141. Chapter 141

Chapter 141

"When did you get to New York, and how did you know where to find us?" Alexis asked excitedly, shifting Jamie in her arms. "If I'd known you were coming, we could have waited, but we just finished dinner."

"I got here a couple of days ago and had no idea you would be here. I had an audition and then had a call back," Meredith explained. "And Jeffrey here asked me to dinner before I have to leave first thing tomorrow morning to go home."

Alexis was suddenly more subdued. Using the good manners her father had taught her to use in public, she spoke quietly, sounding matter of fact in her delivery. "So you've been here for two days and didn't even call me? You didn't have any intention of seeing me while you were here, did you?" Alexis asked.

"I intended to call, but I got busy, and …"

"So, you had time for a date but not time to call your only child, maybe meet a few minutes for coffee or something. I get it."

"Don't be like that, I…"

"You know, for a minute there I thought you had actually remembered for a change, but I was wrong again."

"Remembered what?" Meredith asked.

"Don't worry about it. I'm going to take my brother and get out of here." Alexis tickled Jamie's tummy and he wiggled and giggled, easing some of the tension.

"He's not your brother. You're mine. He's…hers," she added, looking at Kate.

"I am her brother," Jamie protested. JD put an arm around his wife and rubbed his hand over Jamie's back comfortingly.

"Meredith, he's just a baby and he doesn't understand," Kate pleaded quietly from where she stood across the table. "Please drop it,"

"Let's go and wait out front, Honey," JD told Alexis. Then he ruffled Jamie's hair and said, "You're our brother, Peanut. Don't worry about it."

"Well, he certainly isn't JD's brother," Meredith insisted.

"Yes, I am," Jamie argued, clutching his arms around his sister and pressing his forehead against her neck, making a pitiful little keening sound.

Martha touched Kate's arm and gave Alexis a sympathetic look. "I'd let it go if I were you, Meredith," Martha whisper hissed as she and John walked away from the table. "You're not doing yourself any favors."

"I'll let Rick know we'll meet him outside," Jim said as he and Meagan moved away. He inclined his head toward their table when Castle was walking past him and said, "We'll be out in front."

Kate came around the table to take her son from Alexis and told Meredith quietly but accusingly, "The last time I heard him make this sound was when you were in our home shouting at your daughter about her wedding dress. Please stop this."

That was when Castle reached the table, surprised to find his family looking upset and unhappy. First he went to Kate and rubbed Jamie's back soothingly, asking "What's wrong?"

From close to Kate's neck, Jamie answered, "The mean lady said I'm not Lexis's brother, but I am." That was followed with a little whimpering sob.

Continuing the comforting movement, he told his son, "Of course you're her brother, Bud. We all know that." Then he looked around and immediately honed in on the problem. "Meredith, what are you doing here?" he asked in resignation.

"She's been in town for a couple of days for auditions and just happened to see me when she came in with her date." Alexis explained, indicating the man standing slightly behind Meredith, Then she added, "She's leaving first thing in the morning."

Others might not have noticed, but Castle recognized the same look on his daughter's face that he had seen so often when she was a child. He turned to Meredith's date, who was innocent in the situation and offered his hand, saying, "Richard Castle, ex-husband."

The man shook it, answering, "Jeffrey Barkfield, unsuspecting date. Thanks for being gracious."

Kissing Kate's forehead and then Jamie's head, Castle said, "The car should be here by now. You and Jamie meet me there. I won't be long. JD will be with Alexis."

"Goodnight, Meredith," Alexis said as she moved to leave.

"Meredith? Where did that come from?" Meredith asked, catching her daughter's arm to stop her. "I'm your mother."

Alexis looked her in the eyes and said quietly, "Well, you've finally managed to lose that title. I can't keep making all the effort and watching you be so blasé about not even trying."

Castle stood behind his daughter, one hand on her shoulder, and kissed the top of her head before he separated her from her mother's grasp. "Take care of her, Son," he told JD offering a fatherly squeeze to the younger man's arm as his son-in-law guided Alexis out protectively.

When all the others were gone, Castle signed the check that had been left on the table and retrieved his credit card as he said, "Meredith, just move on…let them take you and your date to your table. I'm going home with my family."

"Not until you tell me what that was about." She folded her arms obstinately.

