A/N: Here's the promised second chapter. Thanks so much for your response to the first chapter. I'm glad to see so many of you liked it.
A week had passed since she'd said yes, and it was surprising for Kate Beckett that despite having made the biggest decision of her life and putting her personal life before her professional one for the first time; things seemed to be carrying on just as they always had.
Like she had always done, and had continued to do so every morning for the past week, Kate woke up and opened her eyes as the smell of coffee wafted into the bedroom.
"Mmm, smells good," she murmured, smiling up at her fiancé. That was the only thing that was different, she thought. Every time she thought the word fiancé, a thrill ran through her. As she sat up, leaning her back against the headboard, Castle handed her a vanilla latte in one of his porcelain cups, complete with a cream-swirl heart. He'd taken to doing that more often now, though if he didn't have time, Kate didn't mind the absent heart. It wasn't as if the heart was the only symbol of his love, the coffee itself was. And after giving her her morning dose of caffeine he always pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Thanks."
"Morning," he said against the crown of her head, smoothing her bedhead into submission with one of his hands.
After taking a sip of latte, which was as always perfect, Kate asked, "So, looking forward to the signing?"
Most days Castle would still be sitting beside her with his own heavily sweetened coffee, but since it was Deadly Heat's release day, the book having been expedited through editors and the publishing house after Castle had gotten behind schedule writing, he was still standing and already pulling a stiff-collared shirt from his closet. For the special day Castle was booked to be at Barnes and Noble with one of his fanciest fountain pens and a bunch of devoted, twenty-somethings who would most likely be more interested in the size of his hands than the pages they were actually signing.
Grimacing, he shrugged noncommittally and admitted, "I'd rather be at the precinct. Much more fun."
"Fun? Come on, Castle, unless a body drops it's just going to be a slow, paperwork day. No fun at all."
"And that's exactly why I'd rather be there," he replied. "To make it fun. Just think how much you'd laugh after I challenged Espo and Ryan to a paper-ball toss contest, winning spectacularly of course. And we both know you enjoy watching me struggle with that impossible level on Angry Birds."
She laughed. Only Rick Castle would think she didn't find his grunts, curses and exclamations at a simple game annoying. "So you're telling me you won't sneak in a minute or two on Angry Birds at the signing anyway?" she pointed out. "And I'm willing to bet you could bribe a member of staff into a paper-ball toss contest – they'll mostly just be bored college students."
"You're probably right."
Abandoning her coffee on the nightstand, Beckett left the bed, not having to bother pushing back the duvet since she always managed to kick it off in her sleep anyway, and smoothed the shirt over his shoulders before turning him to face her. "You know I am," she told him as she finished doing up his buttons. "Besides, no body drop means I might be able to pop in on my lunch break." He smiled. "I am going to need to pick up a copy to keep my collection complete, and it would just be plain wrong if I didn't get the author to sign it."
He grinned in response, his arms winding around her waist to squeeze her tight before letting her go.
"I guess I'd better get a move on then. I don't want an earful from Paula if I'm late." He pulled two ties off his tie rack and held them up for Beckett's inspection.
"This one," she said in answer to his unspoken question, taking the purple striped tie from his right hand and placing it around his neck, before turning up his collar and proceeding to tie it for him. She couldn't help thinking it was such a domestic thing to do; something a wife would do, and bit her lip to hide her smile.
"What?" he asked, noticing anyway.
She just shook her head. It was too embarrassing to say aloud.
Whilst Castle found some pants, obviously a necessity, Kate pulled out her own button-down shirt and work slacks before getting down on her hands and knees to find a pair of heels.
Castle left as soon as he was dressed, promising, "Until later, Detective," with a firm kiss. No further distractions, Kate rushed to finish her latte, brush her teeth and head out; stopping only to secure her father's watch around her wrist and make sure her mother's ring was tucked under her blouse. As she caught sight of the thin silver band swinging on the chain around her neck, she glanced down at her own and bit her lip. Would he mind?
Rick tried to refrain from smirking as Paula escorted him into the bookstore, still complaining about the fact that he'd been a minute late getting down to the car. There was still an hour till the bookstore opened but already fans were beginning to queue up outside. Inside, the store was just as busy, workers hurrying to set up display stands, dragging heavy cardboard boxes stacked to the brim with hardback copies of Deadly Heat to be put out in the display cases. The balding manager looked up from his clipboard to give Rick a nod, before going back to shouting at his staff for not arranging the books in perfect alignment. In fact, the only person in the store seemingly unfazed by Rick's presence and the manager's directives was a plastic-looking blonde teenager stood behind the till, her face half-hidden behind the magazine she was reading.
