Her entire profile is stunning, even in the unflattering, artificial light. Though for Kate, no light is unflattering. Every single light is absolutely, completely flattering.

Castle watches her as she stands with her back to him, not moving, probably out of shock, but he likes to think that it's because of him. Or more accurately, because of what they did a few moments ago. The way she looks now reminds him of that sexy Tao Nightclub poster in Las Vegas... And it's slogan: "Always a Happy Ending".

Her pale skin stands out against the dark metal walls of the refrigerator. A visible shiver passes down her spine.

Kate is just so beautiful in this moment, basking in the afterglow – his afterglow. Time freezes. He stares at her alabaster back for an eternity, lost in his thoughts.

He can't believe that that happened. It's not exactly what he imagined their first time together would be like, but he wouldn't change a second of it, not for the world. It was perfect.

However, when she slowly turns around and they lock eyes for the first time since it happened, he immediately knows that she doesn't feel the same way. There is a timidness in her expression that he's only seen once before, during the sniper case a few weeks ago.

It's obvious that she has regrets and that is exactly what he was trying to avoid when he abruptly left her on the dance floor. Now he has regrets. As much as he enjoyed what happened, things are just more complicated now.

When Kate looks into his eyes and sees all of the love there, she panics. It's real. Everything is real. She struggles to keep up with her mind as it races through her thoughts at breakneck speed. She lied to him, she has all these feelings, she can't tell him without breaking his heart, she's not ready, and they're still naked as she becomes very much aware when her eyes start to wander south.

They're naked. Naked and in a refrigerator.

Naked.

Well, at least she can remedy that.

She quickly darts around the fridge, grabs her lingerie, and puts it on, disregarding the sticky mess that begins to soak its way through her panties. Castle follows her example and puts on his boxer shorts. Now they're at least somewhat decent.

He stares at her as if waiting for her to speak, but she doesn't. Can't.

Kate runs a hand down her arm, then puts it on her hip, then lets it rest at her side. Crosses her arms, then uncrosses them. She doesn't know what to do with her hands. Seriously, what the hell do people do with their hands?

She stares back at him, her toes going numb from the cold metal floor.

"We didn't use protection..." His words are almost a whisper, but they seem much louder in the quiet, enclosed refrigerator. He shuffles his feet and looks away. "Guess we got a bit carried away." He laughs nervously.

Bending down, she picks up her dress, then stands up and holds it to her chest, blushing furiously.

"I'm on the pill." This entire conversation is awkward and wrong. It shouldn't be happening this way. This shouldn't have happened. Kate isn't this type of girl. The type of girl who jumps into bed with a man after a few drinks and a dance. The type of girl who doesn't even bother with a bed and instead chooses a walk-in refrigerator because it's closer. The type of girl who has no self control. She is not a slut. And yet here she is, half-naked in a refrigerator at a friend's wedding reception.

But Castle loves her. Surely that counts for something. Surely that negates the fact that she jumped his bones and had standing-up sex with him in the most impractical place imaginable. She screamed. She never screams. She is not a screamer. And she begged! "Don't stop..." What the hell was that? What did that infuriating man do to her?

She glares at him, suddenly angry. Beyond angry. Livid. His eyes go wide and he backs away slowly. He looks terrified. She laughs inwardly. That's right. You'd better run.

Keeping an eye on him, she shakes out her dress in front of her.

She doesn't need to unzip it, as she already did. She unzipped her dress for him and he pulled it down and trailed kisses down her collarbone. Oh God, this is so wrong. And right. And she doesn't even know any more.

Kate steps a foot into the opening of her dress, still watching him, immobilizing him with daggers in her eyes. Then she puts her other foot through and begins to pull it up.

It bunches around her midsection and she twists her hips to loosen it. She takes her eyes off of him for a moment and seconds after she does, he crosses the room and puts a hand on her bare arm.

She stiffens at his touch and doesn't acknowledge him, busying herself with pulling her dress up past her waist. For some reason her fingers don't work and can't grasp the fabric firmly enough.

"Stop," he says tenderly.

Finally she brings herself to look at him, fear overwhelming her. What if he says it again?

Her breath catches in her throat when he leans down and presses a chaste kiss to her lips. His fingers ghost over the scar between her breasts. Their scar.

The small patch of raised skin beneath his fingertips sends chills through his spine, and not just because he's in a refrigerator. He can't believe he didn't notice her scar before. Maybe he did notice, but just couldn't think straight because of what was happening at the time. Kate Beckett writhing against the shelves...

Looking at it now, it's not sexual; it's poignant. It's a reminder of that fateful day in the cemetery. A reminder that she doesn't remember his confession of love.

Did their little refrigerated transgression mean anything to her?

The look in her eyes now tells him that it did, but the tension in her body tells him otherwise. He studies her closely, running his hand over her shoulder. She pulls away, just slightly, but enough.

"I'm sorry," he says. He looks down and drops his hand from her shoulder. This is it. He resigns himself to the fact that he will never have her in his arms again. It's over. Their partnership, their friendship, any hope of a relationship... He should have known. Sleeping with someone you work with never ends well.

"For what?"

He can barely bring himself to say the words. How can he ever apologize for ruining their partnership because he couldn't keep it in his pants long enough to wait for her to be ready? He just had to kiss her, didn't he. Why didn't he wait, like he promised he would?

