Escort

Chapter Eight

"Rick, this is not what I agreed to!" Kate said, feeling the panic rise in her body.

"Yes you did, I told you I needed to go out and I asked if you could accompany me. You said yes," he reasoned, but she could see a small shame in his eyes.

He had not told her the whole story, and she knew that he knew that. But it was too late now, they sat in a limousine on their way to a book party which Rick had to attend to. She had given him a suspicious look when he'd handed her the beautiful red dress he apparently had ordered the day before when she had still been sleeping. It had been two days, two days, since she had promised him to stay, and he'd already been able to make her feel as if they'd been together forever. He peppered her with so much love that she was afraid to loose it, it was like he tried to prove to her that no matter what, he'd be with her. As if he was telling her, very loudly, that he wouldn't survive if she ran away again.

"I don't know if I can do this," she whispered with a scared look all over her face.

She didn't know what was to come, had never been to this kind of party before.

"Sure you can, and we only have to be here a couple of hours, it's not even a party for me, but my publicist said I had to attend," by the look on his face she suddenly got the feeling he didn't want to be there either.

Silently she let her hand touch his, she had put a small space between them the second the driver had mentioned the party they were going to, but now she didn't like that space anymore. His hand turned and immediately let their palms kiss as he intertwined their fingers. She took a few deep breaths, trying to wrap her head around the fact that she should not run the first thing she did when she walked out of the car.

"Don't worry, I got you. We'll do this together no matter what," Rick promised and when she looked at him she could see he was aware of the fear that had crept into her body.

"I know," she whispered and leaned her body closer to his.

He seemed delighted by the sudden touch, a glimpse of it in his blue eyes, and he leaned in to peck her lips. The clearing of a throat had them both turn their eyes forward, the driver had rolled down the black window in order to get their attention.

"We're here Mr. Castle, miss," he nodded to the both of them in a polite matter.

"Thank you Martin," Rick told him and turned to Kate, "you ready?"

"No, but the quicker we get this over with the quicker we can go home, right?" she asked and he pecked her lips again.

He restrained the smile that wanted to spread on his lips. She said home. The door to the limousine suddenly opened and Rick went out first, reaching out his hand towards her the second he was out. She took his hand and let him help her out of the car, flinching at the instant flashes surrounding them. It took her a second to hear the clicks and see it was cameras setting off.

"Richard Castle! Over here! Who's your date tonight?!"

Kate felt her eyes widen. She'd not expected him to be this famous! Rick's arm went around her waist, his head in her hair in a disguise of a kiss.

"Don't be scared, I got you," he whispered.

She tried to school her features, tried not to look as terrified as she felt, his arm squeezed around her waist and she drew strength from his touch. He led her over the red carpet towards the entrance, avoiding all kinds of questions the paparazzi seemed to throw at them. The second they got inside everything calmed down a bit, there were a few more people taking pictures but they seemed more... civil. She wondered if that was because they were inside, that they had passes to get inside and that calmed them from harassing as much as the people outside had.