ALL'S NOT FAIR IN LOVE

Chapter 2 - A BLOSSOMING ROMANCE?

Leaving The 12th

Kate and Josh walk arm in arm to Josh's awaiting Harley. He climbs on as Kate takes the back seat and then wraps her arms around Josh's waist. As the Harley accelerates away from the 12th Precinct, Kate rests her head on Josh's back and hugs him tighter. It is very intimate and something that would not have happened if Josh had picked up Kate with his BMW 320i ragtop. Of course his car would have to be a rag top, Josh always loved the feel of the rushing air over his face and thru his hair, with the top down.

They are headed to their favorite Biker Bar. That is, 'wanna be' Biker Bar. All the bikers here are professionals: doctors, lawyers, engineers, stock brokers, etc. These are weekend bikers who put on the gear, ride the bikes, for a temporary fantasy of being someone else. Someone rebellious and bad-assed, even if only as a weekend warrior. This had been Kate's main attraction to Josh. She fell for his bad boy look and attitude. Kate had been quite the rebel herself in high school when she bought her Harley from her part time earnings of her modeling job during the summer before senior year. After her breakup with Demming and loss of Castle for the summer; she had joined up with a NYC Harley Riding Club as a distraction from her melancholy. There she came into her contact with Josh. Kate was one of a very few woman riders in the club.

For Josh the attraction had been mostly physical. Kate was simply stunning and gorgeous and down right hot! But she became even more alluring to him when Josh found out she is a homicide detective. She caught murders as her job. How hot was that! This was new and exciting to Josh and he simply wanted her. He wanted her immediately upon meeting her and vowed to hook her. She was the only woman, who after Josh had gone thru numerious conquests, could render him weakless, wanting, and lusting for her. He had to have her!

But it turns out Kate was no easy mark. She is an independent intelligent woman and needed no man to define her. From the start, she controlled their relationship, another situation Josh had not been in with any woman. This situation intrigued him and left him longing. He was up for the challenge of sleeping with her. Where it lead afterwards yet to be known. Kate could be the one. Although most of his hookups were good for about six months; after which he moved on a new conquest. Still, the outcome could be different this time.

They get to the Biker Bar and Josh had chosen a booth for them in the back. It was dark and very private back, almost hidden away from the main bar crowd. That is how Josh wanted it. He was going to do some serious making out with his new girlfriend. They had yet to sleep together so this was part of Josh's plan to seduce her into his bed. They would take baby steps. With Kate he knew that was the only approach. So there would be lot's of making out before the final surrender. Josh knew that Kate was a strong woman, but he had guessed that she sought that same strength too in a man. He would be that man!

So Josh would be just aggressive enough but not overstep. He had to play it cool and smooth with Kate, otherwise she would shut him down. She had already told him she was not ready to sleep with him yet. Josh had to honor that or be judged as predatory in Kate's mind. That hesitation was to be a road bump on their way to his bedroom. Her seduction required patience, which Josh never had to do with any past girlfriends. His good looking bad boy personna had made it easy for him to bed women, and Josh had his way with all of his prior conquests. Kate had become the exception, and that just fired up Josh more to have his way with her.

But something was bothering Josh. Why had Kate not told her office mates about them? He knew nothing about them aside from the writer. She chose to tell him about the writer and Josh could not help but think it meant something. He needed to figure out what it was! By this time in past relationships, Josh knew much more about his girlfriend's past including the company she kept, personal and professional.

Josh had sensed that Rick was a rival for Kate's affections but did not consider Castle a threat. Had Kate slept with her writer-partner in the past? Had Rick bedded her and then left her for another woman? This is what was on his mind. Was Kate using him to spurn the writer? Not that Josh minded as long as it got Kate into his bed.

They seat themselves in the booth which is only illuminated with a small yankee candle. Josh orders wine with wings and veggies, along with fried zucchine. There is one big difference about this wanna be Biker Bar from the real thing. A real bike bar would have beer and hard liquor on the tables. Here it is was mostly wine, expensive wine, served in Waterford stem wine glasses!

