Author's Note: I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and Happy New Year, everyone! I was planning on posting this first update for the new year last week but RL interfered but here it is, a few days late.

The Best-Laid Plans

Chapter 28

It was absurd to feel like her own apartment was a little foreign to her and yet, somehow, that was rather how she felt. Kate huffed and shook her head at her own silliness as she headed into her bedroom. Just because she'd only spent one night here in the last two weeks was no reason to feel as if her own apartment was no longer entirely familiar. Even after the last two weeks and more spent almost entirely at the loft, of course she'd spent far more time in her own apartment than she ever had at the loft and it wasn't as if her apartment had changed at all. She was being ridiculous, that was all.

She grimaced, shaking her head at herself, as she opened her dresser drawer and pulled out her swimsuit. If anyone had told her a couple months ago that she would be going to the Hamptons with Castle not just once but twice that summer, she would never have believed them and yet, here she was, preparing to pack to spend the Fourth of July weekend at the Hamptons. She hadn't planned on it but when Alexis had gently told Castle just a few days ago that she preferred to spend the long holiday weekend at Princeton, Kate simply had not been able to deny Castle his request that the two of them still go out to the Hamptons. Castle had valiantly assured Alexis he understood and managed to sound reasonably cheerful as he'd done so but once he had gotten off the phone, he'd let his mask fall, betraying just how disappointed he was. Kate might understand Alexis's decision but that hadn't made it much easier to see Castle's melancholy expression. So when he'd suggested they go out to the Hamptons anyway, she'd agreed. Which was the reason she had returned to her apartment since her swimsuits–and her more casual clothes better suited for a vacation–were here.

Castle was at the loft doing his own packing for the weekend and would no doubt be here shortly to pick her up. After a moment's thought, and with a small smile playing on her lips, she included some slinky pieces of lingerie. The last time she'd gone to the Hamptons, mindful of Alexis's presence, she had only brought her most conservative swimsuit; this time, she deliberately packed one of her skimpier one-piece swimsuits–for the beach since that was still public–and then, for good measure, included her skimpiest bikini, for the pool that was entirely private.

A knock on the door heralded Castle's arrival shortly after she'd finished packing and caused her heart to flutter absurdly considering how much time she and Castle had already spent together. She shouldn't still be reacting like this, feeling such a thrill, over his simple presence–shouldn't but somehow still was.

"Hey, Castle," she greeted him, proud of herself for sounding so casual, unaffected.

"Beckett. Ready to go?"

He had changed out of the button down he'd worn that morning into the precinct, was now wearing a t-shirt over his jeans, and as usual, seeing the way the soft cotton of the t-shirt outlined the muscles of his chest and biceps made her pulse pick up a little. At least now, she no longer needed to try and deny her reaction to him nor did she need to resist the wish to run her hands lightly up his chest and up to his shoulders as she stepped into him to give him a not-so-quick kiss of greeting.

Once he released her, he bent and picked up her duffel bag–and by now, she didn't bother trying to argue with his gallantry–and she only had to lock up her apartment behind them.

"Did the boys say anything when you left?" he asked in the elevator.

She gave him a look. "What do you think?" she returned dryly.

He made a small face and huffed a brief laugh. "Fair point. I hope the commentary from the peanut gallery wasn't too bad."

This description of the boys had her grinning. "Nothing more than you might expect," she acknowledged. "There were some knowing looks and some grins when I left but," she shrugged a little, "as long as they don't comment aloud, I can mostly ignore them."

She supposed she shouldn't have been but she was still a little surprised at how readily Captain Montgomery had agreed to her request to have the holiday weekend off and then told her that she had so much vacation time racked up that if she didn't have an active case going on, she might as well take a half-day on Friday too so they could leave for the Hamptons before the Friday evening rush hour, which would no doubt be worse than usual because of it being the Friday before a long weekend.

The boys had been almost comically surprised when she'd told them she would be taking a half-day and the weekend off and then, immediately deducing that she would be going away with Castle, had spent the last couple days making teasing comments about some of them actually needing to work for a living or how it must be nice to be able to live a life of luxury and ease with vacation homes to go to, ostensibly to each other but always within her hearing. She'd batted the comments back as she usually would have but couldn't entirely deny that every comment brought home to her just how, well, out of character this was for her.