Castle did a double take as Paula ushered him past, impossibly still griping at him.
When Kate arrived at the precinct and made her way up to homicide, she noticed the looks and the whispers following her but just put it down to office gossip and speculation about the new Nikki Heat novel.
After dumping her bag in her locker, only taking out her phone and putting it in her pocket, then headed for her desk where a mountain of paperwork awaited her. She'd barely sat down when something came flying through the air, landing on her desk.
"Yo, you seen that?"
She didn't look up at Esposito, or Ryan, but instead down at the magazine one of them had just thrown onto her desk. Her jaw dropped in shock as she took in the cover photo, seeing again Castle's hard, emotionless eyes as he knelt in front of her holding out her engagement ring. Beckett bent over the desk in disbelief, whipping the magazine open, ripping pages in the process as she leafed through trying to find the article accompanying their picture.
'Writer and Muse tying the Knot!' read the headline.
Brushing off Paula's harrying hands, Castle reached out for the magazine. "Sorry, could I borrow this a second?"
"Whatever," replied the teenaged girl, dropping the magazine and pulling a mirror and tube of lip gloss out from behind the till instead.
Castle flipped through to the piece on him and Kate before angrily turning to Paula. "Did you know about this?!" he demanded.
"No," she replied after skim-reading the article. "But how am I supposed to keep on top of these things if you don't keep me informed, Rick? I'll get on it straight away, release a statement, you know the drill."
Castle nodded his thanks, before reluctantly pulling out his phone and pressing speed dial for Kate. As the line rang, he prayed that she wouldn't pick up, that she would be driving to a body or that she wouldn't hear her phone ringing in her bag. He sucked in a breath when she answered.
Finishing the article, Kate looked up at Espo and Ryan to find them and the whole of homicide staring at her left hand.
"So…where's the ring?" Ryan asked, lending voice to confusion everyone was feeling.
"Please tell me you did not shoot Writer-Boy down," Esposito added.
Rolling her eyes, Kate snaked her hand under the open collar of her shirt and pulled out the chain that now bore both her mother's wedding ring and her engagement ring. At their look, she told them, "Just wanted to keep it safe."
"Then why didn't you tell us?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah, it's been a week, Beckett," Espo added.
"Guys, we haven't even told our parents." Esposito was still giving her a displeased face. She sighed and continued, "Come on, it's not like we weren't going to tell you, it's just Alexis is off in Costa Rica. An engagement announcement isn't the kind of thing you say to your daughter down the phone. We were just waiting till she got back-" Beckett broke off as her cell phone rang. Pulling the thing out of her pocket, she found Castle's smirking face looking up at her. Before answering, she held her hand up to Espo and Ryan, asking them to wait. "Hey, you bored already?" she greeted.
"Uh, Beckett, I don't wish to alarm you, but…uh…" How on earth was he going to drop the bombshell on her? "Have you seen a newsstand today?" he asked, foregoing his own greeting and just diving in.
"Yes," Kate sighed.
"Before you say anything, I've already got Paula running interference. She can get whatever you want printed. A statement, a retraction, you name it."
"Okay."
"You don't sound angry. Are you mad?" Castle questioned, his nerves carrying across the phone link.
Kate wasn't sure how she felt. A part of her was angry for the privacy invasion, for the fact that everyone had found out before they could announce the news, but a second part of her felt like a load had been lifted. "Well, maybe this wasn't how we planned for everyone to find out, but there was bound to be an article sometime, right?"
"You seem to be taking this very well. Are you sure you're not angry with me?"
"Why would I be angry with you, Castle?" Kate laughed. "You didn't give the press the picture, it's not your fault." She heard him breathe a sigh of relief down the phone and shook her head in amusement.
"Right, so what should I tell Paula?"
"Well, there's no point denying it, is there? The picture's pretty self-explanatory. Why don't we just go with we are engaged but hope that the public will appreciate our request for privacy?" Kate suggested. Checking her father's old watch, she exhaled regretfully. "You should probably go; they'll be opening the store soon, right? And I'm going to have to go and see Lanie about all this before she has my head."
"Right," Castle agreed. "I love you."
"Love you too."
Hanging up, Kate looked up to find Esposito and Ryan had moved off and already begun working on their own paperwork, their conversation apparently already forgotten. After slipping her phone back into her pocket, Kate abandoned her desk and got into the lift, heading down to the morgue.
A/N: So who's excited for Deadly Heat? I'm only just started reading Frozen Heat at the moment, but I can't wait till it comes out. The cover looks so like Beckett's silhouette it's unreal. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. More fluff and excitement is on the way. Let me know what you think.