Castle's side of the conversation was conducted much more quietly but intensely, anger barely under the surface. Those around them weren't overtly watching them, but there was no doubt in Castle's mind that they had an audience hanging on every word that could be gleaned from the conversation.

"What happened was that you hurt her one time too many and she's finally written you off. It's your own doing. You have once again swanned in without warning, caused a scene, disappointed my daughter, upset both of my children, and taken the joy out of an otherwise pleasant family celebration."

"How did I disappoint her? What did I do?"

"It's what you didn't do…again. When you came in, she allowed herself to believe that you came here to see her, and then she realized you never intended to contact her at all. She thought you had actually remembered this year; but you shot her down again, the way you have for years."

"She said that, too. What was I supposed to remember?"

"For god's sake, Meredith, you gave birth to her. I'd think you could remember when that was. Or have you tried that hard to forget? It's her birthday. She was twenty-two today. That's why we were here."

Meredith finally appeared to realize her mistake. "Oh. I...um..."

"Now do you understand her disappointment? Instead of wishing her a happy birthday, her mother disappointed her again, and upset her brother again." And he added through gritted teeth, "And don't go back there. He's too young. Do you really think that he's going to understand half siblings and in-laws at two and a half? We'll explain when he's old enough to understand. Until then, they both love him. That's what counts, and you're the only one who seems to have issues with it." He sighed deeply and finished, "You've wreaked your havoc. Now just go and enjoy your dinner in more peace than you left us."

By then the maître d' had arrived, saying quietly, "Ms. Harper, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. There have been complaints that you've caused a disturbance."

The look on the other diners' faces when she protested that she hadn't was enough to confirm the truth; so he insisted, "If you go quietly, I won't have to call security."

As she was turning to leave, a woman at a table close by said to her husband, loud enough for Meredith to hear, "Meredith Harper. She was in that movie we watched the other night. I didn't think she was that much of an actress, but it looks like she can't even act like she has manners."

"Or a daughter," her husband answered.

"And picking on that precious child…" the woman added.

Meredith pulled herself together and left, guided out by the maître d'.

Before departing, Castle said to the people around him, "My apologies for the drama and distraction. I hope you'll all enjoy the rest of your meals."

There were a few looks of sympathy and gestures of understanding before he went to meet the rest of his family in front of the restaurant.

When she left, Meredith tried to speak to Alexis; but Alexis told her to just go and leave her alone, and Jeffrey hailed a cab for his date. "Aren't you coming?" she asked him.

"No. I've never been kicked out of an establishment in my life, something I don't want to experience again," Jeffrey answered. "And I've just seen a side of you that, quite frankly, I want no part of. I've paid the driver. Goodbye, Meredith." He hailed another cab for himself.

"Good for Jeffrey," Martha remarked.

Alexis and JD left in the town car Castle had arranged for her birthday. Jim and Meagan weren't far from home and decided to walk, John rode with the rest of Castle's family. All of them were angry. After dropping John off, they played with Jamie until they got home.

Once Jamie was comforted and tucked in, Castle poured the three adults a glass of wine, and they sat down in the living room to unwind.

"That woman is a piece of work," Martha grumbled, "She's a blight on the sisterhood of redheads. I may not have been the best mother in the world, but at least you always knew I loved you."

"Do you think Alexis has really given up on her?" Kate asked.

"Honestly, I think I've seen it coming since a little before her wedding," Castle answered. "It looks like today was the breaking point, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear Alexis calling you Mom before long, unless you object. I suspect JD would be right behind her. She's really happy for her brother, but I'm pretty sure she's a little jealous that Jamie has such a loving, dependable mother…and gets to call you Mommy."

"I never encouraged her to do that because I didn't want to get between Alexis and Meredith, not because I had any objections. I guess we'll see what happens," Kate agreed. "I felt so bad for Alexis. She looked so hurt."

"That's the worst part of being a parent," Martha answered. "Knowing they hurt and not being able to do anything about it. But resiliency is a part of the Rodgers family. We know Alexis will work it out, but that doesn't make it any easier to see her hurt until she does." Then she walked around the back of the sofa and kissed both of her children on the head before going upstairs to her room.

xxxxx

When Kate came home the following night, Castle greeted her at the door with a kiss. "I was hoping for the best and expecting the worst, but it looks like we were lucky. Nothing on page six about last night."

