Chapter 7

Oh god, what has she done?

One moment she was giving him a lecture on professionalism, then the next, she was pressed firmly against his hard body kissing him. How in the hell had that happened? That little stunt juxtaposed with her spiel on appropriate behavior made her look like a complete hypocrite. She cringed at the irony of it all.

Kate prided herself on her immaculate professionalism and ability to remain dispassionate in all situations, essential qualities for a good judge. She had encountered her fair share of male colleagues who tried to make advances on her, but she had always been able to brush them aside and focus on her career.

It wasn't until he came along, looking all ruggedly handsome and flirting with anything with a skirt, that she finally faltered. Kate should have been more vigilant about resisting his charms. She was better than this.

The one silver lining about this whole debacle was that no one else saw the kiss. She decided the best course of action would be to apologize and pretend it never happened. She could only hope that he would be able to keep his damn mouth shut.

The mouth that was pretty good at kissing, the baser part of her mind said.

Damn it, what was wrong with her?

Kate gathered her composure and began mentally rehearsing an apology in her head. She instructed Jenny to request for him to make an informal appearance at her chambers after she's had a few days to cool off. She could totally fix this.

When Monday came around, Castle happened to be at the courthouse that day and was able to stop by her chambers for their détente. He didn't really know what to expect during their next private encounter, but somehow felt that he had the upper hand in a way.

"You know Beckett, being summoned to your chambers is becoming somewhat of a frequent occurrence," Castle remarked as he swaggered shamelessly into her office. "Not that I mind at all," he grinned.

Beckett scrutinized his face and body language closely, looking for tells. He seemed totally unaffected, even acting a bit smug at the situation, which only served to irritate her more.

"Yeah, well don't get used to it."

She chose to remain seated safely on her side of the desk, while he meandered around the room.

Castle made an appreciative sweep of her chambers, taking stock of the furniture, books, and decor. She kept a tidy office, much like the other aspects of her life, he surmised. Castle knew that he was the one messy detail she was currently trying to clean up and sweep under the rug. Loose lips sink ships.

"This brings back fond memories of me getting in trouble with the principal in grade school," Castle said as he poked around her trinkets. "But you're way hotter than Mrs. Montgomery," he teased.

Beckett glowered at him. Again with the lack of filter. She chose to disregard that comment.

"Mr. Castle," she started with overt formality. "I'd like to talk to you about the… incident that occurred on Thursday."

Castle's eyes furrowed in faux confusion. "I'm sorry, you're going to have to be a little more specific than that," he feigned ignorance, grinning like the Cheshire cat. Or the cat that got the canary.

She rolled her eyes at him. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Oh, you mean the kiss? That's something I won't be forgetting any time soon," he gushed, recalling the incident fondly. Well that's the last thing she wanted to hear.

"I must say, I'm getting very mixed signals from you, Miss Beckett. You rebuff all my advances for weeks, then one day, out of the blue… BAM! You plant one on me, just like that." Rick clapped his hands together dramatically in slow motion for effect.

"That was not my intention," she growled. "I assure you it will not happen again."

"I'm pretty sure you kissed me on purpose," Castle asserted smugly.

"I did not," she argued petulantly.

"You're the one who grabbed at me first. And I definitely felt some sucking action." He pouted his lips and drew an invisible circle around his mouth with his finger.

Kate gawked at his audacity. The absolute nerve of this man. Could he be any more infuriating? "It was an accident. And you kissed me back!"

Rick's eyes lit up with glee. "Ha, so you do admit to kissing me!" he exclaimed triumphantly.

"Will you shut up for two seconds?" she snapped.

At her outburst, Castle finally sat down at her desk and paid attention. He perched his chin on his intertwined fingers, listening intently with shining, innocent eyes.

Beckett closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm her nerves and build up courage, exhaling with a sigh. She just needed to recite this damn apology then send him on his way and everything would be just fine.

"Mr. Castle, I'd like to apologize for my behavior. It was extremely out of character and unprofessional of me. The situation got heated, but that does not give me the right to encroach on your personal space like that. I hope that we can just forget about what happened, move on from the incident, and remain professional colleagues."

Castle paused a beat, waiting to see if she was done.

"Is that it?" he asked.

"Yeah."

Castle made a show of pondering for a moment, pouting his lips and looking around thoughtfully. "Well thank you very much for your apology, Judge Beckett. It was very heartfelt and eloquently delivered. I'm sure you rehearsed it thoroughly."

Kate breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a weight lifted off her shoulders. Phew.

"But I'm afraid I can't accept," he concluded.

Her eyes snapped to him, looking at him sternly. "Excuse me?"

Castle trapped her under a challenging gaze. "I think you heard me. Apology not accepted," he clarified.

He… he can't do that. Can he?

"What do you mean?" Beckett asked incredulously.

"I don't think I want to accept the apology," Castle shrugged. A mischievous smile crept across his face as he ideated a wicked scheme. "I think instead, I should get to kiss you in return at some undetermined future time," he decided.

Beckett blinked at him unintelligently. What the hell was he going on about?

Her mind scrambled for a response, resorting to lean on her legal knowledge. "Haven't you heard of the law of retaliation? Lex talionis?" she asked. This jackass was supposed to be well versed in law.

Castle waved his hand dismissively in the air, leaning back in his chair. "I know they say an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind and all that, but I think an exception can be made in this case. Ol' Hammi wouldn't mind. In fact, he encouraged it. No one will get hurt. Unless you're into that," he leered at her.

Beckett gaped incoherently, at a loss for words. Try as she may, she couldn't come up with a reasonable way out of this. The only way to placate this clown was to give in.

"Fine, let's just get this over with," she huffed, standing up.

Castle held out a hand to stop her. "Oh no, my dear Beckett. I will be saving this special privilege for another time."

"What?"

"It's only fair that I get to kiss you at an unspecified time of my choosing, since you caught me by surprise."

Beckett's mouth fell open and she shook her head in horror. "No, no way."

"I promise I won't embarrass you in court or anything," he vowed solemnly. "I won't kiss you in any inappropriate settings that may get you in trouble or tarnish your career or professional image." As much fun as he would be having with this payback, he didn't want to have it impact her professional life negatively.

Beckett was still trying to make sense of his words. Was he implying he would somehow get her alone in a private setting? Her mind was scrambling to consider all the possible scenarios where he could feasibly use this against her. She was going to go crazy trying to anticipate this stealth smooch. Unable to tolerate his maddening presence anymore, she decided to kick him out.

"Get out," she demanded behind clenched teeth.

Castle smirked, watching her do mental gymnastics, but ultimately acquiesced, knowing he had pushed her buttons far enough for one day. He stood up from the chair, slinging his satchel across his shoulder, pleased with today's developments. Castle was brimming with fiendish excitement, brainstorming all the ways he could use this against her.

"See you in court, Judge Beckett," he winked, finally turning to sashay out of her chambers.

Kate buried her face in her hands after he left, groaning. This did not go as she had planned. That was her best attempt at being civil and now the situation was even worse than before. This was quite the imbroglio she had gotten herself into. What the hell was she going to do with him?

After a few moments of sulking, she decided to channel her anguish into action. If he wanted to do it that way then fine, two could play at this game.

A/N: Hammi = Hammurabi, whose code famously includes the "eye for an eye" principle.