Chapter Four:
As Ryan and Esposito led the ex-boyfriend away in handcuffs, Beckett stood at the murder board taking down the pictures and clues, the case now complete.
Castle approached her from behind and said softly, "Nice work in there, Detective. You broke him down in record time."
Kate smiled. "Thanks, but as usual it was a team effort. You suspected him all along." She took a deep breath. "Castle, I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I was out of line about the models."
"No, I should be the one to apologize. I was just trying to make you laugh and I went too far." He looked sheepishly at her.
"But you're supposed to make me laugh, remember?" Beckett replied quietly.
They stood there in awkward silence, each afraid to be the one to bring up the 'elephant in the room' topic. What if the other had changed their mind?
The arrival of Captain Montgomery broke their uneasiness. "Nice work, you two. This one had me worried for a while, but as usual, you managed to figure it out. Good job."
"Captain," Castle beamed confidently, "you should never worry when you have Detective Beckett on the case. She was tenacious. It was a slam dunk in there!" Castle playfully made the motion of dunking a basketball.
"Slam dunk?" Montgomery raised an eyebrow. "A basketball metaphor? I thought you two were only interested in playing baseball!" He winked and walked away chuckling.
Castle and Beckett turned toward each other, their faces aghast. "Montgomery knows about the date?" They both asked in unison.
Castle spoke first. "I guess we should get this over with. Before the mayor calls demanding a press release or something."
Beckett concurred. "I did agree that once the case was solved I would, um, you know, go out with you. I'm just surprised Lanie hasn't called already, bugging me." She stared uncomfortably at the floor.
Castle's face brightened with an idea. "Its only lunchtime. Would you like to have dinner tonight? With me? Of course, if that's not enough time, we could do it tomorrow. Not that you need a lot of time. What I mean is that we could go tonight. That is if you want to go..." He was stammering.
"Castle," Beckett interrupted tenderly, "tonight would be great." He was so cute when he was nervous!
Relief washed over his face. "Pick you up at seven?"
"Seven it is." She sighed wearily. "Now I think I'm going to get out of here. It's been a crazy week and I need a long, hot soak in a tub." Kate quickly realized the possible hidden implications of her words and turned away toward her desk, trying to hide her embarrassment from Castle.
He smiled knowingly and followed after her. She was so cute when she was nervous! "Let me walk you to your car, Detective."
As they took their customary walk toward the elevator, Kate asked, "What should I wear? You do know that the leer jet is still off the table, right?" She was suddenly extremely anxious. What would she wear?
"No jets and casual will be fine. I wasn't planning on taking you anywhere too fancy." It was Castle's turn to be embarrassed. "That didn't' come out the way I intended. It's not that I don't want to go somewhere ritzy or exclusive with you. I just thought that someplace more intimate and cozy would be better for our first time," he quickly corrected himself, "…I mean, our first date."
They entered the elevator. "Actually, that's sounds wonderful." Kate replied, secretly relieved by his choice. She felt enough pressure about tonight without adding the possibility of being 'seen'. And an evening consisting of 'cozy, intimate and Castle' was starting to sound very, very appealing.