A/N: Okay, I know it's pretty ridiculous, but here I am – BEGGING you to review. Just this once.
I'm not sure I managed to write this chapter exactly the way I wanted it and I could use a little feedback to understand what worked and what didn't. I was so anxious to get this out as soon as possible and not make you guys wait I even bypassed my supportive beta – sorry, BURN3!
So, reviews? Pretty please?
On a side note: I'm close to 100 followers. Wow. Never expected to get 100 people reading my first fic. Really, thank you ;)
While Martha poured a glass of wine for herself in the kitchen, Alexis lounged on the living room couch with her iPod (book, for once, forgotten on her lap) and the both of them watched in unison as the man in their family touched his hair self-consciously then checked his pockets for his keys, wallet and phone, going about getting ready for his date this Saturday night – the fourth one this week.
"Who is the blonde du jour?" The flamboyant woman asked her granddaughter in a whisper as she settled herself on the couch, holding the glass of wine steadily in her hand and picking up the sheets of paper that she had left earlier on the coffee table.
Somehow, the two redheads had managed to make a sort of family tradition out of watching Rick going by his 'fourth stage of post-divorce grieving', as Martha had put it.
Alexis's reply was out of script this time, though. "I don't know." After a beat, she added with a slight frown. "Actually, I have no idea where he's going or what he's doing tonight."
As grandmother and granddaughter looked at each other in question, trying to figure out how come this time they didn't have any information on one of Castle's dates, the man himself addressed them with a smile. "You two going to stay in tonight?"
Turning to her father, Alexis replied to his inquiry nonchalantly, "Paige and Lauren are coming over for a girls' night in."
"Right," He acknowledged the information she had already provided him with earlier in the day. "And you, Mother?"
She pointed at the pages on her lap and raised the glass of wine in her left hand. "I'm just going to stay in, drink some wine and prepare for the audition I have on Monday."
"Quiet evening, huh?" He mused.
"We all need it once in a while," The older woman ventured. "And what are you doing tonight?"
"I'm just going to dinner," He replied with an easy smile that reached his eyes and no further information.
Martha stared at her son expectantly, as if willing him to say anything more about his plans. After a whole seven seconds and no words out of her son's mouth, she tried again, "Dinner, huh? With whom?"
"Just a friend," He told his mother casually, once again refraining from divulging anything else. "Well, you two enjoy your evening. I'll see you later, okay?"
With a kiss to the teen's forehead and another to the older woman's cheek, Rick walked out of the loft, leaving the redheads mystified by his sudden secrecy.
Usually, he couldn't wait to brag about his dates.
"What just happened?" Alexis asked, once her father was out of earshot.
"Beats me, Kiddo." Martha took a sip of her wine. "But, whoever she is, this one is definitely different."
He was right on time. Not a second earlier, not a beat late. A quarter before eight, on the dot, her intercom was buzzing.
He was right on time, but she was almost ready.
Nude pumps in hands, Kate hurried out of her bedroom barefoot and still adjusting her dress to answer the intercom. "Castle?"
"Yeah."
"I need a minute," She said through the interphone while putting on her shoes. "Would you like to come up?"
"Sure," The writer's voice sounded uncertain and excited at the same time.
"Second floor, second door to your right," she directed after buzzing him.
Knowing she didn't have much time before he arrived at her floor, the detective unlocked the door before rushing back to her bedroom. Looking at herself in the mirror, she went over the checklist in her mind to see what was missing – hair and make-up: done; dress and shoes: in place; jewelry: check; purse: on the bed. As she stared at the clutch bag she had picked out for tonight and contemplated whether or not to take her gun and shield as well as a pack of condoms with her (you never know if you'll need any of those items on a first date, her mind supplied), Kate heard the knock on her door.
He was here already.
Shouting "it's open!" over her shoulders, the brunette quickly bypassed her gun and shield and stuffed a single condom into her bag. Not that I'm going to need it, she argued internally. It's just in case.
She took a moment to admire herself in the sleeveless trapeze cocktail dress she was wearing, the exquisite sequined mock neckline blending beautifully with the dress's metallic nude in true Badgley Mischka form – so what if the dress had been expensive? It was totally worth it! –, outfit complemented by the pumps which highlighted her long legs.
