Chapter 10

After a few days, Kate had adjusted to having Cooper around. That same awkwardness she felt when Castle first moved in with her had repeated itself. The only difference this time was that Nick Cooper wasn't as private as Castle. Instead he wanted to talk about anything and everything under the sun. They talked about baseball, about music, they even had a very brief discussion about Temptation Lane in which he jokingly mocked her taste. He was a lot more laid back than Castle, and a lot more straight forward.

"So, you're a homicide detective," he said sliding next to her on the couch. "I almost joined the academy, you know."

"Yeah?" Kate said intrigued. "What stopped you?"

"Blue's not my colour."

She laughed. "I find that hard to believe."

"Nah, it was because I realised I wouldn't get much enjoyment out of being a cop. You know, sitting around in a car eating doughnuts all day. I'm more of a physical, get things done kinda guy."

"And yet here you are sitting on a couch 'protecting' me," she teased.

"Touché detective!"

"And it's not all stakeouts and doughnuts. The academy was pretty intense, you would've liked it," Kate explained. "Those suspects don't catch themselves."

"And I've heard you do it in heels! No wonder you're in great shape," he flirted. "I'm surprised the perps don't just come running to you."

"Yeah, unfortunately it doesn't quite work like that," she laughed. "You heard?"

"Castle isn't the only one who did his research before taking you on!"

Castle. Kate had tried her best not to think about him the last few days, but despite her best efforts she was failing miserably. She couldn't help but wonder why he had been so vague about his absence to Cooper, or why Cooper had been so vague about Castle's absence to her. All roads led back to that one explanation: Castle panicked.

"So, what do you and Ricky usually get up to on a night like this?" Cooper asked.

Aside from flirting, teasing, and hooking up, she thought. "There's not exactly a lot to do under house arrest. We usually just sit here while he works on his laptop."

"Sounds tedious," he smiled. "I gotta say I'm impressed yet somewhat ashamed of Ricky holding out on me like this."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean spending all this time alone with you, a stunning woman. He should be giving you all the attention in the world, not playing on his laptop."

He had a smile that could melt your pants off, and before she knew it she was smiling right back at him. During their conversation he had somehow become closer to her on the couch, but not uncomfortably close. She knew what his plan of action was and she couldn't help but find it amusing.

"Really?" she scoffed with a grin. "That's your move?"

"I mean… if it works!"

Kate laughed. "I'm flattered. And as attractive as you are…" Her voice trailed off as she lost her train of thought. "Is that a job requirement or something?" Shaking that thought from her head she continued, "Sorry! What I was saying was… I'm just not interested."

"I respect that," Nick acknowledged with a wholesome smile. "But you can't blame a guy for trying, right? You're an extremely gorgeous woman."

Though she tried her best to hide it her cheeks reddened at the compliment. "Thanks."

In the midst of the awkward silence that followed, Kate considered her options. As much as she wanted to reach out to Castle and find out whether her suspicions were true, she didn't want to pry or come off clingy. He hadn't reached out to her at all in the three days since he'd been gone, so she took that as enough proof he had freaked and fled.

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to have Castle's number would you?" she asked with uncertainty in her voice. She almost instantly regretted asking.

"Castle," he repeated with a chuckle. "It's funny how you call him that. But yeah I do, why?"

"I just wanted to check in with him, make sure everything is okay."

"Ah." The confidence in his voice as if he had just solved something unsettled her. "He's gotten to you, hasn't he?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing! It's just that you must've gotten close if you're the one worrying about him. Roles reversed and all that." He grabbed a pen and a piece of an old newspaper from the coffee table and scribbled down the phone number. "There!"

"For the record we're not 'close'. I'm just being a decent person and making sure everything is okay." She didn't mean to come off so defensive, which only made her look more unconvincing to Cooper.

"Okay," he chuckled holding his hands up defensively. "I'm sorry."

Kate took the sheet of paper from him and began dialling the number. She excused herself into the bedroom and sat on the bed staring at the number on her phone. It's weird if I call, she thought. Instead she copied the number into a new message thread and began typing.

