"So Kate..."

They had ordered dinner, so Kate was already expecting Rick to start talking. Rick Castle was everything she hoped he would be, and more. She had been observing him for the passed few minutes, and was pleasently surprised. She had read all of his books – duh – and had read a few things about him in the magazines. What she didn't read, however, was that he had a daughter. Rick and Alexis had a really great connection, from what she could see. In the few minutes she had spend with them, they had already cried, hugged, laughed and teased each other. All in a matter of minutes! It was clear that Alexis adored her father: she beamed when she was talking to him. Rick was defintely in love with his daughter aswell: you could see the joy oozing from his body when he was talking to his little girl. So not the playboy extraordinare she tought he would be.

"Kate?!"

Kate snapped out of it when she heared her name. Both Rick and Alexis were watching her with a smile on their faces.

"Where did you go? I said you name like three times already!"

"Sorry, Rick, I was thinking and..."

"Ow well, never mind. So Kate, be honest, have you read my books?" A cocky grin spread on his face.

This startled Kate. She was didn't really know how she should asnwer his question. Be honest, and tell him how big of a fan she really is? Or play it down a little? Alexis and Rick were both still starting at her with a smile on their faces, so she better start talking. Fast.

"Well, Rick, I might have read a few"

"Really? And what did you think?"

"They were...okay I guess" she shrugged. She saw Rick's face fall.

"Okay? Are you serious? I mean, come on..."

Just when Kate was about to say something, Alexis spoke.

"Daddy! Let Kate talk!" The little girl looked really pleased of herself, and beamed up at Kate. When Rick didn't reply, Alexis pouted at him. "Come on daaaad, I want to get to know Kate! Be nice, and listen to her?"

"How can I ever win with this kid? So go on, Kate, apperently my daugther wants to get to know you. So, commence the talking!"

Kate snorted. He looked like an overgrown kid, with an actual kid beside him. They were absolutely adorable, and Kate about melted.

"Well, I liked your books." She didn't want elaborate on that, so she just kept talking. "I'm kate, wich you already know. I'm 22 years old and I live in New York as well. I'm an officer with the NYPD at the twelfth precinct. I decided to take a holiday, so here I am now!" She wasn't totally honest, but no matter how cute and nice Rick an Alexis were, they were complete strangers. She didn't feel comfortable telling them the whole truth. She was still kind of ashamed that she neglected her health this way, and she dind't feel like telling them already.

"You're an officer? Wow! That is soooo cool!" Alexis was practically bouncing. "Can I visit you one time, Kate?" Rick's face fell. Alexis liked Kate, that was obvious. However, he didn't want his daughter to get hurt. Most people he met didn't really like kids, and Alexis didn't have a female figure in her life.

"Sweetie, of course you can! But you'll have to make sure to call first." Rick's eyes bored right into hers. Did she say something wrong? She didn't think he would mind.. But then she saw the smile that crept on his face. O-kaaay.. this was kind of weird..

"Okay pumpkin, maybe cool it down a bit. We"ll see how things go, allright?"

Their dinner arrived before Alexis could respond. Kate was kind of relieved, something strange was going on.

"O my god, this looks devine!"

"Yeah, the food's really good here! You'll like it Kate!" Alexis was already munching her lasagna.

"Do you guys come her often? 'Cause you seem to know the place very well."

"Yeah we do! I mean, we go on holiday quite often, but not always to the same place. Last holiday we went to the Hamptons, but daddy had to sign some books, so we came here! But we came here last year as well, right dad?"

"Yeah pumpkin, that's right. I had to come on a book tour, but that was mostly last week. We decided to stay another month, so we could have a proper holiday. Alexis has vacation anyway. How long are you staying?"

"I'm staying at a house near the beach. The beach is like the back garden, it's amazing! It's from the family of a friend of mine, and I can stay as long as I like. I'm probably staying for another three weeks."

"Our house is on the beach as well! Maybe you should visit sometime."

"Oh, I'd like that sweetie." Kate really liked the girl, she was so open and funny. The fact that her father was her favourite author – and a complete hunk – only made it better. Dinner was over by now, but she didn't really want to leave.

"So Kate, this may seem very forward, but you would you like to watch a movie with us? We were going to the movies, you can always join if you'd like."

"Yes! Please Kate, will you?"

Kate, Rick and Alexis arrived at the theatre, which seemed to be closed.

"Huh, strange, the site said it was open today!"

Rick checked the site again, and found a notification.

"Apperently the theatre is closed on Mondays, I must have clicked the wrong date. I'm sorry pumpkin, but we can't watch a movie today".

Most six-year olds would probably have trown a fit, or would at least be angry. Not Alexis though, she just smiled at her dad.

"No worries, daddy, we could just have a movie night at home, can't we?"

"Off course we can pumpkin!" Rick smiled at his daughter. Alexis really was the best daughter ever!

Kate was oddly dissapointed that the theatre was closed, she was kind of looking forward to watching a movie with these two goofballs. She was totally alone in the house at the beach, so a bit of company would have been nice. Rick and alexis seemed very sweet, and her cop instincts made her quite confident that these two were to be trusted. He was a famous author, after all!

Rick saw a brief flash of dissapointment wash over Kate's face. It was gone very fast, so he wasn't really sure if it was his imagination or not. He decided he didn't want to take a chance.

"Kate, if you want to, you can join us. The house is very near, and we can even have desert while we're watching a movie. What do you think?"

Kate was a bit flustered, could she really spend the night at Rick's place? But of course his daughter was there, so nothing was going to happen anyway. She also couldn't ignore the way Alexis was looking at her now.

"Please kate? It would be sooo fun! We could watch movies and have daddy make us ice-cream! Please please?"

"Yeah, sweetie, I'd love to!"

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!" The girl practically leaped at her and gave her a big hug. "This is gonna be so cool! Come on, we have to go, 'cause it's almost 7 pm, and I have to go to bed at nine. So we can't waist time!" Alexis grabbed Kate's hand and pulled her forwards.

Kate raised an eyebrow at Rick. He grinned and whispered: "I swear, she is more responsible than me! So let's just follow her, 'cause she'll be dissapointed if she can't watch the entire movie."

He grabbed Alexis' other hand, and together they strolled towards the house. Kate was feeling very happy all of a sudden. Those Castle's, they sure are something!

So, What do you think? As always, I would love the feedback!