CHAPTER ONE

"God, you look hot," Castle mumbled into her ear as he stood behind her, arms wrapped around her waist tightly, his hand starting to wander upward.

"Yes, you've said that about five times now," she smirked, putting on her earrings.

"But I mean, really hot … reaaalllly hot," he whispered onto the skin of her neck, making her shiver.

"Again, thank you, but we are already late. We need to get going," she told him, glancing at herself in the mirror one last time just before he spun her around.

"Can we make out for a while first?"

She laughed. "We've already made out twice since we started getting ready. I'm not doing my makeup again," she said, gently pushing him to the side and walking out of the bathroom.

"Baseball, baseball, baseball …" he repeated to himself.

"It's not working!" he called out to her.

"Try thinking of dead bodies or something!" she called back.

"Damn it, Beckett, not cool! Now whenever I think about dead bodies, I think about you!"

"It's everything a girl dreams of," she smiled, peeking her head back in. "Come on, we need to get going. Go call for the car."

"Already did," he said, still a little pouty. He grabbed his tuxedo jacket from the closet and put it on. When he turned around, she was standing in the middle of his room, waiting for him, looking so damn good in a red velvet dress that fit her body like a second skin. God, he loved her.

"Nervous?" he asked as they headed out of the bedroom.

"A little. I never liked these things anyway, you know that," she admitted as he helped her into her coat.

"We spend so much of our time in your world. We have to spend a little in mine," he reminded her, shaking on his trench coat.

"I know. And you don't ask that much of me …"

"It's really not that much fun for me anymore either," he confessed. "Yes, I'm glad the books are doing so well, obviously. But the parties, the Page 6 stuff—I guess I've just grown out of it."

"I wonder why," she pondered, slipping her hand into his as they headed toward the elevator.

"You know why," he said, lightly squeezing her hand.

"Well, you have gotten older," she teased.

"I like to think I've become more seasoned, shall we say, more refined?"

She snorted softly.

"You know it's you," he told her seriously as they stepped onto the elevator.

"You've changed me, too," she answered, moving closer to him as he pulled her into his arms.

Foreheads pressed together, they simultaneously sighed.

"We're going to have fun tonight, Kate. We have a lot to celebrate. I'm not asking you to go tonight because Frozen Heat hit #1. I'm asking you to go because you're my girlfriend …" he sighed. "That sounds lame … my lover?" he tried.

"My partner," she stated, giving him a feather soft kiss behind his ear.

"That does fit …" he agreed.

"We stick together and we will do amazing things," she promised, her lips moving to hover over his.

Castle groaned when the elevator doors opened. They nodded to Eduardo as they left the building and walked toward the car.

"A limo, Castle?" she said with a mix of mostly exasperation and some giddiness.

"Cliché, I know, but considering the circumstance, we weren't going to show up in the Crown Vic. People like reading about the gritty stuff, but they don't want to see it."

"My car is not gritty," she challenged him. "I think I keep it very clean."

"You do, I give you that. But what's so bad about riding in an insanely comfortable car with leather, heated seats, a sunroof, a bar, and me beside you?" he asked, opening the door for her.

"Sounds pretty good, actually," she said, stepping inside the vehicle. He followed her in and shut the door.

He immediately slid over and crowded her against the door, his arms snaking around her intimately.

"Okay," she said, already breathless. "We can kiss. But only kiss. I'll fix my makeup before we go in. No touching my hair and no taking off clothes …"

"What about loosening clothes?" he asked, his hand moved to cup the back of her neck as his lips searched for hers.

"No loosening clothes, no…" she said, squirming. "Only the face …"

"And the hands," he murmured before his lips came for hers and his hand went to her breast.

She smiled, luxuriating in his touch. "Damn, I knew this thing with us would be good, but I never thought …"

His hands came to her face then, cradling it, kissing her harder.

"I know, it's amazing. I can't believe it …" he whispered when they took a quick breath.

"I love you so much, Rick. I wish I could say something more, because I feel … more …"

"I know," he said, pulling back and looking at her face.

She bit her lip, trying to keep her tears at bay. This damn man. He was becoming everything to her. She couldn't stop falling in love with him. It would be like trying to swim up a waterfall.

"You've already said more to me than I thought you would, Kate. It's okay … I know you don't like to talk about things ..."

"I want to … I'm trying …" she interjected.

"I don't care as much as I thought I would. This is more about what I'm feeling anyway, not about what I'm thinking. Honestly, the best feeling I've ever had was when we first kissed, when I finally got to touch you, to take you into my room and just strip everything away until it was just us, finally loving each other the way I have wanted to for so long …"

"We've wanted for so long," she corrected.

"The fact that I am still touching you—that tells me everything I need to know."

"But do you know, do you understand how much you have really …. opened me?" she said, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Kate, you have made me a better person, father, son … man … human being … I would not be who I am today if I had never met you. This is new for me, too."

"I didn't know this was what love felt like," she laughed as one tear betrayed her and slid down her cheek.

"Me neither. And I don't want to let you go … like, ever. You are so precious to me. I feel like we are the only two people on earth when I'm with you."

"Yeah, it's weird, right?"

"Totally weird," he agreed.

"You still get on my nerves sometimes," she reminded him, needing to stop their descent into total goo-dom.

