Here is the next chapter. Thank you FW for proofing. Thanks for the comments re Meredith. I found the way round it. There was no way he was going to cheat by the way, the challenge was working around it.

Chapter 11

The following morning, Kate sat at the kitchen counter on a stool, her legs crossed. She was at peace, sipping on a perfectly brewed mug of coffee. A quarter hour out of bed, she remained a little sleepy. Her eyes and mind could only manage to stare absently at the man who had become the master of the kitchen that morning. He was making breakfast. And he did it in his boxers. Only his boxers. His chest was bare, the thick hair on his head all ruffled because of her fingers and sleep. Her fingers wrapped about the warm mug, her foot swung lazily up and down and increased in speed the closer he came. He approached her a soft smiled growing.

"Do you know how sexy you look in that?" He inquired looking south of her eyes.

Kate followed his gaze, and smiled shyly, her eyes returning to his. She was in his blue shirt, held together by three well placed buttons. "How sexy?"

He turned the stool so she faced him, "This sexy." He kissed her then touched the side of her mouth. "You have stubble rash."

She instantly licked her swollen lips. "You taste of me," she whispered.

"Us," he replied.

"How long can we maintain this bubble?"

"Of lust?"

"Mm." She swallowed, blindly putting the mug to the counter.

"I dunno." He pressed his lips to hers for another kiss, "But are you free for breakfast tomorrow?"

She laughed sweetly, "Maybe."

"Oh, it's a date. C'mon on. Let's get this homicide solved today so you can take a couple of days off and we can go away, get to know each other more."

"Hey," She said putting a hand to his collar to hold him close, "Stay."

"What?"

"Another kiss," she requested.

"How do you like your pancakes?"

"Maple syrup."

"Oh, good thing Castle went shopping last night."

She laughed. "There's maple syrup …"

He kissed her again, his fingers working on the top button of his shirt. He pulled away, "I never took you as a woman who'd wear her man's shirts."

"Smells of him," she whispered back, "Expensive." He had the second button undone and his hand slipped inside the shirt to her breast.

Rick smirked. "You're distracting the cook."

"The cook is fraternising with the customers." She closed her hand over his, holding him to her breast.

"Can't help it."

"If we're gonna solve a homicide, then we need to eat breakfast and get to work."

Rick lifted his left wrist to see the time. "You're right." He straightened up and removed his hand. "Two pancakes enough to rejuvenate you?"

"Mm. More coffee would be good too. I'll make the coffee." She slid off the stool and followed him around the bar. "Then we have to get ready for work."

"Bossy at work, bossy at home, bossy in the bedroom." Castle whined. "I don't know."

"It's getting old, Castle."

The group sat around Beckett's desk with the white board as their central point of interest. Castle, Beckett, Esposito and Ryan were heavily debating the merits of their case.

"Without evidence of trauma, I'm not ready to buy her attacker as a sexual predator. Not with him using a condom." Beckett said then bit her lip, dwelling on the condom factor. They were a pain in the ass, interrupted the general flow of making love, but if you didn't want to reproduce or didn't trust you partner, then they were the choice of the sexually active.

"Could be he was trying to hide DNA." Esposito suggested.

"Dude, someone smart enough to hide DNA would have been smart enough not to have sex with her in a laundry room," Ryan replied.

"You're missing the point," Castle interjected, "The laundry room provided him with an opportunity... It isn't just chance she was killed there."

Montgomery entered the bullpen pleased to see his group of detectives and one writer working together as a team.

"Where are we on her cell phone?" The Captain called out.

Esposito replied, "I pulled her records and had her service provider ping it." He opened the file and read from it, "Triangulation put the phone at or near the building." Esposito handed the file to Beckett.

Montgomery said, "Maybe the guy took it so she couldn't call for help, then dumped it somewhere close by. What about the ex-boyfriend?"

Ryan replied, "We have a first name. But if we had her cell phone, he might be in her address book."

Beckett had the file opened and pointed to a page, "What about these calls?"

Castle leaned over and asked, "What calls?"

She replied, "Last two months, there's dozens of incoming calls from the same number."

Esposito replied, "Right. We're still running it down, but the number's a pre-pay. Besides, those calls stopped a couple of weeks before she was killed."

Beckett said, "But her outgoing calls to that number stop even before that." She glanced to Rick, "Whoever it was, she didn't want to talk to them." She was up and walking.

