On the next day, they fly to Phoenix early in the morning and they're back at the airport that same night to leave to Houston.
They arrive at the hotel pretty late into the night. Alexis is fighting exhaustion, Castle feels like he hasn't slept in years and is just about done with everything and Beckett's just doing her job. She's used to having long days on little sleep.
Castle walks over to the front desk while Beckett and Alexis sit with their stuff on the lobby lounge.
He gives his information to the guy behind the desk.
"Um... I'm sorry Mr. Castle..." he says. "Your reservations says you asked for a one-bedroom suite"
"What?" Castle asks in disbelief. "I clearly asked for a two-bedroom one"
"I'm sorry, sir, but all the two-bedroom suites are currently occupied..." his hands are tied.
Castle can feel his anger rising. He's usually unbothered by situations like this, but he's had a really long day and he just wants to get into the shower and sleep.
Beckett can sense trouble at the front desk so she tells Alexis she'll be back in a second. "What's going on?" the bodyguard asks her boss walking towards him.
"They don't have the room I asked for" Castle is clearly getting frustrated.
"What do you mean?"
"They have only one-bedroom suites" he pauses and then he turns around to face her. "Come on. We're leaving" he walks towards her.
"Castle" she stops him in his tracks putting a hand on his chest. "It's late, both you and Alexis are tired and looking for another hotel would just be crazy" she almost hisses at him. "I can take the couch" she turns to see the desk clerk. "It does have a couch, right?" her look tells him there's no really another answer than yes.
The guy quickly nods in response.
"Okay, see? It's settled"
Castle drops his head in surrender, turns around and checks them in. He also makes a mental note to never come back to this hotel.
Once they get into the room, Alexis falls fast asleep on her bed after barely getting into her pajamas. Castle unpacks some things while Beckett takes a quick shower.
The bodyguard settles on the couch when she's done and Castle is quick to jump into the bath.
A few minutes later, when Beckett is already tucked in, the writer bursts out of the bathroom half naked and dripping wet, with a towel barely wrapped around his waist and another one hanging around his neck.
"Castle!" she hisses as her jaw drops in shock when she sees him. She sits up and covers herself with the covers self-consciously. Not that she's indecent - she's wearing shorts and a t-shirt. "What the hell?"
"Wait" he mumbles taking his computer out of its case.
She stares at him wondering what in the world he's doing. "Are you having a breakdown?"
He places the laptop on the table and he waits for it to turn on. "Not a breakdown. A breakthrough" the writer clarifies as he starts drying his head with the towel that was around his neck. He abandons and starts shaking his head wildly.
"I'm waiting for the breakthrough" he reminds her of a dog that's trying to get the water out of its fur.
"As a writer, I never know when inspiration might strike, so I have to take advantage whenever it does" he explains when he sits down and starts typing. He's been blocked for a while and finally got the breakthrough he needed.
It's not the first time ideas have come up to him when he's in the shower. Once, he was foolish enough to wait until he was done showering to write it... The idea never came back. So now, every time he gets something he's sure to write it down.
"Well, your inspiration might not be the only thing that strikes you tonight" she lets herself fall back on the couch.
Just as he's about to save his document, his cellphone starts ringing. He looks around the room wondering where he left it.
"Bathroom" Beckett reminds him without opening her eyes, uselessly trying to sleep.
"Right" he stumbles comically into the bathroom, tripping on his towel, barely managing to keep himself covered and gets his cellphone. "Yeah?" he picks up
"Rick, sorry to call you so late" Gina says. "Tomorrow morning you're coming back to New York. The rest of the tour will be postponed" she tells him matter-of-factly.
He's completely taken off-guard. "What? Why?"
"You've been invited to an important event, a writers' party, and it would be really good publicity" plus there's been a security issue involving some fan mail but she doesn't want to worry him with the details.
"Okay… What time's the flight?"
She gives him the details and hangs up.
He realizes he's still not wearing anything other than a towel and that he's exhausted, so he goes back to the living room to put the laptop back on its case and inform Beckett of the change of plans.
