Snowmelt Chapter 12 Part3

"Andy, where are you from?" Maia asked, smoothing her hair back and giving him a sensual smile.

"Portland, Oregon."

House sat down, extending his long lazy legs in front of him, crossed at the ankle. He put his cane down. He watched soberly as Maia appeared very interested in Andy Quail's every word. Alright, even I can't stop looking at this guy's eyes. They're an odd, but striking blue. I wonder if they're contacts. He's 5'10", maybe 5'11", but he stands straight, looks taller. That suit is cut just right for his body. You can barely see the outline of his muscles in the coat. Hmmm. What's his vulnerability? Is she really interested in him? Look at her preen.

Andy turned to House, having a distinct feeling House was analyzing him for some reason. "Dr. House, I won't need to interview you right now. If you don't mind, you can go back to work and I can talk to Maia."

Maia snickered to herself. She knew Greg House wasn't going to take well to being dismissed.

"No, I don't mind going to work, it's that eight hour wait to go home that's a bitch."

Andy smiled, "Well, I thought I'd start out by talking to Maia and I'd like to do that alone."

House narrowed his eyes, "Ms. Connelly is a lawyer, I'm her interpreter. You know all that legalese…difficult to wade through the bullshit.'

Maia rolled her eyes and shook her head.

Andy found a chair and sat down, "Don't worry, I'm a lawyer too. I think I can sift through the bull; you can leave her to me."

House didn't like that line; he wasn't leaving her to anyone. "Well, just the other night after she stopped screaming, "Oh yeah, Greg, yeah, that's it, more baby, more." She asked me to never leave her. So…here I am."

Maia closed her eyes in embarrassment. Andy looked over at Maia and saw that she was mortified. Now he understood, the brilliant Gregory House, of whom he had heard so much from Smithers, was planting his flag on Maia. That could be a problem.

Andy smiled, "Well, that's fine, you can stay if Maia doesn't mind. I just need to ask her about her home business and she may not want to discuss business in front of you."

"Don't worry, I was one of her best clients." House poured a glass of water and took a drink.

Andy already knew this after reviewing and analyzing Maia's phone records, but wanted to give Maia the opportunity to shoo House away if she felt it might get too strange having a boyfriend around while she talked about her sex business. Andy had to admit, the gorgeous woman in Maia's ad looked nothing like her. He was attracted to the young brunette coed and was disappointed when Smithers shook her head, saying that Maia looked nothing like the ad. However, there was something about Maia, the look of intelligence, the smile, a touch of fire, that made her attractive in her own right. Andy wanted very much to get to know her, without House nearby. He wondered if he threw a bone, would House run after it?

Maia looked piercingly at House, "Greg, I don't really want to talk about my other clients in front of you, could you go play with your team and let us talk?"

House shrugged his shoulders and smiled whimsically. "Just a sec." He pulled his page from his pocket, reached over, grabbed the phone and acted as if he was answering it. Standing up, he twirled his cane, pretended to flip his hair back and waddled out of the room. Maia smiled, he could be very cute when he wanted to be.

Andy watched House leave and asked himself what she saw in him? He was obviously full of himself; he was an odd, eccentric character. Maia seemed warm and outgoing, why was she hooked up with him?

Out in the hall, House flipped open his cell. He could hear the conversation between Maia and Andy, having dialed his cell phone from her bedside and then leaving the line open. Amateurish as it was, it was working.

When the door closed, Andy faced Maia and turned sober. "You know that you're going to have to disappear. Dr. House won't be told where you are. You'll have to sever all ties to him until after the trial and maybe even after that."

Horror swept over her face, "If anyone can find me, it will be him. You'd be better off telling him where I am so it isn't a puzzle he has to solve. He spent a full month going into forty restaurants looking for me in the Princeton area. He's tenacious."

Andy chuckled, "Tenacious isn't the word I'd use for him." Andy scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to her.

She shook her head after reading the paper she smiled and nodded, "Perhaps, jerk, asshole, narcissist?"

"You're getting closer."

Maia started snickering.

Andy tilted his head, "How long have you two been dating?"

Maia looked to the ceiling, counting, "Five days?"

Andy pulled his head back in surprise, "Just five days? You mean I'm five days too late?"

She shrugged and grimaced, "Greg and I have been talking to each other for over a year on the phone and we've seen each other in the flesh since the beginning of January. It just took a little while for us to realize we wanted to date."

"Five days? Isn't that a little short to now trust him with your life? I mean, from all accounts, the guy ran when the bullets started flying."

Maia sat up in bed and wagged her finger at him, "They were using him to get to me. I told him to run, to get help."

Andy shook his head, "Maia, I read the reports, you waved him off, but you didn't tell him to get help."

Her voice was stern, warning him, "It was implied." She looked down again at the note Andy had passed her. It read, Careful, open phone – House is listening.

Andy smiled, "You must really care about this guy to be sticking up for him. Maybe time away from him will change your mind."

"He saved my life twice and I owe him."

"So, you only care because you think you owe him?"

