God Said

Chapter 7

It was two days after the trip to Disneyland. "KATIE! PHONE!" Sophie yelled to get her out of the bedroom and to the phone. "It's for you." Sophie handed over the phone.

Kate could only think it was either her mom or her dad checking in on her. Thankfully they hadn't done that yet. They had pretty much left her alone. Had they called and asked her aunt any number of questions? She didn't have an answer for that.

"Hello?" Kate said into the phone expecting to hear her mom's voice.

"Kate, Richard Castle. You called?" Kate heard his voice and turned to look at Sophie and threw eye daggers at her for this.

"You can thank me later," Sophie whispered to her and went into their bedroom to await how the call went.

"Kate?" She wasn't talking. She had called him, after all. He didn't have her number and still didn't.

"Sorry, I was distracted." She was going to be seriously distracted soon while she killed her cousin for this.

"So how can I help you?" Rick asked her.

Kate didn't understand why. He was a little old for her and he had a baby and she had avoided doing babysitting jobs on purpose. She couldn't believe she was going to do this.

"Do you want to see a movie? I don't know what's out there or where. If you want to." She quickly gave him an out.

"I'd love to. Just tell me what day and when and I'll arrange for another babysitter. Unless Sophie wants to do it?" Rick had met her and liked her so he at least knew who it would be if he couldn't get the same babysitter from the Disney trip.

"SOPHIE!" This time Kate was yelling for her.

"You don't sound mad." Sophie showed up but only her head poked around the corner.

"Rick wants to know if you want to babysit his daughter."

"YES!" Sophie came around the corner and took the phone from her. "I would love to. I'll need an address. I won't even charge you a fortune." Sophie was glad her plan was working out.

"Thirteen dollars an hour. Not a penny less," Rick told her and heard her gasp over the phone. "Not enough? How about fourteen dollars an hour?"

"NO, no, thirteen is fine. I just need an address for my dad to drop me off." Sophie dug through the junk drawer in the kitchen for a pen and some paper.

"Columbia Square Living, 1550 N El Centro Ave, Los Angeles, Apartment #15C1. Got it. When?" Sophie was so doing this. She was even going to make more money than she ever had babysitting in her life.

"Put Kate back on the phone." Rick didn't have an answer for that.

"Hello." Kate was back on the phone and was still throwing daggers at her cousin.

"What do you want to see? Adventure? Comedy? Science Fiction? Romance? Mystery? Horror?" Rick was open to just about anything so long as it meant Kate was next to him.

"I don't know. What do you suggest?" She could shoot him down if she didn't like it.

"Well let's see." Kate could hear a lot of paper rattling which made her grin.

"Deep Impact? It's Science Fiction. Enemy of the State? I think it's a thriller. The Truman Show. Not really sure what that one is. Vampires? Sounds like horror." Rick heard her groan at that one. "No horror, got it. Man in the Iron Mask? Sounds like another remake." This time Rick killed that one just for that reason.

"Godzilla? Take a wild guess what that one's about," Rick teased her. "Ooo, The Mask of Zorro." Rick liked the sound of that one.

"That sounds nice. When?" Kate asked.

"Well let's see. How about tomorrow at 7:15?" Rick asked her. "The next show is 9:45."

"7:15 tomorrow?" Kate looked at Sophie who hadn't retreated to her room to get away from her and saw her nodding her head. "Sophie says that will work for her."

"It's a date. I'll even buy the popcorn and the sodas," Rick offered.

"You realize popcorn is bad for you, don't you?" Kate challenged him.

"Watch a movie with no popcorn?" Rick didn't believe her. "You're sure you're not an alien from another planet?"

Kate rolled her eyes even if he couldn't see her doing it. "Yes, no popcorn for me." Kate wasn't eating that junk.

"Fine I'll get you some M&M's or maybe some Twizzlers. How can you not like popcorn?" Rick had finally found something wrong with this woman.

"Easily!" Kate retorted.

"Fine!" Rick fired back. "In that case we are eating ice cream after the movie and I'm still buying."

Kate could agree to that. "I like ice cream."

"You and Sophie need to be here at 6:00. It'll give me enough time to show her everything and still make the movie." Suddenly Kate heard someone crying. "I have been summonded. See you tomorrow at 6:00. Don't be late." Rick hung up on her so he could find out what Alexis wanted this time.

"He wants us there at 6:00 tomorrow and I am so going to kill you." Kate threw still more daggers her way.

"You can thank me later." Sophie was sure this was good for Katie. "Thirteen dollars an hour. You two better be gone all night long. Go get a hotel room or something." Sophie ran to her bedroom.

"SOPHIE ELIZABETH BECKETT! YOU BETTER RUN GIRL!" She was suggesting sex in a hotel room.

oO{}O{}Oo

Kate couldn't decide if she should dress up for this date and dress more casual. She was already on her third outfit.

"Better hurry up, Katie. You're going to make us late. Just put on some jeans and a top that shows some cleavage. Give him something to look at. Now let's go. I'm not losing thirteen dollars an hour because you can't decide what to wear." Sophie left her and went back to her dad who was standing there waiting on them.

