Ch. 27 You Don't Need To Worry About Making Me Crazy

The sun warmed them as they stared at each other in bed. She reached out and ran her finger along his jaw. Rick slid his hands under the covers and found her. Kate moaned a little and he removed his hands from her warm skin.

"Do we need to go to work?" She slid closer and their bodies wove together. She rested on his arm and gazed up at him.

"You have murders to solve and well…" Rick still hadn't mentioned why he took a hiatus and Kate didn't want to spoil their happy reunion. "Aren't you wondering?"

"I don't want to spoil the moment." She reached up and gently kissed his lips. "I want you, now." She grabbed him and tugged him closer to her. She tasted him in every urgent way that she could manage. When she brought herself up to him, he surprised her by diving into her. She felt the sweet release and relaxed back into her bed.

Their naked bodies casted a warm shadow across her walls as the sun rose high in the sky. She pulled on his neck and continued to taste him. She gently nibbled his ear and felt him tingle. He rose himself above her and smiled. She bit her lip and they explored each other's urgency. And when their time came, she let out a soft growl.

He fell back beside her and watched their chests heave up and down. He watched as she closed her eyes and smiled. She lay naked and he just wanted to remember every curve or mark her body contained. He turned on his side and leaned on his elbow. Kate turned to look at him and refused to let words ruin how she was feeling at the moment. He traced his finger along her mark on her hip.

He looked at her with raised eyebrows and she giggled. "Crashed into a meter. Twenty stitches. The bike was so worth it." He removed his finger from her scar and found a beauty mark on her right elbow. He kissed it and continued to hold her arm in his hand.

Her phone rang but she ignored it and let him explore her. His finger found her burn mark on her left leg from a moped burn. She laughed it off and referred to it as her battle scar. She let him find her scar from her tree climbing incedent.

"My dad was so angry. He picked me up and carried me to the car and ran through four red lights to rush me to the hospital. They popped the bone back in place but needed to do surgery on the tendons. Three hours later, I was feeling fine. But I never climbed a tree again." He raised his eyebrow and cast her an "I don't believe you" look and she coughed up the rest. "Ok, so I didn't climb a tree when my dad was around." He removed his finger from her right ankle and drooped his arm across her stomach.

"I could explore you for the rest of my life and never get bored." He let his words sink in and relished in the smile her mouth drew.

"When was the last time you slept in your apartment?" It was a question that was nagging at her. She wanted him to stay with her at her place but what was she giving to him? She didn't need to ask the question that came with an answer she wasn't ready to deal with. But she wanted to move up the next notch with him.

"Why are you asking me that? I have everything I need right here." He pecked her cheek.

She shifted her naked body and made sure she looked him in the eyes before she confessed a daring subject. "But I don't. I think it's time that I bring stuff over to your place. What do you say?" She rested her arms back and didn't care that she wasn't covering her body up at all.

"I think that you're right. It's time." He smiled once before pulling her up to him and flipping over on his back. She straddled him and leaned down for a quick kiss.

After their shower, she slipped on one of his t-shirts and started the coffee. As the pot began to pour, she checked her phone. There was no call from the precinct nor from Ryan or Esposito. In fact the text was from Alexis.

Classic,

I can't talk to him about it, he won't understand. You're probably sleeping right now. Call me when you get up.

Sweets

Kate quickly texted that she will call her when Rick wasn't around. Just as he emerged in only his boxers, she slid her phone to silent. He sat on the edge of the counter but slid off when he noticed that she was only wearing his shirt and nothing else. Her back was to him and he slid his hands under the t-shirt and felt the goosebumps rise along her skin.

"Don't start what you can't finish Mr. Castle." She leaned back into him and felt the joy that spread through him as well. She turned around just as he wrapped his hands around her waist. He lifted her on the conutertop and pulled her closer to him. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he carried her off into the bedroom for another round.

"I really need to get to work." She unstuck her sweaty self from him and headed off into her bathroom without a stitch on.

He slid himself out as well and slid back into his boxers. When he opened the bathroom door, she jumped. "Don't worry, I've had my fill." She cast him a cheeky grin and he continued, "For now."

She wiped off his and her sweat from her skin and washed her face. She walked back to her dresser and rifled through her underwear and slid on a white lace, embroidered bra and matching underwear. She stepped off to the closet and had to dodge his attempts to pull her back into bed. She slid on her high waisted, red shorts and slid on a navy blue, crop top. Then she dug in the back for her white, lace, overlay dress. And when she was fully dressed, she twirled for him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head on her stomach. She wove her fingers through his hair and tried not to dwell on the fact that he left her to worry for two days.

