Chapter 7

The drive to the construction company office was quiet. Castle had tried to start a conversation, but the scathing look he got in return silenced him. Now and then he cast furtive glances in her direction, trying to assess how much trouble he was in. Normally she was a "let the punishment fit the crime" kind of woman. Mentally he ran through the possibilities, weighing the likelihood of each. He started with the worst, most severe option she had.

One, she could actually kill him. Not at all likely, people would ask questions, and if she let him "accidentally" get shot during one of their suspect take-downs, she would have a ton of paperwork to do.

Two, she could break it off with him. Possible, but not too likely. He had just been having fun with her, and it wasn't as though they had been in a dangerous situation at the time, where distracting her was not only inappropriate but potentially deadly. Still, he was tempted to move the break-up scenario to the top of the worst case list. Being without her after finally knowing was it was like to be with her would be worse than death. It would take him an eternity to win her back again, if she ever let him get that close.

Three, broken bones. Again, probably too severe. It wasn't like he groped her in front of the guys or anything.

Four, she could withhold sex. Possible, and the duration options varied. She could just cold shoulder him for tonight, or a week, or a month, or… Castle shuddered. That was nearly as bad as the break-up option, worse than broken bones. He'd broken bones before, they healed, but again, to be deprived of her sensual ministrations long term would be awful, now that he knew what she was like. His only chance would be to convince her she was depriving herself as well.

Five, she could do what she did out at the beach house, leave him high and dry after getting him all worked up. She might do that, but she would have to wait until he wasn't expecting it.

Six, she could continue what she was already doing, give him the silent treatment. Overcoming that involved a calculated risk. He could try to charm and cajole her into forgiving him, which might work, or might piss her off even more.

He had to figure out a way to get back into her good graces, preferably before she handed down her "sentence". For starters, he would be the poster boy for obedience. Whatever she asked of him, he would eagerly oblige. Of course in order to ask him for anything, she would have to be willing to speak to him.

When they arrived at the construction office, Castle decided it was time to chance breaking the silence again. "Should I stay here, or come in with you?" he asked, meekly.

"If I didn't want you along for the investigation, I would have dropped you off at the first taxi stand and made your excuses when you weren't still with me at the station." With that, she got out and slammed the door. He got out and followed her into the office, but not too closely.

Kate identified herself and Castle to a receptionist, who contacted one of the managers. Kate asked him about Matt, but was told he was scheduled for vacation that week. The manager had overheard Matt saying he was going to his cabin upstate, Croton, he thought.

She thanked the manager for his time, then she and Castle headed back to the car. Once buckled in, Rick turned to her. "So, road trip?" he asked, hopefully.

"Yeah, all the way back to the station," she snapped, putting the car in gear, "where we can contact the Tax Collector's office up there and find out if Porier really does have a cabin. I'm sure as hell not driving up there on some wild goose chase."

The ride back was tense. Castle had to add another option to his punishment list. He hadn't considered open hostility as one of the choices.

"Ok, help me out here, you just said you wanted me along, now you're biting my head off?" he asked.

She sighed. She appeared to be considering something, then pulled over and turned to look at him. "I just haven't figured out what to do with you yet. It's sorta like the teacher who makes the bad kid sit right up next to her desk so she can keep an eye on him. Do you even get why I am upset?" she asked him.

"Not really. All I was trying to do was get you to smile, which worked by the way, whether you admit it or not. We deal with death and depravity all day. You need some levity to balance it," he said, reaching over to take her hand.

"That's very sweet, but you went a little too far. I missed a question I was asked because I was distracted, but what if it had been something more serious? What if the suspect returned and took us by surprise?" She stared him down, waiting for a reply.

Castle bowed his head, willingly conceding the staring contest. He contemplated his hands in his lap for a moment, formulating his answer. "I'm sorry, Kate, you're right." He said it quietly, no ego or childishness evident.

Satisfied that she had made her point, Kate reached over and took his hand. She shouldn't have been surprised at the next thing he said.

"This was a fight, right, so when do we get to have make-up sex?"

She let go and returned her hands to the wheel. With a sidelong glance, she said "Think of it like a board game. You have just been pushed back 10 spaces. To, say, BEFORE the Hamptons?"

Ooooh so she DID choose the "no sex" option. No problem , I can recover from this. "How far before? Like, 'I'm still single' before? Or just back to the plane ride over there?" he asked.

"Do you WANT to be single again?" Kate responded, unshielded insecurity in her tone.

"Oh honey, are you kidding? Have I not made it clear to you that THIS is what I want, more than anything else in the world? I was just fooling, trying to get you to play the jealousy card, which in a way I guess I did. But it was stupid, too soon." He reached for her hand, and when she allowed him to pull it off the wheel, brought it to his lips and kissed it tenderly. "Tell you what, why don't you drop me off, I will catch a cab home. I really should get some more writing done if we are going out tonight. We ARE still going out, right?" he asked, almost pleading.

"I suppose. Meet you there at 6:30?" she agreed.

"Yes! Excellent. See you later!" he said, getting out of the car.