A Time to Heal

Chapter 4

Enjoying the Ride

CASTLE was sitting in his office the next morning working on a case when he saw Kate walk in. He noticed how she subtly looked up at his office, presumably to check and see if he was in there. It was something he had seen her do several times since coming back to work after the accident. He figured that it would embarrass her if she knew that he had noticed.

He looked down at a scrap of paper next to his computer and smiled. Alexis had met him in the kitchen this morning with a list of instructions on how he was supposed to interact with Kate. He had shoved it in his pocket, feeling mildly offended that she felt he needed a visual aid. He meant to throw it away when he got to work, but thought it may come in handy some time.

His family talk last night had actually been helpful, a fact that he knew they wouldn't let him forget any time soon. He really wanted to take his mother's advice and not take things too seriously and have fun. At first he had thought it was strange advice to give him. He rarely thought of himself as being too serious and was more often than not accused to trying to have too much fun. But the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. When it came to Kate, he had gotten very serious. Even now, if he thought too much about how she was keeping their relationship private and maintaining the remainder of the wall she was hiding behind, he started to feel stressed. 'Let it go, Castle,' he told himself. 'Just let it go for now and have fun." With that mantra in his mind, he grabbed the two coffee cups off of his desk and headed out of his office.

Kate looked up from her desk when she saw Castle approaching. She took the offered coffee cup from him and looked at him warily. She had gotten his text after going to bed last night. She hoped that she wouldn't regret her teasing remark about being discreet. She had hated the look on his face when she told him that she wanted to keep their relationship to themselves. Hated that she was always the one to back off, push him away. For once she wanted to be the one to lighten the mood. She couldn't help but wonder how far he would take it. Surprisingly, instead of worrying about it, she was kind of excited. If the reaction she got just from whispering in his ear was any indication, this had the potential to be a lot of fun.

"Hey Kate," he said with a smile, sitting on the edge of her desk. "What's on for today? Any new developments on the Sampson case?"

She pulled out the file. "No. We don't even have a lead."

"Actually, " Esposito said walking up to them, "we do. Just got a tip come in. Turns out someone had a buried bank account." Esposito and Kate headed over to the board. Instead of taking her usual spot in front of the table, Kate chose to stand behind it. She leaned forward, resting her hands on the table. This gave Castle an unobstructed view of her backside.

He couldn't help but notice the way her hips swayed as she pointed out facts on the board. When she had to lean forward to add more information, sticking her bottom out…

"What do you think, Castle?" he heard her ask.

He quickly shifted his gaze away from her backside up to her face, hoping he hadn't been caught checking her out. "Umm, I think…"

"What's wrong? You seem distracted." His eyes narrowed suspiciously when he saw the twinkle in her eye. It slowly dawned on him that not only did she know he was checking her out, but she had purposely positioned herself on the other side of the table to give him the best view.

Conscious of Esposito's presence, he made sure he kept his tone casual when he said, "Sorry. You're right. I guess I am a little distracted today."

"What's up, Bro?" Esposito asked.

He thought for a moment about how to answer. He noticed Kate looked a little nervous about what he might say. "I just have a little writers block. I'm working on a, shall we say, sensitive chapter in my new book."

Esposito grinned. "Alright. Juicy sex scene?"

"Oh yeah. And I want to get it just right."

"Maybe it would help to do some research? I gotta friend whose sister is a big fan. Maybe I can give her a call?"

"Really? Is she cute?"

"Okay boys, let's get back to work," Kate interrupted. "This case isn't going to solve itself."

Castle grinned and joined them at the board. Kate rolled her eyes as he and Esposito whispered behind her back about the imaginary chapter Castle was supposedly writing. At least she hoped it was imaginary. 'He better not be working on a juicy sex scene', she thought to herself. Since the current book he was writing starred Nikki Heat, she tended to worry about any sex scenes he might write. She got enough flak from the other members of the force as it was without that.

Castle was having a hard time concentrating on what Esposito was saying. He was enjoying reading Kate's face. He could tell by the cute way she furrowed her brow that she was trying to determine if he was serious or not. He caught her inquiring look and smiled innocently before turning back to give Esposito his full attention.

She interrupted them again, and got them back to working the case and they were soon rewarded by making some serious head way on the case.

"Hey Castle, do you want to come with me to talk to Mrs. Sampson again? I think she might be interested in what we've found."

"Absolutely. Let me just grab the keys to the squad car."

"'Don't bother," she said with a smile. "We're taking my bike."

Surprised, he followed her to the elevator. He was disappointed when another officer joined them before the door could close, dashing his hopes of stealing a kiss on the ride down.

When they got to the where her motorcycle was parked, she threw him a helmet and got on the bike. As he climbed on behind her, she looked back and said with a smile, "Hang on tight, Castle."

"Oh, I'll hang on," he whispered as she hit the throttle and sped out of the parking lot. He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. 'I could get used to this,' he thought giving her a little squeeze.

They arrived at the apartment complex sooner than he liked. He got off the bike and waited for her on the curb. She smiled at him. "Enjoying the ride so far?" she asked.

He had a feeling she was talking about more than just the bike ride. "Yeah, I am. You?"

"As a matter of fact, I am," she said, sounding surprised.

"Good." He held out his hand. She hesitated only a second before allowing him to lace his fingers with hers. They walked together up to the door before reluctantly letting their hands drop and enter the building.

Fifteen minutes later, they were back down on the street. "I guess we should have called first, eh Castle?"

"I guess we'll just have to try again tomorrow," he said, hoping she would bring her bike back.

When they got back on the bike, she moved back as far as she could on the seat, allowing her body to snuggle right up to his. The bold move surprised him so much, he forgot to even hang on. "You alright back there, Castle?" she asked, her voice dripping with laughter.

He tightened his legs around hers and grabbed her hips. "I'm alright. Let's go."

While they were stopped at the first red light, she used that time to wiggle back even further, pressing the back of her body fully against the front of his. 'Two can play that game,' he thought breathlessly. As they pulled away, he slowly moved his hands from her hips to her waist. He pulled gently at the bottom of her shirt and let his fingers slide underneath until they touched the smooth skin of her stomach. He felt her muscles tighten as soon as she felt the contact. He smiled, knowing there was nothing she could do while she was driving. The feel of her bare skin under his fingers while she was pressed so intimately against him was making him crazy. He decided it was a good thing he wasn't driving. He figured he would end up crashing the bike if he were.

Again, the ride ended way too soon for his liking. Not only because he was enjoying the prolonged contact, but because he was unsure of how she was going to react to his wandering fingers. She did start it, he reminded himself.

They got off of her bike and walked through the door of the 12th, and onto the elevator in silence. As soon as the door shut, she turned to face him. He flinched when she moved towards him, not sure what to expect. He knew she could execute a mean poke when she was riled. He was pleasantly surprised when she leaned in and gave him a quick, but very thorough kiss, pulling away just as the doors opened. She walked out of the elevator without even looking back, so casually anyone seeing them exit the elevator would never suspect a thing.

'WHAT a day,' Beckett thought to herself when she got home that evening. She had to admit, she had really enjoyed playing with Castle. Turning the tables on him and finding ways to surprise him was much more fun than she had ever expected. As she got ready for bed, she realized that she felt truly happy for the first time in a long time. She fell asleep with a smile on her face trying to come up with new ways to push Castle's buttons.