Chapter 4:

Did That Really Just Happen?

When Katherine Beckett cracked an eye open the next morning, she groaned in exasperation. She was shocked to find that not only had she spent the night on the couch in Castle's apartment, but that she was sleeping on top of him like it was no big deal. She began to slowly try to get up, but realized that Castle's arms banded tighter around her, almost forcing her to stay where she was. She looked at his face, which was still relaxed in a peaceful slumber. She almost hated to have to wake him, but she feared if she didn't, he'd make a bigger deal about their predicament than she already was.

"Castle, wake up," she tried, shaking him gently.

His only response was to grip her tighter and roll so that she lay underneath him. Her head connected almost painfully with the arm of the couch, and her legs were splayed almost at an uncomfortable angle to fit his body between them. His head shifted, lying directly between her breasts. Kate could feel an unwanted heat pulsing between her thighs as she processed how intimate their predicament was.

Great, she thought. My body is such a damn traitor.

It took a great deal of effort, but she managed to get her arms underneath him in order to try to shove him off her. The movement worked a little too well, for he soon unbalanced and fell off the couch, hitting the floor with an audible thud.

Castle slowly woke up then, confused at his surroundings. Craning his head upward, he found Kate lying on the couch, legs still splayed and chest heaving from exertion.

"How did I get down here?" he asked, still confused. "The last thing I remember is watching a movie with you while we were curled up on the couch."

Kate's mouth felt like she had swallowed a bag of cotton balls. Swallowing harshly, she managed a "you get very inappropriate when you're asleep", before she scrambled up off the couch to retreat to the kitchen.

She needed to do something with her hands, she realized. She was constantly fidgeting. She didn't notice Castle was behind her until he cleared his throat, the sound making her jump.

"Geez, Kate. What's with you today?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She refused to make eye contact with him, lest he were to find out how conflicted she really was.

"You're jumpy and won't even look at me. Something's wrong. Was I really THAT inappropriate?"

No, you were wonderful, and I would love nothing more than to rip your clothes off and let you have your way with me until I can't think straight….Whoa! Where did that come from? She thought, eyes widening as she looked up at him.

"I see. Well, I'm sorry for whatever I did. I forgot to mention that I'm a bit of a snuggler, but I guess you figured that out all on your own."

Reassure him, her mind yelled at her. He probably isn't aware of how this affected you. He thinks he did something repulsive. Fix it!

"It's okay, Castle," she managed. "It won't ever happen again."

Castle relaxed then, heading to the bathroom while Kate hurried and made breakfast for the two of them. Castle needed all of his strength and concentration today, and she hoped that he'd be able to pull everything off.

They ate in silence, stealing glances at the other when the other wasn't looking. It was amazing how one night could change things. Both were shy and wary of the other.

Kate drove Castle to the appointed dance studio in order to be fitted for costumes and begin learning the choreography. His instructor turned out to be a huge body builder who looked to be about four times the size of Castle. She didn't want to meet him in a dark alley, that was for sure. He had dark brown hair and crystal blue eyes that gave off a no-bullshit vibe.

"Hi, I'm Brent Jameson. You must be Richard Castle. I don't know much about what's going on here. All I know is, we've got to get you prepared for auditions by this weekend. I don't have a lot of time for whining, carrying on, or playing around. You've got to be serious about this. I know it sounds bizarre, but you have no idea how many people audition for and get rejected from The Gilded Stallion. The owner is very specific and particular as to who he lets in to dance for him. Most of his dancers end up earning large amounts of money. So, enough about that…let's get you into the back room to be changed into some more appropriate attire. I trust you've never worn a G-string before, so you'll get one and wear it today during practice in order to get you used to moving in one."

Kate almost choked. A G-string? Seriously? I can't handle Castle in regular clothes! How am I supposed to keep everything together while he's going to be practically naked in front of me?

She shook herself, forcing her thoughts to be professional. She wasn't going to let her hormones get in the way of her doing her job.

No matter how yummy and tempting he's going to be. And my role is his manager? Seriously?

Kate stayed behind in the rehearsal room while Brent took Castle to find a suitable costume. Finding one, then Brent led him to a book which held several different costuming choices.

"We have the best seamstresses to make all of the costumes. Take your time and select a few, because your audition might involve you dressing up and dancing a few different times. After that, I'll help you choreograph dances that revolve around the costumes you have chosen. People like to imagine that you're the real deal, not just some guy dancing around in a costume to music. There will be props as well."

"How am I going to practice taking stuff off if I'm wearing this…?" Castle asked, indicating his attire. He had decided when he put it on that this was probably what wearing a thong feels like to women….and he didn't like it.

"I'll give you some basic tear away pants that will allow you to work on that without losing rhythm. Now, enough chitchat! Choose some costumes and get moving!"