He leaned into her further and felt the weight that plagued him from having left her. She pushed his head back and looked down at him. "I am all ears."

He spilled it all as she sat on the bed next to him. His hands continued to hold hers as he let the weight fall off. "I am sorry about the no contact thing but it was important in order for all of it to work."

"I thought that you had turned yourself in. But I was too scared to ask if you really did."

"That was wrong of me and I am sorry. But Sal has connections. With whom, I don't know. I couldn't risk anything that I have done being connected to you. Especially with what Cliff is pulling, all you would need is another block stacked against you. So, I had to find out what he had on me and in order to do that, I had to make him trust me again. And not forced trust, real trust in him. He offered to help me once more and I couldn't turn him down."

"You are helping him again? That's why you couldn't tell me?!" She jumped away from him and backed away.

"No! Listen, I had to make him believe that I was really accepting help from him but I did something that I knew you wouldn't have liked." He waited for her to calm down but her face showed no sign of that.

"You knew I wouldn't like it but you still did it?"

"It had to happen. I confessed everything to your mom. I told her about what I was involved in and who I was involved with back then. Then I told her who he had working for him right now and what he gave me to accomplish. She found a way for me not to be in trouble with the law and a way to get him."

"You went to my mom? And she helped you? But technically, you're a criminal. Right?"

"Yes but she worked for time served by me going undercover."

"I'm sorry. Undercover? Are you serious?"

"Yes. I have to go back to work for him without really going back to work for him. Then I report everything back to her and the um, cops."

"Who? Who will you be working with?" She crossed her arms and waited him out. She felt uneasy about who it was rather than him doing it in the first place.

"Cliff. He is F.B.I. I am sorry but I knew you wouldn't like it. But he agreed to drop his complaint against you if he could get Sal. So I helped you."

"No you didn't. What you did was prove that I can't do anything for myself. I need my boyfriend to do it for me. Rick, this affects me as a detective and how I can perform as one. He already has a negative view of me. This makes it worse." She left her bedroom and padded to her kitchen.

"Kate, wait. Please, hear me out." He continued to stare at her back. "I am sorry but I wanted to help you. You were all too involved with helping me. Now it is my turn."

She continued to keep her back to him and understood where he was coming from but that small, withholding part of her, wanted to keep it all locked inside. She found herself doing what she vowed to never do to him. She braced herself and turned to face him.

"You're right."

He stood back, shocked. He almost didn't believe he heard her right. "Wait, what?"

"I said that you're right. I wanted to be the protector and you never really got the chance to because I wouldn't let you. I have always kept that last part of me, under lock and key. But I wanted to let you in and I still find myself sometimes hiding. Because I am scared. Rick, I am scared to let go." Tears started to slide down her cheeks but she pressed on. "I am emotional, I am a wreck. Put those together, you have a mess. I have a lot of baggage and I thought that if I let you see it all, that you would leave me. And when you left to meet with him and I didn't hear from you for two days… Well, I feared the worst. That either you were dead somewhere or that you wanted to rid yourself from me. I was a constant wreck and I couldn't tell you about what I had been through because you weren't here." She wiped her cheeks and stepped closer to him. "You don't need to worry about how much you mean to me nor about how much I love you. Rick, you're everything to me. And with that knowledge you could run from me right now."

"Or?"

"Or what?" She watched as he crossed across the kitchen and stopped right at her feet.

"Or I could choose to stay. Kate, I was wrong but I had to do it for you." He held her and felt her shoulders shake as she cried. He let her bury her face in his chest. He felt her worry with every shake and sniffle and was glad that he had done it to protect her. He would do anything and everything for her.

"Thank you for being a friend to me." She pulled herself out of his arms and smiled up at him.

"It's not over with yet. I still have to go back to him. They need enough evidence to convict him and I don't have enough yet."

"So, you have to leave again?" He wiped the tear from her cheek and kissed her forehead.

"Yes. But as soon as they have it, I can come back to you."

"I can come to you." She pulled on his neck and tenderly moved his mouth along with hers.

"You needed to talk?" Kate waited outside the precinct and closed her eyes as Alexis rumbled on.

"He means so much to me but I can't lie to him. Kate, I have been seeing this guy, Scott, and it's getting pretty serious. I mean, I really love him Kate."