Kate returned the kiss and smiled. There was a little pause before she said, "That's good. None of us want that, and I might feel a little sorry for Meredith. If Alexis doesn't change her mind about it, Meredith lost something extraordinarily special last night. When she came in, she didn't even know we were there. I doubt that she walked into the restaurant with the intention of hurting any of us, and she seemed genuinely happy to see Alexis. She's just so totally oblivious to anybody's feelings but her own…she can't see the damage she's done to her child over the years, and yet she's still so territorial about her. And she upset my child in the process. Come to think of it, she didn't do that intentionally at first either; but she certainly didn't care that it was hurting both of my babies once she got started. Okay, so maybe I feel a lot less sorry for her now."

Castle laughed. "That was an interesting trip to make through your head. I could almost visibly track the thought process from the sympathy right up through the mama bear moment there at the end."

"Well, there are limits to the generosity of my goodwill. Long day. It's hard to think clearly."

"So we agree? We feel bad for her, but not overly bad…because the truth is that she finally pushed herself into the hole she had been digging for years?"

"That sounds about right. Is there an open bottle of wine here?"

"Coming right up," he answered with a grin.

Jamie came bounding out of the study and wrapped his arms around Kate's leg, grabbing her hand and pulling her to come and see his latest project with his blocks…something about aliens.

"This is your doing, isn't it?" she said to her husband indulgently as her son pulled her into the study, and Castle's chuckle followed them out of the room.

"Gotta train him right," he called out unapologetically as he poured their wine.

xxxxx

A few days later, Ryan called Castle, sounding excited. "Hey, Castle. Yesterday, I took the afternoon off to look at houses with Jenny. I wanted to tell you that the real estate agent your guys helped us find was a godsend. We found a place, and Jenny is totally in love with it. We had already been pre-approved for enough of a loan to cover it, and I just found out our offer was accepted. We talk to the banker day after tomorrow."

"That's great, Ryan. Did you take pictures?"

"Jenny did a video tour for her mother. It's on her phone."

"Jamie wanted pizza tonight…begged and gave me the puppy dog eyes. How do they learn that so young? Anyway, it worked. Why don't I order extra and you bring the family over and join us…celebratory pizza while you show us your new house?"

"Thanks Rick," Jenny called over Ryan's shoulder. "Not having to cook or even having to decide on a restaurant would be wonderful. My mother has Sarah Grace, and she expects us to have dinner before we pick her up."

"Good. Same toppings as at the precinct, Ryan?"

"Yep. See you soon."

Kate was home about fifteen minutes later, and Castle told her why the Ryans were joining them.

"Well, that was fast. I can't wait to see what they found."

The celebratory pizza arrived just before the celebrating Ryans, but Castle insisted that they start with the pictures.

"It was built in the early forties, but it's in good shape," Ryan told them as he and Jenny took off their jackets. "There are a few things we'd like to update, but that can wait a little while."

"It's the perfect first house," Jenny gushed. "The rooms aren't that big, but they're all bigger than what we have now, and there are three bedrooms and a yard big enough for kids to play in."

"It even has the stereotypical white picket fence," Ryan interrupted with a laugh.

"Where are the pictures?" Kate asked, laughing with him. "I need pictures."

"Here's the exterior." Ryan showed them several photos on his phone, picket fence included, adding, "It looks a lot like the house my great-grandparents built in the thirties, only smaller. It's in an established neighborhood of small homes…has an old fashioned family feel about it."

Jenny was pulling up her video tour while Jamie was tugging on Castle's pants leg and asking if he could have his pizza.

"Just a minute," Castle told him. "Want to see Sarah Grace's new house?"

When he nodded, Castle showed him the picture and told Jamie, "Sometime soon when you go to see Sarah Grace, you might get to play in the yard there."

"Yeah. You can run around in our yard after we move there," Ryan told him as Jenny started to show them her video tour. She was still on a new house high.

"I'm so happy with this place," Jenny said animatedly. "There's even a front porch with a swing, so I can sit there and keep an eye on the kids when Sarah Grace is old enough to play out there."

"Before the two of you explode from excitement, let's get the pizza on the table and talk." Castle put Jamie in his high chair and Kate cut up his pizza. Then they knew they could talk to the Ryans uninterrupted for a few minutes.

"I can see why you'd love it. It's the perfect picture of a first house," Castle said. "It's almost like you're buying it right off an old movie set."

