The next two days are filled with a line of women who all claimed they were the victim's love interest but after much digging it is determined that the man was just a pick-up artist. A man who could woo women and get them into bed using some tried and true methods

After finally pulling in one woman who actually knew him as himself, they located his partners and were able to discover his back story and the long line of woman he had scored with.

Kate was able to use some of the man's history and even one encounter with the future bride to tease Castle at every turn, but he seemed immune to her actions. It appeared he had moved away from Kate and was no longer affected by her female charms. This caused Beckett some level of pain but she hid it well. She did have an appointment with Dr. Burke on Friday and would see what light he might shed on the situation

More research located the real killer progressed for the next two days until she was arrested. After booking and finishing the paperwork, the team each headed out their different directions.

Trying to talk to Castle one last time before the wedding he begged off and told her he had plans for the evening and would see her on Sunday at the wedding.

She watched him enter the elevator and fought hard to not let the situation get to her, but it did. She was glad that her next stop for the afternoon was the therapist

Standing across from Dr. Burke Kate is pacing from one side of the room to the other "I thought we were getting closer but now he seems to just be pulling away"

"What happened?" Burke asks

"He is going to Kevin and Jenny's wedding with someone else"

"He told you that?"

"Yes. He RSVP's plus one"

"Do you know who it is?"

"No. He won't say"

"So. You are jealous?"

"Of course I'm jealous"

"Why?"

"He is supposed to be…" she stops talking and begins looking out the windows

"Supposed to be what?"

"He is supposed to be in love with me"

"Oh really? How do you know that?"

"When I was shot, he said that to me in the cemetery"

"What do you think he is saying now?"

"That he's not there anymore?" she walks across once again then sits on the edge of the couch "What if I waited too long?"

"You aren't waiting. You are healing"

"But in the mean time he's moved on" the pain in her voice is evident

Dr. Burke makes a statement that gives her some hope "Or he protecting himself"

"What do I do then?"

"What do you want to do?"

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Dr. Burke's question runs around her mind all the way home. What does she want? She asks herself over and over

The minute Kate arrives at her apartment she drops her jacket over a chair and secures her weapon. Within just moments her front door reverberates with a knock that she recognizes

Swinging open the door Beckett steps out of the way of her best friend "Come in Lanie" Kate sees that Dr. Parish has brought a new bottle of wine and has a sack that she can only assume is holding some cheese and crackers

"Come in Lanie" Beckett says as she closes the door and sets the lock. "You didn't waste any time"

"No. not after hearing and seeing the stress between you and writer boy" She sets the items on the counter, takes out a corkscrew and begins opening the wine

As the cork pops from the bottle the medical examiner looks up at Kate and knows for sure that something bad has happened

Kate steps back from the counter turns toward the living room as Lanie pours the glasses. She opens the sack and takes out the cheese and crackers, places them on a plate, and follows Beckett to the couch

Placing the plate on the coffee table Lanie hands Kate the glass "OK girlfriend are you going to tell me what's going on or do I have to get you drunk first?"

Beckett stares across the room at nothing in particular then back at Lanie "He's moving away from me"

"What do you mean 'moving away? Who is moving away?"

"Castle. He's bringing someone to Kevin and Jenny's wedding"

"What do you mean? Bringing someone"

"He RSVP's plus one"

"Well yeah. Probably Alexis or his mother"

Kate sits in silence for a moment then "No. He said they are going to a Lady Gaga concert"

This response does catch Lanie a little off guard then Beckett begins again "Lanie, I thought we might have a chance. Castle and me. He said…I mean I think he has strong feelings for me"

"Kate. He does have strong feelings for you. In fact everyone know that. Are you sure he is bringing another woman to the wedding?"

"Yes. He referred to 'HER'. That means a woman"

"Maybe it is just…" Lanie thinks for a minute trying to come up with something to calm Kate down

"Just what?" A new girlfriend? A new super model? A new movie star. Who knows. He might have asked Natalie Rhodes to be his date. She wanted him last year"

"Kate. I can't believe he would do that. Especially not to you. You need to ask him straight up, what is going on"

"Yeah, maybe" Kate thinks for a minute then admits something to Lanie. "I have been seeing a therapist ever since my shooting"

"Really? Have you had any conversations with him about Castle?"

"Yeah I have. I told Dr. Burke that Rick told me that he loved me but I was fighting this. I have a fear of losing someone else I love, like I did my mom"

"So, you do admit you love him?"

A soft smile crosses Kate's lips "Yeah, I guess I do" she looks back to Lanie

"You need to take this situation into your own hands and do it now"

"What should I do then Lanie?"