"How come I am just hearing about this guy?" Kate didn't want to take away Alexis's happiness but she found it odd that she had never mentioned him before.

"Because he's in the Army and was away on tour and I didn't know if it would last. But he came home last week and I wanted him all to myself. We had only dated a few weeks when he left and I wasn't sure that I would feel the same way about him. But I knew I did when I saw him. My heart exploded when he held me."

Kate smiled as she could hear the glow from Alexis that was able to reach over the phone. "So… am I gonna meet him now?"

"Duh… But what about Rick? Won't he be mad at me for not telling him? And with what all happened with Em, I mean I was nervous to be open with someone. But with Scott, it's all so easy to be. You know what I mean?"

Kate evaluated herself and she did know. She knew by dating Rick for a little while that it was all different with him. She knew that she wanted him and for him to have her in every way. So, as Alexis poured out how she felt about Scott, Kate understood what she was talking about.

"Yeah I get it. I totally get it. So, you two are really serious?"

"It sounds crazy, I know, but I feel it Kate. I feel like he is the one. I mean thee one. I have never felt like this. Like, I can't imagine my life without him and I never want to." Alexis squealed like a little girl and deep down she felt that what she was saying was the easiest thing she had ever said.

"I get it. Like everything is all new again. Like even things that you have experienced before is all new again with him."

"Yeah. You totally get it."

"How did you meet him?" Kate rolled down her window as the heat intensified within her car.

"At a church meeting. I was volunteering to help teenagers deal with their problems, it is very therapeutic for me. Anyway, he had volunteered there before and we just started talking. And one thing led to another and now, I am on cloud nine." Alexis fell on her back and kicked her feet in the air.

"You seem very happy and I am happy for you. Now, when can we meet him?" She checked the sky to see if it would continue to deliver good weather and was happy with the result.

"Um.. Well I have kept him captive in my apartment and I wanted him all to myself and he let me." Kate knew what she meant by that. "And now his parents want some time with him but after that I guess." Alexis laughed but tried to calm her laughter down. Then she started giggling. "Stop… I am trying to talk…" She couldn't get a whole sentence out without laughing.

"What the heck is happening there while you are on the phone with me?" Kate couldn't help but laugh along with her.

"He keeps tickling me and I…" She stopped long enough to let Kate know that it wasn't her fault.

"Got it. Go have fun with him…" Kate stopped and slapped her forehead. "I mean…"

"I get it. Thanks Kate. Talk later." With that Alexis hung up and tried to run from Scott.

Scott tackled her down and started to take off her clothes.

Kate slid her phone in her pocket and rolled her window back up before locking her car. And just as she was walking into the precinct, a delivery guy on a bike hit a bump and splashed coffee all over her white, lace, dress. Lucky for her, it was iced coffee.

"What the hell!" But the man only swore long enough to call her a name before pedaling on. She looked down as the iced coffee stained her dress and ran down her legs.

When she stepped into the bullpen, the atmosphere seemed to have changed. She couldn't pinpoint what the change was but knew it had changed. She was trying to not let the coffee spill get to her but as she was heading to the break room for some napkins, Espo pulled her aside.

"Do you know what you are about to walk into?" She looked clueless so he filled her in. "Cap has been getting pressure from 1PP on the serial case and he handed it over to the F.B.I. completely. And he said if he found any of us working on it he would be more than happy to suspend us. So, as far as he knows, you are not still pursuing it. Got it?" He dropped her arm and surveyed her outfit. "Didn't bring me any coffee?"

"Wait. We can't work it at all?" She flashed back to Maybelle's files that were set up in her living room.

"Nope. But he is certain that we'll find a new case in no time." Espo left her to head to the break room but she charged past it and into Captain Montgomery's office. "Sir?"

"Beckett?" He looked her over. "What is all over you?"

"Compliments of a delivery guy. But why are we off the case?" She crossed her arms against her chest and ignored the coffee stain completely.

"Because it is now the F.B.I. 's case. Let them have it Beckett." He went back to staring at what was on his desk and she knew that he wanted the meeting to be over.

"But Cap…" but she was caught off.

"Let it go Beckett. Now, go get yourself cleaned up and check out what's new." He went back to the paperwork and she stormed out of his office and slammed the doors. The rattle of the glass alerted everyone who was in the bullpen. She ignored all of their stares and instead headed back outside.

