Beckett sighed in pleasure when she lowered herself into the steaming tub. The water was a little hotter than she preferred, but she needed it, she'd decided, and it only took a moment for the hot water to start relaxing muscles that were way too tight. She closed her eyes and leaned back, ready for nothing more serious than the smell of strawberry bath powder and the taste of a moderately priced bottle of wine that she kept around for just this kind of day.

Castle had driven her crazy most of the evening, and she didn't feel at all guilty that she'd already downed half the glass while waiting for the bath to fill. He'd done everything he could to get her to change her mind about taking him to the convention, and she'd turned every effort aside with a well-placed 'no'. Every now and then she'd throw in a stern expression – and even a scowl or two for Esposito and Ryan, who had obviously been enjoying themselves immensely as they watched the verbal sparring. Of course, they weren't going to the convention, so what did it matter to them? She hadn't really wanted to go, either, but Montgomery had made it clear that someone was going to go to represent his precinct and she was that someone.

Even worse, he'd offered her up as a presenter for one of the forums on how to deal with forensic specialists, since she got along so well with the ones they had. Which meant that now she couldn't cancel. The speech was written, the outfit picked out and she'd even had Lanie give her some notes on a few of the cases that they'd worked together in case she needed examples. It was a done deal.

And would be a welcomed break from having a certain writer following her around.

She had just taken another sip of the wine when the phone rang, startling her so badly that she sloshed some of it into the bathwater. Looking over at her cell phone, she knew what the name would be on the caller ID before she even picked it up.

"He never gives up…" she muttered, drying her hand off before reaching for the phone and answering it without looking. "I said no."

"Excuse me?"

She sat up when she realized that the voice wasn't Castle's after all.

"Captain. Hi. Sorry."

"Are you busy, Beckett?"

She wasn't busy but she was suddenly very annoyed, but not at Montgomery. The little weasel had gone running to the Captain! Or maybe to his buddy the mayor who had passed the buck down to Montgomery.

"No. Just…" she looked down at herself and resisted the urge to get a towel and cover up. "I'm not busy. What's up?"

Like she didn't already know.

"I was just wondering if you're ready for your presentation."

She wasn't fooled for a moment.

"Yes, sir, it's all set to go."

"Good."

Not being one to beat around the bush, Beckett couldn't stop herself when she asked her next question, and she couldn't keep the annoyance out of her tone.

"Did Castle call you?"

"About what?"

Which brought her up short as she tried to decide if he was messing with her or not.

"Beckett?"

"Uh, nothing, sir."

"It must be something for you to be so annoyed."

He wasn't trying to hide his own annoyance, now. If there was one thing her captain hated; that was something going on with his people that he didn't know about. She mentally berated herself for even asking – although there had been good reason to believe that Castle had gone straight from Gregory's to the captain.

"It's nothing, sir," she told him again. "Castle found out about the convention."

"And wants to go?"

He didn't sound surprised.

"Yes."

"And you told him no?"

Again, no surprise.

"Right."

"Okay. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Surprised, she didn't even have a chance to tell him goodbye before he hung up. She'd honestly expected him to argue on Castle's behalf. If she was honest with herself, she maybe had almost hoped that he would – but not all that much, really.

Relieved, she put the phone back on the towel it had been sitting on and leaned back and closed her eyes once more. All was well in Beckettland, after all.

OOOOOOOO

She arrived early to work the next morning, feeling rested and refreshed despite the fact that she'd stayed in the bath much later than she'd intended and consequently it had cut into the sleep she was able to get. Early enough that the guys weren't in, and she was able to make it to her desk without hearing anything about the convention.

But it didn't last long.

"Beckett!"

She turned, surprised, and saw Montgomery standing in the doorway to his office.

"Yeah?"

"Come in here a minute," he said, turning and going into the office so she didn't really have any choice but to go.

Bah.

She had a feeling she wasn't going to like it – whatever it was – before she walked in, and when she saw the Mayor sitting on the edge of Montgomery's desk she stopped cold.

"Mr – Mr. Mayor. Good morning."

He smiled.

"Good morning, Detective Beckett," he greeted her.

"Cup of coffee, Beckett?" Montgomery asked.

She frowned, confused, and shook her head.

"No, thank you, sir."

"You're probably wondering what I'm doing here, Detective," the Mayor told her. "It's pretty early, after all."

"Uh, yes, sir."

"I had an interesting call from Captain Montgomery last night." Beckett looked over the Mayor's shoulder, but Montgomery was studiously avoiding her gaze. "About the convention you're going to tomorrow."

She couldn't think of anything to say. So she just said the first thing that came to mind.

"Yes, sir…?"

"We were thinking that if Castle accompanied you it might give us a bit more press than we'd normally get in such a situation," he continued, smoothly. "Not to mention it would be a good way for him to get more ideas for his next book."

"But-"

"Captain Montgomery tells me that you informed him that Rick already wants to go, so I think it'd be great if that happened. Don't you?"

There was only one answer to that, and she knew it. With a purely mental sigh, she nodded her defeat.

"Yes, sir."

His smile was broad and as bright as the morning sun.

"Good! Why don't you let him know? That way it doesn't seem like we set it up?"

She glanced over at Montgomery with a look that plainly said she was going to get even eventually, but he had turned to look at something down on the street outside his window, avoiding her eyes.

"Yes, sir."