Kate finally emerged with what she needed in her pockets again. She hadn't buttoned all the buttons so she was showing a touch of cleavage. "Ready." Kate hoped she was ready for this. She had more butterflies than she'd ever had for any date in her life.

oO{}O{}Oo

"Columbia Square Living." Ray parked and they all looked up at the all glass building.

"WOW!" Sophie loved it already. It helped explain the thirteen dollars an hour offer.

"Okay, girls. Call me when you want me to come get you and be ready for your mother to grill you two about everything. Especially this place." Ray was equally impressed.

oO{}O{}Oo

The lobby alone had been amazing. 15C1 suggested the 15th floor so up they went and stopped at C1. "So knock," Sophie urged her.

"You knock." Kate was too scared to knock. Rick wasn't just another boy she had a date with. He was a real man that was older than she was.

"Coward!" Sophie knocked and in moments they saw Rick open the door. He was a little more dressed up than Kate was. Black dress pants, navy blue dress shirt with no tie, and black dress shoes.

"Ladies, come in. You're late so this has to be fast." Rick closed the door behind them. "This way."

"Bathroom. Tub if you need it." Rick put a finger to his lips to silence them. "Alexis is sleeping." He walked them into his bedroom.

"Alexis crib. Her changing table holds everything you'll need. This way." He took them out of this room and into the living room. "TV, remote, watch any channel you choose. Dining room, kitchen. There's already a pot with water on the stove. Just bring it to a boil and take a bottle out of the refrigerator and put it in the water after you take it off the heat. Don't want to melt a bottle. Done that already. Totally embarrassing."

"I've babysat before. I know what to do," Sophie reassured him.

"Sorry, of course you do. There's food in the refrigerator." Rick gave her some ground rules. "You're not twenty-one so leave the beer alone. No boyfriends."

"I'd have to have one of those first. Now go, you two are late already." Sophie started pushing both of them toward where she was betting the front door was located.

"The key's on the dining room table," Rick told her over his shoulder.

"GO! Out!" Sophie closed the door on them. Kate was blushing something terrible because of her.

"Wallet, car keys." Rick patted his pants to check. He had no real idea why he was so nervous. He'd had dates before. This one was no different yet somehow it was.

"Since we've been kicked out, shall we go?" Rick motioned for Kate to go first.

Once they were out of view Sophie stopped spying on them through the little security glass in the door and went to see the baby. "Aren't you cute." Sophie gushed all over her and watched her sleep for a moment before leaving the bedroom and deciding to search the rest of this place.

The entire place was clean and modern. It had a bare minimum of feminine touches but it could really use some more. The kitchen was bigger than her parents' place. The refrigerator was massive and opening it showed that it was full of all kinds of things. "Strawberries!" Sophie took them out, found a bowl to put them in, and headed for the TV that was a lot bigger than her parents' TV.

First she went back into the bedroom to check on Alexis who was still sleeping soundly. She even bent way down to check she was still breathing. "So cute." Sophie murmured again and headed for the TV. "Let's see what you have on this thing."

oO{}O{}Oo

Kate was following Rick since she didn't know where she was going. "Passenger seat," Rick motioned and unlocked the driver's door.

"This is your car!" Kate was in total shock again. "This is a Ferrari! A real Ferrari!" She could only stand there gaping at it.

"My first book did really well so my publisher gave me an advance for the second one. Naturally I went out and spent too much of it. I bought this thing. It might not be practical but I couldn't resist. This was before Alexis," Rick explained and unlocked her door by pressing a button.

Kate finally managed to open the door. "There's a car seat in my seat."

"SHIT! I forgot about that." Rick came around to her side and got to work at removing it. But now that he had it out he didn't know what to do with it. "Storage! Just get in I'll be back." He ran with this thing to his small private storage locker here in the garage and then ran back and jumped in. He buckled up and started the car.

"Better buckle up, we're late," Rick said as he backed up and squealed the tires while he rocketed out of the garage.

"It's a convertible!" Kate could see that the top would come down. Then at the first stop light she watched as Rick reached above her and unlocked her side and then his. He pressed a button and she watched as the top came down.

When the light changed she was going down the street in a red Ferrari with the top down and her hair was flying everywhere. Suddenly it occurred to her she hadn't brought a brush. Why would she think she was going to need a brush? Who drove a Ferrari as their normal car?

Kate was holding onto her hair and trying to keep it out of her face as she grinned while Rick drove. "Best date ever," Kate whispered to herself.

oO{}O{}Oo

Rick got a small popcorn and ignored the look Kate was throwing his way. He got a bag of Twizzlers for her along with one large Coke and one large Diet Coke. He grinned at her. "Way down front? In the middle or way in the back?"

Kate smiled back at him since she knew what he was thinking. "Right in the middle, please." Kate was here to watch a movie not make out like a teenager in the back of the theater.

"Wise choice." Rick let her go first and sat next to her after she stopped and sat down.

"You didn't actually call me, did you?" Rick was thinking it wasn't her.

