A/N: Thank you all for the awesome reviews to chapter one. I love hearing from you :) It inspires me to write more :) I will update as often as I can. I'm still working on a story with Hughville so stay tuned for that when we're ready to post it. It's gonna be a long one! LOL. I don't know how long this will be. Could be five chapters, could be fifteen. I guess we'll see!

Chapter Two

Laynie walked through the mall, carrying a few shopping bags as she browsed and window shopped. After paying her rent, she still had enough to spend on herself.

On her way out, she walked past Victoria's Secret. It had been a long time since she bought anything remotely sexy. Why now, she didn't know, but the black lace bra and panty set in the window drew her in. Half an hour later, she emerged with another large bag after spending a small fortune and she smiled. It's not like she had anyone to wear it for but that didn't matter. Having lingerie on under her work clothes made her feel sexy. She didn't wear a uniform at work, but she did have to dress business casual.

As she entered her building, she saw House leaving. "Did you buy out the stores?" he asked, looking at the several shopping bags.

"Maybe."

"Get anything good?"

"Yes."

He eyed the Victoria Secret bag and leered at her. "At least you have your priorities straight." He used his cane to peer into the bag but she closed it and laughed.

"Hey!"

"What? I wanna see what you got."

"Maybe another time," she replied, smiling at him. Damn, he looked good! He was wearing his usual work attire but somehow, a man in a suit jacket, T-shirt and jeans always did something to her. He'd also trimmed his beard a little and he looked well.

"Day off?"

"As a matter of fact, yes."

He glanced at his watch. "I'm going to be back in a few hours. Wanna get a drink?"

She blinked. Was he seriously asking her out.

"We could."

"Do you know the pub across the street from the hospital?"

"Yeah."

"I'll be there at five. If not, just wait longer."

She opened her mouth to tell him that she wasn't going to sit around like a fool but he had already walked away and got into his car. She did notice that he didn't seem to be limping as much, or as grumpy. Something was going on and she found herself looking forward to their date. Perhaps he'd tell her what his secret was. Because everyone had them.

Much to her surprise, House showed up five minutes early, and Laynie was happy for that. One of her pet peeves was tardiness and his arriving early earned him extra points.

"Sorry I'm late," he said with a smirk as he sat down and signaled their server. "Waiting long?"

"You're early, actually and no, I just got here myself."

"Good."

They ordered drinks, her a glass of wine, a Scotch for House and made small talk at first. When the server came back, he ordered another round and suggested they stay and eat dinner, which Laynie was in agreement.

"So you're off today?"

"Yeah. First real day off in weeks. I always seem to get called in."

"What division do you work in?"

"Internet Crimes."

"I didn't know there was such a thing."

She looked sad all of a sudden. "There is now."

House cocked his head to one side. "I feel like there's a story behind that."

"There is. My sister went missing two years ago after talking to some guy online. Other states have similar departments so I managed to get my Commander to start one here. We team up with an organization that goes after these guys. It's all volunteer but they need cops to arrest these freaks, and that's where I come in."

"Do you ever go online to find them?"

"Sometimes. If I do it's to find who knows anything about my sister. I had some leads but they've all gone cold now. If she is still alive, which is highly unlikely, she could be anywhere."

"What makes you think it's unlikely?"

"Because when people go missing they're very rarely kept alive for long. That whole thing about the first forty-eight hours being critical is reality."

"So what do you think happened to your sister? Is she younger or older than you?"

"Younger by five years. She'd be thirty this year." She gave her head a shake as if to clear it. "Anyway, I just keep on keeping on, because that's all I can do, and hopefully I'll either get closure, or she'll walk through my door one day like nothing had ever happened."

"What about your parents?"

"Dad left when we were kids and Mom died from cancer three years ago. I know this sounds bad, but I'm glad she wasn't alive when Jade went missing. It would have killed her."

House nodded. "So how do you deal?"

"Every one I arrest, part of me hopes that he's the one who took Jade and that he can't do it to anyone else."

"So this career is a way for you to get some kind of closure."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. I have Jade's computer,and every so often I'll go looking for clues on it, something I might have missed but whoever he is, he was smart and covered his tracks, so we're not dealing with an amateur."

"Have you ever been on Dateline? That Catch a Predator show is pretty cool."

"Once or twice."

