The Auction: Chapter 3

Kate Beckett observed her reflection in the mirror. Normally she would spend her days and nights observing and analyzing notes in the precinct to try to find a killer. But tonight was different. Tonight she was scrutinizing herself wondering if she should or shouldn't wear the ear rings that she was holding up to the tips of her ears. She would place them up, trying to get a picture of that look in her mind before removing them again and then compare the two pictures. She smiled at herself and got the matching ear ring out of its box and began to try to stick the tip through the small hole.

Once her ear rings were in place she leaned back from the mirror and admired herself completely. She had decided to wear a tight fitting pair of jeans, showing off her backside, she thought smiling. Oh, but she wasn't trying to impress Castle or anything-she was still in denial. True, she realized as everyone did that they both had an attraction towards each other, but she believed that once they had this "date" together, the attraction would be gone. To her it seemed like the attraction they shared was only temporary and once they went out, they would both get it out of their systems. That's what she thought, anyways.

Part of her was sad that this thought had even come across in her brain. Castle was a nice guy after all, and sure he had his faults, but what guy didn't? There were times when she did see him as his mature self. This was one of the things she did in fact love about him, the fact that he could be mature during serious times, but at the same time make her job more playful and fun. It was nice to have a balance; it was something she knew that she needed in her life.

She brushed down the long sleeved, black sweater she was wearing. It fit snuggly on her, showing off the curves of her upper body. Castle had told her that their date would be a surprise, but had warned her to dress warm since it was the beginning of winter. She had agreed, but that didn't stop her from bugging him about it. He would just smile his charming smile and make some off-hand joke that would shut her up, or make her blush. With Castle, you never knew what he was planning. He could decide to take her out of the state for god's sake, but she knew he wouldn't do anything that drastic. Especially not with the interviews they had set up for tomorrow to question another suspect they had for the new case they had just been given. Thanks to him, she had solved the last one by spotting the man who was taking photos at the ball and when he was questioned by Ryan and Esposito, broke down and told them the whole story. This time she had to admit that if it weren't for him, the case may have not been solved.

So she while she was nervous about the date, she was also excited. She had never been on a date with a famous novelist before, and she never thought that the day would come where she would be given the opportunity. She knew that Castle had a reputation for being the bad boy that America loved and knew that he could be a flirt, but she knew that he was truly a good man. Just look at Alexis for god's sake, Kate smiled to herself. That child was perfect and people were often surprised when they learned that she was indeed his child. But she could see the similarities between the two and loved when she was able to see them interact to each other, normally it consisted of them swapping roles and Alexis acting like the adult. Although, Castle could get serious when he needed to be, Kate noted.

The last thing she needed was her black boots. Where did she put them, she questioned herself. Just as she was about to bend down and look under her bed, her cell phone began vibrating violently upon her dresser. She abandoned looking for her shoes to answer her phone, wondering if another murder had come up; hoping secretly that one hadn't.

"Beckett." She said into the phone without even bothering to look at the caller id.

"Girl, you always sound so serious when you answer your phone. You need to answer it with a more upbeat tone. I know that you're a workaholic, but you really need to act like you're having some fun in your life, especially since you won't get your freak on with writer boy." Her best friend, Lanie Parish, scolded her over the phone. If she only knew what was going on tonight, Beckett thought to herself.

"Sorry about that." Kate said sarcastically, and then cleared her throat, "Good evening! This is Kate Beckett, how are you doing this fine evening?" She smiled as she could just envision Lanie rolling her eyes at that mocking tone.

"You sound like you work at a pizza restaurant or something." Lanie told her, but blew if off with a toss of her hand. "Anyways, I was calling to see if you wanted to get together and get some drinks tonight?"

Kate froze, her mouth gaped open as she continued to hold the phone up to her ear. She wasn't exactly sure what to tell the M.E., because she knew her best friend well enough that she would be able to tell if Kate was lying or not. Many different excuses that she could use ran through her head.

I'm working-Lanie knew that she had interviews scheduled for tomorrow and therefore had already taken the night off.

I'm going out-then Lanie would want to with whom and there was no doubt that she wouldn't figure out it was Castle in a heartbeat.

"I…" She stuttered for a moment, trying desperately to think of something to tell her friend. "I have a date?" This was said as more of a question, rather than a fact. Kate decided that she might as well tell the truth, knowing the M.E. she'd figure it out eventually.