And once she was in the safety of the busy streets of New York City, she called Rick. "I need to talk to you. Can you?"

Rick held his finger up to Cliff and his team. "Sure, what do you need?" He didn't bother adding her name because he didn't want Cliff to know everything.

"Do you know your buddy Cliff got my entire team kicked off the case? And by the entire team, yes, I am including myself. That little jackass took it out from under my nose. You want to know how? He went to 1PP and convinced them. And now, on top of all that, I have been covered in iced coffee by a delivery guy's order." She dropped to the steps and leaned on her elbows.

"I am so sorry about that." He caught the looks from Cliff and the team and decided to leave the room. "Hey sorry about that but I was in a room with Cliff and his team and I couldn't talk freely to you. But I had no idea that he did that. I am so sorry, really I am. And do you want me to bring you a new change of clothes?"

She weighed it out. "No, I'll just take my dress off. Don't leave your job. But I needed to vent. Thanks Rick." And with that, she hung up. She couldn't deal with the fact that he was now working with her nemesis. So she did what she always did, put it behind her and went right back to work.

She was busy returning all her missed messages when she was tapped on the shoulder. She spun around and found Rick holding a garment bag. She quickly finished her phone call and was left to smiling at him.

"Hopefully you won't be mad at this delivery guy." He smirked and waited for her to get up before he handed over the garment bag. She went right into his arms and didn't care who saw her being a girl in love. She didn't kiss him because she did want to face her team when he left. She grabbed the bag from him and pulled him to follow her. She pulled him into the nearest interview room and closed the door behind him. She draped the garment bag over a chair and pulled him into her. She delivered an intense kiss that made up for the fact that she hadn't kissed him a moment ago.

"Thank you." She smiled against his mouth.

"No thank you." He laughed with her and she let him go.

"I have to get changed then back to work but you want to do lunch?" She knew the answer as she read his face. "You can't can you?"

"No. They want me to work with Sal and try to establish trust with him. They want to get anything they can against him."

"But Rick, this sounds dangerous. I don't want them putting you in harms way. Understand?"

"Kate, I'll be fine. They are constantly watching out for me. I promise I'll be safe. But I have to do this for you and Alexis, I have to keep you safe."

"I will be, we will be. Let me bring him in for threatening us." She knew she was grasping at empty straws but she had to fight.

"I promise I'll be safe. But until this is all done with, I have to stay at my own place. There, they'll be able to protect me without putting others in jeopardy. And there, Sal can come by freely. I will be ok. We will be ok." He gripped both of her arms and tried to make his words stick.

"I get it but I want to stay with you. Please." She moved her arms as soon as he let them go and gripped his jacket in her hands. "Rick. I am a cop. I can protect myself. Let me." She kissed him but was interrupted by his ringing phone.

"Hello?" He grabbed her hand in his as he sat on the edge of a chair. "Got it. Ok. I'll be there in a minute. Sal, I hear ya." He hung up and quickly dialed someone else. "Yeah, that was him. Be there in ten. Bye Agent Veran." He looked back to Kate and caught her shaking her head.

"I can't believe you are working with him." But she did. He was the reason Rick wasn't in jail. "But then again, if it means I can have you, I'm all for it." She leaned down and kissed him and hooked her garment bag over her arm. "Bye. See you later."

Fully emerged clean and redressed, Kate headed back to her desk and just as she reached it, her phone rang. When she picked up, her mood deepened. She looked down at her outfit: a white and red polka dotted, top that she tied into a knot with the ends and a pair of high waisted, red, shorts. Her white and black saddle shoes completed her fifties look. She jotted down the address and hung up.

"We have a case. I'll text you the address. Let's head out." She hated her option of dress and wished Rick had gone with the suspenders and pants.

When Kate pulled up to the scene, she took a deep breath, gave the victim a moment of silence and charged on. Lanie was already bent over the victim and busy filling out the prelims. When she saw Kate, she broke out into a smile.

"Hey girl. Well aren't you straight out of a malt shop."

"What we got here Lanie?" Kate crouched down and studied the victim before her. His blonde hair was swept in front of his eyes and Lanie moved it aside so Kate could get a better look. He had striking gray eyes that belonged on a feline and not a person. But Kate didn't judge, not ever. He was dressed in a pair of scrubs. She looked for an I.D. badge but didn't see any on the vic.