"For taking advantage of you, for-"

"Castle. You didn't."

And Kate means that. He didn't take advantage of her. She was far more than a willing participant in what just happened. She isn't ready to tell him how she feels just yet, but he deserves to know that much. This wasn't his fault.

She meets his tentative smile with her own, takes a step forward, grabs his hand, and puts it back on her shoulder where it belongs.

"You didn't," she repeats quietly.

Castle moves his hand from her shoulder to her back, settling just above her forgotten dress which remains bunched up around her waist. He runs his other hand through his hair. "So..."

He doesn't seem to know what to say, and neither does she. "So," she echoes.

He looks at her, completely serious, and she suddenly cracks up laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. She stumbles backward a step and leans on him for support her as she lets out peals of laughter. He watches her with raised eyebrows, but soon joins in, adding his deep laughter to her own.

After a few moments, he takes several long, slow breaths to calm himself down and then asks, "How about we just pretend this never happened?" Hints of laughter are still in his voice, but she doesn't think it's funny. It's hurtful. His words have an immediate sobering effect and her face falls. He wants to forget? How could he possibly want that? He loves her, he-

"For the rest of the night, I mean," he interrupts, as if he read her mind. "Obviously we have to talk about this... But for right now, how about we just go back to the reception and act normal?"

"Yeah... Yeah, I can do that." She shakes out her hair, grateful for the cold air cooling her heated skin.

"Okay." His lips curl up into a small smile.

"Okay," she replies. When did forming original sentences become this hard?

"Okay," he says again, still smiling.

Kate nudges his arm with hers. "Castle?"

"Yeah?" he asks, startled.

"You can let go of me now."

He looks at his hand around her waist, then drops it to his side. "Right, sorry."

Finally pulling her dress up all the way, she spies him watching her movements unabashedly, practically ogling her. Now that he's seen everything there is to see, she doesn't care and even finds herself blushing.

After putting her arms through the sleeves, she turns around slowly, purposely giving him something to look at. "Zip me up?"

He jumps at the chance. Stepping forward, he presses into her back far more than necessary. She feels his hands on her hips, his breath at her neck, his words in her ear. "Of course." Such a simple phrase, yet so erotic.

Her breath hitches as Castle's fingers trace their way down the bare skin of her back. Goosebumps travel over her body in waves. With one hand, he pulls her zipper up ever so slowly, deliberately trailing his fingers after it. The dress tightens around her slender form as he slides his other hand across her ribs, barely skimming the side of her breast.

She gasps and leans back into his body just as he steps away. Breathless, she spins around to find him smirking at her. "All done," he states smugly.

Oh, so that's how it is.

Kate arches an eyebrow. "Thanks," she offers nonchalantly, pretending to be completely unaffected by him. She looks around for her shoes, gets worried when she can't find them, but then realizes that she left them by their table in the reception hall. She turns to face him once more and sees that he hasn't moved at all, eyes glued to where her ass was a second ago. "Aren't you going to get dressed?" She gestures at his deliciously half-naked form.

"Dressed. Right." Finally back in his right mind, he grabs his jacket and pants from the floor, a sock from the shelf, shoes from the corner. He swivels his head and lands his eyes on her. "I'm missing a sock."

"You're wearing it," she laughs.

He looks down at his feet to confirm, then quickly puts the rest of his clothes on. His foot catches in a pant leg and he hops around on one leg for a brief moment. Kate smiles, bites her lower lip between her teeth, and continues to watch him as he finishes getting dressed.

Finally, he stands up, looking entirely presentable except for his charmingly ruffled hair. She reaches out a hand to flatten it.

He puts his hands on her shoulders. "Ready to go back out there?"

"Yes. But aren't you forgetting something?" She can't help the traitorous smirk that grows on her face, giving her away.

"What?"

Kate reaches behind her and grabs a quart of milk from the shelf, holding it out to him. "This." At his confused expression, her smirk grows, and she elaborates. "You said you have a calcium deficiency. Wouldn't want you to break a bone, now would we?"

His eyes widen in understanding. "Ha. Ha. Ha," he enunciates in a defiant tone. "Very funny."

Putting on her best innocent expression, she looks up at him with those puppy dog eyes that he just can't resist. "What's funny?"

Castle rolls his eyes at that and she puts the milk back on the shelf, lets out a sharp laugh. "You write novels for a living and that's the best lie you could come up with?"

"What can I say? You disarmed me with your womanly wiles."

His hands run down her arms, stopping at her elbows, and then he looks straight into the depths of her hazel eyes. "You go out first," he nods toward the closed refrigerator door. "Then I'll count to a hundred and follow you. That way we won't arouse suspicion."

"Isn't that a bit cliché?"

"Clichés are clichés for a reason. They work."

He pushes her lightly toward the door and she looks back at him once before lifting the handle and shoving it open. As soon as she emerges into the hot kitchen, a chef looks at her suspiciously. She swears she can see his mustache twitch. Her cheeks flush and she briskly walks to the door, praying that the chef doesn't notice her bare feet. It's exhilarating.

I just had sex with Castle.

Kate can't help the smile that creeps onto her lips as she exits the building into the crisp, fresh air outside.

A/N: Happy New Year, everybody! :)

You can follow me on Twitter at MissRainbowPie.