The next day...

Lanie had called Beckett first thing this morning, asking her to drop by the morgue on her way to the precinct. The urgency in her voice had pulled Beckett from her morning workout in an instant.

"What's up?" she asked as soon as she pushed through the seining doors of the morgue.

Lanie turned away from the body on her table, grinning ear to ear.

"I have a date for you."

So much for letting her think about it...

Beckett rolled her eyes, readied her excuses.

"Lanie-"

"Girl, you need a life outside of work," she interrupted the futile protests. "Please, just go on this one date. I promise you, he's perfect for you."

Beckett folded her arms cross her chest, pouting like a child about to be scolded.

"I told you I would think about it."

"Yes, but, for you that is more or less a no. I was hoping for less thinking and more acting."

Beckett sighed. There wasn't a single lie in Lanie's assumption: she had fully intended on declining her friends offer later today.

"I promise you, it will be worth it this time," she explained, her voice almost pleading with Beckett to just give it a chance.

Beckett, very reluctantly, gave in.

"Fine," she sighed.

Lanie smiled victoriously. "I told him you'd be wearing a red dress."

"What if I don't have a red dress?" Beckett complained for the sake of complaining: she definitely had a red dress.

Lanie glared at her. Now that Beckett had agreed to the date, she didn't have time for any nonsense.

"Now you're just trying to be difficult. I can think of at least two red dresses that you own that would be appropriate."

Castle arrived to the precinct, two coffees in hand. As he approached Beckett's empty desk, he looked around for her.

"Something wrong?" Ryan called out from the break room. He knew that Castle was looking for Beckett, but played dumb simply because that gave him an opportunity to tease the writer.

Castle placed Beckett's coffee on her desk before walking into the break room where Ryan and Esposito were making their own coffees.

"No, nothing wrong."

"Want a coffee?" Esposito asked. "Oh, wait. You've already got one. Like usual."

"Well, I didn't buy the coffee machine for me." Castle shot back in response to the detective's sarcasm.

Ryan laughed, irritating Esposito.

"You might wanna be a little nicer to me, bro," he warned in a joking manner. "I scored you a date."

"A date?" Castle asked, incredulously.

"Yeah, one of Lanie's friends has been asking about you," Esposito explained.

Castle was hesitant. "I don't know..."

"She's a total babe."

"Super smart," Ryan added.

"She's exactly your type, man."

"Look, I appreciate it-"

"What? You seeing someone that we don't know about?" Esposito interrupted him.

"What? No!"

"Then why not kill a night with good food and the company of a hot Chica?"

"What's the worst that could happen?" Ryan chimed in again, hoping to persuade Castle.

He had been protesting too much, they boys would see right through him.

"Fine." He caved, trying to save face.

The boys celebrated their victory with a fist bump.

"You'll need a single red rose, so she can find you," Esposito told him.

"Wait, she doesn't know what I look like? I thought you said she asked to be set up with me?"

"She knows your picture on the book jacket." Esposito shrugged. "No offence, but you haven't updated that thing in a while."

"Thanks for the confidence boost," Castle mumbled, sipping from his coffee.

Date night...

He arrived the standard fifteen minutes early, finding the reserved tabled and getting himself settled in before the impending arrival of Lanie's friend.

He was more nervous than he thought he would be; his stomach churning, hands fidgety.

All he knew about the woman that would soon be joining him was that she was a 'super smart, hot Chica'.

And that she was friends with Lanie.

From what he knew of Lanie, that seemed to work in this mystery woman's favour. Because Lanie associated herself with people like Beckett. And Beckett was...

He shook that thought from his head before it could fully form. While waiting for his date to arrive was not an appropriate time to be thinking about the detective.

But, still, he didn't particularly want to be here. In fact, he had considered bailing, faking an illness of some sort, but he had put it off for so long, he didn't want to cancel on such short notice. He was many things, but flaky was not one of them.

Kate entered the restaurant, scanning her surroundings for her mystery date.

She had no idea what to expect, only that he would have a red rose for her. Her heart almost jumped out her throat when her eyes landed on Castle, sitting alone, fidgeting with a single, long stemmed red rose.

She couldn't believe Lanie had pulled this off and she hadn't suspected a thing.

She briefly considered leaving. Surely, he wasn't expecting her, right?

But before she had a chance to run, he looked up, spotting her across the room.

He looked just as confused as she felt, which she found oddly reassuring.

At least she wasn't the only one who had been bamboozled.

She sighed, walking over to the table.

As she approached, he rose from his chair, smiling nervously.

"I'm going to assume you being here isn't a coincidence," she said, offering him a small smile.

He shook his head. "I'm waiting for my blind date. I was told to look out for the stunner in a red dress."

His eyes drifted up and down, taking her in fully.

"I think I found her."

She pursed her lips, nodded her head, tried not too focus too much on his inadvertent compliment. But she couldn't ignore the gentle flutter of excitement in her stomach.

"And my date will have a rose for me."

He looked to the flora in his hands: it suddenly didn't seem like enough. If he had known, he would have gone all out. For her, he would have brought one hundred roses.

He wanted to apologise, to give her an out so that they could walk away from this in one piece. Pretend it never happened, if that was what she wanted.

But Maddy's words from the other day stuck with him: you're hot for Castle.