"No way. Not anymore. You love all my jokes and crazy theories now," he stated robustly, getting her hint and moving away from her slightly.

"Oh, really?" she asked innocently, as her hand immediately shot out, wriggled under his coat, and found its target.

"Shit," he gasped, fiercely sucking in air.

"Ah ha! I finally have a way to shut you up," she smiled, rubbing her hand over him, warming him, driving him …

"You're driving me crazy!" he hissed as her ministrations became more enthusiastic.

"I couldn't talk for 30 minutes after what you did to me last night," she reminded him. "Don't think you're not driving me crazy, too."

With a laugh, she brought her hand back to her lap and watched him closely. His head was lying back against the seat. His eyes were closed and he looked as if he were fiercely concentrating on something. She loved catching him in these kinds of unguarded moments. He really was handsome.

He had a little sweat along his hairline—she had to brutally beat down the urge to lick it off him and then was immediately horrified. Jesus, is this what love does to you? She was in deep, too deep to do anything about it now.

"Fine, we both drive each other crazy, but it's much easier for you to … conceal … your craziness," he said after a minute, still taking quick, shallow breaths.

"You should walk in there with a huge boner, Castle. It's your party, after all."

"Just stop talking," he begged, shifting in his seat.

"I don't think you've ever said that to me," she teased.

"Hilarious … Kate?"

"Yes?"

"You know that thing I did to you last night?"

A jolt of desire burned through her body as she nodded her assent.

"If you stop talking right now, then later tonight, we're doing it backward." It sounded more like a threat than a come-on.

"Oh, like that's supposed to—"

Her retort died on her lips when the image of last night flip-flopped in her mind and she pictured exactly what he was talking about.

"Oh," she whispered, feeling a flush throughout her body and twin red patches on her cheeks.

They were still staring at each other when the car stopped and the driver opened the door.

"Oh, thank God," she said with relief, needing to get out of that car before they got into something they couldn't—or wouldn't want to—get out of.

When the bright flashes of light first hit her eyes, she put up her clutch to block her face. And then Castle was beside her, and they were walking purposefully but calmly down the red carpet.

"Put your purse down and smile," he advised.

She did, but she still couldn't stop blinking. It was insane, something you saw on TV or in the movies. How did these people not go blind?

"Just think about later tonight," he told her, slipping his arm around her waist.

And so they began the little dance down the red carpet. He walked forward mostly, but every once in a while he turned her to the side for a moment or stopped their progress to say something perfectly charming to the media.

"It will just be you and me. We have the house to ourselves for the whole weekend," he whispered to her. "We don't even have to get dressed. We can order in whenever we get hungry. We can literally stay in bed all day. We can do whatever we want." He took a quick look at her then, his eyes twinkling.

She relaxed a little. She recognized the man she loved in those eyes. He was here with her still; he hadn't turned into some cocky, arrogant jerk as they faced this onslaught.

He suddenly turned them again and Kate was shocked to find herself face to face with Ryan Seacrest. She had no idea someone like him would be there. Damn, this was a big deal. As a fan of his writing herself, she was always surprised to find herself underestimating how much people adored him, how much they loved his books, how even celebrities could be fans.

"Such a huge fan, Mr. Castle," he said. "Really, all the way back to Derek Storm and beyond."

"That's so cool!" Castle laughed like a little kid.

"A question?" Seacrest said in his perfect voice.

"Sure," he agreed.

"I see the lovely Detective Beckett is here with you tonight, who is, of course, the delightful and dangerous woman behind Nikki Heat. If I may say so, you too look very dashing together—very happy. Is life imitating art here?"

Beckett froze. What in the hell was she going to say to that?

Castle pulled her closer and to her utter surprise, he looked at her directly. And then, without the whole classic, eyebrow-raised swagger he usually did with reporters, he spoke to her alone.

"This smart, amazing, beautiful woman is my partner. We've been through hell together and somehow always come out okay on the other side. That's what partners do—they look out for each other …

"Detective Beckett's name isn't on the book cover, but none of this would be possible without her. For many people, art and life can be strikingly similar. You could say it's been that way for Detective Beckett and myself."

Then he turned back to Seacrest and was immediately back "on."

"But let's talk about art tonight, shall we? After all, Seacrest, we're here for a book. And I believe books are almost always better than real life."

"Well spoken, Mr. Castle. Thank you. And you enjoy your evening!"

"Almost?" she asked, as they turned away and continued to walk.

"This is so much better than any book. Nikki and Rook have nothing on us—they never will. I'm not that great of a writer and the thing we have together is pretty much beyond words …"

"Pretty much," she agreed, smiling.

"You have a beautiful smile, Kate. Use it tonight. Don't feel nervous. Talk to Mother. Have some champagne. This night is really about us. Without you, there really is no Nikki Heat."

"I still can't believe you went with that name," she grumbled.

He laughed and took her hand as they stepped up a few stairs to the doorway.

"I have to do the rounds, you know, but we won't stay that long … Ever since I thought about last night in reverse … I would only stay five minutes if Gina would let me."

"Right?" she agreed, frustrated as well.

"But I promise, it won't be long. Think of how much time we have before us. Consider this an occupational hazard. And I owe you one …"

"Just, let's do that thing tonight and I'm good, okay?" She smiled as the door opened before them.

"We'll do it twice," he smirked at her. Together, they walked through the doorway and into the hotel.