Suddenly the back door opens, interrupting them.
"Hey Castle," Ryan calls as he slips in the back seat.
"Who brings a picnic basket to a stake out?"
She feels Castle tense up, his facial expression unmoving except for his eyes, which dart to her.
It gives her pause, because it's not like they just got caught by Ryan. What's he got to be nervous about? She eyes him suspiciously as he offers his excuse.
"Just a few things to make me more comfortable." She knows when he's telling a half-truth, but it doesn't matter because Ryan's attention has shifted.
"I only brought three coffees," Ryan apologizes.
"It's okay, Castle brought me one." Beckett holds up her cup.
"Figures," Ryan says, shivering as he pulls a cup from the bag.
From the corner of her eye and out of the view of Ryan, who is sitting behind Castle, she sees him reach for the edge of her blanket, sliding his hand underneath.
She shifts from her lax position behind the steering wheel to sit up fully, simultaneously preventing his advances and looking back at Ryan.
"Still no movement," she uses the opportunity to open her eyes wide at Ryan and then nod toward Castle, a silent invitation.
"Yeah right, so Castle, there's been something I've wanted to tell you."
"If this is about trading partners, it's a no-go," and then he pointedly looks at her, "I just got this one trained."
She snorts.
"Besides, Esposito's a little too prickly." Beckett shoots him a look before he continues, "I think we all know he's not a snuggler."
"Dude, I am totally telling him you said that."
She can see where this is going. "Okay, enough. Ryan just tell him."
Castle turns in his seat to face Ryan.
"Jenny and I are having a baby."
There is a beat of silence she wasn't expecting from him. His mouth is open just that little bit she's come to read as speechlessness. It's usually reserved for moments when she's done or said something to him he can't believe.
"Congratulations," he finally squeaks out, she notices his eyes are suspiciously shiny. "Sorry, man, it's just . . . that's so great. I'm so happy for you and Jenny." He's reached to offer a congratulatory feed-the-birds move.
"Thanks Castle."
"Best thing that's ever happened to me, becoming a dad." Castle's genuine sentiment is written all over his face. It softens her to him even more.
"Yeah, well, I can only hope this kid's half as great as Alexis."
"Yo, Beckett, movement on the west side," Esposito's voice over the radio alerts all three occupants. "Not sure if it's him, but same build, grey coat, black cap, headed west. I'm gonna follow on foot."
Ryan's out of the car and moving to back up his partner.
"I'll take your unit position, just in case it isn't him," he hears Beckett update, "Ryan's on his way."
"Castle, stay here, if you spot the guy, radio it in."
She's halfway out the door as she hears him whine, "okay, but your job is totally ruining our date."
He takes a moment to shift to her seat behind the wheel, gathering the blanket around himself. This isn't going to be nearly as much fun without her.
He checks his phone. Too late to call Alexis, or anybody else for that matter. He sighs, noticing the billow of white ephemeral swirls that come from his mouth and nose. He cranks the engine.
He's got a great game of Angry Birds going, the tropical heat from the blower allowed him to free his hands from the blanket. He's contemplating taking off his coat when he hears her voice, scolding, "Castle. Turn off the car, I can see the exhaust from here."
He reaches for the police radio, fiddles with the switch, "Hey, any word on the guys?"
"They're still following the suspect. Are you still looking out for anyone exiting the building?" There's a suspicious tone in her voice.
He looks around, clicking off the app, how does she do that? "Sure, nothing yet."
"Keep watching."
There's a minute of silence in which he really tries to be vigilant. "Kate?"
She knows that tone, closes her eyes a moment before she responds, she's certain she knows what's next. She's taking the bait anyway, if only to see what surprise he might have for her. He's always surprising her. It's one of his most endearing frustrations.
"Yeah?"
"Wanna have police radio sex?"
"Castle," she hisses, "this is a monitored channel."
Oops.
Ryan and Esposito have made a positive id. Their guy is holed up in his own office a few blocks from the apartment. Esposito thinks they might be able to catch him getting rid of evidence if they're a little patient. She radios Castle to move the cars and waits for him to take the lead, pulling in behind him in a tow away zone just down the street from the office. Castle can see the three cops consulting in the rearview mirror.
"We've got to turn off the engine," she says sliding into the passenger seat, "it's freezing out there."
He really wishes he could take her in his arms and warm her up. Heat up Nikki Heat. Later, he tells himself, leaning over the seat to reach in the basket. It's a tight squeeze to fit half his body over the seat beside her, and a huge invasion of her space. She closes her eyes trying to refocus on the moment. She's used to his invasion of her space, the physical closeness. It wasn't always easy before they were together, but she had lots of practice resisting the feelings. She just needs to figure out how to do this now that she has succumbed to the temptation. Without realizing it, when he returns to his seat, his antics kill the mood for her.
He attaches a gaudy plastic hula girl to the dashboard and turns to grin at her.
"Half the battle is mental," he says, giving the doll a flick with his finger, making it sway. She shakes her head at him but can't help but smile as he spreads the blanket out to cover them both. She adjusts herself and the rearview mirrors so she can monitor the situation.
Ryan and Esposito are cast in shadow in the vehicle behind them, she can just make out their breath as the light from the streetlamp hits them from somewhere above. If she can see her partners, they can certainly see her. It's a disappointment.
She slips her hands back under the blanket, rubbing them on her thighs to warm them up. Her eyes stay fixed on the mirror as Castle settles in closely beside her. He's taking up more than his fair share of the space. His body is warm as he leans his side against hers, and it would be so easy to just let him stay connected. With a sigh, she lifts a hand from her thigh and gives him a light shove. She tilts her head, cocks an eyebrow, and waits.
He gets the message, and edges back onto his own seat, clearly as unhappy with the situation as she is.
The hyper-vigilance of waiting for action leaves them both restless.
She is rearranging the blanket when his hand drops to her thigh. His touch is light at first, hesitant. He's unsure just how much he can get away with. How much she'll let him get away with. This thing between them is new, but really, it's old. He's always pushed boundaries with her.
When she doesn't push him away immediately, he gets bolder. Trails his hand over her toned thigh, to the inside seam of her pants. Follows the seam up, feels her squirm slightly as his hand journeys higher.
Patiently, he waits for her eyes to find his. This is how he knows his boundaries with her, their communication not with lips but with eyes. He can see her determination as she turns her head to focus on the side mirror, not acknowledging his actions, except that the arm leaning on the car door just moved so that the back of her hand covers her mouth.
Her legs ease just a little further apart as he begins to tease her through the fabric of her jeans. He sees her bite down on the back of her hand. Turnabout is fair play. She has been bold like this with him in the past, cupping him under precinct desks or behind the closed elevator doors, but he never thought she'd let him return the favor. Her sharp intake of breath ruptures the silence.
He's openly watching her, she knows, but there is a distinct danger in meeting Castle's eyes at this moment. She breaths out through her mouth, slow and steady, blowing like some extinguished party candle is at stake. Wills this breath to control her struggling body.
He sees her skin is a pinker hue now; her eyes remain locked on the side-view mirror, but she blinks just a little longer, a little faster, than normal. Her eyelids flutter, and she fights to keep them open.
He teases the closure on her pants, before throwing caution to the wind and unsnapping them. He lowers the zip painfully slow, the sound of the metal releasing almost deafening in the quiet car.
"Too bad we can't get a look at what he's up to in that office," Esposito laments through the crackle of static.
He's pulling his hand away like he's been burned, and she's closing her jeans and sitting up straight before either of them has a chance to think about it.
A/N: Guess who finally convinced AnnieXMuller to co-author? Can you tell what HEAT she brought to it?