JUST ON THE SURFACE
RATED M

Do you feel it when you kiss me?
'Cause I know you do somehow
I don't know when we go where we got
But we're both here somehow
Honest - The Band Camino

POST-1X01

CHAPTER ONE

Their date is a disaster.

In hindsight, she should have expected it, since he's acted like an arrogant jackass ever since she introduced herself at his book party. Why she'd agreed to go out with him after the case, she still doesn't know.

A brief moment of insanity, probably. Or desperation.

He's not mean, but he talks nonstop about himself, even completely ignores her for a few minutes when he's approached by a fan. And, when the waitress writes her phone number on the check, he actually takes it, folds it up, and tucks it in his pocket with a smirk.

Bastard.

Despite his obnoxious flirting during the Tisdale case, she's obviously not his type, and he doesn't feel the need to hide it.

Too bad. She'd almost enjoyed their banter.

The morning after the date, she wakes up alone and goes to work, as usual.

Only to find Castle there, that smug smirk on his face, with the announcement that he'll be shadowing her for the foreseeable future.

After the initial shock, she grabs Castle's sleeve, ignoring the loud snickers from Ryan and Esposito, and pulls him into the stairwell.

"What the hell are you doing?" she hisses, keeping her voice down in case anyone is trying to eavesdrop through the door.

Castle shrugs, an infuriating smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "You heard Roy," he says. "I'm shadowing you."

Kate purses her lips, so annoyed she could smack him, but her captain's words about the mayor echo in her mind. So she deploys a yoga breathing technique, taking a deep breath through her nose, exhaling slowly through clenched teeth. She does it a few more times, until her desire to do him physical harm fades a bit, and draws herself up to her full height.

In her heels, she's almost as tall as he is, and judging by the subtle darkening of his eyes, he likes it.

Too bad he hadn't paid attention last night. Maybe then he could have acted on the attraction.

She pushes that thought to the back of her mind, tucks away the mental image of her heels-clad feet digging into the back of his thighs as he moves inside her. That's a fantasy for later, when she's home alone. Not for now, when the man who'd barely acknowledged her during dinner is smirking at her.

"You don't have a choice, Beckett."

His voice interrupts her train of thought, and a small part of her is grateful. It's unprofessional to entertain sexual fantasies at work, especially fantasies about the person standing in front of her.

She heaves a resigned sigh. "Fine. But," she continues, placing her palm on his very solid chest, "you do exactly what I say, when I say it. I'm trained to go into active crime scenes, to handle crisis situations. You're not." Castle opens his mouth, presumably to argue, but she shakes her head and interrupts. "I won't have you die on my watch just because you were too stupid to stay away from a bullet."

That seems to sober him. Castle nods and takes a step back. "I understand."

Kate starts to move around him but he stops her, his fingers curling around her elbow.

"One other thing." Castle hesitates, and Kate raises her eyebrow, something she usually does when interrogating a suspect. She does it to get them to talk, and it works its magic on Castle.

He shifts his weight between his feet, and if Kate didn't know any better, she'd think he was nervous.

"We need to date."

Kate can only blink, her mind going blank at his words.

She's saved from needing to respond by the door opening and Ryan's nervous face appearing.

"Uh, Beckett?" Ryan recoils a little when she turns her glare to him. "Sorry to interrupt, but we got a call."

Kate takes a slow, calming breath, and nods. "Thanks. I'll be there in a minute." When the door closes again, she shifts her attention back to Castle and crosses her arms. "Can you repeat that?"

Castle glances behind her shoulder, and yeah, he's nervous. "We have to date. Or, at least, pretend to," he continues before she can say anything. "It wasn't my idea. But you haven't seen any tabloids, I assume?"

She just stares.

Castle sighs. "Apparently, there were some paparazzi outside the restaurant," he explains, "when we got there. I didn't see them, or I would've tried to keep you out of their view, or something, I don't know." He shrugs and shoves his hands in his pockets. "Anyway, according to Paula, there's some, and I quote, 'flailing' over the two of us."