She thought this would probably be the first time in her career that she hadn't worked two holiday weekends in a row, especially because the Fourth of July with its attendant public events around the fireworks tended to be almost as busy for cops as New Year's Eve did. She had enough seniority now not to be temporarily assigned out to traffic control the way the more junior officers in homicide and the other divisions occasionally were, if One PP and the other public authorities thought they needed more police presence for the public events, but that still meant that to make up for homicide being possibly under-staffed, she had almost always volunteered to work, just like she always did on Christmas.

This year, knowing how melancholy Castle was at the prospect of spending the holiday weekend without Alexis–and with his upcoming book tour looming next week–she simply hadn't been able to deny Castle. It was a little strange, even unsettling, to realize how her priorities had shifted, how much Castle and what he wanted had come to mean. Aside from her dad, her work had always come first for her but now, she was realizing that Castle was vying with her job for supremacy. It was only fortunate that for the most part, especially because she worked with Castle too and he liked the work that they did, Castle's wishes didn't generally conflict with the demands of her job. This, taking a holiday, was a relatively minor thing but she did wonder a little uneasily what might happen if Castle and what he wanted or needed ever were to outright conflict with the demands of her job.

She was distracted the moment they got to the sidewalk and she saw, not Castle's Mercedes as she'd been expecting, but a Ferrari. She remembered hearing somewhere that he had a Ferrari but she hadn't actually seen it until now. "You brought your Ferrari," she blurted out and then recovered herself to ask, with a teasing look, "So does this mean I can drive?"

He hesitated from where he'd stowed her duffel bag in the miniscule trunk and then agreed. "Well, you do already know how to get there so I guess you can."

"You don't have to sound so excited at the idea," she drawled.

He laughed at that. "Touche. I should have expected you'd want to be in the driver's seat. You don't like not being in control."

"Flattery will get you nowhere," she quipped dryly and held out her hand. "Come on, Castle, hand them over."

He duly passed over the keys and she couldn't help but shoot him a pleased smile as she slid into the driver's seat of the sleek car.

"I hope I don't regret this," he muttered half-teasingly under his breath as he seated himself.

"Oh, ye of little faith. Don't you trust me?"

Her question had been teasing but he glanced at her, abruptly sober in one of his lightning-quick changes of expression. "I trust you." it sounded like a vow.

She jerked her eyes away from his, trying to hide the flutter in her chest. She'd already known that he trusted her–trusted her with his home, trusted her with his daughter–so she didn't know why hearing him say the words outright should affect her so but it did.

Starting the Ferrari and getting accustomed to it was distraction enough, although in the city, the traffic was too congested to even try to test the car's capabilities. She only focused on driving and it wasn't until they were well out of the city and on the highway that she slid a glance at him. "You did say you trusted me."

He met her eyes and she saw the spark of understanding, of anticipation, light his eyes. He made a gesture with one hand. "Go ahead, Beckett."

She grinned at him and shifted her hand on the gearshift just before she floored the gas, sending the car surging forward. He had insisted they stop briefly to put the top down once they were outside of the city and their acceleration had the wind whipping through their hair, reminding her of riding her motorcycle. Exhilaration coursed through her veins and she had to laugh in delight, glancing at him to meet his eyes, saw a matching expression on his face. The exhilaration mingled with something more personal, a sense of connection, camaraderie, knowing that at that moment, he felt exactly as she did, warming her.

They were nearing the Hamptons and traffic had increased to the point that she had to slow down, ease back to a more decorous speed. "This is a hell of a car."

"I changed my mind. You should always drive my car," was his response.

She laughed and his tone and expression shifted a little. "And I thought you couldn't get any hotter."

She smirked at him and then said with studied blandness, "And you haven't even seen me on my motorcycle yet."

He turned to stare at her, his eyes wide. "You have a motorcycle?!"

"Mm hmm, a 94 Harley softtail. I got it for myself for my 18th birthday, saved all through high school to pay for it."

"You've been holding out on me! How have you not told me this already?"

She gave a small, considering hum in the back of her throat. "I don't know. Maybe I was worried you couldn't handle the sight of me straddling it in tight, black leather."

He made a sound like a choke and she allowed her smirk to surface.

"It should be illegal to be as hot as you are," he finally managed.

"Why, Castle? Afraid you can't handle me?"

"Oh, I can handle you all right," he murmured, his voice dropping dangerously low.

She felt a little shiver ripple along her nerves. Yes, he could handle her, could handle her very well.