She pressed send and locked her phone, quickly tossing it onto her bed as though it was a grenade without a pin. All she wanted to know was if they were okay. Confirmation that what happened between them hadn't ruined their professional relationship.

Now it was just a waiting game.

Castle's Loft

Castle had been playing doctor dad for the past three days, caring for Alexis by doing everything he could to keep her entertained. Movie marathons, board games, story time. The occasional encore performance from Martha was also a common pastime. Anything he could think of to take her mind off of being bored. But he was loving every minute of it. He was always grateful to spend time with his daughter as his job rarely allowed for it. Though he felt sorry that Alexis had hurt herself, he was glad he could be there for her in her time of need.

Castle swung open the front door after a persistent amount of knocks. "Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes."

"Now, is that any way to greet the mother of your child?" Meredith said with a grin. She placed a kiss on his cheek before inviting herself into the loft. "Alexis!"

"Mommy!" Alexis cheered. "I hurt my foot!"

"Yes you did." Meredith dumped her bags in the middle of the room and hugged her. "Don't worry, mommy will stay with you until you're all better."

Those words caught Castle off guard. It had initially taken him hours to get in contact with Meredith to tell her what had happened, then another day for her to decide she would come to New York next week. Then unannounced she decides to show up five days early. This was one of the many things that drove him insane about his ex.

"Can we talk for a second?" he said addressing the unexpected visitor. Guiding her into his office, he continued. "You weren't supposed to be here until next week."

"Well, we wrapped shooting ahead of schedule so I caught an early flight to New York," Meredith explained. "I thought you'd be glad to see me."

"The plan was I take care of Alexis for a week, then you take over so I can go back to work."

"I can't win with you. I show up early and you're mad, and if I showed up late you'd have the exact same reaction."

"Ever heard of showing up on time?" he barked.

"I'm just trying to spend as much time with my daughter as I can. What's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong with that is the fact that I was hoping for some one-on-one time myself with Alexis this week."

"Why are you making me out to be the bad guy?"

"I'm not," he sighed. "There's a reason Alexis spends little time with us when we're together, because of this. Now, thanks to you, she has to spend a week with us."

"We'll be fine." Meredith ran her hand up and down his arm reassuringly. "Besides, fighting usually makes our alone time more intense."

Since their breakup, Rick and Meredith had a history of hooking up whenever she was in town. It was always purely for pleasure but each time there was a sense of intimacy lingering. After all, they were once almost engaged and did have a kid together. No amount of boundaries was going to change that.

"You're staying in the guest room," he informed her, unable to hide his attractive smile. "Besides, we promised to stop doing that."

"We always promise to stop doing that." She brought her face close to his and watched as his eyes slowly closed. "Nothing wrong with a little guilty pleasure," she whispered before pressing her lips gently against his.

His mind flashed back to that night with Kate. How they devoured one another without any tenderness. As much as he enjoyed it he knew he couldn't do that ever again, not without some form of intimacy. The reason he could sleep with Meredith every few months was because of the connection they shared in the past. There was still a love there, even if it was no longer romantic.

"Now I'm going to make Alexis' favourite dessert to cheer her up."

Meredith disappeared into the living room leaving Castle lost in his thoughts in his office. Just then his phone dinged with a message from an unknown number. The text read:

Hey Castle, it's Kate. Nick gave me your number. I just wanted to check in and make sure everything's okay. You left without a warning which is kind of strange. Let me know if you get this.

Shit, he thought. Castle had been so preoccupied with Alexis that it hadn't even crossed his mind to contact Kate and let her know what was going on. He knew she didn't know about his familial situation, or that he had a daughter. That was a conversation that needed to happen in person, he knew that.

Instead of complicating things, Castle decided to be blunt.

All good. Just some personal family stuff. Talk soon.

It warmed him inside to know that she had thought of him, even if it was only for a short time. She reached out to him to make sure he was okay. He didn't know many clients that would be that thoughtful; they would just take onboard the replacement bodyguard and move on. But not Kate, she was different.

She cared.