"Already checked for a badge, negative. But other than his uniform you wouldn't think of him as being in the medical field." She let Kate view him from different angles and when Kate gathered what she wanted, she filled her in on the rest. "Hasn't been here long. I'll say within the last two hours. Doesn't show any signs of struggle."

"Possibly because he knew his killer." Lanie nodded and Kate pressed for more. "Cause of death."

"Ha ha. Funny for asking as seeing how I haven't completed an autopsy."

"By my guess, I would say a gunshot wound?" Kate looked down at Lanie as she rose from the ground.

"I'll say safe guess but how about an autopsy first? Just to be sure?" She was being a smartass and Kate just shook her head.

"Check for traffic cams, stores for cams, and anything else along the way. I want to check the block for any witnesses. See if anyone heard or saw what happened. Have unis run the canvass further." Espo and Ryan nodded and went out to do what she had asked of them.

She left it to herself to get his picture out to the surrounding hospitals. She snapped a picture of his face and began heading to the nearby hospitals. It didn't take too long before Ryan called with a hit.

"His name is Joe Conway. Works out in Jamaica."

"Thanks Ryan, I'm heading out there right now." He texted her the address and she was on her way.

"I'm sorry for your loss Dr. Conway." Kate sat in Jared Conway's office and waited while he gathered himself so she could start asking some questions. "Now if you don't mind me asking, what was Joe doing out in Manhattan?"

"He left work early. Said he wasn't feeling alright. But I didn't believe him but I let him go and this is what happens?" He let his head sink into his hands and Kate hated this part more than anything but had no choice.

"Did he usually leave work in the middle of the day to head out to Manhattan?"

"No. Why?"

"One of my many questions I need to ask. Was he having any problem with people at work?"

"No. He was working on becoming a doctor like his old man. Had the talent for it too. Some figured that the only reason he even got the job as an intern was because of me. But Joe didn't let them get to him. He was good like that."

"Dr. Conway, did Joe ever have problems with any patients?" Kate jotted down her question and looked to him for an answer and caught his face.

"Of course not! My boy was wonderful." Jared Conway's face tensed.

"Was he seeing anyone?"

"A troubled little girl, Abby was her name. He even had his friend Paulie, threaten her to leave him alone. But that girl was very troubled. She killed herself because of it."

Kate's heartbeat increased and she felt like her heart was going to jump out of her chest. But she had to remain calm. "Do you know the last name of this Abby girl? Paulie's as well?"

"Abby Williams and Paulie Bird. Why?"

"More questions that I need to ask. Did he blame himself for Abby's death?"

"No. I told him not to." Jared Conway remained cocky and actually wore a smug grin.

So much for grieving for your son's death. "What about Paulie's?"

"That dumb ass? He probably OD'd. He was known for his unlimited supply of crack."

"Dr. Conway, Paulie didn't OD. His wrists were slit." Kate dug back in her memory bank and knew that she never fully believed his suicide. But that was a conversation to have with Lanie and not Dr. Conway.

"He cut his wrists? Not surprised."

"How did Joe take the news of his friend's passing?"

"Hard. Wouldn't you if your best friend died?"

Kate thought about Lanie, Espo, Ryan, and Lacey and knew that she would get hit hard as well. "I think that's enough for now. I am going to need to see a list of his patients." She stood up and slid her notepad in her pocket.

"You'll need a warrant. Now I need to grieve the loss of my son." He waved her off and she left.

Kate knew that he played a role in her other case but wasn't sure what role that was, not yet anyway. It was too much of a coincidence that Paulie was Joe's best friend and that Abby was Joe's girlfriend. She couldn't connect it all yet but she planned on doing just that.

"Hey guys, what have you got?" Kate walked back to her car and waited for them to speak up.

"Not much. No one heard or saw anything. Seems just like our other case. I doubt that one is true on silence but this one? I believe it. Could have used a silencer." Espo honked his horn at the car that braked in front of him and tried to get back to talking with Kate.

"Thanks for trying. Hey Ryan? Any cams?"

"Stores gave me their tapes so we might find something but negative on traffic cams catching anything. They had no view of our vic."

"Unis find anything?"

"Nada but we told them to keep at it." Ryan gripped the phone tighter in his hand as Espo swerved his car.

"Thanks guys. I am gonna go interview some of the earlier vics' families because I think I can connect our Joe with that one. Keep your lips shut."

"Sydney was one hell of a shit kicker. Half the time she was getting stitches or casts. I wanted to get rid of that damn board but she loved it too much." Mr. Aaron Evans smiled at the memory of his daughter.