"We thought that, too," Jenny answered with a giggle. "And thanks to your real estate agent…"

"There's one other thing I'd like to offer."

"Looking at Kate, Ryan laughed and asked jokingly. "He's not going to offer to buy us a house, is he? 'Cause that would be a resounding no."

"No. I'm just offering you a no interest loan," Castle answered.

"No interest? That's missing an opportunity to use your money to make more money. Javi said you'd never mentioned it again after you did that for him to get Maria's ring. He doesn't talk about money issues much, but he really appreciated the way you handled it. This is a house, though, Castle. That's a lot more money than the ring."

"And I already have more money than one person needs. What good is it if you can't use it on the people you care about? Most of the people I used to associate with jumped at the chance to have me to spend it on them. It's refreshing to have friends who don't do that…other than the occasional blackmail for use of the Ferrari. The money's there if you decide you want it. And like with Javi, I'll be out of the picture after that. Someone in your family is an accountant, right?"

"One of my brothers," Ryan supplied.

"Talk to him about the other expenses that are generally part of the loan payment, how much you end up actually spending on the house after you've added the interest over the years, and how much faster you could pay it off making the same payments without the interest. You can even get estimates and add on the cost of the upgrades so you don't have to wait for them."

Jenny had one hand over her mouth and was looking at Castle in awe. "You would do that for us…and just voluntarily offer out of the blue?"

If the situation were reversed…" He paused a moment and took a business card from his pocket, pushing it across the table. "If you're interested, you can call my accountant, Tyler. He knows you might call. The two of you can set it up on your own terms…payment amount, number of years, additional funds for the updates. I'll never ask. I'll never even see it beyond putting my signature on the appropriate dotted lines. If you decide to take me up on it, call Tyler and work out your terms. He'll take care of a cashier's check so you can pay for the house, and your payments will go to Tyler's office."

"A cashier's check for an entire house?" Ryan exhaled. "I know you have this huge loft and the place in the Hamptons, and the Ferrari, and probably never have to work another day in your life if you don't want to; but sometimes I still forget how rich you really are. You just seem like one of our friends now."

"Because that's what I am. Do a little online searching, talk to your brother, and see what you think before you talk to the banker. You'd still be paying for your own house, just without all those years of interest attached. The offer will stay on the table, but I'm not going to twist your arm."

"We'll talk about it tonight," Jenny said. "It's a very generous offer."

"Pizza's on the table," Kate pointed out, "and Jamie's getting ahead of us. Dig in."

The subject was dropped then, and the pizzas became more important.

xxxxx

The following week, coffee and a muffin were delivered to Beckett from the coffee shop across from the precinct, along with a manila envelope. As usual, she started with the coffee. Then she opened the envelope and found a note from Jamal's mother, along with a sketch. The note explained that Mrs. Keaton was afraid of backlash if anyone knew she or her son were involved in providing information, so she took the envelope to the owner of the coffee shop and paid for the items to be delivered with it.

Jamal was visiting at his friend's first floor apartment late the night before, and they had just entered the dark front room when they heard something. Living in that neighborhood made its residents instinctively aware of calling attention to themselves in iffy situations, so neither of the boys turned on the lights in the room when they realized they were hearing angry voices. They saw a well-dressed man speaking to a couple of people they knew often supplied drugs, and the three men seemed to be arguing. They had never seen the third man before, and the way he was dressed was well beyond what anyone in that neighborhood could afford. Jamal and his friend stayed in the shadows near the window; and just in case it meant anything troublesome, he sketched the men before the two teenagers went back to a more interior part of the apartment, agreeing not to mention it to anyone else.

Jamal did tell his mother, though, and showed her the sketch; and Mrs. Keaton packaged it with her letter and made the arrangement at the coffee shop. She closed the letter with, "We have to be so careful here already. If this man is someone who may cause more trouble for the neighborhood, we thought you should know he was here. Better safe than sorry. Mildred Keaton"

Beckett immediately picked up her phone. "Santiago, meet me in my office in about ten minutes. I need you to take a look at something."

"Sure thing, Captain."

About that time, Chen appeared at the door, and Beckett put the sketch down and asked, "What can I do for you, Lieutenant?"

"You know we've had a series of three deaths recently, all originally attributed to drug overdoses, basically unintentional suicides rather than murders."

"It sounds like there's a 'but' coming."

