Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop
Castle hadn't been in the precinct, claiming a writing day. Kate suspected he just didn't want to spend the day watching her do paperwork. However, that had meant that he had missed out on the open-and-shut case from the afternoon, one that had upped Kate's mood considerably from the mundane task of filling out and filing the D5s.
Still, she was surprised when she got off the elevator and found the man sitting on the ground outside her apartment, a little bouquet of flowers across his lap, his phone in his hand.
"Hey," she said softly, tapping him with the toe of her sneaker as she unlocked the door.
Castle scrambled to his feet, starting to hide the flowers behind his back then realized she had already seen them. "Uh, hi." He held the flowers out as he followed her into the apartment, toeing off his shoes as she did the same. "These are for you."
She held them up to her face, smiling into the petals. "They're beautiful. Thank you."
He resisted the urge to add "So are you" to the end of the sentence. Cliché. Cliché but true, he thought as he watched her unwrap them from the cellophane and put them in a vase, filling it halfway with water.
"So, why were you sitting outside my apartment with flowers?" she asked, bracing her hands on the counter behind her as she faced him.
"And here I was thinking you were a detective," he murmured with a sly grin and a step toward her.
She swallowed, keeping her eyes locked with his even as she wanted to duck away from the counter. He hadn't run. She certainly wasn't going to. "I am."
Kate couldn't hold back the little shiver that traveled up her spine as he crowded her into the granite countertop, one foot between hers, an arm brushing her side as he held his hand there. She could get away if she wanted, of course, but she wasn't sure she wanted to leave the warmth of his embrace at the moment.
He leaned his head down so his nose pushed at her hair as he whispered into her ear. "Then you should be able to figure out why I'm here, Kate."
She made the mistake of turning her head to reply and found his lips on hers. He seemed as surprised as she did at the action but recovered faster. His free hand came up to cup her neck, holding her in place gently but giving her a chance to escape if she wanted. But she didn't pull back. Instead, she stepped forward, her hips bumping his as she stretched up on her toes.
"Rick," she sighed against his lips, resting her forehead on his as she took a series of deep breaths. "I…"
He shook his head. "You're the lead dance partner, Kate. Whatever you want. However far."
Her heart jumped to her throat and she held back the little choking sound. Oh, what did she do to deserve a man like this one? Over the past months, she'd felt the organ now lodged in her throat mend that little corner that a stranger had taken from her five years ago and Castle was the one who had wielded the needle and thread that had stitched up that hole.
"Can we… Can we move to the living room?" she asked quietly, shifting so she had her cheek pressed to his. "Kitchen is dangerous."
He made the first move this time, moving his hand from her neck to hold her fingertips. They walked around the couch and Kate gave him a tug to sit next to her. He didn't try to kiss her again or to hold any more than her hand between them. So she reached up and threaded her hand through his hair, running her thumb over the scar just above his eyebrow as she leaned across the distance to press her mouth to his again.
"Where's Al?" he asked when they broke apart for oxygen.
Kate smiled, glancing down at their still-joined hands. "Over my dad's. Spending the night watching movies with him and the dog. He missed her and she wanted to have a sleepover."
Then he was gently pushing her onto her back, her head against the arm of the sofa. His nose brushed hers as he butterfly kissed her cheeks, her eyelids, the shell of her ear, the tip of her nose. Then he was pausing, lifting one hand from where he had it braced against the cushions of the couch, and wiping at her cheeks.
She hadn't noticed she was crying until then.
"Kate, what's wrong? We can stop if you don't…"
Kate stopped his stream of thoughts with a finger to his lips, shaking her head. "It's not you. No, it's just…" she paused, closing her eyes, unable to do this with him looking at her like he was holding a treasure in his arms. "God, Rick, I think I love you."
The proclamation had his heart stuttering. But she hadn't stopped.
"And it's been a really long time since I've felt like this. Longer than before Al was around and it feels so strange but I think that feeling's love." Her eyes fluttered open, darting up to meet his and judge if she just made another mistake, ready for him to disappear like a spell broken by her words.
She only had a moment before he kissed her again, soft and warm and sweet.
Not a mistake. Finally something that wasn't going into that column of her life. But really? How could this man who had not only accepted all of her emotional baggage of having a mystery man as her daughter's father and the heartache that went with that but also taken Al on in this nebulous friendship that bordered on something more be a mistake?
"Good. Because, Kate," he said, pulling his head back just enough to look into her eyes. "I think I love you too. And I love Al. You're sort of a package deal."