Kate rolls her eyes and scoffs. "There is no us," she points out.

"I know that," Castle insists, "and Paula knows that. But she's decided that we can work this to our advantage."

"And?" Kate presses when he pauses. She huffs an impatient sigh. "Castle, I have to go. Get to the point."

"Paula wants us to pretend to date," he finally blurts.

Kate pinches the bridge of her nose and mutters a curse. "Lemme guess: for book sales, right?"

"It wouldn't hurt." Castle hesitates again, then clears his throat. "And, don't shoot the messenger," he adds when she glares at him, "the commissioner is on board with it."

"Jesus Christ," Kate mutters. "How the hell does he expect me to do my job if I have paparazzi all over me? Or, us, since apparently, you'll be everywhere, too."

Castle shrugs. "I don't know, Kate. Beckett," he corrects himself. He takes a tentative step towards her. "I told Paula that I didn't want anything to interfere with your work-"

Kate scoffs. He's kidding, right?

"-so she's going to put the word out to stay away when you're at crime scenes, stuff like that. But I'm afraid the commissioner sees it as good press for the NYPD, too."

"How in the hell-" Kate's phone vibrates, and she yanks it out of her pocket, sees a text from Ryan asking where she is. She grunts in frustration. "I have to go," she tells Castle, turning to the door. "You probably have to sign paperwork before you can come to a scene."

Castle follows her out of the stairwell. "Yeah, I do."

She goes right to her desk, grabs her jacket and keys, and glances back to Castle. "Fine," she sighs. "Tell Paula I'm in. But-" she continues, pointing at her new companion, "if I see one camera at a crime scene, it's over. All of it."

Castle nods. "I'll pass it on." He pauses and runs a hand through his hair. "Thanks, Detective."

Kate studies him for a long moment, the way his eyes flick around the room before landing on her, his hair mussed from his fingers. He almost looks...nervous? She blinks the thought away and heads for the elevator.

He's still at the precinct when she returns from the open-and-shut case, and she rolls her eyes at the way his face lights up when he spots her.

"I get to come along next time," he announces, straightening up in the chair that's now at the side of her desk.

Kate sighs and slips off her coat, hangs it on the back of her chair. "Lucky me," she says, sarcasm lacing her words. She turns on her monitor as she sits down, and she logs into the network, pulls up a blank report for the closed case.

Next to her, Castle shifts, and she hears the click of a pen, glances at him to see him watching her with an expectant look on his face. "What, Castle?" she sighs, already tired of him.

Castle leans forward to look at her screen. "What are you doing now?" he asks.

"Paperwork."

"What kind of paperwork?" he prods, writing something down.

"The boring kind." When Castle just stares at her, she sighs in exasperation and swivels her chair to face him. "Today's case was pretty simple. Husband killed wife in a tragic accident, he called it in himself, confessed right then," she explains. "CSU is combing the scene anyway, but since the guy confessed, and will likely be charged with manslaughter - I still have to talk to the ADA - the evidence will go into storage after being reviewed."

"In case it doesn't match up with the story," Castle interjects.

Kate nods. "Pretty much. But, since the typical investigative tools of canvassing, interviewing witnesses, that sort of stuff, won't be as vital," she continues, "I can go straight to writing it up. Ryan and Espo are still doing it, but it's just to cover the bases."

"Got it." Castle scribbles in his notebook, falling silent as he does, and Kate starts on the report, occasionally pausing to answer questions.

It only takes her an hour to complete the report, and she saves and prints it, sets it aside to sign once the evidence has been processed. Much to her surprise, Castle's presence isn't as annoying as she'd expected, and he behaves himself.

He's much more pleasant than he'd been on their date.

Their earlier conversation comes flooding back once her mind is clear of her case, and she leans forward, presses the heels of her hands to her forehead to attempt to stave off the forming headache.