"Was Sydney in the emergency room before she passed?"

"What do you mean?"

"When was the last time she was there?" Kate waited with her pen poised over her notepad, eager for the answer she was certain she could answer.

"A week before she was murdered. She needed stitches. She was such a pro and a frequent guest at the hospital that everyone knew us by heart. But she never gave up her skateboarding. I liked that she still stuck with something that she loved so much. Her doctor wanted her to stop but she told him to stick it." Mr. Evans laughed as if the memory was yesterday.

"She was a tough cookie. Sounds like a wonderful girl."

"She was. She was all I had. You know?"

Kate did know because all she had was her dad, until recently. "Did her friends remember when they saw her last?"

"She was boarding and she left because she had curfew. That was the last time anyone saw her."

"Was she seeing someone?"

"Syd? No. She only had guy friends and wasn't interested in them like that but I knew they were sweet on her. She was more one of the guys than the one dating a guy."

"Where there any problems at school or with friends?"

"Despite her rough exterior, Syd was a softie. She was an all A student and no one disliked her."

Kate was running out of the questions that she needed to ask and was ready to wrap up the interview but had one last question to ask. "Last one. Did Sydney have a routine?"

"Sure did. Even told the doc that it would never change."

"Thank you Mr. Evans."

"She was wonderful with her girl. Shame that that little one didn't have anyone but her mother." Ms. Withers led Kate to her backyard. "She lived in that one there. She was a fine neighbor. Shame what happened to her."

"So, she never came home?"

"No. Took her girl to gymnastics every day, on schedule. Never saw her again."

"Thank you Ms. Withers."

"Left in a hurry but said she would be back. I never saw her leave her girl's practice. But no matter what, Savannah would make sure Sam made her practice."

"Did Ms. Georgia ever come back for Sam?"

"No. Went into the system. Never heard from her again."

Kate felt that she couldn't get anywhere with Savannah's case and became angry. "What about Sam?"

"What about her?"

"Did Savannah mention a doctor or anything?" Kate watched his face and could see she was jogging his memory.

"Now that you mention it, yeah. There was something about her medical record or something. Yeah."

"Know the doctor's name?"

"Nah."

"I hope you know that at this hour, I am pulling some serious strings Detective." Judge Howard was busy signing her warrants of all of her victims' medical records.

"I do and thank you once more Judge." Kate waited impatiently as he signed off the last of the warrants.

"Now I told you to wait till morning. At this hour," he looked at the clock on his desk and turned back to her, "you're lucky I am even seeing you."

Kate nodded and went to reach out for the signed warrants when he pulled them away. "What?"

"I think I'll hold on to them till morning." Kate couldn't believe his words and he nodded to her. "Thought that might get that reaction but I want to make sure you don't disturb families at this hour."

It was only quarter to ten but he made his final stand. She could do nothing but stress the importance. "Judge, this is an active investigation and…"

"I know that. But you can wait till morning. Now you can leave."

"But I can at least access the records tonight so I am good and ready for tomorrow." She thought of the news that Delwyn Heart had last been seen dropping off her son at his soccer practice before heading off to her doctor's appointment.

"No can do. Have a nice night detective."

Kate waited in Rick's apartment for him to come home. She had just unpacked her duffel bag into one of his empty drawers and the minute she saw the drawer, she felt bad. It had been vacant, waiting for her, for a while. And now she was pouring over what she already had and what was still missing.

Keys turned in his lock and she heard muffled chatter outside his door. She quickly flew off his couch and ducked behind it. She pulled her bare legs up against her chest and felt his t-shirt slip down her thighs.

"Thanks again boys but I'm fine. Enjoy your night." Rick closed his door and locked it. Kate waited a few good seconds before she called him.

"Hello? Kate? How are you?" He tossed his keys on the table by the door and kicked off his shoes.

"Look behind your couch." With that, she hung up. She waited for his footfalls to get closer and when he stepped behind it, he smiled when he saw her.

"What?"

"Surprise." She stood up and his shirt fell back down on her. She thought he would have more to say but he stepped closer and pulled her to him. And when his warm lips pushed into hers, she felt that small butterfly flutter in her heart. He picked her up in his arms and she wrapped her arms around his neck. It didn't take long before he carried her off and into his bedroom.

"Glad I gave you that key a while back." And they shared no more words for the rest of the night.