"There is. Thing is that Franklin Stokes, the medical examiner on the third one, went a little farther and found that the death was attributable to the drug, but not an overdose. There was a foreign substance not usually found in the drug…and it's lethal."

"Did you ask to have the same tests run on the other two victims?"

"We did. The other ME wasn't happy; but he ran the extra tests and we just got those reports…the same substance was the actual COD."

"Any connection between the victims?"

"Not that we've found yet, but we're still looking. I wanted to mention it because with three identical deaths so close together, we're worried that there are tainted drugs on the market around here and we could see more of this."

"I know Frank Stokes and his wife, two of our best medical examiners. I'll check into similar deaths in the rest of the city and let you know what we find. And Santiago should be here in another few minutes about a different matter. I'll see if he's aware of anything."

"Thanks, Captain." Chen went back to his work and Santiago was there a few minutes later.

"Since I called, we've gone from one concern to two" Beckett told him. "First, I have an informant who, for the safety of the family, needs to remain anonymous. I believe this to be an accurate sketch of a man who hadn't been seen in the neighborhood before last night, as well as the two men he was seen arguing with. The informant said they sounded angry but he couldn't hear the gist of the conversation. They were in the neighborhood we've discussed before, the little pocket of drug activity we can't seem to get a handle on. Do you recognize him?"

"That's Carlos DeLand. His organization is becoming an increasing problem…bigger than I'd expect for that neighborhood, but not nearly at the level of the group we were dealing with last summer."

"What is your team working on right now?"

"We've had increasing reports that drugs are showing up in places we haven't had to worry about before, business areas mostly. We're trying to find the source."

"What about Lieutenant Carlson? I just received a closed file on their last case. Do they have anything new yet?"

"Not that I know of."

"Then pass this sketch along to him and tell him I asked him to look into it. It may be nothing, but it never hurts to be sure." She paused briefly and added, "And I'd like a sketch artist to keep the accuracy of the images but provide three separate sketches of those men. That sketch, seen as it is, could identify the location of the artist; and we need to protect him. The original sketch should be returned to me."

"Yes, Ma'am. I'll see to it. And the second issue?"

"Homicide has had three deaths recently that were attributed to a toxic substance not usually present in the drugs the victims used. Are you aware of any recent problem with tainted drugs or who would be the most likely suspect if that were happening?"

"Nothing recent," Stopping and mirroring her look of concern he asked, "Three deaths in…"

"In the past two weeks. The medical examiner for the last victim was more thorough than the one who handled the first two cases. After further testing, it was determined that the first two died the same way."

"I'll ask the rest of the Narcotics bullpen…see if anybody else may have heard something."

"Thank you."

"We'll get on all of this right now," he said, gesturing with the sketch as he walked out of Beckett's office.

Beckett put in a call to her best friend and asked the ME to look into other recent, similar deaths.

xxxxx

That evening, she went home to her family.

Knowing he had finally worn her down to the point where surprises were occasionally acceptable, Castle only told Kate they were going to dinner and a play. It was her birthday, and he was already dressed in all but the jacket of a suit he knew Beckett particularly liked. By the time she had showered and dressed, Martha was downstairs dressed to accompany them, and Jamie was dressed in a suit that was almost identical to his father's. Castle had invited Jim and Meagan, but Jim reminded him that they had taken Meagan's family to the same show the last time they visited New York. He said he had planned something for Kate at their Sunday brunch meeting on the weekend. Alexis and JD had a school obligation.

Castle put on his jacket and helped his son into his own. Jamie ran his hand over his chest and said proudly, "I look like Daddy. I have a tie."

"Yes, you do," Kate agreed. "You look very handsome tonight," she praised.

"Are you ready for your birthday celebration?" Castle asked.

"With two handsome men and a Broadway actress to accompany me? Absolutely."

As they walked through the lobby of their building, Castle asked his son, "Remember what we talked about? How to behave when you're wearing a suit?" Castle asked.

The little boy nodded seriously. "Be a gentleman…and keep my tie on."

"Richard still has a hard time with that last one," Martha muttered in amusement to Kate, who grinned in agreement.

"I guess he'll have to keep it on tonight," Kate whispered back as Castle continued to confer with his son about how to behave like a gentleman. "Looks like he's painted himself into a corner this time."

