They had only been back at the loft for a few minutes when Castle's phone went off.
"Hey Paula, what's up?" Castle was walking around the loft as he talked with his agent. Actually, he was mostly listening. "No kidding," Castle said sounding excited. "Of course, I'm interested!" He listened a few minutes more then suddenly looked at Beckett. "You're serious?" he said incredulously. "OK, well how about this afternoon?" Another brief pause. "Yeah, 3:30 would be fine. See you then."
He turned to Kate. "You won't believe this. Paula has received several job offers based on our appearance on Jimmy Fallon's show. I'm talking commercials and other things. Anyway, she wants us in her office at 3:30 to go over some of these offers." Castle was absolutely giddy.
"That's really great," Kate said not nearly as excited as Castle, "but why should I go?"
Castle snagged her in his arms. "Because you're my partner. You need to help me decide what offers are worth considering. Can't you just picture it? Seeing me on TV? Oh, I know, how about seeing me on the side of a bus?" Castle moved his hand through the air as though following along the side of the bus, his imagination running wild as he made no attempt to hide his excitement.
Kate laughed. He was such a child, but it was just one of the many things she loved about him. "On the side of a bus? Really? That's what you're going for?"
Paula stood up and greeted each of them warmly. "Come in, come in. This is so exciting. I enjoyed watching you both on Jimmy Fallon's show, but I never expected it to generate so many job offers." She was absolutely beaming at them as she motioned for them to sit. "I took the liberty of going through all the offers. I weeded out the undesirable ones, but there are still several good offers on the table."
Castle was leaning forward in his chair hanging on her every word.
"Now here is what I feel are the top two contenders," Paula continued, laying two separate offers on her desk. "The first one is a cologne commercial. This is a new cologne that they are calling 'Body Heat'. You can see how well that plays into your Nikki Heat book theme. They haven't laid out the actual script for the commercial, but I expect it will be a very dignified production that would likely play up your charming side. I'm familiar with their work and I'm sure this would be an outstanding opportunity."
"That just sounds perfect. Like you said it has the Heat connection which certainly won't be lost on my fans. What do think, Kate?"
"If you're wanting to do TV commercials, I think it would be a good fit, but we should probably hear about the other offers before we make any commitments," Kate replied.
"Don't forget, just because you decide on one doesn't mean that you can't do more. It's not an either/or choice," Paula explained.
"My other choice is an American Express commercial. They felt your good looks and easy smile would be perfect for their campaign. I think it would be a great fit for you, too. There is also a sitcom putting out some feelers to determine your interest in making a guest appearance. It's not a firm offer but if you're interested, we can get back to them and see if they want to pursue it."
"Anyway, I suggest you take these offers and look them over. I've included 3 other offers that you might want to check out. Let me know what ones you are interested in and we'll get the lawyers involved." Paula placed the offers in a folder and handed it to Castle.
"Now," Paula added pulling out some more papers, "I also have some offers for Miss Beckett."
Kate had been looking at Castle, happy that he was getting offers that he was obviously excited about, but now her head jerked back to Paula, surprise etched on her face. "Wh-What do you mean?"
Paula smiled, "You heard me right. You received some offers, too."
"But what for?" Kate asked incredulous.
"L'Oreal wants you for a hair dye spot and Swiffer wants you to mop some floors. You know, kind of a tough on crime, tough on grime parallel. That commercial might even require you to sing. Here are your offers." Paula reached out with the offers for Kate.
Kate shook her head and put up a hand in protest. "No, I-I'm not interested in anything like that." Kate glanced at Castle but he was smirking at her.
"You knew there were offers for me?" she asked.
"Paula told me on the phone." He reached for the offers Paula was holding. "We'll look these over too."
Kate and Rick sat at the dining table with the offers spread all over the table.
"I can picture you doing both of these commercials that Paula recommended. I don't care for the chewing gum and deodorant commercials. The car commercial might not be bad."
Castle was carefully reading through the offers. "Well, I don't want to be overexposed. I definitely won't do more than 2. I really like the cologne commercial. With the name 'Body Heat' they will surely tie it into my book series somehow so I might even get some free publicity. I like the idea of the American Express commercial, too. I think we'll let the lawyers check over those 2 offers for me." He turned to her with his eyes lit up. "I think it would be incredibly fun to have a small bit in a sitcom. I definitely want to reply to them. So which commercial do you want to do?"
"No, Castle," Kate said shaking her head, "I'm not doing any commercials. That's not for me. Doing a couple of talk shows is as far as I want to venture into showbiz – actually farther than I wanted to get into showbiz."
"Oh come on, Kate. Think about it. You're a natural and if you're doing a commercial, there wouldn't be an audience to make you nervous. I'm not going to let you decide until you sleep on it. If you still don't want to do it in the morning, then we'll turn the offers down."
Kate turned to face Castle. She put her hand on his arm. "Castle, I need to talk to you."
Castle's face was immediately serious. All men hate to hear the words 'we need to talk' and Castle was no exception. "What is it, Kate?" There was apprehension in his voice.
"Castle, I started thinking about some things after I talked to Espo the other day. It's really been weighing on my mind." Kate caught her lower lip between her teeth. "I've been wanting to talk to you but kept waiting for the right time. I need to be honest with you though so I can't wait any longer." She looked down at her hand on his arm and felt the need to remove it. She folded her hands on the table and stared at them for a few seconds. Castle's eyes narrowed slightly as the worry gnawed at his insides. He suddenly forgot how to breathe.
Kate finally took a deep breath and lifted her head to look at Castle. "I…I think I want to go back to being a detective."
"Son of a bitch!" Castle exclaimed letting out a long breath while dragging his hand over his face. Kate was afraid he wouldn't like it, but she didn't expect him to react like that.
"I mean, I don't have to go back. It's just something I was thinking about." Kate was suddenly talking fast. "Javi said I was born to be a detective, and I've been thinking about it a lot…"
"Kate!" Rick interrupted her. "You are going to be the death of me! My God, I thought you were breaking up with me! My heart is still pounding." His voice was laced with both relief and exasperation. Rick grabbed her hand and put it over his heart so she could feel how hard it was beating.
"Breaking up with you? Castle, are you nuts? Where did you get that idea?" Kate was totally caught off guard. He was holding her hand like his life depended on it, and she realized how scared he had been.
Castle searched her eyes. "Wait a minute. Is this because of your mother's case?"
"No, Castle," Kate said shaking her head emphatically. "We handed that off. No, this is about what I need to do to make my life fulfilling. I was a good cop. It was a job I loved, and I loved doing that job with you. I've tried to think what else I can do, and everything I think of doesn't come close to measuring up to being a cop. It's not only fulfilling in my life, but I also make a difference in other people's lives." She looked into Castle's eyes not sure what she was seeing there. "So, are you against it?" Kate asked hesitantly.
"Kate, I didn't ask you to give up being a detective. I wanted you to give up your mother's case so you wouldn't be killed. If you want to be a detective again, I am totally behind you. I'm behind you in anything you want to do. If you never want to work again I would be fine with it." He smiled at her. "I know you wouldn't be happy without a purpose in life." Castle brought her hand to his lips.
"So what are you going to do? Are you going to see Gates and beg for your job back?"
"Basically, I'll wait another week or 2 before I go. That will give us a little more time together. I don't know if I burned my bridges when I left, but if she lets me go back I would really like to have you by my side." She smiled lovingly at Rick.
"There's nowhere else I'd rather be," Castle said as he pulled Beckett into his arms and kissed her soundly.