"A date? And you weren't gonna tell me?" Lanie asked with disbelief.

"I was…I've just been really busy." Kate stated confidently. After all, catching killer's everyday was not easy work.

"Kate Beckett, you finished up your case just the other day-you had plenty of time to come down and talk to me about this."

Ok, so maybe that part was true. "True. But the Captain gave me another case right after that which I had to start working on immediately."

"I would believe that, except a little bird told me that you had easily gotten suspects that night and after you scheduled the interview for tomorrow, you called it a day and went home early." Lanie emphasized the word, because Kate Beckett was not the type who would leave work before her shift was up. Normally, she would stay late unless she was forced to go home. "That's when I knew something was up."

"And who exactly was this 'little bird' that told you such things?" Truth is, Kate knew exactly who had told her best friend. She saw the light glances that she and Esposito had been giving each other lately, not to mention the need to be close to one another whenever possible. Lanie thought she was just as sneaky as Kate, but she was too good of a detective to let those minor details go about unnoticed.

"Don't try to change the subject on me. Now, spill." Lanie stated, but couldn't help the smile that formed her lips. She had been smiling a lot more ever since her and Javier had started talking, but she wasn't about to let Kate know that. At least, not yet.

Kate sighed into the phone. She should've known that her friend would not let her off that easy. "Fine." She said giving in. "If you must know, I'm going out with Castle tonight-just as friends." She added, hoping that Lanie would not get the wrong idea.

"I knew it! I knew it!" Lanie exclaimed excitedly over the phone-she had put a lot of money into the two of them. "Tell me everything!"

"There's not much to tell." She admitted. "We just went to the ball the other night and Martha showed up. They had a bidding for one of Castle's books and she conveniently added a date with Rick to that as well."

"You're calling him Rick now." The M.E. said with amusement in her voice.

"Shut up." Kate told her, knowing that the M.E. would just laugh it off, which she did.

"I'm just saying, you've never called him Rick before. Seems like you two are getting close."

"Anyways," Kate said going back to her story, "as they were bidding on him, he told me that he would pay me as long as I won the date. He didn't really seem too fond of the other girl's there."

"Well of course not. He had a beautiful detective right beside, why should he be?"

"Can't argue with you on that one." She said laughing. "At first I agreed."

"Of course."

"Bu then I got to thinking and you know, why not?"

"Especially since you've had a crush on him since day one." Lanie pointed out.

"I have not had a crush on him."

"Kate."

"Ok, so maybe I kinda have."

"Kinda?"

"So maybe a big one. But still, that doesn't mean that I'm ready to date him yet."

"Aren't you going on a date with him tonight?"

"Well yeah…"

"So…"

"I mean be in a committed relationship with him."

"Alright, and I respect that about you and so does he. But at least you're finally giving him a chance. And from the way you two act at work and the way he looks at you-Girl, you'll both be in love with him after this date is over. You may not see it, but everyone else does. He cares about you Kate and though he does pretty damn stupid things, he's one of those guys that will be there for you no matter what."

"And that's part of the problem, Lanie. I'm scared as hell to date him because like you said, we already have a great friendship going. So if we date and break up, then what? He's already something special in my life right now and I don't want that to be ruined by the fact of relationship problems that we'd be bound to have."

"I know, girl. But what you have to realize is that the things that are right for us can carry some of the biggest consequences as well. You just have to have faith in it, in him and in yourself."

Kate sighed and ran a hand through her hair as she walked towards her bed. "I know." She slumped down on the soft sheets. "I just don't know if I'm to that point yet to where I'm ready to put it on the line."

"You're going to have to conquer this fear one day, Kate. Just go on the date, have fun, and then decide from there."

"Right. I will." Her head perked up when she hear knocking on the door. "Shit! Lanie, he's here."

"Have fun girl. And don't forget, you owe me a trip down to the morgue tomorrow to tell me all about this."

Kate laughed. "Alright, I'll try my best not to forget."

"You better not!"

"See you tomorrow, Lanie. Thanks for the help and just listening."

"That's what best friends are for." Lanie told her. "Have fun. Bye."

Kate hung up the phone and turned around to find her shoes which were under the edge of her bed. She quickly slipped them on and walked towards the door. She opened it and couldn't help the smile that blossomed over her face.