Sixth Wheel

Chez Mere

By Tuesday, Esposito had only three things on his mind- the Bodega stalker case, dogs, and wine. The case itself was turning out to be a very Castle-esque situation, but he had little trouble putting that on hold as he climbed the stair to the third floor of the modest Yorkville apartment building. It was something he'd always envied Ryan in his relationship with Honey-Milk, how whenever she was around, Ryan could so easily turn off that cop-brain and be a regular guy. Maybe he'd just been in a girlfriend drought for too long, Esposito thought, twisting the bottle of pinot griogio in his hand. The woman at the liquor store said it was a good all-purpose wine; he hoped that Meredeth's dog liked him- for some reason, despite being a canine lover himself, past girlfriends' chihuahuas and terriers had not taken kindly to him. God, too many nervous thoughts swirling inside his brain; he had to get them out, and the way to do that, he figured, was to start the date. 

He knocked on Meredeth's door, heard excited barks from inside and braced himself. It was a good thing he did- the second the door was open, an animal easily mistakable for a small palomino launched itself at Esposito, knocking him back a two full steps as it planted large paws on his chest. Somewhere behind it, he heard Meredeth's voice snapping sharply. 

 "Arturo, no! Down!" 

 "Good boy," Esposito managed, seeing it was in fact a dog, and scratched its ears. "Off you get." 

 "I said down, now!" Reaching out and grabbing hold of his bright green collar, Meredeth hauled Arturo back inside, greeted Esposito with a quick smile as she shut the door to prevent an escape. "He knows better than that, don't you, Artie?" 

 The dog, who was now wriggling its butt on the floor, looked over its shoulder at Meredeth with what Esposito could swear was a guilty apology. "What kind of dog is he?" 

 "Boxer-Great Dane mix. Believe it or not he was the runt of the litter." 

 Esposito's eyebrows winged up. "I'd hate to see the big brother." 

 "Don't be fooled, he's a real suck. Watch this. Arturo," Meredeth bent down so she was almost eye level with her baby. "Want a snack? Want some cheese?"Arturo's ears flew up lie periscopes and he immediately raced into the kitchen, sat licking his lips by the refrigerator. Intrigued, Esposito watched as she took a cube of cheddar out of a plastic tub, made Arturo shake both paws and flop on the floor before getting his treat. She told him 'all gone' like he was a little kid, to which Arturo promptly stood up and trotted back over to Esposito. 

 "Impressive," he commented, scratching Arturo behind the ears as he looked around the apartment. He'd been so preoccupied with the dog nearly bowling him over, he hadn't had a chance to really get the lay of the land. It was smaller than his own, but definitely smaller than Castle's castle: one level with a kitchen done in sandy oranges, while the living room was dominated by a thirty-two inch plasma TV; against one wall was a floor-to-ceiling shelving unit that housed a DVD collection of eye popping proportions. The TV itself was switched on and tuned to the game. Her living space, however paled in comparison to the heavenly aroma wafting out of the kitchen- a mix of tomato, bread, and pastry. She hadn't been kidding, it seemed, when she said everything was homemade; the cookbook on the counter was open to a pizza dough recipe with little notations at various instructions. 

 "I brought wine," he said a little awkwardly holding out the bottle. "Pinot grigio." 

 "Oh lovely. I'm not one for white wine but this stuff I do like." Meredeth reached into a cabinet, came up with two wine glasses and her corkscrew. She was glad to have something to do with her hands, otherwise she'd pin him against the door and kiss him until his eyes rolled back in his head, the way hers had on Saturday night. The man could kiss, she thought with a little smile, as it made her wonder what else he'd be good at. Pouring she tried to keep her voice casual; she was coming off an embarrassingly long singleton status and didn't want to seem too eager. "Did you get a good break in your case on Saturday?" 

 "We did. Found out how the guy's been offing the victims so stealthily." He paused, sipped the wine she brought. "I got to spend today tracking down various sources on the murder weapon." 

 "Fun. I worked on my column this morning, took Artie for a walk, then got a jump start on a draft for my meeting with Kristof. My illustrator," she added, delighted when she saw the proprietary glint in his eyes. 

 His inner Don Juan, as Lanie called it, flared up; Esposito pulled her against him, making her wine slosh to the rim of her glass. "Good to know, because if anyone else tries this-" he dipped his head to teasingly brush his lips over hers "-then I'll have to arrest myself for murder." He smiled fiercely as he watch her eyes cloud, the clear as she nodded. "Hungry?" 

 After dinner they sat on the butter soft couch, comfortably into the second glass of wine, Esposito was in deep thought. He was impressed she actually ate with him and didn't just pick away at one mini slice; the little orgasmic noises shed made over the taste had him thinking dirty thoughts once again. He knew he'd acted like the big tough nacho guy in the kitchen, but he couldn't help himself. He'd be damned if such a fine woman would have any reason to look elsewhere. Or maybe she simply brought out his passionate side because she was such a passionate person herself. Especially, he noted with a chuckle, when it came to her hockey team. Throughout the game, she moved toward him a little more each play so that by the middle of the second period she was close enought he could wrap his arm around her waist. 

 "Oh come on!" She hollered at the screen as Seabrook, on of her favorite players, was whistled down. "There's no way that was hooking." 

"You're right," Esposito agreed. "It'll be interference, just watch." 

 Sure enough Seabrook was sent to the penalty box for interference, making Esposito poke her in the side. "See? I called it." 

 "Yeah, yeah, yeah." She muttered good-naturedly as she watched the play with an avaricious eye. Tow minutes later, a quick wristshot past the Red Wings goalie gave the Chicago team a one goal lead. "Woo! Score!" 

 Without thinking, she turned and planted a noisy kiss on Esposito's mouth. "Did you see that, he-" 

She was cut off when she found her mouth captured by his, one hand on the back of her head, the other on her thigh. At least, she thought that's where it was, as all sensation except that in her lips had momentarily gone numb. She leaned in, sighing a little in her throat which only served to make him deepen the kiss as he pulled her closer to him. Before the smoke began to curl out of ears, he broke the kiss, rested his forehead against hers. 

 "What were you saying?" 

 "I forget." She laughed, a low musical sound. "You want desert?" 

 "Funny. I thought this was."