She looked at the phone and thought about him listening in on the other end, "It's more than that. He has his moments." She wanted to tell Andy that she was in love with House, but not with him listening.

"I'm sure he does." Andy said calmly. "Well, we're going to be moving you as soon as the doctors say that you can leave. We'll hire a caretaker for you until if necessary, but it's too hard to guard you in here. I'll be there to take care of you too." Andy was hoping he could rile House, test him and see what House would do under the pressure of knowing Maia was going to be gone for awhile.

House had been laying back in his chair in his office. He sat up straight when he heard Andy's flirtatious comments about being there to take care of her. He grabbed his cane and took off, cell phone still attached to his ear.

"Guard me? Now that you have the document, what do they get by taking me?"

"I'm not worried about the Torinos. You've spoiled their fun. But the Bellingheres want you dead now more than ever. You're the only one who can authenticate the document."

"Is it really that important?"

He grinned and nodded, "Oh yeah. This is the documentary evidence of the arms deal. It will put away four of the Capos in the family. You're our star witness."

"Crap."

Andy got up, pointed at the phone and smiled, "Well, I'm really looking forward to getting to know you. And if it's any consolation, it's my job to take the bullet for you and I will."

Maia smirked and shook her head at Andy, "Well, that's nice of you. I'd have to say that you seem quite nice and I'm glad that you ended up with the duty of having to guard me."

House picked up the pace.

Andy chuckled, "Well, I have to admit, when I saw your photo I volunteered."

The slider flew open with House bounding through. Andy looked at Maia and gave her a wink. House looked flustered.

"Greg? Are you okay? You look really winded."

House caught his breath, "I came back to take see if you wanted to…" He looked around, "Watch television with me."

"Television? You ran all the way here to ask if I wanted to watch television with you?"

House walked over to the table, "I have a page, let me answer it." He lifted up the phone and pretended to dial, much to the amusement of both Andy and Maia. House gave the impression of listening and then hung up to close the line. He used these few seconds to think, trying to figure out what he should do next. He knew one thing for sure, he wasn't going to leave Maia alone with the handsome Andy for the next year. It was too big of a risk.

House glared at Andy, "I'd like to examine my girlfriend if you don't mind."

"Pardon me?" Andy asked, smiling.

House's arms were flailing, "I need to check her wound…now get out and stay out for the next half hour."

Maia tilted her head as she stared at House. Andy glanced over to Maia for confirmation that he should leave. She shrugged her shoulders, smiled and gave Andy a little wave goodbye as he left the room. House closed the blinds and then went back over to the bed. Maia watched as he hemmed and hawed, not sure what to say.

House finally blurted out, "Do you think that I deserted you? That I wouldn't take a bullet for you if it was the only way to save your life?"

She furred her brow and narrowed her eyes, "What are we talking about here? Do you think I blame you?"

He didn't answer, but from the look on his face she could tell he did. Her heart burst, he looked so miserable, "Oh Greg! Oh God. I shouldn't say this. I know I'll regret it. You'll figure out some way to manipulate me with it. But, I don't blame you at all. If anything had happened to you because of me, I would have never forgiven myself. Greg, when that man threatened you, I knew right then that I was inconsolably in love with you. You asshole."

He stopped, smiled like the devil, wheels turning in his head, "Inconsolably?"

"Asshole." She waited, watching the grin get wider. "Oh, God. You could at least pretend not to be thinking of ways to use this information against me."

"I was just thinking if I could shag you with an IV."

She shook her head, "I said I loved you, not, 'I'm horny.' Contrary to what the male population would tell you, they aren't the same sentiment."

He put a finger to his lips in thought, "Sorry, I get them confused."

"I take it you're horny."

"Well, that or I'm in love."

Maia said nothing.

House stuck his face about a foot from hers, "Hello? Did you hear me?"

Maia frowned, "Greg, don't fool around with something like that."

He took a deep breath, glancing back at the sliding door to make sure it was closed. "Maia, I've been in love with you ever since you asked if I liked it when a woman licked my balls."

Maia started laughing.

"I was already fixated on you from the start. Then when I found out who you were, I admit, I was disappointed. I wanted you to at least be a brunette. But, even after finding out, I kept thinking about you, wanting to see you. Now, I find myself looking at blondes…blondes with gray hair poking through."

"Greg, I need for you to be serious for a minute. Are you just saying this to be funny and manipulative or do you really have feelings for me?"

"Maia, you're the most complex woman I've ever met. You're totally flawed, but you keep coming back like Marciano. I love you. What we do with that, I don't know. I don't have a good record with the women I've loved. Just ask Maggie and Stacy."

She reached out for him to hug her. After sitting down on the bed, House leaned forward to enfold her into his arms. He kissed her neck as they hugged, feeling little jerks that indicated she was crying.

"Oh for Christ sakes, you're not crying are you?"

"I am. I've never had a man tell me he loves me at the same time I've told him. Timing has never been my strong suit. I usually tell them and they run screaming into the night."

He kissed her lips, "But it's not night, yet." He pulled back and picked up her hand, "Maia, let's get married."