing. One of the best I've seen in a long time." Kate beamed as he got down and checked out all the features. "I have to admit Kate, this is one of the better sandcastles that I've ever seen."

Kate gave him the raised brow. "One of?"

He nodded. "Yes! It's almost good enough to have been one of my earlier efforts."

"One of your…?" Kate sputtered, then stomped over to Rick's area to see what 'the master' had produced.

Her mouth dropped open when she came around and saw Rick's castle. It was amazing.

She now knew why he included those ice trays in the tool kits. Castle had built his entire castle out of blocks like a stone mason. The entire medieval looking structure was built from the wet sand blocks formed by the ice trays. Except where she just placed the blocks on top of each other. Rick used a staggered running pattern to lay his blocks. He also took the time to delineate the lines where block met block.

He even made his towers and main castle in the same manner, only since he built actual walls he was able to carve out the windows into an actual open room. He also had found a piece of driftwood for his drawbridge gate, but he had taken some long grass from the edge of the beach and had somehow braided it into the cables which held the drawbridge in place.

There was no doubt about it. She had been beaten badly, by a master of the craft.

"This is absolutely amazing, Rick. It's beautiful."

"It's loosely based on an old French castle that Alexis and I visited about six years ago."

Kate shook her head. "Sure it is." Her voice held her typical snark.

Castle turned and gave her a hurt look.

"Seriously?"

"I take my sandcastle building very seriously my dear detective."

Kate threw up her hands. "I concede. There is no way I could have ever competed with that."

Castle smiled. "I will say, that for a first timer, I was very impressed with your castle, Kate.

She bumped against him as they walked toward the house. "So how many of these sandcastles do you think you've made, Rick? Just a ball park."

He shrugged. "I know exactly how many. Today's was my two hundred and fifty seventh sandcastle."

Kate stopped and stared at him for a few moments, then she shook her head. "Of course you know the exact number. No one else in the entire world would even think to keep track of the number sandcastles they've build. But you know the exact number."

Castle just grinned.

They took a quick shower, to get the sand and the mud off them. They were both tired and sweaty so the idea of a shared shower wasn't even contemplated. Kate slipped on a pair of shorts and pullover sleeveless top. Rick also chose some shorts and a Green Lantern T-shirt.

"Let's go down and fix a light lunch. Then rest out by the pool for a while. Before we leave I'll grill some steaks and you can make a salad to go with it. Then I think we'll have to start for home."

"I suppose."

"You're response didn't sound too excited. I'll have you know I'm a wiz at the grill."

Kate shook her still partially wet hair. "I have no doubt of that. I'm just not looking forward to going back. It's been great being out here."

Castle smiled. "And we still have time. We can come back again before…" He didn't finish his thought. He saw how Kate's face had fallen.

He walked over to his dresser and pulled open the top drawer. He reached in and pulled something out but held it behind his back, so Kate couldn't see it.

"I wasn't going to give you this until dinner, but I think I can give it to you now."

"What is it?"

With a big smile on his face he pulled the item from behind his back.

"Cracker Jacks?"

Castle nodded. "Yep, this is the prize for coming in second place in the sandcastle competition."

Kate raised her brow. "What was first prize?"

"Satisfaction."

Kate chuckled. "I think I got the better of the deal."

"Yeah, Alexis used to think so too? Do you even like Cracker Jacks?"

Kate laughed. "Stale popcorn covered with the worst plastic caramel coating. What's not to like?"

"Ah, my dear Beckett, it's not the confection that makes Cracker Jacks' so special. It's the surprise…"

"Prize inside every box. Yes, I know." Kate chuckled. "But I'm not four anymore Rick, I'm not as excited over a flat plastic monkey as I used to be."

Castle smiled. "Take a look, what can it hurt?"

Kate gave Rick a wary look as she tore the top off of the box and reached in amongst the sticky kernels. It only took a couple of moments to come in contact with the little plastic bag that would hold the cheap plastic prize.

As she pulled it out, she was confused. It seemed way too heavy to be one to the little plastic figures usually in the boxes.

When she finally pulled it out she nearly dropped it when she caught sight of it. With shaking hands she tore the thin flimsy bag open and dropped the most beautiful diamond ring she'd ever seen onto her palm.

She looked up at Castle, stunned nearly speechless. She had to shallow twice to be able to finally speak.

"Rick?"

AN: For those who mentioned it, Josh has not been forgotten. It was mentioned in the first chapter that Josh had left the week before for a three month tour in Haiti. Remember up until now Kate hadn't made any hard decision so there is still time to address the Josh issue, and it will be addressed. It's just not upper most in her mind at present.

Readers are Appreciated, Review if you wish