The limo was waiting at the street, and Castle told his son that they should let the ladies get in first, so they stood next to each other on the sidewalk and waited. After Kate and Martha were seated, Castle and Jamie got in, and Jamie was strapped into his car seat. After a nice dinner the the car took them to the theater to see The Lion King. Castle had surprised Jamie with it, too. The movie was one of his son's favorites, and he had been sure Jamie would be too excited to keep it a secret. After the initial excitement at the name of the show they were seeing, Castle asked, "Do you want to walk Mommy in since it's her birthday?"

He nodded. "You're gonna walk with Grams?" he asked. Castle turned to Martha and offered her his arm, and Jamie bent his arm and asked, "Why did you do that?"

"A gentleman offers to let the lady hold his arm when they walk."

Jamie looked up at his mother and back at his father, looking confused, and said, "My arm's not high enough."

"Then offer her your hand."

The little boy held his hand up and Kate took it with a smile, walking in with her little boy. When they were at the entrance, Castle put two of the tickets into Jamie's breast pocket and told him to take them out and give them to the person who asked him for tickets.

Kate looked as proud as Jamie did when her tiny gentleman took them out of his jacket pocket and held them up to the ticket taker. The woman handed Jamie the stubs; and with a smitten smile, she told him to put them back in his pocket.

Behind mother and son, Castle and Martha were enjoying watching their little gentleman trying so hard to live up to his father's instructions. Castle mentioned the seat numbers so Kate would know where they were sitting. He had bought dress circle seats so they would have a good view of the entire stage, and he reminded his son of how to behave, including that they couldn't sing along, say the lines aloud, or dance around like they did at home."

Turning to Kate, Jamie told her, "Daddy said it's not a cartoon. It's people with animal costumes."

"That's right. It's like when we go to Grams' school and see the children's stories at her theater. She wears costumes, and her students wear costumes. You'll like it. Want to sit in my lap so you can see better when the curtain opens?" He climbed into Kate's lap as the orchestra played the overture; and although he laughed and bounced on her and whispered a few words to identify the songs, he managed to follow his father's rules pretty well. When the animals were moving around the stage, everybody in the family was captivated at the way the choreography and the costuming worked together. Jamie was too young to have any concept of those specific thoughts, of course, but he gasped in delight at the first sight of it. The entire family enjoyed the production from beginning to end. Jamie was drooping a little bit by the end, but he managed to stay awake and in good humor. He held Kate's hand as they left, and Castle took his hand as they waited for the ladies to get in the car.

Once they were home, Castle said, "Now we can take off our ties," and he pulled on his to take it off.

Kate reached to help Jamie with his, but he put both hands over it and said, "No. Mommies are ladies. Daddies are gentlemen. I want Daddy." Castle dropped to one knee and helped remove his son's tie and unbutton the top shirt button. "Let's hang up our jackets and ties, Buddy," he suggested. "Come on. We'll put mine in my closet and then take yours to your room. Mommy will be there in a minute." He winked at his wife as they passed her.

When they tucked him in that night, both parents told him what a fine gentleman he had been and how proud they were; and their tired son was asleep in no time.

"Was it a good birthday?" Castle asked as he and Kate walked down the stairs.

"I loved it, and I'm glad you included Martha and Jamie. The show was absolutely amazing. But my favorite part was seeing Jamie trying so hard to be like his Daddy…watching you teach him a tiny little part of how to be the man you want him to be, and making him feel proud to learn. Seeing you with him that way always shows me how Alexis grew up to be as remarkable as she is. Did you start teaching her things like this so young?"

"The younger, the better. Good habits from the beginning. That and it's fun to watch. They both love costumes. Alexis would pretend she was a princess, and I'd tell her how a princess should behave. Jamie loves costumes. I think he liked having a Daddy costume tonight. It was fun, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was...and impressive. I don't tell you often enough how much you impress me, Mr. Castle."

Stopping at the doorway of the study to kiss her, Castle said softly, "I thought I was supposed to make the birthday girl feel special, but you're turning the tables."

"I'm planning to take advantage of you while I have you distracted, too. Removing the tie and the jacket was only the beginning. You can feel free to be a gentleman right up until we lock the bedroom door."

With a playful kiss, he told her, "I promise not to be as picky as Jamie about letting a lady help with clothing removal." He followed close behind her as they entered the bedroom…the lady first…and she gave him a seductive look over her shoulder as he locked the door behind him.