Castle followed Beckett. "She was letting those calls go to her voicemail."

When Detective Beckett pushed open the door and walked into the interrogation room with a folder pressed under her arm, the uniform on duty stood up. He exited as Rick followed Beckett in, the two men acknowledge each other. Beckett pulled out the chair then sat opposite the young man. He still looked like a teenager, hadn't quite made it physically to looking like a man. He was nervous.

Beckett said directly to the twenty-year old, "Brent Johnson?"

Brent replied, "Yeah."

"I'm Detective Beckett. This is Mr Castle. I assume you know why you're here?" Kate glanced at Rick as he sat to her right side.

"Um, the cops who picked me up at my job said you had some questions about what happened to Sara?"

Beckett nodded, leaned in over the desk, "That's right. We understand you and Sara were dating."

The young man nodded, "Yeah, till about a month ago."

"A month ago? What happened then?"

"Nothing. We broke up." Brent said with a portion of spite in his tone staring at the table top.

Picking up on the raw nerve the young man carried over the break up, Castle inquired, "Whose idea was that?"

Brent looked over at Castle, taking him in momentarily. "Mutual thing, I guess."

"A mutual thing," Beckett echoed, not believing that for a second. She reached into her pocket, and took out a small digital recorder. She fiddled with it a second then hit play.

Everyone in the room listened to Brent's voice on the recorder say, "Sara, it's me. Look, just call me back, okay?" There was a beep then a new voicemail message began, "You can't just not call me. Don't be a bitch, Sara." Another beep and a new message, "Sara, c'mon. I just wanna talk. Why can't you just tell me who the guy is? Okay, you know what? You're just a little slut."

Beckett clicked off, staring at Brent, "There's plenty more of those," she stated in a matter of fact manner.

"And they all make Alec Baldwin's messages seem like rainbows and unicorns," Castle added.

Brent asked, "How did you get those?"

"From your service provider," Beckett answered.

Castle leaned in, "Little advice? When you a buy a pre-paid phone? Don't put it on your credit card. Makes it totally traceable."

"I wasn't trying to hide anything." Brent stated, defiantly.

"No? Then why'd you just lie?" Beckett asked.

Castle was up on his feet with a sudden rush of wisdom he wanted to share, "Cause no man likes getting dumped, right?" He exclaimed with a voice too high for a man of his stature, "Our egos can't handle it. I had an ex-girlfriend cheat once and I ended up drinking every meal for a week. And I never even liked her. But if I'd loved her? Wow. I don't know what I would've done."

Brent watched the older man in almost disbelief. "No. No way. It wasn't like that."

Beckett, who wasn't sure about whether to laugh her ass off at Castle's reaction or tell him to settle down said their guest, "No? Then how'd you find out about Sara, if you broke up a month ago?

Brent replied, "A friend." Kate leaned in and gave him a look that only served to encourage him to speak more. He instantly succumbed to her pressure, "Chloe. Chloe Richardson. We all went to college together. Chloe's the one who got Sara her job."

"How'd this friend find out?"

"Chloe nannies for another family in the building. They were pretty close."

"So, where were you the day Sara was killed?"

"Where those other cops found me." He scratched his head, glanced to the cop who seemed to want more information, "At my job," he clarified. "Look, they have video cameras and a sign-in sheet there. I swear, I didn't have anything to do with this." He waited, aware the interview was coming to an end. "So, you gonna arrest me now or what?

"No. You can go. But I don't want you to leave town until we talk again, do you understand?" The Detective said with a tone of authority looking directly at the young man.

"Yes, ma'am." Brent stood up, and hastily left the room, probably not fast enough for his comfort.

Rick smiled after the dude, amused by his rapid departure, then once the door closed he looked at Beckett, his expression a mixture of disbelief and amusement, "Don't leave town? Don't you need probable cause for something like that?"

She smiled, cheekily, "Only he doesn't know that, does he?" Beckett got up, headed to the exit as well.

"So, you can just lie like that? That is so cool."

"Of course I can."

"You said it with such a straight face. Do you know how scary you are?"

"Yep," she answered as she walked from the box.

Rick jotted down a note in his pad.