Josh has his arm resting on Kate's shoulders and she has leaned herself back into his chest when the wine arrives. Josh had ordered a carafe of her favorite wine which the waiter placed next to the stem ware. The wine was relatively expensive, but Josh knew Kate was a high maintenance type of woman! Still that wine always loosened her up and she became more carefree, just the way he wanted it with her Josh takes his glass and raises it in a toast.

"To us", he says.

They clink their wine glasses together and then take a drink. When the wine glasses are returned once again to their table, Josh enters Kate's space and plants a passionate and lustful kiss on her lips with lots of tongue. Kate returns it with equal desire. When they break the kiss, Kate is the first to speak.

"So, thinking you'll get lucky tonight, Josh, plying me with all this expensive wine and appetizers", she teases him.

"That thought had come to mind, but I know you are too experienced and sophisticated a lady to fall for it! But if it sets the mood, we could try for appetizers at my apartment."

"Oh, I don't know Josh. You think you can handle me? You may be out of your league with me!"

"I sure would like a chance to fail," he teases back to her.

"Down boy, I'm not ready to go there yet."

"And where is there, Kate?", Josh responds pushing the boundaries with Kate.

"But of course, the full meal", says Kate following thru on Josh's 'appetizer at his place' remark.

"Now you are purposely being coy and teasing."

"Did you just accuse me of being a tease? You know Josh, it is a woman's prerogative to have fun, and a man's to figure out when the fun stops and coy and flirting become a serious sign for something more. Until you figure that one out, you'll get nowhere with an independent minded professional woman who can hold her own."

"Like yourself", Josh says and accepts the veiled threat and challenge, but does not push back any further on her remark.

Kate gives Josh a glare that says 'beware, danger ahead'.

Josh reads the look and behaves himself for the rest of the evening.

They finish drinks and snacks and have a good steak dinner afterwards. Josh then brings Kate home and leaves her with an innocent good-bye kiss at her door.

That Bump In The Road

As he rides back to his place, Josh is thinking about the writer. He knew more about Rick Castle than just what Kate had shared about him. Josh had happened to mention to a doctor friend that he was dating a NYPD murder detective who was being followed by a writer researching a new character and book. His friend's wife is a Castle fan.

"You must mean Rick Castle. His new character is Nikki Heat an NYPD homicide detective. The book gets a bit steamy according to my wife. There is a love scene on page 106 of the first novel that had my wife reaching for ice water. You should read it. I'll bring you that first book tomorrow, my wife has finished it."

When Josh read the book, it did not require super high intellect to figure that Kate was the model for Nikki and Castle was the real life Rook character of the book. Reading the love scene on page 106 had Josh wondering if art in this case was imitating real life. Had Kate slept with her writer partner? These were seeds of jealousy in Josh that would grow over time.

Never had Josh been jealous of competitors after the same prey in his sites. He was the alpha male and would prevail. Then he realized that Rick is an alpha male also, and a wealthy one. Josh made good money as a surgeon, but nowhere close to the millions Castle had made on his nearly 20 plus best sellers. Castle could buy and sell Josh any day of the week, and twice on weekends. No, he now was starting to realize that Castle was a serious threat to what he wanted from Kate.

Josh, from the start, had not seen Rick as a threat, but as time passed that notion was changing now. Josh did not want to acknowledge this, particularly to Kate. No, he had to take Rick Castle seriously. This along with the hard play Kate was presenting to him is a bump in the road to Josh's plans. Kate is a tough one. He had never had a girlfriend as strong and independent as Kate. Her resistance to him just flames his desire for her. The more she resisted the more he wanted her. Was it an ego thing for Josh?

Kate would make a good trophy girlfriend to be at his side as an up and coming cardio-thoracic surgeon. Somehow, Josh needed to turn Kate against her partner. That would not be easy. They had been partners for years, even before Josh met Kate. Although Josh had felt he had home team advantage, that too might be over confidence on his part. Those years as her partner had allowed Rick to know more about Kate than Josh had learned in the mere three months of them being an item.

