Author's Note: Thank you all for your patience as I attempt to navigate a busy semester of grad school and still keep up on writing. To those of you who have sent me prompts, thank you. I'm slowly working my way through them.

3x07 – Almost Famous

"What's got you so excited?"

"I'm going to a strip club with Beckett," Castle blurts, the words falling out without thought.

"Ooookay, and now I'm sorry I asked." Alexis cringes in reply, closing her textbook and getting to her feet. There are some things she just doesn't need to know about her father.

"It's for a case," he clarifies quickly.

"Mmhmm."

"Our victim was a stripper," he protests.

"How is it that you always end up on cases like this?" Alexis muses, making her way to the stairs.

Castle shrugs, already heading for the door. "No idea, but I'm not complaining."

"Of course you're not," Martha calls after him, rolling her eyes at her son's exuberance.

Castle tosses a smirk over his shoulder, practically skips out the door of the loft. He's going to a strip club with Beckett.

There's something he never thought he'd get to say.

He's going to a strip club with Beckett.

It should be exciting...and it is. Sort of. Except in all his fantasies, he never imagined they'd be going to a male strip club.

Because this is just plain awkward. He's excited to be with Kate and he always loves going undercover with her, but he's not looking forward to watching testosterone-infused, overly-tan men take their clothes off. Not in the slightest.

The plus side, though, is that Kate is dressed up and her hair is curled and she looks completely gorgeous with her…whatever you call that garment that barely covers anything. And her dark, smoky eyes. And the way she calls him 'honey,' the word rolling off of her tongue. That, he could get used to. In fact, just the sheer memory of it is already driving him crazy. And yes, he has a girlfriend and she has a boyfriend and this is just an undercover thing, but still...

She's so at ease here and it's clear that she's done this before. And probably not just undercover, considering some of her recent comments.

Maybe someday they can do this again.

Only then, maybe it won't be just an act.

Before his mind has much more of a chance to run away with that scenario, Kate is making her way out of the dressing room and away from Hans Von Monnschaft (seriously, what kind of a name is that anyway?) and back into the throngs of twenty-something girls who are jumping and shouting and holding wads of singles up in the air. Castle follows, fending off flailing arms and sweaty bodies as he trails Kate through the club.

Her eyes flick around the room as she walks, pausing on the new group of men who are up there dancing. Clothing is flying off and there seem to be an excessive amount of abs on the stage and Castle can't help but feel a pang of jealousy at seeing Beckett checking them out so unabashedly.

Because seriously...how is that much spray-on tanner and obvious steroid usage even remotely attractive?

"Like what you see?" a male voice says suddenly, and Castle whirls around to find a male dancer stepping up in front of Kate. He stumbles to a stop behind her, catching a whiff of cologne and sweat and...whoa!

Way too much skin.

The guy is wearing the equivalent of a speedo and nothing more and he's stepping closer to Kate and speaking in a low voice and staring down her shirt, and suddenly Castle can't take it anymore.

"Hey, honey, you ready to go?" he asks, stepping up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, an extension of their earlier ploy.

Kate stiffens noticeably and Castle does too as he realizes the position they're currently in, his chest pressed up against her back. He can just barely feel the curve of her ass against his upper thighs and the rise and fall of her rib cage as her breathing stutters and then speeds up. He can smell her perfume, feel her hair against his cheek as he speaks, and this was a terrible idea because suddenly this is anything but innocent.

But it has the desired effect because the guy backs off...though not without another once-over of Kate's figure and the promise of plenty of excitement if she gets bored with 'that guy.'

Castle's jaw clenches and he wants to go after the guy and knock some sense into him for ogling Kate like a piece of meat. But then she's whirling around, pinning him with an angry glare, and hissing, "what are you doing?"

"He was hitting on you," Castle says with a shrug, as though it was obvious.

"So?"

"So I..."

"Thought I couldn't handle it on my own?" Kate asks, eyebrow raised in a challenge. "I'm a cop, remember?"

"I know, I just..."

He trails off and Kate sighs, not in the mood to argue. Because it was a sweet gesture and she knows he meant well. And it wasn't that big of a deal, really.

Well, right up to that moment where he wrapped his arms around her from behind and her heart rate spiked at the feeling of being cradled in his embrace and surrounded by the strong lines of his body.

"Come on," she says, voice softer now, more understanding.

He wants to say more but he bites his tongue and follows her out of the club.

The ride back to the precinct is spent in silence, Kate resolutely keeping her eyes on the road as she fights back the memory of the heat of Castle's body and the strength of his biceps and the tingles that really shouldn't have spread through her veins at his touch.

Castle too doesn't speak, because no matter how badly he wants to voice his thoughts, he can't think of a single good way to explain them. Because he has no right to be, but the truth is that he was jealous. Jealous of the way the men were looking at her, jealous of all the attention she was getting.

He should be the one hitting on her.

And she should be the one invading his personal space, not the swarms of young women trying to stuff bills...and their hands...down his pants.

The only person he wants in his personal space (besides Gina, he reminds himself, because it really shouldn't be so easy to forget that he has a girlfriend) is Kate.

And he'll gladly take his clothes off for her anytime.

Thoughts?