"Don't sneak out," he slurred into his pillow when he noticed her sitting up in the bed, the smooth, naked wall of her back to him.

Kate looked over her shoulder, the sunlight from the adjacent window casting a glow around her face. She smiled, if he could call the sad curve of her lips a smile, but eased back down onto her side, curled her knees up close, looking more shy, more nervous, than he had ever seen her. He still couldn't believe he had failed to recognize her sooner. It had been seven years, and he had been slightly drunk, but he had always insisted that if he were to run into this woman again, he would recognize her without a second glance.

Apparently, he had been wrong.

He tried to reason that she did look quite different now – she was older, more confident and bolder in her presence, able to take command of a room without even knowing rather than hiding in the shadows where he had first found her. Her hair was lighter, closer to a shining chestnut rather than the darker brunette color she'd initially worn when he met her. It was shorter too, framing her face better, brushing her shoulders instead of streaming down her back. She appeared healthier as well, not so stick thin, nor silvery pale with those striking purple smudges underneath her eyes.

Otherwise, not much else had changed. She was still breathtaking and the darkness that had exuded from her all those years - the sadness and the mystery that had drawn him to her in the first place - still lingered.

She was watching him study her, waiting patiently for him to speak, but his hand rose towards her face instead. She attempted to dodge him, lifting away from his touch as if by reflex, as if the intimacy was just too much, but she caught his wrist before it could fall away. Offering him an apologetic curve of her lips, she guided his palm to her cheek, allowed his thumb to sweep over the delicate skin beneath the shimmering gold of her eye.

"Hey," he murmured, stupidly, but he was kind of mesmerized by her and the way her lips lifted upwards for him.

"Hey," she whispered back into the quiet stillness of the early morning, surprising him when she reached forward to sift her fingers through his hair. "I have to go, I have-"

His phone rang and he winced in apology before turning on his back to reach for the device.

"Just a second, it's my daughter," he told her, feeling the dread claw at his insides when her eyes widened. "Morning, Pumpkin. You do know it's three hours earlier where I am, don't you?"

A soft giggle erupted on the other line. "I do know, but I may have forgotten. I just called to warn you, Gina was at the loft this morning and she seemed really upset," his daughter informed him. He could hear the sounds of traffic in the background and assumed she was on her usual walk to school.

"Oh?" he murmured, glancing to Kate, who was watching him with anxious eyes and her bottom lip pulled between her teeth.

"Yeah, she stormed in while Gram and I were having breakfast, packed a bag from your room and then left. Didn't even say hi."

"Ah." Castle scrubbed at his eyes, the thought of the welcoming he would receive from Gina back in New York already plaguing him with fatigue. "It's nothing to worry about, honey. Gina and I just had a disagreement on the phone the other night so I figured she wasn't very happy with me. She probably just wanted to collect more of her things."

"Do you want us to change the locks?" Alexis queried in light concern.

"No, that's not necessary." But changing the locks actually wouldn't be such a bad idea. "I'll be back by tomorrow morning anyway. We'll work everything out then, okay?"

"Okay, Dad. I'm almost at school so I have to go, but are you having a good time in the city of angels?" she teased and Castle felt his lips quirk, trailed a finger down the wing of Kate's shoulder.

"Great time," he assured her and wondered if Kate knew how dark her eyes had suddenly become.

"Good," she chirped, sounding genuinely pleased with his answer. "Talk to you later, Dad. Love you!"

"Love you too, Alexis. Have a good day at school."

He ended the call, placed the phone back on his nightstand, but when he glanced back, Kate was practically on top of him.

"You have a daughter?"

He arched an eyebrow at her. He wouldn't hesitate to put a stop to… to whatever it was they were doing if Kate had a problem with him being a father. That was something he would never compromise on for anyone. "Is that a problem?"

"No," she said without hesitation, but she still seemed troubled by the fact. "I just - didn't know."

He frowned. "Does it change anything?"

She positioned her elbows on either side of his head while her body rose to cover his. Her eyes were mournful as she stared down at him and he wished he could understand, wished he knew all of her secrets and the mysteries hiding inside of her.

Kate's lips skimmed over his, a delicate graze of her mouth - what a first kiss between them should have been like.

"Yes," she whispered. "It changes so much."

Her fingers splayed along his cheeks and she kissed him again, still soft but purposeful this time, and he returned the caress of her mouth with one of his own, slipping an arm around her back and curling a hand in her hair.

He didn't understand her, he doubted he ever would, but he hoped she would grant him the time to try.

"Go on a date with me."

Kate met his eyes in the mirror. She had led him into the shower earlier and now she looked as though she was preparing to leave. And he didn't want that.

"A date?" she echoed while she combed her fingers through her damp hair.

"Yeah, you know how when two people spend a day together-"

"I know that much, Castle. What I don't understand is why you think we need to go on one. Don't you think we kind of skipped over that part?" she hummed, a smirk on her lips as she let the towel around her chest drop, reaching for one of the complimentary bathrobes instead.

He shrugged, had to remember that taking it slow with Kate seemed to be the key when it came to more than sex. She was skittish, wary of him, and he didn't necessarily blame her. They were still strangers, but he wanted to change that.

