Kate was staring at Castle with a questioning look on her face, equally worried as he was. She had become quite close with the girl over the past year and had become somewhat protective of her just like Castle was.

"It's Owen," Alexis said quietly into the phone and Castle could tell that she was crying. "He... he just kept talking about this other girl over dinner and then she showed up at the same restaurant we were at... and he invited her to join us! He invited her to join as on Valentine's Day, Dad! And then he completely ignored me! So I just got up and left... I don't even think he noticed!"

"Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry."

Kate was standing close to Castle with her ear up to the phone. She looked at him her mouth wide open in shock, completely understanding Alexis' pain.

Castle heard Alexis sniffling. "Where are you now, pumpkin?"

"I'm at home. Oh my god, I'm so sorry, you're out with Beckett and I'm totally interrupting, I'll just talk to you when you get home."

Kate shook her head at Castle and pointed to the phone. Castle nodded his head to show he understood what she meant.

"No, no sweetie. We're coming home."

"No, Dad, really, I'm fine. I know how important this date with Beckett is to you."

Castle glanced at Kate who had raised her eyebrows at him but he could see the playful look in her eyes. He smiled slightly at her, silently thanking Alexis for saying that. Kate tugged on his arm just then, gesturing for him to hand her the phone.

"Hey, Alexis," she said once he had complied. "I heard what happened and I'm so sorry, honey. Now I don't want to hear any arguments, we're coming home and we're going to have a good time, you hear?"

"Hey, Detective Beckett, I'm so sorry to interrupt your evening out. Really, don't cut your night short because of me."

"Hey, listen to me, sweetie. We're coming home whether you like it or not and I know how much it sucks for a boy to ruin your Valentine's Day, trust me I know better than you might think. And don't you worry about your dad and me, we'll have plenty more opportunities to go out, but we had a great time as it is. Now, I want you to go get into something comfy, pick a movie and we'll stop on the way home to pick up some snacks. Oh, and its Kate, Alexis. You can call me Kate."

"Ok, Kate. And thanks. Wait, did you say that you and dad would have plenty more opportunities to go out? He must've done something right then for once."

Kate laughed. "Yes, your dad definitely did something right." She saw Castle's eyes widened and she winked at him.

Kate was glad to hear Alexis giggle. "I don't think I want to know."

"Nothing like that! Ok, we're on our way! Choose a good movie!"

"I will, see you soon! And, Kate, thank you so much. I guess I really didn't want to be alone tonight."

"I understand completely, Alexis. See you soon!"

Castle just stared at Kate as she handed him back his phone.

"What, Rick?" she asked, amused.

"I don't know where to start. You are an absolutely amazing woman, Kate Beckett, and you have made me a very happy man. First in being so understanding with my daughter and second because I think I heard you say that we'll have plenty of opportunities to go out again."

She stepped closer to Castle. "Like I told Alexis, I understand what it's like to have your Valentine's Day ruined by a guy. She needs to have some fun tonight and she definitely deserves it. As for you and me, I did have a good time tonight, Rick, and I hope you'd like to do it again sometime."

She ended the last part with a shy smile. She shrieked when Castle stepped forward, scooping her up into his arms and started spinning her around and around. Her shriek turned into a fit of laughter as she clung to him, enjoying their closeness.

He slowly put her down, keeping her close to him. He looked into her eyes and smiled when he saw a bright sparkle reflected in them. He heard her sharp intake of breath as he leaned down closer to her leaving enough distance between them to give her the choice to pull away. He saw her smile up at him as she wrapped her arms around his neck closing the distance between them.

Their lips met hesitantly at first, both of them just enjoying the moment. Rick felt Kate's hands slide into his hair and he pulled her closer to him, his hands lightly trailing down her back to come to rest on her hips. Kate felt as if her body was on fire. She didn't think she would ever get tired of being in Rick's arms. Rick deepened the kiss and Kate could feel her mind slowly going blank. As much as she wished they could stay there forever, she knew that for Alexis' sake she had to pull back soon before they got even more carried away.

"Rick...," she said somewhat breathlessly as she slowly pulled away and rested her forehead against his, her eyes still closed. "Alexis... we have to get going."

"I know," he whispered. "I'm sorry..."

She pulled back far enough so that she could look him in the eye. "Don't be," she replied softly as she smiled up at him. "There'll be other times."

He nodded, returning her smile. He leaned in quickly to give her one more kiss before taking her hand and leading her out of the park.

"So," he said as they started walking down the street back to his car. "I heard something about stopping for snacks. What exactly did you have in mind?"

"Well," Kate began. "I was thinking we could stop at Serendipity and get some of that chocolate cake that they have there. If I remember correctly, Alexis does like her chocolate."

Rick smiled. "She definitely does."

"Do you have popcorn at home?"

"Yes, I do."

"How about Gummi Bears?"

"How much do you plan on eating?" he teased. "But, yes, there should be some gummi bears somewhere."

"Good! And you can't watch movies without popcorn!"

"Yea, and where do the gummi bears come in?"

"They're just my favourite candy," she said smiling up at him. "And I kind of have a craving for them right now."

They had finally reached the car and, again, Rick opened for the door for Kate. They drove to Serendipity in a comfortable silence, each wrapped up in their own thoughts. They were lucky enough to find a parking spot fairly close to the restaurant.

From the outside, the restaurant looked absolutely packed. Kate could only hope that they still had desserts left. As they walked through the entrance of the restaurant and up to the counter they heard a high pitched female voice exclaim "Ricky!"

Kate immediately felt Rick tense beside her as they both slowly turned towards the voice.

"Hey, Ricky," said a pretty blonde girl. "Happy Valentine's Day! Are you doing anything special?" she said winking at him.

"Hi, Amanda," he said as he took a step back from her and laced his fingers with Kate's. "I'd like you to meet my... uh...," he stuttered.

"Hi," said Kate stepping forward, extending her hand. "I'm Kate, Rick's girlfriend. It's nice to meet you, Amanda, was it?"

Amanda nodded slightly, suddenly looking uncomfortable and shook Kate's hand.

"Well, I better get going. It was nice seeing you, Rick," Amanda said, turning back to Rick with another bright smile. Rick, however, was entirely focused on Kate.

"Girlfriend?" Rick asked. "I didn't think..."

"Problem, Rick?" Kate said smiling up at him.

"No!" he said giving her a wide smile. "Not at all!"

"Come on," Kate said squeezing Rick's hand. "Let's get that cake!"

Fifteen minutes later they were walking out of the restaurant with an entire chocolate cake with them.

"I hope Alexis is hungry!" Kate said laughing as they got into the car. "You know you could have gotten a few slices, you didn't have to buy the whole cake!"

He turned to look at Kate before pulling out of their parking space. "Well, I thought you were hungry," he said as seriously as he could.

She laughed and slapped him lightly on the arm.

They arrived at Rick's loft a short time later.

"Hey," he said quietly as he turned off the car. "Thanks again for doing this."

"It's nothing, really. We're going to have a great time! You'll see!" she said as she smirked.

Rick couldn't help but think that there was something Kate wasn't telling him.