From the bio he read on the back of Castle's bookcover the man is a weathy author and has made the NY Best Seller list for a majority of his already 24 completed novels. Rick has also been married twice and somewhat of a playboy. Josh knew now that Castle is a player. One who can navigate the always treacherous currents of pursuing a woman. Knowing this, Josh now expected a tough rival. But then again, he had been dating Kate for three months, that was home field advantage in Josh's mind. Was it? Maybe not. Maybe Josh was being overly confident about his abilities to bed Kate.

Then an alternate thought came to Josh's mind. Rick Castle had been her partner now for three years! If she had already slept with the writer, maybe Castle was out of Kate's system, and she was moving on from him. Maybe Josh is the one she is moving on with from Castle. Then another disturbing thought came to him, or, had they not slept together because Castle had denied her? Was Kate keeping Rick around hoping that he would see eventually what she felt for him? All these conflicting thoughts and doubts were spinning around in Josh's mind.

This is the kink in Josh's Armour, his now developing jealousy of Castle, and Josh knew it. The confident and somewhat arrogant Josh was now not so sure of his own charms to bed his current girlfriend. Josh is starting to develop a slow burn for Castle, and it could well boil over! For the first time in his life Josh had doubts about his ability to charm a woman like Kate into his bed!

Kate's Apartment

Kate was taking one of her calming baths. She wanted to do so after her current date with her newfound BF Josh. He was making a full court press to sleep with her, and she was not ready for that. She had not been ready with Demming despite how they made out and she had never slept with him. And yet, it might have happened had she made good on Tom's invite to the Jersey Shores for a weekend away sharing a hotel room. Still, it had not happened as she had broken up with Tom before it could happen. She broke up with Demming when she realized she wanted to be with Rick Castle that holiday weekend. She was about to accept his recent invitation for the weekend, but Castle had rejected her with Gina his ex-second wife.

Kate realizes she may have pushed Castle into his rejection of her when she told him 'no' to his invitation on numerous occasions. Then the one time she decided on yes, it was too late. Gina had happened. Gina had gone with him to the Hamptons instead of her. Kate had delayed too long and had paid the price for her indecisiveness on Castle's invitation. Kate had only come to her senses when Javi had told her maybe Rick was leaving because he could not bear to see her with another man. So, she had been hurting all summer until she found Josh and he provided the distraction she needed to forget about Castle.

Or was Josh really that distraction? It had worked as long as Rick was absent from her side. But when Castle had returned in the fall, she now found herself in a committed relationship with Josh. Presently, Josh was pushing her to advance their relationship to a more intimate physical level. He wanted to sleep with her, but she was not there yet, and had told him so. Josh had backed off, but always pushed for it again after some time had passed. That had been what had happened in the last three months she and Josh had been together. Josh trying to make them a reality and go where he wanted them to be in their relationship.

Katee knew she could handle Josh, like she had done with Demming. But did she want to handle Josh in that manner? He was being persistent and her will and wall were weakening. She just may find herself in his bed waking up the next morning wondering how it happened! Kate was having doubts about Josh, but equally, she had doubts about Castle. Her thoughts about Rick on the matter kept coming back to Ellie Monroe and to Gina. Rick had slept with them both. And worse, it was a second time around for Gina, his number two ex-wife.

Kate is not a virgin and had experience with men. Her six-month affair with Wil Sorenson was a testimony to that. But since Wil, she had been with no other man carnally. Still, she realized her resistance to Josh's advances were indeed weakening. The situation with them was getting more and more complicated, and Rick coming back to her had not eased the matter at all.

To say Kate was in a confused state was an under-estimation of her situation. Things were indeed becoming more complicated for her. It was not fair, but then again, finding love was not always fair; particularly when a woman has two men in her life! She sensed it all may end badly for one of these men, or maybe for all three of them. This foreboding thought was now constantly on her mind.