"Castle." Beckett called, from beyond the room. And it sounded just like she was calling a pet dog but there were sensual connotations too, similar to tones he'd heard coming from her during the night. Rick chuckled, but got up and hurried after her. They were going for a drive.

Castle and Beckett were in the car on the way to the park immediately after they had finished talking with Brent Johnson who, according to Rick, had been terrorized.

"Brent Johnson." Castle muttered almost to himself as he gazed out of the window. "Feel sorry for the guy."

"Who?"

"Sara's ex that you just terrorized."

"Questioned, Castle," she corrected glancing from the road ahead to the writer.

"He was in a state of terror when he left the Precinct, classic, don't leave town," he mimicked with a chuckle.

"What about him, Castle?"

"Well, he really believes he's in a bind. Leaving all those voicemails to Sara. Glad I hate leaving voicemail, especially now I know there's cops in this world like you," he said clearly trying to wind her up.

"That's right. Hang on, what do you mean cops in the world like me? I'm a good cop."

"Scary cop."

"And it's you who wanted to shadow me for inspiration. Good cop," she insisted.

"I'm not implying you're a bad cop, Beckett." He replied, "But you can sure scare people."

"Oh yeah. Its my job to intimidate people. Not like your little spool about getting dumped, right?"

"What about it?"

"Fessing up like that with a perk present?"

"What'd I say?" He half squawked in defence. Then he pointed a finger, "Oh, I know what you're doing. You're winding me up like you do the boys."

"What? No! You said," and she dropped her voice to mimic his, "Our egos can't handle it. I had an ex-girlfriend cheat once and I ended up drinking every meal for a week. And I never even liked her. But if I'd loved her? Wow. I don't know what I would've done." Her voice returned, "Who says that to a suspect? Especially you?"

Rick turned in his seat and stared Beckett down. "You just said that verbatim, Honey."

She nodded her agreement, a smile creeping over her face and she shrugged.

"Especially me? What so important about me saying it?"

"It was a funny thing for a famous author to say, that's why."

"Oh you're fan girling. Putting me on that celebrity pedestal."

"No."

He laughed at her high pitched tone, then said, "I'm just a regular guy, Kate."

She grinned, "Wow Richard Castle, regular guy, like the famous bachelor who can have any woman he wants and gets dumped, I mean, I have an ex-boyfriend and he dumped me for a job and moved out of town, and I was like, oh well, move on, as some other guy will wanna buy me a drink or a meal next week to get in my fucking panties. No point in crying over him. I'm not a celebrity and all but I too got dumped …"

"You finished there?" He inquired. "You may not be famous yet, but you are gorgeous and I can't believe any sane man would dump you."

"I've been dumped more than once," she replied defensively.

"Really? That really happened to you?" Castle asked in complete disbelief. "I find that hard to belief."

"What?" She was confused.

"Getting dumped. I thought you would be the dumper."

"Dumper? No, I was the dumpee," she said glancing between road and him. "Is that actually a word?"

Rick laughed at her mischievous expression, "Guys would be crazy to dump you," he said matter of fact, "and seemingly I'm a little disgruntled by reality," he sulked.

"No, I'm joking," she replied, pressing her lips together. If she denied the truth he would stop asking questions.

"But I believe you would get asked out all the time. That's why you don't have food in your house."

She laughed in disbelief. "I can see how your imagination helps you write, Castle."

"No really. As an example only, I've bought your last three or so meals and cooked one … not that I mind, just saying."

"That's unusual, Castle, and it's because you're shadowing me, and now you're my partner. In fact, this is the longest first date I've ever had."

Rick laughed heartily, "Yeah same, not that you have a choice, doing this for the Mayor and NYPD of course."

"It was an order I accept you to be my partner. From the Mayor and the Captain. I had no choice."

"But you're loving every bit of this partnership, Beckett. Can tell by the rosy glow of your cheeks today, that walk you've got happening today…." He smirked thinking of a few things he could say.

"You do know I carry a gun."

"I know, but then you won't have anyone to play with when the handcuffs come out after hours, if you shoot me that is. Maybe that's why you get dumped. Threats to shoot."

Kate made a sound of humph, then said, "There's a car park, and there is the kids' park we need to be at." She hoped that would shut down the topic of conversation about being dumped before he did realise she was telling the truth.

"Good find, Beckett."

"Gotta be quick in Dodge." She turned the car into the space, braked and killed the engine.