House's eyebrows shot up. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. I was one of the cops that arrested the guys after they tried to leave the house. It's pretty funny. Chris, that's Chris Hanson, tells them they're free to go but doesn't tell them they're going to be arrested."

House grinned at that. "Sounds fun."

"It certainly can be," Laynie replied as she sipped her wine and then smiled at him. "But enough about me. I wanna hear about why you think you need hookers."

House looked surprised but then shrugged. "It gets lonely."

"What about your girlfriend? Cuddy, was it?"

"She broke up with me. I was married to someone for awhile but it didn't work out and she left, too."

"The younger woman with the accent?"

"Yeah, that was Dominika. I married her partly to help her get a green card and partly to make Cuddy jealous. I think I hoped she'd realize she loved me enough to stop the wedding. But she didn't. It went downhill from there."

"What happened? Why did she break up with you?"

"I took Vicodin." He sighed and looked away. "I don't know why I'm telling you all this. We don't even know each other."

"I thought the purpose of this date was to get to know each other. And sometimes it's good to talk to strangers. Someone who isn't biased or judgemental." She placed her hand on his but he flinched so she removed it. "Sorry. What I'm saying is that you can talk to me. I'm no shrink but I'm not going to judge you."

He merely shrugged and downed the rest of his Scotch in one gulp before their food came. They ate in relative silence. House downed a couple more scotches and then the bill came, which he paid without a word. "I'll call a taxi," he said.

"I can drive. Where's your car?"

"Outside." Then he looked surprised. "You walked here?"

"Yeah, it's not far and it was sunny so I wanted the fresh air. Let's go, give me your keys."

He handed them over and they left the pub. Once back at their building, he lingered outside her door.

"Thanks for tonight, Dr. House. It's been a long time since I've had a chance to go out."

"No problem. Do you want to come over for a nightcap?" he asked, nudging his head in the direction of his apartment.

Laynie chuckled. "I think you've already had one nightcap too many."

"Now who's being judgemental?" he said and then glanced at his watch. "It's only eight."

Laynie considered it. He was definitely drunk. And she knew that once he had her in his apartment, the next step was his bed, and as tempting as the offer was, she did not feel like taking that step just yet.

"I have to turn in early. Rain check?"

House shrugged and began to turn away. "Whatever."

She watched him limp heavily on his cane as he went down the hall and unlocked the door to his apartment. Then he paused, gave her a smile that sent shockwaves straight to her core, and went inside, closing the door behind him without a word.

House watched in awe as the shiny black Dodge Charger pulled up to the front of the building and Laynie got out of it. "Wow, cops and their cars are getting sexier and sexier these days."

Layne laughed as she locked it and set the alarm. "I wanted something imposing that doesn't look like a traditional cop car."

"Good choice."

She noticed he was practically salivating over it. "Maybe I'll give you a ride one of these days."

"Does it have the cop lights and sirens?"

"Of course."

"Bitchin. I'm gonna hold you to that. I gotta go. See ya," he said as he put his helmet on and mounted his bike. She thought about what he'd just said about being sexy. Was that his way of flirting with her? If so, she could certainly play that game. She liked House. Moreso now than she did when she first moved into their building and she wondered if a relationship would work.

She let herself into her apartment and took a beer out of the fridge and grabbed a bag of pretzels before settling down in front of the TV. She wasn't really watching it, however. Her thoughts kept drifting back to House.

She knew he was married, but he never wore a ring and from the sounds of it, the marriage was a sham anyway. Besides, it wouldn't be the first time she hooked up with a married man. Stuckey once jokingly called her a "homewrecker" but Laynie didn't see it that way. If those men were so happy, they wouldn't need to cheat on their wives in the first place. They were the homewreckers, not her. Something about married men always excited her. Perhaps it was knowing that men wanted her but couldn't have her, but she had no problem with that. She was never the pursuer and enjoyed playing hard to get. It was the thrill of the chase with men anyway, wasn't it? That's what her Mother always said. "Always leave them wanting more. They'll appreciate you if you don't give in too soon."

Now, with House, it was like a game. Who could flirt the best and who would cave first? She was looking forward to seeing how that played out. House might prove to be a worthy adversary. His intellect was a turn-on and so were his bright blue eyes. Oh yes, this was going to be fun!