She was good to go.
Turning off the light, she grabbed her clutch bag and walked out of the bedroom and into her living room, where she was met with a snazzy Richard Castle, wearing a black suit and matching shirt with a purple tie, the whole ensemble sophisticatedly stating 'Armani'.
"You look absolutely stunning," Kate heard him complimenting her, which snapped her out of her short-lived reverie. Taking in the adoring smile on his face, she thanked him sincerely, with a faint blush to her cheeks.
For his part, Castle had been mesmerized the moment she had stepped into view, his mind immediately at work trying to catalog her entire appearance – the short hair discreetly clipped back on the left side while the rest of it was left down in soft waves, the elegant eyeliner combined with the matte dark red lipstick... and then there was that dress. That cocktail dress that proved that Kate Beckett was seductive and tasteful at the same time.
"You look great yourself," He heard her say, now his turn to be shaken out of his stupor.
"I have my moments," Rick remarked with a smile. "I've even been told I'm ruggedly handsome." At that, he smirked smugly.
"I wouldn't go that far," Beckett quipped.
The novelist laughed, already enjoying this carefree – even if a bit nervous – version of the lovely detective. Then, as if a light bulb had flicked on in his mind, he announced, "Oh! I brought…" He quickly turned around to catch something on her coffee table, "…these for you."
With that, he handed her a small but beautiful floral arrangement with red roses, pink and lilac peonies and white baby's breath, all graciously seated in a blue vase with plenty of green fillers.
How had she missed that sitting on her coffee table when she had walked in the room?
Nevertheless, Kate could not contain the warm smile on her lips as she took the flowers from him. "They are perfect, Castle." She gently smelled them before walking towards the dining table, where she set the arrangement. "Thank you."
He smiled back at her before asking, "Are you ready to go?"
"Yes," she replied, holding the clutch bag self-consciously.
"Then let's go," he told her, taking her arm in his.
They had been making polite conversation during the car ride, warming up to their evening together, so Beckett hadn't exactly paid attention to where they were going – she had tried asking him as soon as they left her place, but Castle had only replied with a "you'll see when we get there". Now, the town car had come to a stop on Christopher St., and Kate turned with curious eyes to look at the man sitting on her right, failing to recognize why they had stopped on this particular part of the city. She hadn't even noticed before that they were in the West Village.
Urged by the secretive smile the author had on his lips as he pressed his entire upper body against the backseat to grant her access to the car window on his side, the detective looked out through the glass, suddenly noticing a small restaurant outside, its burgundy walls and warm yellow lights adding to the intimate atmosphere oozing out of the place.
Rick marveled at the way Kate's features morphed from questioning into captivated the moment she took notice of the tiny trattoria in front of them. Once she turned her eyes to him again, he grinned at her. "Welcome to I Sodi."
Kate's eyes sparkled, but Rick was suddenly unable to properly read the look she had on her face. Afraid he had done something wrong, the author refrained from opening the car door. "Everything okay?"
She shook her head more at herself than at him, enigmatic smile on her lips. "Yeah, it's just…" She trailed off. Gathering her thoughts, she resumed. "I thought you'd take me somewhere high-status. You know, try to impress me with something upscale."
Still struggling to assess her reaction, he spoke. "I could, but you don't strike me as the kind of woman who would want all that for our first date."
Although Castle had tried to sound confident, Kate could hear the questioning tone in his voice, as if he needed validation that he had made the right choice. "You thought right, Castle. This is much better."
Rick beamed, relief evident in his eyes. "I'm glad."
The truth is, when Kate accepted his dinner invitation two days earlier, the writer had immediately done everything she just told him she had expected him to do – he booked a limo ride, arranged for drinks at Flûte, made last minute reservations at Per Se, set the whole nine yards for their date. It wasn't until their conversation the night before that he realized that, instead of impressed, she could maybe feel uneasy with the attention that going to these high profile places with a famous author would most likely attract.
"But don't worry," The author added. "The food here is amazing. It's one of my favorite restaurants in town." Stepping out of the town car, he extended his hand to Kate, who was still sitting in the backseat. "Shall we?"