They had reached their exit for East Hampton and she was glad of the distraction as he straightened up a little and directed her where to go. Before, the last time she had driven out, she'd only followed the directions of the GPS but Castle was more familiar with the streets and directed them a slightly different route that avoided going through the center of town and saved them some time, as well as allowing her a glimpse of some other streets, houses–well, mansions–that were expansive enough that it occurred to her that Castle's house, as impressive as it was, could even be considered modest, comparatively speaking.

As it was, she felt a spurt of relief that she had seen Castle's beach house before so the initial impact of its size was decidedly less than it had been, although not gone entirely. Last time, her impression of the house had been somewhat diluted because she'd told herself it was only more evidence that she and Castle were from such different worlds that a relationship between them couldn't possibly work. Seeing it as a house belonging to someone she'd been valiantly trying to convince herself was only a friend was different than seeing it as the house of her, well, boyfriend. (Oh god, what had she gotten herself into? She didn't belong here, couldn't possibly belong here.)

"Welcome back."

She met Castle's eyes, tried to let the warmth in his blue eyes assuage her sudden uncertainty. "Thanks."

"Let's go get settled in and then I was thinking we could go for a walk on the beach before dinner?"

"Sounds good."

She felt herself relax a little as they slid out of the car and Castle retrieved their bags, slinging her duffel bag over his shoulder and carrying his bag in one hand while he slid his free hand into hers. By now, she knew that offering to help or insisting she could carry her own bag would be largely futile and didn't try.

This time, she didn't need any sort of grand tour so he just led them to his bedroom, which was the one part of the house that was absolutely new to her as last time, she had deliberately avoided even trying to look inside it, as if the sight of his bed would completely wreck her pretense that their relationship was once more entirely platonic. His room was, unsurprisingly, large with a big bed in pride of place, decorated in shades of blue. Along one side stretched windows that provided a sweeping view of the bay, with a spacious but still cozy window seat at one end. Her mind immediately conjured up an image of the two of them curled up together on the window seat, her leaning back against him as he read to her or just held her.

She wandered over to the window seat, resting one knee on the cushion, as she looked out and felt him come up behind her, sliding his arms around her waist. "You really do have an incredible view here."

"Yeah, it's something I never get tired of. It's why we come out here pretty regularly throughout the year because even in winter, when it's too cold to do much outside, the view makes it worth it."

She turned in his arms and kissed him, intending for it to be brief, but as usual, Castle's lips and tongue were persuasive and insistent, so the kiss ended up lasting quite some time before she finally drew back. "You said something about going for a walk on the beach?" she prompted lightly.

He pulled a pout. "On second thought, I'd rather keep kissing you but if you insist…"

He stepped back and she was the one to reach out and slip her hand into his, tugging lightly. "Let's go walk, Castle. It's gorgeous outside."

It really was, the sky an almost cloudless expanse of blue above them. She and Castle both slipped out of their shoes, leaving them at the foot of the stairs leading back up to his yard so they could walk barefoot on the sand, and then they loitered along the beach. It was so different being out here. In the city, always surrounded by the hustle and bustle endemic, even when they walked, they had to stride along quickly but out here, they could just wander aimlessly, their steps slow. They didn't talk much, were mostly silent as they walked hand in hand.

Until they heard a shout from a little ways ahead and then a frisbee came flying toward them and landed on the sand almost directly at their feet. Castle bent to grab the frisbee and threw it back to the group of kids who had been playing with it, gaining a wave of thanks, which he returned with a smile.

As if reminded by the kids and their errant frisbee, he started reminiscing about past summers with Alexis and the fun they had had on the beach. Castle always had talked about Alexis frequently so she couldn't say he talked about Alexis more often these days with her gone but she did notice the touch of wistfulness that entered his expression and his tone when he mentioned his daughter these days, telling her how much Castle was missing Alexis.

She knew talking about Alexis was comforting to Castle so she didn't try to change the subject and she was happy to hear his stories so all she did was shift closer to him, hoping that her nearness, the brush of her arm against his as they walked, would provide a sort of comfort.

Afterwards, when they returned to the house, he banished her from the kitchen insisting she should go relax and he would take care of making dinner.

"Let me help, at least set the table or something," she protested.

He waved a hand at her. "No, no, I can manage." He returned to her, grasping her hand in his and squeezing it. "Let me do this for you. I want to do something to make up for the fact that I'll need to spend a few hours working every day."

"You already explained that and I understood. You don't have to do anything."

"Still. I insist, really."