"I'll take you to Disneyland."

She snorted, left him in the steam filled bathroom for the bedroom.

"The zoo?" he suggested, following after her. "The beach? Hollywood Walk of Fame? Natural History Museum of-"

"Those aren't date spots, those are tourist traps."

"Then I'll take you to lunch at my favorite restaurant," he bargained with a hopeful lift of his eyebrows.

She sighed, but he could feel she was relenting. "What if I want something simple?"

"Define simple."

Kate sauntered over to him from across the room where she had been gathering her clothing from the floor. "I want to go to the park," she said as she came to a stop in front of him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Just a simple walk in the park, maybe lunch too."

He was tempted to argue, just for the sake of challenging her sense of authority, but a walk in the park actually sounded… refreshing. They were in one of the most glamorous cities in the country, he was offering to take her wherever she wanted to go, no matter the price, and that didn't seem to matter one bit to her.

"Can I pick what we have for lunch?"

She rolled her eyes and stepped around him. "Sure, Castle."

"Hey, why do you call me that?"

She paused, but it was only a split second of stillness before she was slipping the robe off and stepping into her dress as she spoke. "I don't know. Just a habit, I guess."

"Habit?" he parroted, enjoying the view of her naked back, the ridges and sharp angles that made up her spine, her shoulder blades. Her body was a work of art that he wanted to spend an eternity marveling over.

"Where I used to work, everyone went by last names," she murmured, only managing to zip her dress halfway in the back, but not seeming to care.

She turned with her eyes to the ground, scanning for her shoes he was sure. He should help her search, but he was distracted by how different she looked without the heavy makeup and purposely tousled hair. Her fresh face and the slow drying locks that were beginning to curl around her neck made her appear softer despite the unchanging sexiness of that little black dress.

Now this looked more like the young woman he had met in a night club over half a decade ago.

"What do you do?" he asked, because he wanted to know as much as he could, but she pursed her lips at the question.

"Is it really important?" she countered, her voice sharpening from the lovely rasp he had woken to this morning, and he attempted to tread lighter.

"I just thought since you knew what I did, but if you'd rather not say…"

"I'd rather not say."

"Fine by me, I'll just ask again in a few hours."

She glared at him from the lounge area as she successfully snatched one of her heels from behind the couch. She located her matching stiletto near the front door and stepped into the black heels, gaining a few extra inches in height. He was prepared to protest when she hauled the door open, but she narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'll pick you up in an hour, Rick."

The door clicked shut behind her.

Kate had insisted she drive to their destination and she found it was quite amusing watching him witness her navigate through the nightmare that was LA traffic. She was surprised he didn't kiss the ground once they finally came to a stop inside Griffith Park.

"What's the matter, Castle? Your regular drivers not as skilled?" she quipped as she pushed her door open and stepped out onto the asphalt of the park road.

"That's one way of putting it," he muttered, hauling the ridiculous picnic basket he had brought along from the backseat of the rented black Charger, still refusing to tell her what he had packed for their lunch.

He started towards a row of picnic tables, but Kate reached for his hand, twined their fingers before she could think better of it, and began leading him towards a row of hills.

"Are we going hiking? Because I am not dressed for hiking," he informed her.

She glanced back, roving her eyes over his t-shirt, down to his jeans and sneakers. She had a feeling his attire wasn't the reason he would refuse a hike.

"No," she assured him, chuckling when he sighed in visible relief. "Just keep following me."

"Don't have to tell me twice."

She bit her lip, wished he would stop making the charming remarks. He had already bedded her, she didn't understand why he was still pursuing her with such persistence. What more could he want?

She feared she already knew.

Kate tugged him up a curved path, one that faced the hills he already disliked, but the path eventually opened up to an exhibit of what was once the old Los Angeles zoo.

"Have you ever been here?" she asked, looking back when he didn't answer.

By the awed expression on his face, she was guessing he hadn't. She hadn't either, but after she had left him earlier in the morning, she had done a quick search on the internet of places to picnic around the city. Griffith Park had been a number one hit, but she had wanted more than a typical picnic in the park. An abandoned zoo seemed unique enough.

Castle walked with her towards an empty rock enclosure that housed a few picnic tables and set the basket down on the one closest to the entry of a cave.

"What do you think lived in here once upon a time?" he asked as he studied the high arches of rock and the overgrown trees covering the top of the structure.

"Bears, I think. That's what most people say anyway." Kate took a seat on the wooden bench of the picnic table, watched his eyes - a stunning cerulean blue that were alight with intrigue - roam the area. "May be a lion's den though."

Castle sat down next to her. "Are we going to explore the rest of the zoo?"

She shrugged. "That was kind of the purpose."

He leaned over, startled her with the kiss to her cheek. It was too gentle, too much for someone who was supposed to be nothing more than a one-night stand.

This was such a bad idea. Why had she even agreed to a date, why had she set it up?

"This could potentially be the best date ever," he grinned, flipping open the top of the picnic basket, retrieving what looked to be two overly expensive sandwiches and bottles of sparkling water.

He looked so pleased with her and she wished she could go back to her meeting with Gina Cowell, she wished she had never agreed to any of this.