She took his hand with a mega watt smile. "Let's go."
As the two of them walked into the tiny Italian restaurant – there couldn't be more than ten tables inside –, the chef, who was just walking away from the table in front of the door, immediately greeted them. "Rick, you came!"
Okay, maybe she just greeted him.
"Told you I would, Rita." Castle gave her an easy smile. "Thanks so much for having a table for us on such short notice," he said, running his right hand over Kate's back, soothing her nerves.
How did he know to do that, she wondered.
"No problem. It's a pleasure to have you here. And you finally brought a date!"
The chef's sincere smile immediately cleared the air for Beckett and she couldn't help but grin back. Well, it did help that Rita had made it clear Castle had never brought a date to this place – made Kate feel special.
As if reading her thoughts, the writer stared into Kate's eyes as he said earnestly, "Well, this one is special, you see."
Unable to stop herself from smiling back at him, the detective wondered, once again, how did he know to do that.
Rita inadvertently interrupted them, taking over the proper introductions and then leading them to their table, which was the most secluded one available. Their waiter had come over, politely presented them with wine and meal options and, after taking their orders, left them to enjoy each other's company. Finally.
Kate couldn't help but think that this had the makings to be the best date ever.
Rick thought it already was.
They were enjoying their tiramisu (prepared to perfection, as the whole dinner had been) when Beckett felt her phone vibrating in her clutch bag. Looking apologetically at her companion, she gently wiped her lips with the linen napkin before answering the call – from the precinct, nonetheless.
A few right, great, sure and no problem's later, the detective hung up. When she looked up from her phone into Castle's eyes contritely, he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Is there a problem?"
"That was Ryan. They boys caught a break in the case we're working on and are bringing the suspect in."
Her tone indicated that it was not simply an update call. "Don't you have the night off?"
"I do." She sighed. "I do, Castle, but this is my case."
"So what? Why don't you just say you can't come in now?"
"Because…" she stopped, taking a long breath. "Because, usually, I'd come in."
He realized what she was trying to say. "Because this is what they expect of you and if you say you can't, then they'll start prying and you don't want people to know you were out with me."
His voice was steady and calm, but there was just a hint of hurt underlying in his tone to catch her attention. "It's not that I don't want them to know I was out with you, Rick. It's just how I am. I'm private. I'm cautious." She tried to catch his gaze. "As a woman, sometimes it's hard to be respected as a detective and I don't want any gossips about my personal life to cloud their assessment of me professionally. And that would be a bit harder if the whole department learned I couldn't go in because I was on a date with the world renowned mystery novelist Rick Castle. That's all they would talk about."
"I get it," He said with a slight pout. At her pointed look, he amended, "I think I do, at least." Taking her hand, he questioned, "But how long will we have to hide?"
His question genuinely caught her off guard. "How long…?"
"Yeah. I mean, we can't hide forever, right?"
"Forever…?" She parroted, looking at their joined hands.
Realizing her perplexity, he tentatively ran his thumb over the back of her hand and smiled. "Look. This was a great date, right?"
She nodded, smiling bashfully.
"And I'd like for this to happen again. Soon." As her smile widened, he grew bolder. "And a lot of times after that as well."
She brought her lower lip between her teeth and bit lightly. "I think I'd like that too."
His smile was blinding. "Well, let me get the check and then I'll drop you off."
As they walked up to her doorstep, Rick's left hand comfortably seated on her lower back, Kate had a hard time thinking about why she had initially deemed going out with him a bad idea. Turning to face him once they reached her door, she said, "I really did have a great time. Thanks for insisting in this."
"Thanks for caving in eventually." He retorted without missing a beat.
They smiled at one another, not saying anything else. After a few moments of just watching each other, the writer softly brought his left hand off from the spot in her waist to where it had slid when she turned around and cupped her right cheek, watching for any signs on her features.
All he saw was shyness and expectation mingled in the detective's beautiful greenish eyes.
