Exculpatory

Chapter four

Kate had waited a few days before she actually decided to contact the author again. And if she was honest it hadn't even been her decision since she found her daughter writing a text message on her phone to their favorite writer. Kate had managed to yank her phone from her girl's fingers before she hit send, thank god. But then Elisabeth had talked her into contacting him about the interview, saying something about her being stupid if she didn't let their favorite author interview her.

"Mooom, what if he uses it in a book? Or, are you afraid? Why don't you ever go out with anyone apart from my uncles?"

Elisabeth had mocked her until she had agreed to send a message and leave it to Richard Castle if he still wanted the interview. Kate had been surprised to get an immediate response from the author, he had first asked if they could do the interview over lunch but Kate had declined that. There was no way she would send mixed signals to him, this was strictly the interview for her, she didn't want him to think she was accepting anything that could be considered a date. Not that she even thought he would be interested in her.

"Hey!" his voice startled her and she cursed herself for the smirk he was giving her, having seen the jerk her body made.

"Gosh, Castle," she glared at him and he sat down in the seat opposite the table.

"Castle?" he questioned and she fought the urge to bite her lip.

"Work habit," she shrugged her shoulders.

"Seriously? Like in what way? You call everyone by their last names?" he asked and she widened her eyes when he pulled out a notebook, scribbling something down in an instant.

"Wait, you're... you're taking notes?" she asked confused, his eyes shooting up to hers in a second.

"Of course! My memory is not the best, yours is probably a hell of a lot better considering you have to remember details for your cases... or do you have a small notebook you keep details in?"

"Uh, I do, but mostly so it's for sure I don't miss anything," Kate revealed and he scribbled something more.

"Can I see it?" His question made her narrow her eyes at him with irritation. "Okay, then," he held up his hands with his palms out in a surrender. "Do you want coffee?"

"No. Just ask your questions and get this over with," she said, trying to keep all this as neutral as possible.

He was her favorite writer and that smile was startling butterflies in her belly that she had no idea she had there. It felt as though her insides were freaking out! But there was no way she would let him see. He'd seen enough of screaming fans and she would not be one of them. She was not one of them. Castle's expression was definitely telling her he was not expecting her being so... disinterested. She felt her cheeks get warmer and she had to look down at the table to keep in the sudden urge of a giggle.

"But, we're meeting here, in a coffee shop... for coffee." His statement was filled with the obvious confusion and sense of a 'duh' without really mentioning it.

"Well... yeah, but that's just because... because I-uh didn't want lunch," she bit her inner cheek.

He gave her a surprised look, almost offended. "You didn't want to have lunch or you didn't want to have lunch with me?"

Fuck. How does she answer that? Especially when her eyes met his blue ones and she could swear she saw a small hurt deep down in them.

"Lunch," she muttered. And honestly it wasn't truly a lie either. Kate did skip lunch that day, like she did a few more days than she should, in order to work the case they'd caught.