"Your ex really did dump you for a job?" Rick seriously asked.

Kate pulled the key out of the ignition and looked at Rick. It was becoming quite evident that the writer didn't miss much and saw right through her.

She gave a nod. "His career would benefit from the move, so he left and I stayed here, because a move would have ruined mine."

"You really just moved on?"

She shook her head then smiled, with the confession, "I cried for a week and had liquid meals for most of that week."

"Mm." He thought about that, then said, "Well Beckett, I'm glad he dumped you."

"Why?"

"Because he stupidly left you so I could find you available." With that said, he unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door, "Let's go see about a nanny, shall we?" He got out and shut the door.

Kate remained in the car a few moments her mind in some place between, oh my god, he really does like me, to a full blown panic attack. This relationship was moving along at warp speed. She didn't know which way to go: girlishly lustful or panic stricken. Instead, she took several long deep breaths, reminded herself that he was an oversized kid, then got out the car. The cool fresh air helped. A lot.

The playground was at peak level capacity with pre-schoolers running and play on the equipment. They walked diagonally across the street in silence.

Beckett picked up conversation again as they stepped up the curb by saying, "The doorman told Esposito this is the playground most of the nannies in the building go to, so this girl, Chloe, should be here."

"Kinda takes me back a bit." Rick said gazing about the park.

She could not refuse a playful shot, "A bit? I'm thinkin' it's gotta be a little more than that, Castle."

"I wasn't talking about when I was a kid. I was referring to taking my daughter to the park."

"You took your daughter to the park?" Now she was interested.

"Spring, summer and fall, we were here almost every day. Alexis's mother was on the road a lot with community theater so I had custody," he explained and when he glanced to her questionable expression, he did the same back at her, "What?"

"Just never figured you for Mr Mom."

"Some of the best days of my life."

"That's actually nice."

"Tell me about it. Do you know how many lonely, single mothers there are in a Manhattan playground? And there I was, in between marriages." He chuckled obviously reflecting on some very good times had.

They stopped at a fence looking about the park. Beckett couldn't help herself and had to ask, "Exactly how many times have you been married, Castle?

"Twice."

"That's it?"

"Isn't that enough? How about you?"

"Me? Nope. Never been," she adamantly replied.

"You'd be good at it. You're controlling and disapproving. You should really try it."

"I'm not an if at first you don't succeed sort of girl, Castle. When it comes to marriage, I'm more the one and done type."

He had to ask. "Any serious candidates?" He maintained a poker face for the four or so seconds she stared at him. He saw her mind ticking over, and she wanted so badly to bite her lip but she refrained herself. Instead her lip tremble.

"Are you always going to wind me up?" She asked.

"Oh yeah, but I'm waiting for an answer," he seriously said. Had this woman met that special person? Was it him she had finally met? Or was he way off base even if he'd never been so sure in his damn life that he had met his soul mate?

Kate looked into the distance and pointed, trying to engage her brain. She didn't want to answer him, because she feared saying no, would hurt him, would result in her lying to someone she cared a lot about, even so early in the relationship. Right now, she was unsure whether she had an answer for herself.

"Doorman said she had a red vest on. That could be her over there." Beckett said instead and headed over to young woman, she thought might be Chloe Richardson, who was with a little girl, not far off.

"You're avoiding my question Kate." He casually called after her as he followed her along the path to where the kids were playing.

Beckett turned about and stopped, waited for him to catch up.

"Stop overthinking it," he quietly said, glancing from her eyes to the middle distance and back to her eyes. She had beautiful large eyes and in the daylight, he could see the brown blending into the green. He was accustomed to viewing blue eyes. It was refreshing to be around a brunette woman with hazel eyes.

"No, there's no serious candidates, Rick," she honestly answered, bit her lip and then turned. They continued to walk side by side, "But maybe you might like to ask me again in say six months time."

Rick stopped walking. She kept going but did a one-eighty turn, stepped backwards her face wearing a devilish grin. "What's wrong Ricky, did I prick a commitment nerve? You thought I was scared?"

Rick shook himself from his state of shock, blinked and promptly replied, "No. Not at all. Ask again in six months. I will put it in my diary."

"Well, come on then," she called then completed her circle, only then glancing over her left shoulder to ensure he followed her.

From that day onwards, he lived in hope.