Kate waited until she heard the front entrance door to his suite click open, checked through the peephole to be sure and caught a glimpse of his broad shoulders just before he disappeared down the hall. At the confirmation, she strode into the bathroom and changed into the swimsuit she had brought from home, timing an extra fifteen minutes on her father's watch. Once she was dressed, she stepped out of her own room and took the elevator to the rooftop of the twenty-six-floor hotel.
Gina had given her many tips and tidbits about how he tended to spend his days when in LA, his habits and routines, and she distinctly remembered the woman telling her how he enjoyed laying out by the pool in the mornings. Not swimming, but relaxing under the golden sun. And sure enough, as soon as she stepped out onto the sleek grey tiling of the rooftop, she spotted Richard Castle lounging under a cabana across the expanse of the roof. In perfect view of the pool.
He had just returned from his book signing a little less than an hour ago and she could tell by the slumped shape of his body that he was glad to be done with his responsibilities for the day. She had monitored his departure that morning, followed the town car he had rented through the twenty-minute drive to the Barnes and Noble at the Grove near Central LA. The signing had lasted for nearly three hours and Kate had remained at the back of the store for the entirety of the event, deciding to settle down with her target's current best seller while she waited.
She had managed to finish the novel before he lifted from his seat and waved goodbye to his stream of admirers.
Castle had smiled, flirted, and been an absolute delight to his fans throughout the entirety of the morning, but once he was being escorted back to his car by early afternoon, he had stopped trying to hide the look of exhaustion, the dark circles beneath his eyes prominent in the sunlight and the frown lines bracketing his mouth carved deep into his skin. It didn't surprise her, considering when she had woken that morning and checked the video feed on her laptop, she had found him already awake. That had been at six a.m.
She wondered if he had slept at all.
He'd picked up lunch from a small café on Wilshire Boulevard on the way back to the hotel, spending only half an hour in his room – eating, she assumed – and then he was off to enjoy the luxuries of the lavish hotel, just as Gina had predicted.
Kate shed the white, crocheted cover-up she had thrown on over her swimsuit, handed it to the attending pool boy who offered to hang it in the nearby changing room for her. She felt a handful of men ogling her, an audience in the row of cushioned lounge chairs lining the pool's side watching her every move, as she strode towards the deeper end of the pool in nothing but a very tiny, strikingly red string bikini, but she purposely waited until she knew she had caught his eye as well to dive into the shimmering blue water.
Kate had always found swimming to be a relaxing past time, one she rarely indulged in anymore, and spent a few seconds underwater gliding close to the bottom, skimming her fingertips across the white and teal tiled flooring before propelling up to the surface for air. She went a few laps in the rectangular enclosure before curling her fingers around the gleaming, sun warmed railing at the shallow end and finding her footing on the slick stairs beneath the water.
She took her time climbing the three steps, swaying her hips as her body rose from the water, sensually smoothing her hands up her sides as she reached for the towel the pool attendant had ready for her.
She didn't meet Castle's eyes until she was on dry land, and she wasn't disappointed by his slack jawed reaction. He had been front and center for the little show she had just put on and she shot him a flirty smile, a flash of her bedroom eyes, as she sauntered away from him, towards the vacant cabana positioned on the opposite end of the rooftop.
She caught him already rising from his seat in the corner of her eye before she was even halfway to her destination.
Kate feigned obliviousness, smoothed the towel over her skin and placed it beneath her before she sat down on the cushioned, two-person chaise lounge under the billowing white curtains surrounding expensive outdoor furniture. She closed her eyes while she anticipated Castle's arrival, but she didn't have to wait long, and she pretended not to notice when he made his way to her only minutes later.
She arched her back in a feline-like stretch, felt her breasts strain against the confines of the cherry red bikini top, and repressed a grin at the audible intake of breath beside her, peeled her eyes open to glance in the direction of the uninhibited sound.
"You sure know how to make an entrance," he commented, his voice like velvet as he settled on the edge of the furniture only inches from her hip, but she merely smirked, extended one of her inclined legs to stretch across the length of cushioning. His eyes followed, as if mesmerized, and maybe Gina had been right.
It would be all too easy to seduce this man and she was forced to tamper down the unwelcome disappointment.
"Are you staying? At - at the hotel, I mean."
"I am," she nodded, keeping the lazy smile in place as she watched him fumble over his words and wasn't he supposed to be a best-selling author?
"So am I," he said with a crooked grin that made his eyes shine, and she felt her heart flutter in rebellion at the devilish lift of his lips, the cerulean of his irises that rivaled the striking color of the pool water. She wouldn't deny he was a good looking man and that the sight of him in a well-fitting t-shirt that portrayed a hint of the muscles underneath had a slither of heat coiling low in her abdomen. She could acknowledge these things, as long as she refrained from acting on them. Which she would. "Are you here for business or pleasure?"
His eyes flashed at the latter, a dangerous spark of blue at the way his lips caressed the word with purposeful care, and she pressed her tongue to her teeth as her eyes flickered down to his mouth and back to his gaze again.
"Maybe a bit of both."
Castle leaned in closer to her, just slightly, casting a shadow over her bared stomach. She didn't stop him when he brushed a tentative touch of his knuckles along her still bent knee, tracing only his index finger over the bone of her kneecap. But with his touch came a zap of electricity she hadn't been expecting and she subtly knocked his teasing finger away.
"What's your name?" he asked, his voice a low husk that sent a gentle shiver through her bones, and she watched his throat bob as he swallowed hard, collected himself.
She pushed up on her elbows, felt the cool drip of water from her hair evoke a trail of goosebumps down her spine when it trickled over her warm skin, and swung her knees over the side of the lounge chair, deliberately bumping her limbs against his.
He cocked an eyebrow at her, intrigue and lust flaring bright in his irises, and Kate slid a hand onto his jean-clad thigh as she stood between his knees and bent to position her cheek next to his, just an breath from touching.
Her hair stained the shoulder of his shirt when she whispered in his ear, "Meet me at the Dragonfly tonight and maybe you'll find out."
She was drifting back towards the elevators with a self-satisfied grin spread across her lips before he could respond.
Technically, Castle and Gina were separated. She had moved out of the loft earlier in the week after that vicious fight in Le Cirque, and he hadn't seen her since, only received the bitter phone calls and passive aggressive text messages. But he was still hesitant to see another woman before divorce papers were drawn up.
Despite the lack of excitement and the increase in animosity during their marriage, Castle had never cheated on his wife. He had never cheated on anyone, couldn't even stand the thought of it, especially after he had been on the opposite side of things with Meredith. But after his encounter with the woman in the sinfully small, red bikini, he wasn't sure how true to his morals he would remain tonight.
Because he was definitely meeting her at the Dragonfly nightclub later.
She had lured him in like a pro with that routine in the pool - swimming through the gleaming water with grace and rising before him like a goddess, calling to him with the siren song of her body. He wasn't sure if she had known who he was, recognized his identity as an author that usually had most women fawning over him, or if she had merely decided he was her type that day, but she had known he would be unable to resist her and she had been right.
He gained attention from other women all the time, but he rarely ever offered any genuine interest in return. No spark had been ignited between him and another person for a very long time. Until now.
Now all he could think about was the mystery woman and the way that bikini had clung to her skin. How her eyes had danced in a mixture of amber and green with flaring specks of gold and how her flesh had felt like fire under his touch, even if only for just a moment.
Yeah, he couldn't wait to see her again.