I enjoy your reviews! Current Beckett, the one who just gave the best Valentines present EVER, may be beyond this. Yet, there is fun in showing this Kate the error of her ways! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own them!

The universe was conspiring against her. Surely it was. How else could she explain her current predicament? It was all so fresh, so raw. She could still smell him in her bed, her body was still reeling from his touch. When Kate Beckett made the decision to step away from their romantic relationship she had done so with a set rationale. She loved him and she couldn't lose him. If you love him why would you walk away? She berated herself. Because I couldn't bear to become another ex if things didn't work out.

Somehow, according to Kate's distorted logic, in order to guarantee keeping him in her life she had to push him away. She knew he was not happy with the decision, but that he loved her enough to respect it. She hated herself a little for what she'd put him through.

The problem was this damned assignment. Never in their partnership had they been tasked with such a major undertaking. Sure they'd done some undercover work from time to time, but this was a full-scale, multi-day operation. Kate continued to ruminate as she packed her bags that evening.

"Be discrete, be on your guard." Gates had urged, turning her attention to Ryan and Esposito she then added, "and make sure you have their backs." She paced for a moment before she added,

"Above all else, be professional." She directed her last comment to Castle and Beckett and they both knew it.

To add insult to injury, Kate was fairly certain that Ryan and Esposito still had no idea about their relationship; or whatever it was that they now had. So, she thought sardonically to herself, we're in love, pretending not to be in love for the boys, while we go undercover and pretend we're in love on the damn boat. The cyclical thinking was giving her a headache so Kate shifted her attention to preparing herself for things to come.

She'd only been on one other cruise in her life, but as she recalled the rooms were very small. To call it cramped was an understatement, and she was going to be sharing those close quarters with the one person that she desperately needed space from. She didn't want space from him, but she knew she needed it.

Kate sighed as she threw her bathing suit, pajamas, a few sun dresses, sunglasses and sunscreen into her bag. If she was going to play the part she would have to look the part. She moved to her closet to select a nicer dress and heels, knowing that they would most likely need it.

Ok. We just need to get on the boat, catch the killer, and get off the boat. She thought to herself, attempting a little pep talk to get her going. Maybe we'll get lucky and catch the killer before sunset. Her brain optimistically offered. Maybe not. The reality of the situation countered.

It was bound to be a very long week.

Just as she'd suspected, the room was quite small. Castle had offered to upgrade them to a bigger room, a suite, but it would have required relocating to a part of the boat where Ryan and Esposito had minimal access. In their current room the other detectives could stay next door. Given how thin the walls were, they were bound to hear if anything went wrong.

Kate swallowed nervously as she considered the single bed in the center of their room. Castle tried his best to ignore it for the time being, "At least we have a window!" He offered somewhat optimistically.

"Yeah, that offers us a lovely view of the ocean." Kate countered sarcastically. Their room was below sea level, so when she said ocean, she didn't mean the skyline, she meant the dark and cloudy depths of the sea. They could see very little out of the tiny circular glass that was a poor excuse for a window.

"But look, Kate, it's a towel puppy!" He offered again, moving to sit on the bed and play with the decoration that the staff left. He saw her startled expression when he sat. Oh, he thought, he'd gone to the one part of the room they had been desperately trying to ignore. Kate looked flustered.

"I'm going upstairs. I think there's supposed to be some sort of safety drill." With that she was gone.

This is going to be a very long trip. Castle thought to himself as he sighed, laying back on the bed. It was quite comfortable, but small enough that he was sure there was no way they could both sleep without touching. A week ago they would have been happy for the excuse to cuddle. Now it was just torture.

He heard the knock before the door opened, "Yo." Esposito walked in, Ryan following closely behind. They were both dressed in tropical shirts and looked somewhat uncomfortable. Given the close quarters he was going to be sharing with Beckett, he couldn't imagine the awkwardness that had transpired in the boys' room.

"You guys settle in nice and cozy?" Castle teased them.

"At least Javi won't shoot me if I roll over too close in the night." Ryan countered with a satisfied grin on his face.

"Don't count on it, bro." Esposito muttered to Ryan.

Castle frowned at the insinuation behind the statement about Beckett's gun. He was filled with regret once again over the fact that he could no longer freely touch Kate. He knew it was ridiculous to assume that they could work together and not be more than partners. He also knew that Kate was struggling with that reality, along with her own fear and insecurity. Truth be told, he was waiting, hoping for her to come to the same conclusion. He wanted to move on from this, and he wanted to do it with her.

If he could be with her he would walk away from the precinct in a heartbeat. It would be difficult and he would miss the day to day, but solving crimes was nothing compared to being able to share his life, the rest of his life, with Kate. She was it for him.

"Where is she?" Esposito asked, bringing Castle back from his thoughts.

"She went upstairs; something about a drill." He answered.

"You know those are mandatory, right?" Ryan mentioned as he turned back to the door, preparing to make his exit.

"Yeah, well I'll take my chances down here." Castle muttered, turning onto his side and facing the wall. He needed a few minutes to collect himself and wasn't ready to see Kate quite yet.

"What's his problem?" Esposito whispered to Ryan as they moved to join Beckett on deck. His partner answered him with a confused shrug as they made their way to the elevators of the large ship.

"Castle." He shifted when heard her voice, making himself more comfortable.

"Rick." He heard her voice again, opening his eyes and blinking the sleep away.

"Castle, it's nearly dinner time. You fell asleep." Kate was leaning over him, her face close enough to his that he could easily catch her lips with his own. He fought the urge to do so as he cleared his mind. She was clearly on the same page, as she pulled back suddenly, allowing him the space to sit up and stretch.

She moved to the closet and began talking as she sorted through her things, "You missed the drill." She admonished him. He simply rubbed the sleep from his eyes, checking his watch to gauge how long he'd napped.

"I met our couple, they're in the room across from us. They seem nice enough. I've invited them to dinner." Kate spoke as she pulled a dress from the closet, unbuttoning and removing her blouse and kicking off her shoes as she spoke. She paused suddenly, caught off guard by the fact that she had just stripped in front of Castle.

He simply stared at her longingly, making no effort to hide his desire. Oh hell, Beckett thought. It had become such a habit that she hadn't thought twice about taking her clothes off in his presence. She moved quickly to the bathroom, shutting herself in to finish changing clothing.

"It's ok Kate. I've seen everything before." He called. She could hear the regret in his voice.

"Shhh." She spoke as she came out of the bathroom seconds later, having pulled the dress over her head and kicked her pants off from underneath.

"The boys are next door and these walls are like paper." She reasoned with him. He nodded and moved from the bed, smoothing his own shirt with his hands. He watched for a minute as Kate struggled with the zipper on the back of her dress. Finally, he moved to where she stood and pushed her hands out of the way. Slowly, he moved the zipper up her back.

She could feel the tingles spreading like wild fire as his fingertips grazed her skin. She couldn't control the shiver that her body gave and was quite certain Castle felt it too. Afterall, he knew her body nearly as well as she did. The tension rose between them as she struggled to catch her breath. Every fiber of her being was screaming for him to unzip the dress again and forget this foolish idea of putting their partnership first.

She could feel his breath on her neck, her head involuntary leaning forward to offer him more access. She desperately wanted to turn around, to touch him, to taste him. How is it possible that I need him this much already? She wondered to herself as her body involuntarily leaned back towards his.

She had little time to contemplate it, because in the next instant he was gone. "I'm going to get some air." He offered before he left her standing alone in their room, an unfilled need rising within her. God, I love him. Did I make a mistake? She second-guessed herself for what felt like the hundredth time.

One thing was for sure, at this rate she wasn't going to last long.