"You okay?" comes the voice at her side.

She rolls her eyes. "No," she mutters. When she glances over and sees him staring at her, she sighs and leans back in her chair. "How is this fake dating thing going to work, anyway?" she asks.

Castle closes his notebook and tucks it in his coat pocket, then leans his elbow on her desk. She gives his arm a pointed look, and he moves it to the arm of his chair.

Okay, so he does respect her space a little.

"I talked to Paula when you were gone. She confirmed that the major paparazzi players will stay away when you're working," he explains. "Now, I can't guarantee that some fan won't get pictures, but I made it very clear with Paula that if we interfere with your work, just once, the whole thing is off." He pauses, levels his gaze at her. "Even me shadowing you."

Kate freezes, speechless

Obviously, if Castle is being honest - which is up in the air - then maybe he really does intend to just shadow her. Maybe he won't be an annoying jackass.

"As for the dating," Castle continues when she remains silent, "when we're - you're - on the job, you don't have to worry about anything. Much to Paula's chagrin-" He smirks. "-we won't roll up to crime scenes hand-in-hand."

Kate starts to relax. She'd been worried about that; if she has to sacrifice her pride by pretending to date the man with whom she'd suffered through one of her worst dates in recent memory, at least there would be that boundary.

"So what will we do," she prods, "go out to dinner sometimes, make sure we make it on Page Six?"

The corner of Castle's mouth quirks. "Pretty much. Well arrange dinner, Paula will call the pap, they'll take some pictures, and-" He snaps his fingers. "Instant press. We generate buzz for my book; the NYPD gets some good press."

"I still don't know how this works in the NYPD's favor," Kate argues before she can stop herself. "If I'm a victim's family member and see the lead detective laughing at Le Bernardin instead of investigating, I might get a little pissed."

She has to take a deep breath as she thinks about that cold January night, over ten years before. It had been heartbreaking enough when her mother's murder had been deemed the result of random gang violence. If she'd seen Detective Raglan in the tabloids, too? She might've gone feral.

Castle shrugs. "That's something to take up with your bosses," he points out. "Unfortunately, it's out of my control."

Kate rakes her fingers through her hair. "Okay. Fine. When is our first - second," she corrects herself, "date? And you'll actually pay attention to me while we do this, right?" she adds, shifting her gaze to him.

At least he has the decency to look embarrassed.

"Yeah, I'm really sorry about that." Castle glances around, then leans forward. "Truth be told, it's been ages since I've been on a date with someone I'm interested in on more than a physical level," he admits in a quiet voice. "I wish I'd acted differently, and even though the dating will be fake, I'll try and make it up to you."

He holds out his hand, and she stares at it for a moment, then shrugs and presses her palm to his. She hears a sharp inhale coming from his direction and looks up at him.

His eyes are locked on their joined hands, his pupils wide, his lips slightly parted.

She should be surprised that arousal courses through her veins at his reaction. But, for some reason, she isn't.

After several seconds, Castle seems to realize what he's doing, and he clears his throat and lets go of her hand, his eyes darting around, looking everywhere except her.

"I should get going," he says after glancing at his watch. He stands, stares at her desk for a minute, then grabs his coat from his chair. "See you tomorrow."

Kate is left to wonder just what the hell his reaction was about.

And whether or not he felt the same spark when they'd touched.

True to his word, when she arrives at an apartment building the next day to investigate a body in a dryer, she doesn't see any cameras.

She does see a certain mystery author, his face hopeful, a takeout coffee cup in each hand.

"Good morning, Detective," he greets her on the sidewalk, holding out one of the cups.

Kate gives him a wary look, but takes it from him, lifts it to her lips for an experimental sip. Somehow she manages not to react when the beverage hits her tongue.

How the hell does he know her coffee order?

"I overheard you tell someone yesterday," Castle explains, answering her unspoken question. "Thought bringing you coffee is something a fake boyfriend-slash-job shadow would do."