She was learning to recognize the stubborn set of his lips and knew when it was useless to argue. She didn't think she'd realized until these last weeks that for all Castle's outward easy-going nature, in his way and in some things, he could be quite as stubborn as she was and was learning to give way, at least in the smaller things. "Okay, if you're sure. But tell me if you change your mind and need a hand with anything," she added.

"I'll be fine. Go relax and I'll call you when dinner's ready."

She made a face to let him know she wasn't thrilled to be banished but retreated into his office/library to wait. She knew Castle was trying to be a good host, to say nothing of his feeling somewhat guilty over his having told her that he would need to work on the edits for the next Nikki Heat while they were out here, but it was unnecessary. He had told her a few days ago that he'd received the edits back for the Nikki Heat book and would need to try to get through them before he left for his book tour because otherwise, he would be coming up too close to the book release date and of course, while he was on his book tour, he wouldn't have time to really work on the edits anyway. She had assured him she understood and wouldn't mind at all being left to her own devices for a few hours during the day while they were out here but he didn't seem entirely convinced. And she couldn't help but wonder how much of it was due to his past experiences with women who would not have been so sanguine about being left alone.

Perusing his library only made her more certain that she would be perfectly happy to be left alone for a few hours because he had more than enough books to keep her occupied and simply being able to sit outside and read would be a luxury for her.

She pulled out a mystery set in turn of the century New York involving a midwife who assisted a police detective and settled in to read until she heard Castle's voice almost an hour later. "Dinner's ready, Beckett!" \

She put the book down and returned to the kitchen to find Castle waiting and he pushed open the French doors leading outside with an extravagant gesture. "Your dinner awaits."

She stepped outside and then stopped, taking in what he'd done. This wasn't just dinner, this was more than that, more than even a normal date night. He'd set out a few paper lanterns for illumination. The table was fully set with cloth napkins folded to resemble a flower, glasses of wine, and candles, already lit and flickering brightly in the breeze, and there was even a small cut crystal bud vase filled with a few of the flowers that grew along the side of the yard. And of course, there was the undeniably stunning backdrop of the sand and sea and, as if that wasn't enough, sunset was painting the sky with vivid streaks of pink and orange.

"Oh, wow," she managed.

It was beautiful and touching and she couldn't remember any man ever having gone to so much trouble for her before, couldn't imagine another man thinking of such things–and maybe that was the problem. Because Castle was so good with women, knew so well how to please women, and not only in bed but in general. She'd always known that, of course, but somehow, now, it bothered her a little too.

Because the whole scene was tailor-made for romance–for seduction–and she couldn't quite help but wonder how many other women had been the beneficiary of such efforts.

"Kate, is everything okay?"

She didn't know how he seemed to be able to read her so well these days–so much for her vaunted poker face–but somehow, he did. She forced a small smile but knew it wasn't very convincing. "Yeah, it's just a lot to take in."

A faint frown creased his forehead as he stepped closer. "I wanted to surprise you."

"You definitely have," she assured him.

"But?" he prompted gently.

She hesitated but found herself blurting out, almost of her own volition, "But I can't help wondering how many other women have also been here and received this special treatment."

He looked almost stricken and she hated herself a little for having said anything, for being bothered by it at all since it wasn't as if she hadn't always known about his past and his reputation and she did trust him, and yet…

"Oh, Kate…" he sighed, closing the distance between them and grasping both her hands in his. "I can't deny that I've been with my fair share of women but not here, not in my home. And if it helps, there have been only three women that I've invited here–one, a woman I met out here one summer when Alexis was at summer camp, the other was Gina, back when we were married, and finally–you."

"Oh." she let the knowledge of that sink into her. She had believed that she wasn't just one in a long line of women to him but still, it meant something to know it for sure.

He released one of her hands to give a wave, indicating the patio in all its romantic set-up. "And all this, I've never done this before, for anyone." His lips twisted a little wryly. "I just wanted to make it special."

It was her turn to capture his hand in hers, squeezing it. "You have. You did. It's beautiful and I'm just sorry I ruined things with my own issues."

"You haven't ruined anything," he denied quickly. "Nothing is ruined–unless you think it is?"

"No, it's not ruined," she agreed, stepping in just that final bit closer to him to kiss him quickly. "Why don't we just go back, replay this scene again, and I promise I'll react better this time?" The suggestion was made on impulse and surprised her even as she was saying it since it was sillier than she normally was–but it was the sort of thing Castle would appreciate.

And he did, his expression brightening. He made a sweeping gesture with one hand to indicate the patio. "My lady, your dinner is served."