"I'll tell you what you do…. You go buy the sexist dress you can find. And with that body of yours, it will not take much. Buy some new heels to help show off those legs of yours. Those legs that I am so jealous of and then you give him a reason to NOT get involved with whoever he plans to bring"

Kate looks across to Lanie then a little smile crosses her face "It will save me hours of therapy"

"Spend the money you save on yourself. Get your hair done and then just knock his socks off when he sees you. Then he will dump whoever it is"

Kate likes what Lanie is saying then her face goes dark again "What if doesn't work out. What if I end up all dressed up and he comes in with the most beautiful woman there…besides the bride of course? Then I leave alone"

"Well girlfriend. If you don't try, you will never know"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Kate goes and does exactly what Lanie suggested. It took her several dress shops before she located the perfect dress for the wedding. As much as she wants Jenny to be the center of Kevin's attention, she wants to be the center of Ricks and this dress is the perfect attention getter

She then spends several hours at the beauty shop getting a little trim and a shampoo. Having it done by someone else always feels so much better than doing it yourself

Saturday evening her cell phone chirps with a message. It is from Castle "Save your cab fare. I am having a car service pick you up to so be ready on time"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

When Sunday afternoon arrives and Kate is almost ready to go when she gets a message from the car service they are waiting for her downstairs.

She puts her heels on then zips her dress up. She made sure the dress was extremely tight and body hugging just as Lanie suggested. It hugs every curve she has In fact, she can barely even breathe so she hopes it is worth it

Arriving at the church, she is there before Lanie or Castle and his date. She positions herself so he will see her the moment he enters the doors. Over the next several minutes she watches couple after couple arrive then finally she sees the man in question enter

He is looking very good in his tailored tuxedo with a bode ere matching the wedding party

BUT

He is not attached to any starlet or bimbo. He is alone

She uses the opportunity to make sure he sees her as she strides up to him. Making sure he notices everything about her. And it works.

She sees his eyes widen as they travel from her face, down her body, landing on her long lean legs, then travel equally slowly back up finally settling on her face

"Where's you date?"

"Oh, I hope she will be here by the reception" He looks over Kate's shoulders and sees Ryan. Kate turns, snaps a fast photo "He looks so happy" and gives him a hug.

This is when Rick sees Jenny and her attendants on the stairs "Oh Jenny you look beautiful"

To which she responds "Thanks Rick"

Both Rick and Kate have to hold Kevin to keep him from looking back at the bride.

Esposito then looks at Ryan "you ready bro?"

And the two men head for the front of the church

Castle looks toward Ryan then at the Bride "You know I am kind of envious"

"Trying to keep the conversation light "Who knows Castle…maybe third time's the charm"

She feels his smile as if it were for her "I certainly hope it is"

Castle offers Kate his arm to escort her to the front and the two move inside and take their seats for the wedding of two great friends

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The reception hall is nice. Tables set up all around for the guests. A DJ is playing some soft music waiting for the newlyweds to enter the room. Kate has started looking for the place cards so she can determine who is Rick's plus one, but she has not found it yet in the sea of tables

Once the bride and groom enter the celebration begins. All events center on them cutting the cake, first toast and then their first dance.

Being a good friend to the couple Kate has been focusing on taking some pictures and staying close to them. She suddenly realizes that Castle is right next to her and he is looking her up and down again with admiration on his face. Or is it something else. She hopes it is regret for asking another woman here tonight

Kate decides to begin to implement her plan. As the first dance moves from the couple to everyone invited to join them, Kate takes Castle's hand and pulls him to the dance floor.

She wraps her arm around his shoulder and pulls his left hand to his chest and closes her hand over his. She holds him as close as she can and puts her head beside his so her breath brushes across his neck

She can feel his breathing increase. So her plan has begun to work "You know Castle I am so happy for Kevin and Jenny.

"They have known each other almost as long as we have known each other" Rick remarks

"Yeah. He started dating her shortly after we started up" Kate is trying to relate the love between Jenny and Kevin

"Yeah except they moved forward"

This remark causes Kate's breathing to hitch

She moves her lips closer to Rick's ear "Hum" then she makes her move. She raises her left hand from his shoulder to slide up the back of his neck and gently scrape her nails against his skin

This causes another hitch in Rick and he pulls Kate tighter into him causing her to take a deep intake of air

Castle then remarks "Well, my plus one is here"

He feels Kate slump in his arms as if all the muscles in her body have gone limp "I guess…I need…to move…" she tries to pull back but finds herself still firmly in Castle embrace

She looks up to his eyes and sees a touch of imp "what's going on Castle?"

"You are my plus one Beckett. You are the only one I would bring to this wedding. You know how I feel about you. You have known for some time and that is OK because I promised to wait for you. I just wanted to make sure you still feel the same"

She smiles up to him

He feels her begin to caress his neck again "OH I still feel that way"

"So you don't mind being my plus one? My date for the evening?"

"Are you telling me that you want us to be exclusive now Rick" she is continuing to drag her fingernails across his scalp

"I have wanted nothing more than that. And seeing you tonight made me feel that even more"

"Good. In fact that is the reason I bought this dress to see if I could still catch your eye"

"Oh detective…you did more than catch my eye. You almost stopped my heart when I saw you in that"

"Thank goodness it worked" she leans closer again "Because I can barely breathe in this thing"

"I don't want you turning blue. So I guess we need to leave soon so you can get out of that dress"

Her lips approach his and just before she closes the space "Your place or mine?"

Gulp

Finis