Kate snorts and takes another drink. "A fake boyfriend should also know that his fake girlfriend likes bear claws, too," she teases as they step into the elevator to go to the basement. "Real bear claws."

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees his lips lift in a satisfied smile.

"Duly noted," he rumbles.

He's surprisingly well-mannered - and helpful - during the case, save for the quip about how much he got laid as a single dad. He even stays at the precinct after, and although it's a little creepy that he watches her do paperwork, he asks enough questions to make it seem like he's actually there to learn about the job.

"So," he says when she's done, after she locks her drawer and shuts down her computer, "dinner?"

Kate glances at him and grabs her coat, a protest dying on her tongue when he takes it from her hands and holds it out for her. She sighs in resignation and shoves her arms in the sleeves. "I can put my own coat on," she grumbles, but he either doesn't hear her, or chooses to ignore her.

"I'm starving," Castle continues, "and Alexis is at a friend's tonight. And you must be hungry, too. Have you eaten anything today other than those M&Ms?"

Kate doesn't answer, just starts walking towards the elevator. Castle follows and falls into step with her.

"Anyway, I'm in the mood for Italian. How about you?"

It takes a few moments for her to realize that he's not talking anymore. "Oh, um," she stammers, "I'm not that hungry." It's a lie, but he doesn't need to know that.

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees his brows raise.

"Yeah, right."

She turns to him and narrows her eyes. "You don't know me, Castle," she snaps. "Even if I was hungry, I wouldn't eat with you."

Judging by the set of his shoulders, her words come out harsher than she'd intended, and she sighs and turns to face him. "I'm sorry," she apologizes. "I guess if we're pretending to date, we'll have to share meals on occasion."

Castle visibly relaxes. "Look, I know this is less than ideal," he says, "and obviously we don't have to always be together."

Their conversation is interrupted by their arrival on the ground floor, and they walk out together, ignoring the pointed stares that come from the handful of officers in the lobby.

She waits until they're outside and away from eavesdroppers to turn to him. "So, what's the deal?" she asks, tucking her hands in her coat pockets when a gust of cold wind whips around them. "How many dates do we need to go on? How long will this have to last?"

Castle shrugs and shifts his body, and Kate notices that the wind decreases when he does. When he winces and his hair ruffles, she realizes that he shifted to block the wind. Despite her annoyance at the whole situation, she's more than a little impressed at the display of chivalry.

"I don't know how long," Castle admits. "But I don't think we'll have to go out all that often. A couple of times a week, maybe."

Kate's jaw drops in surprise. "A couple of times a week?" she repeats. "I thought it would be a couple of times a month."

"Out of sight, out of mind is what Paula said."

Kate pinches the bridge of her nose, a headache already forming at the base of her skull. "Fine," she sighs. She wants to be done with this conversation. "I can do tomorrow, if you can?"

"Yeah. I'll call Paula, let her know." He takes out his phone. "What's your number? I'll text you the details. When, where, what to wear," he explains at her inquisitive brow. His face lights up and he chuckles. "Hey, I rhymed!"

Kate snorts. "Is it really a rhyme when they're homophones?" she points out.

Castle's jaw drops and his eyes darken. "Did you just tease me about grammar?" he asks, his voice low and just a little raspy. "Sexy."

Kate feels her cheeks flush, and she shrugs, tries to ignore the heat that rushes through her at the husk in his words. "Look, I need to go."

Castle rakes his gaze down her body, but he doesn't make any advance, or even acknowledge the flush in her cheeks. He just shoves his phone towards her, the new contact screen displayed. "Go ahead and add yourself. We'll coordinate later."

A/N: My contribution for the Castle Ficathon 2023. It is an eight chapter mini-ficathon fic. The posting schedule might be a tad erratic (and not my usual M-W-Th or M-Th) but don't worry, it's all written and ready to go so it'll all be posted in the next 3-4 weeks. Enjoy!