Slowly, he leaned in and felt her drawing closer as well, their lips only an inch apart now. He sensed more than saw her hands coming to rest on his sides, their gaze still locked, never faltering, not even when he tenderly ran his thumb over her cheek. For her part, Kate was feeling ridiculous for the way her heart fluttered just from him looking at her. That didn't stop her from savoring the moment, though.
Only when Rick's hand moved from her cheek to smooth her hair back and his lips drew even closer to her own did her eyes come near to closing, but even then her gaze somehow still seeped through her semi-shut eyelids. His still free right hand then came to rest on her lower back and, as she felt the warmth from his whole body coming to meet hers, her eyes finally shut.
Succumbing to his own instincts, Castle closed the minute gap that still existed between them and touched his own lips to Beckett's, in a move that was at first timid, but that grew feverish and demanding as soon as he heard her dropping her clutch bag to the floor with an unconscious moan coming from her throat. Their hands started roaming of their own volition, searching and learning the ways to the other's body, and when she broke the kiss to run her lips over his jaw, he turned them both until she was pressed against her front door. When she felt the full contact of his body on hers, the best Kate could do was muffle the moan that escaped her lips in his neck.
She was no longer thinking; now, she was only feeling.
And it felt amazing.
Rick groaned, pressing himself to her body even harder, now as close to each other as physically possible. It suddenly occurred to him that they were still outside in her hallway and that, unfortunately, she was still supposed to go to the precinct.
Then again, if she wasn't stopping him, who was he to argue with her?
As one of her hands found its way under his dress shirt on his back, Rick closed his eyes and bit down on her neck, trying to come up with any and every single thought that would keep him from twining her legs around his waist and pounding their way into her apartment, where he would –
The chime from her phone interrupted his thoughts.
Grumbling in irritation, frustration and pure agony, Beckett put some distance between herself and the panting writer in front of her before she answered her phone, "What?"
She could only hope her breathlessness wouldn't show on her voice – his darkened eyes were doing nothing to help her refrain from jumping him, though. "I'm on my way," she told the person on the other side of the line while still staring into his eyes. "I had to stop at home." Another beat of silence on her part and then she added, "I didn't have my shield and gun with me."
She had to physically turn away from Castle so she would be able to concentrate on her phone call.
When she did so, the novelist was greeted with the sight of her naked shoulders staring at him. "Oh, God, just kill me now," He muttered.
She turned back to glare at him, running her unoccupied hand over her neck until she realized he had undone the buttons on her mock neckline. That's why my dress feels loose, she realized. When did he do that?
The surprise she felt must have shown on her face, because then Castle was giving her a full Cheshire cat smile. Before she could admonish him, though, she said into the phone, "Another twenty minutes. Okay, see you then."
She hung up her phone and the two of them were left alone once again, silence and want filling the air.
"I should…" Beckett started, pointing back to her door.
"Yeah, I'll just…" Castle pointed back himself, towards the elevator. But then he was walking up to her again. "Can I call you tomorrow?" He asked as he settled both of his hands on her waist.
Kate smiled, amused, as she circled his neck with her arms. "Yes, Castle, you can call me tomorrow."
"Good," He said before slowly kissing her thoroughly. When they broke apart, he pressed his forehead against hers. "Call me if you need any help with your case."
She chuckled. "What, now all of the sudden you're a consultant with the NYPD?"
"Hey, I can be pretty useful," He argued in mock hurt.
"I'm sure you think so," she quipped. Stealing another kiss from his lips, she added, "You really need to go."
"Can't resist me, huh?"
"Right now, I don't want to resist you," She answered, surprising him. "Which is why you need to go."
He kissed her once more, harder this time, but put a stop to their embrace before things could get out of hand again. "Until tomorrow, Kate."
"'Til then, Castle."
Beckett watched intently as Rick made his way into the elevator, grinning when he waved jovially at her. Shaking her head after he disappeared through the doors, she picked up the clutch bag forgotten on the hallway floor to get her apartment keys. Once she searched inside the bag, she came across the single condom she had stuffed there, the rubber mocking her.
She sighed. Should have gone with the gun and shield.
TBC
(All characters and even some of the quotes in this fanfic don't belong to me. This is made available for entertainment only and not for profit. No copyright infringement is intended.)