"Okay, I'll notify the vic's family right away. Thanks, Lanie," Kate Beckett hung up the phone and almost jumped when the sun caught her hand at some weird, impossible angle, making the ring on her finger sparkle.

Wow, she thought in awe, allowing herself a small smile.

"Hey, Beckett." Esposito's voice made her look up from her desk. She cringed and shuffled papers over her left hand in one smooth move, blinking rapidly and plastering an expression of innocence on her face.

"Yep?" She answered too brightly and Esposito hesitated suspiciously for just a moment before replying.

"Castle's been looking for you; thought you should know," he informed her. "And he's grinning like an idiot. Any idea why?"

Mrs. Kate Castle.

She smiled and put her chin her right hand nonchalantly. "Not a clue."

Esposito rolled his dark eyes. "Sure." He left quickly, spotting Ryan from across the room and Kate gave a sigh of relief.

The detective barely had hung up with the victim's family when Richard Castle bounced up to her desk, rumored grin still firmly in place. "Hey, Kate," he said breezily, jumping when she hissed, "Don't call me that!"

He sat down in a huff, frowning. "You didn't tell anyone," he accused like the pathetic puppy he looked like, gazing down pointedly at the stack of paperwork covering her left hand.

"Well, it's a little flashy," she explained, ignoring his statement.

He blinked quizzically. "Castle," she began and he looked wounded. "Rick. What I'm trying to say is that the ring's kind of big and gaudy-looking." She nodded firmly. Honesty. Honesty worked.

He nodded knowingly and smiled which wasn't the reaction Kate was expecting. "Oh, I know," he said and she narrowed her hazel eyes at him in confusion. "I did it on purpose. I knew you'd never pick something that big."

"Then why the hell did you?"

He shrugged. "It was noticeable and I figured guys could easily spot it and stay away from you." He winked roguishly and she sighed again. "And I also figured you deserve it. Besides you have beautiful hands and I would know." She smiled at the compliment and innuendo. "It looks nicer when papers aren't hiding it."

She laughed finally and slowly slid her hand out from beneath the stack. "I wasn't embarrassed, you know. I was just trying to avoid the—"

"I knew it!" Esposito's voice echoed in the room and everyone turned to look at him and then followed his stare to the corner of the room where Kate and Castle sat.

"—drama," Kate finished needlessly.

Castle laughed as Ryan and Esposito fawned over the "rock" and asked when the date for the wedding was, firing question after question at them and hopping from one to the other excitedly.

Late that night in bed while Castle wrote and Kate looked over reports, Castle expressed his concern to his fiancé over choosing which to be his best man.

"Don't worry about it," Kate said in a sure tone without looking up. "One of them can be your best man and the other can be my maid-of-honor."

Reviews if you please! I love how the Beckett/Castle story turned into one about Ryan and Esposito. XD