Chapter 6

It was coming up on almost two weeks since Kate had been assigned a bodyguard from the protection programme, and delirium was starting to hit. She hadn't seen anyone other than Castle for a week and cabin fever was setting in. There was nothing to do in her apartment other than read books and watch TV over and over again, and that was getting old really quick. She made sure to get in a good workout once or twice a day to keep herself in good shape and sane, but in such limited space it mostly consisted of intense yoga routines. She missed going on runs and having the freedom to go wherever her legs took her. This was by far the longest she had gone without leaving her apartment or speaking to another person, aside from hunky guy sitting on her couch.

Kate strolled out of her room still wearing her sweat-soaked workout clothes to see Castle in his usual spot working on his laptop. That one couch cushion practically had an indentation in the shape of him with the amount of time he spent sitting there.

"You should really try keep active while we're stuck here," Kate said before taking a large mouthful of water. "It's not good to be sitting all of time."

"Says the woman who binge-watched episodes of Temptation Lane yesterday for, I wanna say… six hours?" Castle smirked at her, poking fun at her obsession. "How can you even workout here anyways? Do you have a home gym hidden somewhere?"

"I wish," she scoffed, before capping her water bottle. "No, I'm just doing yoga."

"I'd hardly call yoga a workout," he laughed as he cleared the plates from the living room table. Walking past her, she followed him to the sink.

"Have you ever even tried it?"

"It can't be that hard, right? Downward dog and all that," Castle said coming off condescending.

Kate laughed. "Really? Okay! Come on, I'm halfway through my workout. You can join me for the rest."

"Yeah right. I'm fine, thanks."

"All talk, no walk I see," she challenged knowing it would earn her a response. "What are you afraid of, Castle? You get showed up by a girl?"

"Please," he laughed turning to face her straight on. He looked at her directly in the eye and said, "I just don't want you to feel bad when I breeze right through this so-called workout of yours."

"Well, I'm pretty sure my stamina is better than yours so we'll see about that," she bounced back grinning at the man in front of her. Lanie was right, he really was hot in a ruggedly handsome kind of way.

Castle chewed on the inside of his cheek to refrain from saying anything slightly inappropriate. Instead, he simply smirked at her. This flirtatious encounter was not something he had expected to happen. But just for a second he wondered what it would be like if it moved beyond a flirtatious encounter. She was standing in front of him, her hair messy and damp from her workout but somehow looking more desirable than ever. Has she always been this attractive, he thought?.

"Fine," he conceded. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

Kate brought her laptop into the living room and moved the furniture so there was enough room for them to manoeuvre. Bending over and spreading out two yoga mats side by side, Castle watched her from behind. Having changed out of his usual attire into sweatpants he was instantly grateful for the extra room down there. For some reason she was having a serious effect on him today, he could barely think straight.

"Castle?" she said, snapping him from his thoughts. She caught him in his daze and smiled. "You ready?"

They each stepped onto a mat and started with some warmup exercises for Castle's benefit. Kate had told him she was halfway through her routine, but it hadn't occurred to him that he would be jumping headfirst into the more advanced poses. They started with the Cobra pose, a reclining back-bending position whereby your pelvis and legs are firmly rooted to the floor. Castle watched as Kate carried out a more advanced style of the pose with ease, significantly arching her back.

"How are you bending your back like that?" he asked with struggle in his voice, trying his best to arch his back without causing it to cramp.

"I thought you said this was easy?" she teased with her eyes closed, facing the ceiling. It wasn't long before he came to the realisation that it was not, but there was no way he was admitting that to her.

After fifteen minutes of alternating complex poses, it was time for the previously mentioned downward dog or Adho mukha svanasana. Kate had noticed Castle's shaky arms and legs throughout the workout and couldn't help but smile at his determination to prove himself right. She effortlessly got into the downward dog position and watched as the man beside her failed.

"Still think it's a walk in the park?" she asked as he struggled to find his form.

"Oh yeah," he lied, the shakiness in his voice trumping his poker face. "Easy."

"You're not even doing it right," she laughed. She got up from the mat and stood behind him. "Your back isn't straight and you're standing on your tippy toes."

"Huh. Maybe that's why it seems so easy."

"Here, let me just…," she said before delicately placing her hands underneath his hips and lightly tugging upwards to help straighten his spine. "Now pull your heels down to the ground."

He knew it meant nothing but the fact she was holding him right now sent goosebumps all over his skin. Either she really wanted him to nail this pose or she just needed an excuse to get close to him. Whatever the reason, he was glad it happened.

"You're doing it," she cheered, followed by a little chuckle. She quickly recreated the pose herself on her mat and smiled at him semi-upside down.

"No, see now you're doing it wrong," he chuckled, lying just so he could get close to her again.

He dropped out of his pose and scooted over to her mat where he gently rested his hands on her hips. The sensation of his hands on her surprised her, inevitably tickling her. Almost as an instinctive reaction, she dropped to the floor and rolled onto her back snickering. Castle, still kneeling over her, wasn't sure what he had done that led to this but he wasn't complaining. It was refreshing seeing her with a smile on her face, seeing her with her guard down.

"Really?" she chuckled. "That was your move? Just exactly how sleazy are you?"

"Clearly not sleazy enough if it left you laughing."

Kate sat up and composed herself. "I'm sorry. That was an overreaction," she apologised. "I don't remember ever being ticklish."

"That's okay," Castle assured reaching out and wiping a tear from her damp cheek. "Happiness looks good on you."

"Pretty sure that was sweat," Kate said quickly trying to divert the conversation.

He chuckled. "An even hotter look on you."

It didn't take a genius to see that he was hitting on her right now. But not just in the flirty banter kind of way they had been interacting for the past two week, he was seriously flirting with her this time. She could see it in his eyes, the way they lit up whenever they made eye contact. And that move he pulled, trying to 'adjust' her just so he had a reason to get close to her. To touch her.

But she was adamant not to let it escalate. At least not yet. "I'm going to go shower."

"Yeah, I could use one too-."

"Stop," she cut him off. "We are not showering together."

Castle grinned at her, surprised that had been a thought in her head. "I was going to say I could use one too after you are finished," he explained. "But it's good to know where your head lies."

Embarrassed, Kate refrained from saying anything and made a beeline for her bedroom. She couldn't help but smile to herself, knowing he was watching her as she walked away. There was no doubt about it, there was strong sexual tension between them. Maybe Lanie was right after all, maybe she could have a little fun with this.

She turned the dial on her shower and let the water run before undressing and hopping in. Her mind was running a hundred miles an hour thinking about the little yoga session that had just happened. She had caught Castle watching her multiple times and not as a guide for the poses. He had been checking her out. She hadn't called him out on it but she saw him eyeing her up from behind when she was laying down the yoga mats.

Kate changed the temperature of the shower to colder and let it run down her face. How did he have this effect on her? Was it because they were confined to a small space? Was she just seeing things that weren't there because she was deprived from socialisation and touch? She didn't know and she didn't care. She wasn't going to sit back and wait to get her answer.

She was going to have to figure it out for herself.