After Alexis leaves for the night, Kate ends up in her room on the phone for a while, talking first to the realtor, then the insurance company, then the realtor again. Lanie was right. She was dragging her feet earlier. But it'll be good to get settled, have a place of her own. Get back to normalcy.

Somewhere Castle's mother and daughter won't interrupt them.

The thought flits over her mind so fast it takes her a second to realize that she's planning her future home so she can more conveniently sleep with Rick Castle.

She can smell marinara sauce cooking from downstairs by the time she hangs up. Not surprising. He does love to cook.

She doesn't smell garlic, though. Even though Castle has already proven his ability to make delicious garlic bread.

Clearly, he's thinking ahead tonight.

Kate bites her lip, her cheeks getting warm. She can think ahead too.

Her clothing is scattered at this point. Some things were too badly singed and smokey to salvage. Some are still being cleaned. She's replaced a few basics. But many of the clothes that were in her dresser survived, especially what was near the back of the drawers.

So now she pores through her things and rifles through her underwear until she finds what she's looking for. Something she doesn't wear often. Something special.

She leaves it on her bed for now.

Castle pulls out his best red wine, lights the candles, and surveys the table. Looks like he thought of everything. He even remembered not to make garlic bread. Because he very much intends to kiss her tonight. A lot.

Wait - one more thing.

He grabs the remote and turns on music - soft samba, light and easy and romantic, the sound of a warm beach on a tropical evening.

Would Kate like that? Going somewhere warm, sunny, white sand and turquoise water. Someplace quiet, not like the city. Somewhere she can walk out the back door and straight down to the ocean.

She works too hard. Castle knows the pinched look in her eyebrows; she gets it when the coffee starts to comprise the majority of her bloodstream and she thinks it counts as eating dinner when she grabs some M&M's from the bowl on her desk.

But he's been seeing it less and less. Even after losing her apartment. Beckett's been smiling more, her eyes are brighter, and he thinks her face isn't quite as thin. Now she just needs a bit of sun.

"Dinner smells good."

He looks up to find her on the stairs, smiling down at him. Her eyes are sparkling.

"Hey. Thanks. It's ready. Wine's over here."

Kate comes to join him, and the look on her face doesn't fade. If anything, she looks even more delighted, like she's got some delicious secret.

He hands her a glass of wine. "What?"

"What do you mean?"

"You look like you've got a secret." He slips an arm around her waist, watching the delicate pink flush spread across her collarbone. "Something you wanna tell the class?"

"Mmm. No." She catches his lower lip between her teeth. "But maybe later I'll show you."

Dinner is quiet and romantic and perfect. Kate can't stop smiling, the red wine buzzing in her veins, a slow, humming flush that's in her skin. Castle's a little jumpy, she can tell. Eager. He watches her over his wineglass and she half-wonders if she should just set down her fork and throw him onto the floor.

He insists on taking her dishes; she leans on the kitchen island, watching him rinse them off and load the dishwasher. His arms flex under his rolled-up sleeves, his fingers strong and nimble, and now all she can think about is the long, detailed list of exactly what those hands might be able to do.

"Kate?"

"Hmm?"

Castle's got a smirk on his face, and she's pretty sure he caught her staring. He doesn't seem to mind. "See something you like?"

"Maybe."

She turns back to blow out the candles on the table, and Castle catches her wrist.

"Come on." He pulls her hand, and she almost comes with him, but then she remembers what's on her bed.

"Just a second."

"What?"

"I have to run upstairs. I'll be right back down," she whispers into his mouth. "Just need to - take care of something."

It's the second time Castle's found himself in his bedroom, waiting for Kate to join him.

He's prepared here, too. He even brought a few candles. He lights them, checks to make sure there are no clothes on the floor - not yet, anyway - and turns back to the door to find Kate already there.

"Oh."

He stares.

He wasn't expecting her to be wearing that.