Chapter 17
Three weeks later...
Rick tapped his pen against his thigh, not taking notice of the repetitive motion on his leg. His eyes were glazed and unfocused. His mind off, far away from the meeting he was currently stuck in. His thoughts had wandered back to Kate, a habit he couldn't seem to stop. He had promised himself that he would try not to think about her as much as he used to, but she always had a way of worming herself into any of his thoughts.
Three weeks ago to the day he had watched her pass through the gate at the airport, heading to a plane bound for California. Three weeks since he had seen face radiant smile. Three weeks since he had kissed her soft lips tenderly. The list was never ending, it repeated itself a thousand times in his head when ever he allowed her to entrance into his thoughts.
"Mr. Castle." A voice interrupted his train of thought. "Mr. Castle!"
"Yeah... Uh... Sorry." Rick looked up at the man at the head of the conference table, his vision still clouded.
"Do you have anything you want to add before we go?" The man asked.
"Uh... No. Thanks." Rick stammered.
"Okay then. Thanks for coming." He rose gathering some papers Rick didn't notice he had laid out. Rick looked around the table, everyone was also standing to leave, organizing papers in the process. He stood slowly, looking down at the space of table in front of him he realized he hadn't paid any attention to the meeting at all, his pen was still capped in his hand, the pad of paper he had brought was still empty. Not even an ink blotch tattooed the paper.
He was turning to make his way out of the conference room, when he heard his name.
"Rick!" He turned, his mind still off. He was met by Gina Cowell, his publisher.
"Hello." He nodded politely.
"Hey... um... I was wondering if you might want to grab a drink some time?" She handed him a business card, one he already had. He opened his mouth about to decline when she continued.
"You know, maybe just to talk or something." She suggested, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Thanks." He shrugged, stowing the card away in his back pocket.
"Well. Call me." She tossed a smile over her shoulder as she moved away from him.
A month later...
Rick was perched on the edge of seat, leaning on the table in front of him. The scent of the black sharpie in his hand was still strong in his nostrils, he had become used to it though, he no longer felt lightheaded or maybe he was just to the feeling. The fake smile that was plastered to his face was beginning to torture the muscles in his face. He was only half paying attention to the people that were crawling slowly in front of him. Reciting the same four words over and over, And your name is?
It was his second book signing this week. Paula had asked him to do a two week book signing at the end of the month. He would be traveling through the New England states. Today he was in upstate New York after the signing in Manhattan. Alexis thankfully was allowed to accompany him on his journeys. He didn't have to worry about her at home, granted he didn't really have to worry about her here either. Gina was watching her now, reading her a book about a boy wizard in Great Britain.
He and Gina continually said that they weren't together, despite the fact that they spent so much time together. They had gone out for drinks a couple of times, throwing in the occasional dinner or lunch. The press was making sure that the rest of the world knew of the couple and their activities.
Rick glanced up to look across the bookstore at his daughter, who at the moment was curled up into Gina's side, he smiled at the sight, he hadn't seen Alexis as happy as she had been recently since Kate had left. His mind hadn't wandered to Kate as much as it used, he still thought of her more than he thought healthy, but it was time to move on. All he hoped was that Kate had moved on as well.
X-X-X-X
The book signing was finally over two hours later. Rick gathered up his jacket from the back of the chair and made his way across the bookstore to where Alexis and Gina had both fallen asleep, cuddled up next to each other on a bean bag chair. The book Gina had been reading aloud to the little girl was open on her stomach. Rick knelt beside them picking up the book gently he marked the page and placed it carefully on the ground. He quietly whispered in Gina's ear.
"Hey. Time to wake up." He smiled next to her ear. He felt her stretching out next to him.
"Hey. How long was I out?" She asked quietly. Making sure not to wake the sleeping redhead next to her.
"An hour or so." Rick shrugged moving to lift his daughter off the chair and carry her to the car. Gina walked beside him, telling that Alexis was an absolute angel. After strapping Alexis into her car seat. "Do you need a lift to the hotel?" He offered Gina kindly.
"That'd be great." She smiled and moved around to the passenger side of the car. The drive was quick and silent.
Gina carried Rick's bag while he picked up Alexis. They caught the elevator just in time. Gina followed Rick to his room, about to hand him his bag and head to her room he stopped her with a question.
"You want to come in?" He asked. "We can have a glass of wine." He suggested.
"That's sounds nice." She nodded. Rick lead her into his suite.
"Make yourself at home. I'm going to put her bed." He smiled and carried his daughter to her room. After changing Alexis into her pajamas and making sure that Monkey-Bonkey was snuggled her arm and kissing her forehead, he turned out the light and closed the door softly. Making his way back to the kitchen he found Gina with two glasses of a deep red wine in her hands.
"Thanks." He smiled taking the glass.
She smiled in return, taking half a step closer to him. She placed her glass on the counter beside her. He didn't flinch when she placed her hand over his own on the counter, she looked up at him carefully catching his eyes. She moved her mouth to the strong line of his jaw.
"How long are we going to dance around each other?" She dropped a soft kiss, leaving a small trail up his jaw. He felt the glass of wine he was holding slip from his grasp and crash on the floor, while his hands found her hips. She pulled her lips away from his cheek looking up at him. Their eyes met for a second before he claimed her lips with his.
Okay I know it's a bit of a short chapter, but here it is.
Leave your thoughts and ideas. Thank you guys for keeping up with me on this. :)