It took him a very long time to pick something out. He kept thinking about how exposed he was going to be in front of a lot of people. He knew he was under a lot of pressure, and that only made his anxiety worse. After what seemed like hours looking at the book, he settled on three costumes that he thought would be passable. One, a Flamenco dancer, which had black tear away pants and a red shirt that could easily be removed due to Velcro keeping it closed. There was also a black hat with little red balls hanging off the brim, which would sway as he danced. Second, he picked out a cowboy outfit with black chaps and cowboy boots, with a blue shirt and black cowboy hat. For his final choice, he went with a fireman's uniform, remembering the way Kate looked at the strippers during the case they solved that had involved them going undercover. He slowly began to realize that while picking out the outfits, he had been doing so for her, analyzing every piece to see if he could get a reaction from her should he decide to wear it. He wanted so badly to drive her as crazy as she made him on a daily basis. With the way she had been acting lately, he now felt a faint glimmer of hope. He knew he had to have her, and he had to have her now.

He called for Brent, who was waiting in the next room for him to finish up. He handed him his final choices, receiving the tearaway pants to practice in. He hurriedly put them on, following Brent out into the rehearsal room.

Big mistake.

Kate was there, sitting innocently in the chair provided for her. She looked so beautiful as she smiled as they came out. He felt himself harden instantly, and hoped to God that she wouldn't notice.

Brent didn't waste any time in getting started. He began by giving Castle some basic warm up exercises to loosen his muscles in preparation for the workout he was going to be getting. After about fifteen minutes, Brent decided that Castle was ready.

"Okay," Brent began, walking up to Castle's left side and coming to an abrupt halt, "We'll start slowly, but remember that this is going to go much faster with the music. I want you to be able to master the choreography first and find your rhythm before I throw on the music. The music could really mess you up."

Castle nodded, nervous. He caught Kate's eye, and she smiled reassuringly at him.

You can do this, she seemed to be saying. I have faith in you.

As the hours progressed, Castle seemed to be getting the movements down. As it turned out, he was a quick study. He surprised everyone, including himself. However, the hard part was still ahead. He had mastered the steps with the clothes on, but he now had to master taking the clothes off. He didn't think he could manage doing that with Kate sitting so close. It was already almost painful to have her in the room while he was performing all of the dances.

"Alright Rick. Now for the hard part. What I want you to do is turn around on your heels, take a step. Roll your hips. Repeat that three times. After the third step, I want you to pivot back to face forward, hands on your hips. As you end up toward the front, I want you to plant your right foot out about two feet from your left, with your hands still on your hips. Get your thumb in the waistband of the pants, and pull so it comes off, tossing it into the crowd. Got it? Go!"

Castle began to dance as instructed, but stopped short from taking off his takeaway pants. Something was obviously bothering the writer.

"Why'd you stop?" Brent shouted, frustrated.

"I have a slight problem," Rick said hesitantly.

"I don't really care what your problem is. The Gilded Stallion doesn't pay you to keep your clothes on, so take them off!"

"All right, but I'm just warning you….this isn't such a good idea," Rick replied.

He backed up and began again, this time looking intently at Kate. He knew this was a bad idea. When it came time for him to take off the pants, he hooked his thumbs in the waistband as instructed, pulling the pants off, twirling it over his head before throwing it away.

It was then everyone noticed the problem. A BIG problem.

Castle's G-string was a little too small, causing half of his penis and most of his balls to be visible. Kate stared, as if mesmerized by the sight of it. Nervously, she licked her lips, causing Castle's obvious erection to bob and swell in response.

"Do you see now why I didn't want to take them off? I'm a little….too exposed at present."

"We'll fix it, Rick. We obviously underestimated your size. We'll have another ready for sure by the time you have to audition."

"I'd kind of like a new one now."

"We'll see what we can do. I think we're done for the day."

Castle scrambled into the changing room to put his regular clothes back on. He knew that Kate had seen more than he intended, and he worried that she might not want to have anything to do with him.

I wrecked everything, he thought. There's not a chance in hell she's going to talk to me now. I doubt she'll even look at me.

Kate waited in the rehearsal room, images of the last few minutes playing in her head. Her thoughts shifted to a particular portion of his anatomy.

Damn, she thought. He hadn't given any indication previously that he was underdeveloped, but holy hell! He's certainly a lot bigger than I expected. Not only that, but the G string was still covering a good bit of it! Not only that, but he probably knows how to use it…I wonder what it would be like….

"I really need to stop thinking about this now," she mumbled to herself, shaking her head to clear her mind. These thoughts can only lead to trouble.

A/N: Okay, this chapter was a lot longer than I intended, but I couldn't stop writing! I hope that all of you who are following this story have enjoyed this latest installment. I was stuck for a bit about where to go next, but it took less time to work my way out of it than I anticipated. Anyway, see that little button below? Take a few moments and review to let me know how I'm doing. I'd really appreciate it, and could use the encouragement since I'm venturing into unknown territory by writing a case fic in the middle of character development and shippy stuff. Peace, love and all things CASKETT!