She simply grunts in understanding longing for him to finally let her sleep.
The next day when Beckett gets up, she finds Alexis sitting on one of the chairs at the kitchen table, already dressed and reading the newspaper.
The bodyguard stretches her arms and rubs her eyes with her hands trying to wipe the sleep away. She gets up and walks to the counter to take some water. "Reading the paper?" she asks the girl after she drinks from the bottle. "You're gonna lose all of your wired-teen-hyper-texting-nano-gizmo street cred" she smiles, not sure of where all that came from.
"I'm a rebel. I kick it old school" Alexis smirks at how much Beckett is starting to sound like her father.
"Where's your dad?" Beckett sits in one of the chairs in front of the teen.
"He went to get some breakfast"
Beckett rolls her eyes. He should've woken her up.
"He didn't want to bother you" Alexis excuses her father seeing the look on the older woman's face.
Right then, Castle opens the door carrying their breakfast. "Good morning Beckett" he greets walking to the table and putting the cups and brown bags down on the table.
"Morning" she nods accepting the coffee he hands her. "Thanks" she brings the drink to her mouth.
"Thanks dad" Alexis folds the newspaper in half and places it aside before taking a sip from her cocoa.
A couple of hours later they're taking off to New York.
They take their usual places – Alexis by the window, Castle at her side and Beckett at the opposite side of the aisle.
"So why the rush to get back?" Beckett asks Castle a couple of minutes after the plane takes off.
"I don't know" he shrugs. "Something about a party that I have to be at tomorrow" his schedule changes constantly therefore he doesn't dwell on the details. He pays someone else to take care of that.
"Oh" she nods as she turns her attention to the in-flight film. Well, to say she turned her attention would probably be an overstatement. Her mind starts flying in all kinds of directions. What she's going to do when she goes back to New York, the fact that she hasn't seen Lanie in such a long time… And so on.
While she's daydreaming, he seems to be too. A smile slowly creeps onto his face. "Hey Beckett"
"Hmm?" she snaps out of her reverie and looks at him.
"Guess I'm taking you out tomorrow night" he grins.
"What?" she narrows her eyes questioning what the hell he's talking about this time.
Alexis' head jerks up from her book to look at her father wondering why in the world he just said that. Frankly she's not surprised that he's hitting on her – in fact he has since day one – and he hasn't been exactly subtle but this? This is just plain... wrong.
He chuckles at their reactions. "As my bodyguard" he clarifies. "To the writers' party"
"Oh" Beckett drops her eyes to the ground and back up to face him. "Right"
His daughter just rolls her eyes and focuses back on his book while he still has a smirk on his face.
That afternoon, Beckett is walking Castle and Alexis up to their apartment.
"So" the bodyguard says as he opens the door. "See you tomorrow?" she's eager to get home and have some alone time, which she hasn't had in a week.
"Wait a sec" the writer runs inside, leaving Alexis and their luggage outside.
"So, did you have fun?" Beckett breaks the silence.
"Yeah" Alexis smiles brightly and nods.
It isn't long before Castle's back. He's got a gift-wrapped box in his hands, which he hands to the bodyguard when he reaches the door. "I got you something, you know, for going with us and all"
She looks at him suspicious. "It's my job" she says for the umpteenth time.
"Go on. Open it" he urges.
She does. It's a copy of Storm Rising, his latest book.
"I got you a copy. I even signed it to you. Not that you're a fan" he smiles, it's not like she's made an effort to hide that from him. He also hopes she doesn't have it already. It's been out for a while now.
"Thanks. That's actually kind of… sweet" she's taken aback by the gesture. And is glad she hadn't already bought it.
"Well…" he shrugs.
"See you tomorrow Castle. Bye Alexis" she smiles at them before turning around and leaving. As she gets into the elevator, Beckett's smile grows and she chuckles to herself shaking her head, her mind flooding with memories of the last week.
She can't believe how much fun she actually had. It had been a while since she had done something like that.
She looks down at the book and sighs. The 'Be careful, he's your boss' mantra on the back of her head is becoming weaker and weaker… And she's not sure how she feels about that.