"Yeah, sort of." She laughed, tilting her head up to give him another kiss. "But not tonight, okay?" she asked, lifting a hand to cup his cheek, grazing his ear with her fingertips. "Just me tonight."
"Selfish…" he muttered.
"Only when it comes to you, Rick. Only with you."
She arched up when his fingers skirted under her shirt, dancing up her sides. The gasp turned into a bubble of laughter when he found a ticklish spot.
"Laughing at me, are you?" he murmured against her neck. Castle nipped at the skin, pulling back. "We'll see how long that lasts." He shifted off of the couch, tugging Kate to her feet. She swayed into his chest and he took advantage of the movement to scoop her up off the ground, her legs hooking around his waist.
"Rick?" she said, resting her chin on his shoulder as he spun around.
He hummed in response, concentrating on moving toward the bedroom.
"I'm glad you didn't run."
Her breath huffed out as he pressed her against the door. "Where would I go, Kate, when all I want is to be here?"
"You going to get us to bed or we going to spend all night here at the doorway?" she asked with a smile, one hand still tangled up in his hair while the other tipped his chin up to meet her eyes. "Because I'd sort of like to be in bed. With you."
"Well then." Swallowing her laughter, he spun them around.
And promptly tripped.
Somehow he managed to get Kate onto the bed before he scrambled to catch himself on the edge of the mattress. His knee still connected with the ground, hissing in pain.
"You okay?" Kate's head appeared over the edge of the bed, trying desperately to hide a smile and failing.
"You're laughing at me again."
The giggle she had been attempting to hold him burst out as he crawled up onto the bed, pressing open-mouthed kisses to the skin bared by the neckline of her button down. His fingers pushed the hem up, setting his mouth to the base of her throat.
"Not laughing at you, Rick." But the fact that she had to bite down on her knuckles to stop from doing the very thing she was insisting that she wasn't doing proved his point. "Okay, maybe a little."
With his knees on either side of her hips, Castle reached down to unbutton the shirt, starting at the bottom and moving up. He pushed the dark green shirt off her shoulders, tossing it across the room. Instead of looking at her body, his eyes stayed on her hazel ones. "Kate… Okay so far?"
She snuck her hands up between them, fingers playing with the hem of his sweater. "Yeah. Listen. I'll tell you if I want to stop. Don't need to keep asking." Then she kissed his jaw line, moving down the column of his throat as she tugged at the sweater.
He gave in, sitting back to take the shirt off, throwing it into a corner. His fingers traced the edge of her black bra, over the gentle curve of her breast. "You're beautiful."
"Not so bad yourself." And he wasn't, all toned arms that she hadn't expected from a writer at all. Her hands looped up over his shoulders, tugging him down for another kiss.
Her eyes were dark as she watched him. His breath flew over her shoulder, spreading across her chest and neck. Kate placed a hand on his cheek, fingertips pushing into his thick hair as she smiled at him from the pillow.
"This might be a slow dance, Rick. It's been a long time."
Castle snagged her wrist, drawing her palm down so he could press a kiss to the center. "I don't care."
"Don't leave," she whispered against his cheek, her nose brushing his. "Whatever happens, don't leave Al and me."
"Never. I'll never leave."
Kate woke up first, blinking into awareness in the sunlight. Her entire right side was warmer than the left and she figured that the fact she was laying on top of Castle had everything to do with that. Her head was cushioned on his shoulder, hand curled up on his bare chest, hair tumbling over the arm that was holding her against him.
His eyes were still closed, mouth open as he slept.
She knew there was no way she was escaping without waking him up. So she shifted, hooking one of her legs over his, and twisted strands of his hair between her fingers.
He hadn't left. He still hadn't left.
"You're thinking too much."
Kate smiled as his eyes opened, meeting hers instantly. "No, I'm not."
"You are. I can see the little thought bubbles coming out of your ears," he said, moving so that he can trace the shell of her ear. "What're you thinking about?"
"Nothing. Everything." She ducked her head down, brushing a kiss over his lips. "Morning."
In a smooth motion, he swung over her, his hips pressing her into the mattress. One hand circled under her neck, thumb settling at the pulse point in her throat. "Morning, Kate."
Neither of them moved, their foreheads touching, eyes closed. She had thought things would be weird but they weren't. Different, yes. But weird, no.
His next three words sealed the absolute rightness of this relationship shift.
"Want some coffee?"
Pushing her head up off the pillow, Kate let her cheek rest on his, her mouth next to his ear. "I'd love some."