I am a fan of this one. Just throwing that out there.

I am loving all of the suggestions and feedback- thanks!

Grazie Mille!

I hope I used that right.

Now go- read. :)

C

Curious

She tip-toed- stepping lightly on the soft pads of her bare feet as she crept down the stairs. She made it to the bottom without so much as a sound, continuing by heading towards the living room. She avoided all of the hard wood floors soft spots, making her stealthy way across the hall into the main room, where wood turned to carpet.

A few more paces and she'd be there.
She approached the door, warily, closing a hand around the cool, brass doorknob, twisting it, slowly.

She swung the door open, quickly, so it didn't creek obnoxiously. Her hand reached inside the room, brushing along the wall, blindly, until her fingers found it- the switch.

She smiled to herself and flicked it on, flooding Castle's office with the soft orange luminance.

It looked completely normal- how it looked all the time.

Despite Castle's chaotic lifestyle, he was very organized- everything just so. Neat. Tidy. The mischievous grin was back as she hurried over to the left hand wall. Just under the large window that consumed the wall was a low, double-shelved horizontal book case. The decorative pillows atop it made the bookshelf into a bay window seat, perfect for laying, sitting, relaxing. And hiding stuff.

Kate crouched down, tapping the exposed back of the book case, lightly.
A hollow sound replied in kind.

She grinned, pleased with this quiet confirmation of her discovery, and grasped the top lip of the seat. She threw it open, revealing the hollow cavity hiding inside.

"Aha!" Castle's voice sounded behind her, making her jump a mile out of her skin.

"Jesus, Rick," she clutched her chest, turning to see the unsuspected visitor. He was standing, in nothing but his bath robe and a very smug expression. She sunk down to a sitting position as she relaxed from her surprise. "You scared the hell out of me!"

"I knew it- I knew it all along, Kate," he said, still wearing that smile. "You were just playing me all along, weren't you?" She looked at him, confused. "Making me dinner, agreeing to watch a Bond movie, dessert." She smiled wickedly at the implication of his last word, memory of not hours earlier brought to the surface. "You were just seducing me so you could slip out of bed in the middle of the night to come look for it."

"Look for what?" she asked, innocently, giving him her best big eyes. He closed in on her, curling into a sitting position beside her, turning his head to face her.

"I thought you didn't want to know?" He asked, dropping the game for a minute.

"I…don't. I'm just…curious, is all." She replied, gravitating closer to him, more out of instinct than anything.

"It's supposed to be a surprise," he told her, letting her rest her head on his shoulder, planting a kiss on her temple.

"I hate surprises," she grumbled.

"Kate- you've waited a whole year," he checked his watch. "A few more hours won't kill you." She let herself sink further down so she was laying, her head resting on his leg as a pillow, face peering up at his.

"Think you beat last year?" she asked him.

He knew she was baiting him, but he couldn't resist. "I blew last year's out of the water with this one."

"I don't know…"

"I'm still not convinced tonight wasn't just a big ploy," he told her, matter of fact-ly, leaning down to place a kiss on her forehead, hanging there, inches from her face.

"I made you dinner because I knew you weren't about to get up and do it," she responded, lifting her head slightly to kiss his cheek. "And I watched the Bond movie with you because I love you," she finished, kissing him on his other cheek, earning a broad smile.

"And dessert?" he asked.

"Mmm," she snaked a hand into his hair, pulling him down for a deep kiss, full on the mouth. At last she pulled away, again resting her head on her makeshift pillow, her fingers still buried in his brown locks. "Purely recreational," she responded in a voice that even now made him choke on air. He smiled, kissing her quickly again before noticing his watch.

Morning was officially upon them, the watch said, and so he used this opportunity to reach into the hollow bookcase and retrieve a small, hand-wrapped box. He set the parcel on her stomach, smiling at her puzzled expression.

"Happy Anniversary, Kate."

Please please please review.
I don't even have anything incredibly clever to say at this point, except for to drop me a line.

It means the world and then some pocket change, really.

softer