He wouldn't pretend that overhearing that conversation hadn't filled him with a sense of joy, a sense of hope.

So, he risked it.

He held out the rose for her. "Well, Detective Beckett, will you stay and have dinner with me?"

That gentle flutter in her stomach swelled into undeniable elation.

With a smile, she accepted the rose.

"Yes, Castle, I will."

She took her seat across from him, placing the rose down on the table.

"I, uh- I wanted to talk to you actually," he began cautiously. "About Madison."

Her heart sank into the pit of her stomach.

She hadn't spoken to Madison since they closed the case, despite wanting to. Seeing her friend again had reminded her of how much she had missed that relationship over the years, but she had complicated it - once again - because of the stupid crush she had been harbouring.

"You've been avoiding me," he continued.

"No I haven't," she defended, a little too quickly for her own liking.

If his smirk was indicative, she wasn't at all convincing.

"You were mad," he stated gently. Not accusatory, not defensive, not harsh in any way. Just... understanding.

"I wasn't mad-"

"Upset, then."

She bit her lip, staring a hole in the tablecloth, trying to buy herself a second or two to consider her answer. Truthfully, she was upset. She had no right to be, she knew that, but that didn't change the fact.

"I get it," he assured her. "That's why I asked if you were comfortable-"

"I didn't realise I wasn't until it was too late," she confessed.

"I know. And... I'm sorry."

Her eyes met his, the apology taking her by surprise.

"It was never my intention to make you uncomfortable. Maddie and I, we-"

"Look, Castle," she cut him off, again. "I just- I don't think I want to know, okay? Whatever is going on there, I really don't need to be a part of it."

"No, that's what I wanted to say. I wanted you to know that there is nothing going on."

She narrowed her eyes, not quite believing him.

Two single, attractive, consenting adults: as if there wouldn't be anything going on there.

"It was never, like, a date date," he explained.

She rolled her eyes, it sure looked like a date. "Does Maddie know that?"

"Yes," he responded without hesitation. "The first thing we discussed was the fact that neither of us were interested in it being a date."

"Wait, seriously?"

"Yeah," he reassured her. "Something about 'Brent Edwards wasn't worth it and neither am I'. I didn't really understand that part but we were just... hanging out."

She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing but a slight squeak came out. She didn't understand.

"Why are you telling me this, Castle?"

He didn't say it, but she knew why.

Because he had heard what Maddie said.

Because he held onto some hope that she had been right, that Beckett wanted him.

"Because, I guess I was kind of hoping this could be a date?"

Her hands dropped to her lap, where she nervously massaged her palm with her thumb.

A date, with Richard Castle.

She couldn't deny she liked the idea.

Conversation came easily; it didn't feel awkward, it didn't feel forced.

Hours passed, but it felt like no time at all. Good food, good wine and plenty of laughter all contributed, but they knew that it was the company they were in that made the evening truly perfect.

A waiter placed the check on their table as he walked past.

Castle looked around the restaurant, noticing that they were one of two couples left in the entire dining area.

"Oh, I think we've overstayed our welcome," he joked.

Her eyes followed the waiter as he walked away, smiling at his not-so-subtle hint.

"I didn't realise how late it was," she said as she turned back to him. His eyes were already on her. "I guess it's time to call it a night."

He found the reluctance in her voice very reassuring.

As she began digging for cash, he tucked a few bills into the leather book and signalled for the waiter to collect it before she could add to it. Once the waiter had collected, he smirked, earning him what was quite possibly the biggest eye roll he had ever received.

"You didn't have to pay for me," she argued.

He simply shrugged. "It was the least I could do, after you got tricked into a date with me."

She smiled. Tricked into, while being completely accurate, had such a negative connotation.

"Yeah, well, I've definitely had worse dates, Castle."

He rose from his seat, holding out his hand. "Shall we?"

She placed her hand in his and allowed him to pull her close to him.

He didn't drop her hand as they walked toward her car. When she had arrived, she had been excited to find a park close to the restaurant. But now, as their night together was coming to an end, she found herself wishing the walk to her car was much longer.

They reached her car, lingering on the sidewalk for a few uncertain seconds.

"I'll see you at work on Monday?" she asked, instantly regretting the implication that she was ready for the night to end.

But Castle didn't flinch, he followed the lead she had thrown out there without hesitation.

"Yeah, of course," he replied with a smile, taking a small, barely noticeable step backward.

She took a deep breath, accepted that she had ruined the moment, and started to reach for her car door.

Her hand stopped, hovering over the door handle.

Had she ruined the mood? Or was she just trying to run, too scared of what this might lead to?

She dropped her hand to her side, turned back to face him.

Two steps closed the distance between them, just two, small steps and she was in his space.

She lifted her hand to the back of his neck and placed a kiss to his lips: sweet, tender.

"Goodnight, Castle."

He stood, dazed and, honestly, a little confused. But he wouldn't complain.

Tonight had gone better than he could have imagined.

When he asked her to stay, he thought that maybe they could have dinner together, laugh at their friends' attempt to get them together, and then act like nothing had changed when they got back to work on Monday.

Ending the night with a kiss? Well, that was just the very sweet icing on top of a beautifully indulgent cake.

"Night, Kate."