Here is chapter 8! enjoy!

Everything was ready. He had planned everything and nothing would prevent him from doing exactly what he had planned. He had been studying like crazy for the last three months, he had three more months before taking the exam. Kate had the weekend off, and he was decided to make the most of it. She didn't know it yet but Kate was going to be swept off her feet and she would never forget this weekend. He had talked to Gates about his plan. She had been surprisingly understanding and had even suggested that Kate take the Monday off, which Rick had readily agreed to. He was now on his way to the precinct to get Kate out for lunch. What he didn't plan on telling her was that they were going to have lunch … in the Hamptons. He hadn't planned anything for their afternoon, expecting Kate to be mad at him.

When he pulled up in front of the precinct, she was waiting on the sidewalk. She got in the car and kissed him before putting her seat belt on. It still amazed him how open she was with him. And even more so since their relationship had been made public. She didn't seem to mind being stopped in the streets by photographs or random people. He didn't dare talk to her about it, afraid she would change her mind and tell him she couldn't do it. But he would have to talk to her soon.

Kate relaxed in the passenger seat, happy that Rick had come to take her to lunch. She didn't have any case open so the break from paperwork was welcome. She closed her eyes for a minute, taking a deep breath. When she opened them – after what she thought was a few minutes but was really half an hour – she tensed. Rick could feel it and prepared himself for what was to come.

"Rick! Where are you going! I need to be back at work in an hour!" Kate almost yelled, looking out the window and seeing only trees and fields.

"We're going to the Hamptons, and you don't have to go back to work before Tuesday." Rick said calmly.

"What did you do?" Kate asked, turning towards him.

"I planned a romantic weekend away with my girlfriend." He simply explained. "I have the weekend free, you have too, the weather is supposed to be nice in the Hamptons for the next few days. And since our first Hampton get away did not really go as I had planned …"

"Well, that's a way to put it." Kate laughed. "But the end was worth it right?" she asked, looking at him with her sultry eyes.

"Oh yes! definitely worth it!" Rick groaned.

"Keep your eyes on the road Rick." she said when she saw him looking at her.

"Well, maybe you should take your hand off my thigh, or I'll have to pull over."

"Calm down Ricky. I'm still mad at you for not telling me anything." Kate said, turning her head towards the window but failing to hide her smile from Rick.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

When Rick drove in the driveway of his house, Kate was asleep, her head turned towards the window. Rick stopped the car, got everything out of the car and in the house, before going back to get Kate.

"Hey Kate. Wake up love, we're here." Rick said, kissing her awake.

"Mmmm" Kate groaned, burying her head into Rick's chest.

"Come on Kate." Rick laughed. "Let's go inside and have our lunch." He continued, helping her on her feet.

"So if I get this right, you kidnap me and then you wake me up, what's wrong with you?"

"You're not really mad are you? Because if you really want to, I can drive us back to the city." Rick said.

Kate felt bad when she turned around and saw that his face had fallen. He looked so sad.

"Rick, no. I'm not really mad. I just wished you'd told me. But I'm really happy to be here with you." Kate said, kissing him softly, knowing he needed the reassurance. "I swear, I love that you planned this weekend, I think we both needed some time away, just the two of us." She added, taking him by the hand and leading him inside.

After a light lunch, Kate and Rick headed to the beach. It was still too early in the year to go in the sea but they wanted to walk around for a bit, make the most of the sun. They walked up the beach for about an hour before Kate stopped and sat down on the sand. Rick sat down behind her and hugged her to his chest.

"You ok?"

"Yeah. It's perfect. Thank you so much for taking me here."

"I'm sorry I blindsided you Kate. Really." Rick said, hugging her tighter.

"Don't apologize. This is perfect. You are perfect. You seem to know exactly what I need before I do. You make me live and I love it. I think I kind of forgot how to live spontaneously." Kate sighed, relaxing in his arms, closing her eyes and letting herself breathe in the fresh air.

They stayed like that for a while before deciding to go back to the house. As soon as they arrived they looked around for what to do for dinner. While Rick was cooking, Kate went up to their bedroom to look at what he had packed for her. She was surprised to see that he didn't pack only her underwear but also normal, covering clothes. However, she couldn't help but smile when she saw her short sleeveless blue robe. She went back downstairs, the robe in her hand. When Rick saw it, a huge smile appeared on his face.

"So you found it, uh?"

"Yes. Why did you pack it. I bought a new one like two weeks ago. And you know it because you were with me." Kate said.

"Yeah well. I was hoping for a repeat performance of last time. Without the dead guy in the pool of course." Rick said, smiling brightly with a pleading look on his face.

"Uh! That can be arranged I think. Too bad though …" Kate teased, trying to keep her face straight.

"What? Why is it so bad?" Rick asked.

"Well, I wasn't really planning on leaving the house … maybe not even the bed for the whole weekend." She explained, laughing out loud when she saw Rick's face. "I'll have you know, Mr. Castle, that I'm very appreciative of you being willing to go to the Academy to be able to continue working with me. And I know how hard you have been working lately, I thought that you deserve some really nice reward for everything you have done." Kate almost purred, as she got up and put her arms around his waist, pulling him to her.

"Are you the reward?"

"Maybe …"

"Because if you are, I have to tell you that I worked harder than I ever did in my entire life. I'm completely exhausted and I think if I had to read one more procedure book, I'll go blind. It would be a shame … so many beautiful things in this world." Rick said, looking at her in the eyes with so much intensity that she found herself blushing.

"Rick?"

"Yes?"

"Stop talking. Stop cooking whatever it is you were doing and come and collect your reward." Kate said, walking toward the pool, losing pieces of clothing on her way there.

He did as he was told, as fast as he could, and started taking his clothes off on the way to the pool. When he felt it in his pocket, he hesitated. Where could he put it so Kate wouldn't find it. Being very impatient to go meet her in the pool, he put it into a marble vase that was on the piano, and run outside.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

They had been … playing … for almost an hour in the pool when Kate started to shiver. Rick carried her out and buried her in one of the robes he always kept in a chest by the pool. He knew they would come in handy one day.

Kate may have been cold in the water, be she seemed determined to have Rick warm her up. As they went back into the house, kissing more and more passionately, Rick kind of lost track of the objects in the room, too engrossed by Kate to be thinking about anything else. They had hardly passed the French windows that they were crashing onto the piano. Kate laughed, letting go of his lips for a few seconds. She was leaning back in when she heard something break on the floor. As she turned her head towards the noise, she felt Rick tense around her. As soon as she saw it, she knew why.

"Rick, what is that?" she asked calmly, trying not to hyperventilate as she couldn't take her eyes off the little black box that was on the floor. A little black box that looked suspiciously similar to a ring box.

So? did you see it coming? what did you think of this chapter?