"I'm sorry but, no, Sophie did it. I know what she's thinking but I'm not sorry. I only have about a week left before moving to Stanford, though," Kate admitted to him.

"So enough time to squeeze in one more date?" Rick asked her.

"I'd like that." Kate really would like another date with him before she had to leave.

"I'll think of something then," Rick promised her. They sat there quietly and waited for the movie to start.

Pretty soon she found out that Rick liked to talk during the movie. "Shush," Kate whispered. That lasted for just a few minutes. Next time Kate put her fingers over his mouth to quiet him. This date she was learning something else about him. He didn't know when to shut up.

oO{}O{}Oo

They had really liked the movie. Rick got adventure and Kate got romance. "That was nice. When you finally stopped talking," Kate chastised him.

"I like talking. I'm an author and I live with words. So ice cream is next?" Was she still up for ice cream?

"Yes, please." This time he left the top up and they didn't have to go far to find ice cream.

Going inside to put in an order showed just how cool it could get inside an ice cream shop.

Kate was soon sitting across from him and watching him watch her eat. She grinned and concentrated on her ice cream.

"I wonder what Sophie's doing?" She didn't know Sophie did babysitting so maybe that she did was a good thing.

"Probably sitting there after changing a dirty diaper, feeding her a bottle, followed by cleaning up after Alexis spits up part of what she just ate when she burps her," Rick said and listened to Kate laughing. It was a sound he decided he liked hearing.

oO{}O{}Oo

"Coffee or home?" Rick questioned her since he was willing to extend their date a little.

"Coffee!" She was addicted and she knew it but didn't care.

"Starbucks it is." Rick drove to the only one he knew about and kept the top up.

oO{}O{}Oo

They went inside. Kate gave her order followed by Rick who also ordered two slices of pumpkin bread. They sat down, drank their coffee, and nibbled on pumpkin bread.

"Do I get a kiss after our date?" Rick didn't want to assume.

"Maybe!" Kate smiled at him since suddenly she wanted him to kiss her so badly. One long passionate kiss. She could just picture the kiss. Except she was on top sitting on him totally naked and leaning down to kiss him passionately. That had her shaking her head. She had no idea where that came from.

oO{}O{}Oo

Their date was just about officially over. Rick stopped them at his door and carefully took Kate into his arms. He felt her reach up to wrap her arms around his neck and met him halfway.

The kiss was everything both of them had hoped for. Rick felt a stirring but he wasn't going to push her. Kate finally broke from the kiss; it had left her breathless.

"Wow!" She'd been kissed before but never like that.

"Two days before our last date?" Rick asked her.

"I'd like that." She felt him let go of her and instantly missed his arms. She watched him start to insert his key to unlock the door but stopped him and kissed him again.

"How was Alexis?" They saw Sophie turning off the TV and getting up.

"She's an angel. You can call me to babysit anytime," Sophie told him. She was used to babies spitting up on her so it was no big deal. "Or get Katie to do it," Sophie suggested. If Kate did maybe she would actually kiss him and maybe even do a little more. She also ignored the look Kate was giving her.

"I'll call Dad so he can come get us." Sophie walked over to the phone so she could call for their ride home.

"I've enjoyed our date. I look forward to the next one," Rick told her.

"Me too. Phone number!" She needed to leave her phone number behind so he could call her this time.

oO{}O{}Oo

"You gave him our number." Sophie was smiling wide. They were outside waiting for Ray to show up.

"Shut up," Kate said then began smiling herself.

"Please tell me you kissed him," Sophie begged her.

Kate tried to be coy. "Maybe."

"Now that's my cousin. So when's the next date?" Sophie inquired since maybe Rick needed another babysitter at thirteen dollars an hour.

"Two days. Then it's off to Stanford and I'll never see him again." Somehow that suddenly bothered her. She had little choice but something about it felt wrong. She just couldn't put her finger on it.

"So ask him if he'll move to San Francisco. He's a writer. He can write from anywhere." Sophie wasn't stupid. He sat up there in his apartment at the typewriter she found, pounding out book after book.

Kate was appalled that Sophie even suggested that. "I can't do that. He has a life, you know."

"And suddenly she goes all coward on me. Just admit that you like him and wish he would move to San Francisco," Sophie pushed her.

"Yes, I like him but I'm not asking him to move." Kate knew she couldn't do that.

"You could move in with him if he lives close enough to the college. Skip living in the dorms. Pick your own roommate instead of getting lucky. Ooo, you could get lucky." Sophie wasn't willing to give up.

"SOPHIE!" She was not moving in with him so she could have sex.

"Fine. I'll do it for you," Sophie told her. "You can thank me later."

"SOPHIE!" Kate yelled at her and questioned her cousin's sanity. Suddenly she thinks she sees this weird lady with wings flying right for her and suddenly her cheek hurt like she had just been slapped. It didn't make any sense but the pain was soon gone.

Kate blamed it on a bad tooth. "Just what I need." Now she needed to go see a dentist before school. As if having Sophie tease her wasn't bad enough.