Chapter 36 – Be Fearless.

Disclaimer – Obviously not mine, I don't do crime stories.

Very humbled by the reviewer who called me evil and the reviewer who suggested a piece of prose had appeared. Evil is easier than prose.

Slipping his hands inside her coast, snaking his arms around her, Rick pulled her closer. "Hello Kate."

Her kiss tasted so right – until he his hand felt the hard cold butt of her gun – she was packing, her service weapon not bags for a weekend away. She was empty handed, no luggage in sight.

Rick shot back as if he had been hit with a Taser. His body filled with uncontrollable tension.

"Wait."

Confusion swept across Kate's face. "Wait?"

"I thought we were going away together." Rick's face screwed up into a painful scowl "Alone, to talk."

The crinkles around Rick's eyes hardened as he glared at her "You don't have a bag."

He stared at the cracks in the sidewalk, willing one of them to open up and take him away. "I feel like a fool all packed up and ready to go. I am done playing games."

Kate grasped at the lapels of his coat, tugging him towards her. She placed a finger on his chin, tipping his face to meet hers. "So am I."

She ran her finger from his chin to his heart. Tapping his chest gently she said, "Might not have a right to ask for it, but have a little faith in me." Rick rested his forehead to hers and exhaled "Trying."

He noticed that a smile played on her lips and her eyes were bright. Rick felt the tension begin to drain from his body. "Gates put me on call 'til noon. Ryan had flight issues."

She turned up the sleeve of his coat and tapped the face of his watch, her lips formed into a toothy smile "I'm praying a body doesn't drop in the next fifty-four minute. Ready to go?"

Kate nodded her head towards the town car she asked. "For us?" She already knew it was, but wanted to acknowledge Rick's generosity, without admitting she had spied on him earlier.

"Yes."

"Nice touch. I love a good town car."

Castle's scowl had vanished. The corner of his lips began to twitch as he took in the expression on her face. Kate's eyes were full of life. He spun to the car to open the door, only to stop and look at her again.

She looked good.

No she looked great. He let out a little snicker "You better hope a body doesn't drop. Wearing this outfit…" and traced the tip of his finger across her abs where her skin peaked out between her shirt and the top of her jeans. "Esposito won't need to see you carrying luggage to know something is up."

"Got that covered – I told him."

Rick swallowed several times, he couldn't help it. He knew his Adam's apple was giving him away. "Told him what?"

Kate looked him square in the eye and replied "Everything."

Rick let out a little breath and questioned her with his eyes. He wanted to ask what 'everything' meant to her, to hear her explain it. The look in her eyes said 'all in good time.'

Rick acquiesced. "Okay then."

Once settled into the car he asked "Where to?"

Kate rested a hand on his thigh, gave it a quick squeeze and let out a nervous chuckle. "Ten West."

Rick's eyebrows danced and his voice went up an octave. "Really?"

She returned his 'really' with a mocking higher pitched "Really!"

He placed his hand over hers, took a moment to collect his thoughts. Every word and movement she made said everything was on the right track. But how many times had they fought, made up and never talked about what needed to be talked about? Was this going to be another one of those times? He needed a sign. "Any ground rules for our adventure?" She always had rules.

It was impossible to miss the confusion that had played out across Rick's face. Kate realized she had a tremendous amount of work ahead of her, they both did. "Rules would imply one of us was in charge. So, no Rick, there are no rules."

He smiled and brushed his free hand through his hair "Good."

Kate had to back track, "Well maybe one."

Rick braced himself. He never was very good with rules.

"Honesty."

As they arrived at the hotel Rick tapped his driver on the shoulder, "Just pop the trunk. I'll take it from here."

Rick scurried around the car to open her door. He was pleasantly surprised to see her calmly waiting for him. He thought for sure she would be half way out of the car or on the curb before he made it around the car. Rick offered his hand to help her out of the car. She took it without saying a word or batting an eye. Rick quirked an eyebrow at Kate "Who are you and where is my Beckett?"

She gave him what he previously dubbed the 'Mona Lisa' smile, and ignored his question. "We need to go in through the residence entrance."

Rick couldn't hide the shock in his voice "YOU have a residence?"

"Maddie."

It was all starting to make sense. Rick had friends who lived at the Ritz in Boston. They were all set up the same. "Meaning?" He wanted to hear her say it.

Kate knew what he wanted to hear. "I asked for help. Maddie gets outrageously affordable deals at the hotel. The views of 'Lady Liberty' and the Harbor at night are stunning."

His face broke into a shit eating grin. Rick Castle knew seduction when he saw it.

Kate chose to ignore the delight that flickered through Rick's eyes. "Only drawback is you'll have to carry your own bag. We duck into the residence entrance, grab the keys and head on up. We aren't officially registered guests."

When Kate gave the doorman her name, she expected an envelope of sorts. The little black bag the doorman presented Kate with was a surprise. Kate knew the origin of that specific type of little black bag. After all it was imprinted with 'La Perla.'

She crossed her fingers it was a repurposed bag. Kate tentatively dipped her hand inside. Her fingers felt the tissue paper, followed by the softest of silk and knew Maddie hadn't recycled the bag.

Kate delicately moved past the silk, desperately fighting the urge roll her eyes at the thought of her friend lingerie shopping for her. As she extracted the card key envelope, Kate caught the flash of recognition on Rick's face.

He had been watching her through hooded eyes and the way Rick struggled to suppress a smile, she knew, he knew, she knew that the bag wasn't just about key cards.

Ignoring the situation at hand, Kate pulled a key card from its envelope and handed it to Rick. A piece of paper fluttered to the floor. Rick bent over to retrieve it. He couldn't help but read it. His cheeks turned red, his steely blue eyes darkened to a violet color. If they could get through the honesty part of the weekend Date #4 was a lock. He cleared his throat as he handed the note to Kate "Think this is for you."

Rick retrained himself from whipping out his phone to add to his writing notes, instead he settled for a mental note to make Rook's favorite restaurant in the upcoming Nikki Heat novel one of Maddie's. He had feeling he was going to owe her a little free PR.

Taking in the the depth of desire in Rick's eyes, Kate knew the note had been intended for her eyes only.

Becks-

Be fearless.

xoxo-Maddie