This time, she smiled in response and the smile was a real one. "You did all this for me? You didn't have to go to so much trouble."

"I wanted to do something special to surprise you."

"It worked because I'm definitely surprised. This is beautiful." She kissed him again, softly, lingeringly. "Thank you," she breathed as she drew back from the kiss.

He had to blink a couple times before he managed, "Yeah, this was much more like how I imagined your response."

She clicked her tongue against her cheek in mock reproach. "You're stepping out of character."

He grimaced apologetically. "My bad." He cleared his throat ostentatiously and inclined his head in a gesture almost like a bow. "Come and be seated and dinner can be served."

"Why, thank you, Mr. Castle," she responded with equal formality as he led her to a chair and pulled it back for her.

She sat and he rested his hands lightly on her shoulders for a moment, before he bent and brushed a kiss to her hair.

"Help yourself to some salad," he told her in something more like his usual manner, as he opened the bottle of wine that was on the table and poured a glass for each of them before sitting down himself.

He lifted his glass of wine. "Here's to our first vacation as a couple."

She lightly clinked her glass against his. "To our first vacation."

They chatted idly about nothing in particular as they ate their salads, exchanging occasional smiles and laughs. After the minor stumble of her reaction to his romantic scene-setting, she had silently promised herself to be particularly nice but after barely a few minutes, she had forgotten all about her own promise because it wasn't necessary after all. Because this was Castle and, somehow, aside from all else, it was easy to talk to him, easy to slide into their usual light banter.

When they were finished with their salads, Castle retreated inside and brought out the entree, which proved to be chicken parmesan along with garlic bread.

"It smells delicious. Thanks, Castle."

"I just hope it tastes as good then," he quipped.

She shot him a half-challenging little smile. "Well, I guess we'll find out." She took a bite, making a show of chewing slowly for his benefit.

"What's the verdict?"

She swallowed, took a sip of water, and then answered with a show of seriousness, "I changed my mind. I'm not only keeping you around for the coffee; it's for your cooking too."

He laughed. "Good to know. And I guess we're even because I'm keeping you around for the sex."

She grinned at him but he abruptly sobered and reached out to take her hand.

"That was a joke, you know. It hasn't just been about the sex in a long time–was never just about the sex for me," he corrected.

He's in love with you, she heard her dad's voice in her mind and flushed at both the memory of her dad's words and at the look in Castle's eyes, her heart leaping in her chest. Her mouth had abruptly gone a little dry but she swallowed, meeting his eyes. "I know. It was never just about the sex for me either, although I tried really hard to convince myself it was." And would they ever be totally over her mistake in thinking she could have just a one-night stand with Castle or would the (un)official start of their relationship, as it were, keep rearing its head at times?

"Can I ask you something?"

"Since when do you ask permission to ask questions?" she teased gently.

A faint smile flickered over his lips before it vanished. "That first night at the hotel, what made you decide to do that? I was sure you'd decided pretty much from the beginning that you weren't going to do anything about the attraction between us so what changed your mind?"

She should have expected they would have this conversation at some point. Really, the only surprise was that it had taken this long into their relationship before he'd asked. "I'm not sure I can really explain it," she began slowly, a little uncertainly, "but the attraction between us had been building, growing with every day. It's like when a glass is filled with water slowly until it's almost brimming over–and then at a certain point, all it will take is one more drop for it to overflow and the water to spill out in a rush."

"That makes sense. And was a very good simile too. I mean, I would have preferred if you'd just said that after so many months, you were overpowered by my sexual magnetism, but your way worked too."

She choked on a laugh. "I did not say any such thing!" she almost sputtered. "Overpowered, ha."

He released her hand and sat back with what might have been the smuggest expression she'd yet seen on his face. "It's okay to admit it. I know you want me."

She did, of course, but there was no way she was admitting it in so many words to him at that moment. "If anything is overpowering about you, it's your vanity. Now shut up and let me eat in peace."

He only grinned and acquiesced, making a gesture with his hand to indicate she should eat, which she did, after giving him a narrow-eyed look just for the principle of it.

A smile continued to play around his mouth as he too began to eat while she clung desperately to her disapproving look. Really, the man was ridiculous! Ridiculous and smug and exasperating and… And kind of adorable. And fine, yes, endearing.

Her eyes lingered on the candles and the flowers he'd set out. Maybe some woman somewhere could resist him (although she rather doubted that) but it was certainly not her.

~To be continued…~

A/N 2: Thank you, as always, to all readers and reviewers.