"Why do I have to wear jeans?" Annette asked, as she opened the door to him. She eyed his right hand which he kept behind his back.

"It's surprise, but you're gonna find out now." He pulled a helmet out behind him. Her eyes went wide when she saw it and House was afraid that she would say no. "It's okay we can take your car if you don't want to take the bike."

"No it's not that I don't want to, because I do." She was rewarded with a small smile "I'm just a little nervous, I've never ridden a motorcycle before."

"Really?" his face turned into a mischievous smile "Well, it's about time that you swing your sweat ass on one, don't you think?"

"Alright, but go slow." She gave him a nervous smile.

"Hey…" he put the helmet down and leaned his cane against the wall. He placed his hands on her hips and pulled her close to him "I'll be careful and if you don't like it we could always take a cab back to the loft." He leaned down to kiss her reassuringly.

It was nothing like House imagined, first she held onto him very tightly it was hard for him to breath. But then she relaxed and her hand ended near his thighs. It had been a long time since he had someone with him on the bike and it was a nice feeling, so he decided to take the long route to the restaurant.

It took 30 minutes before House finally parked the bike in front of the restaurant. As Annette stepped off her knees were a little wobbly, he reached out to steady her. After some seconds she nodded her thanks and he let go of her with a smile on his face.

Her hands were still shaking when she pulled her helmet off "That was, as you Americans would say, awesome!" her smile lit up her whole face and he had never seen her eyes this bright.

"So we're not taking a cab back?"

"No way! That bike is better than a rollercoaster." Her excitement did melt his heart just a little more. He really should thank Wilson for dragging him to that speed date.

"Come on then let's eat in a hurry so that we can get back on the bike again." He took her hand and led her into the restaurant.

"This is a nice restaurant." Annette remarked as they were seated in a private corner.

"I've never been here before, but Wilson says they have some great pasta dishes."

They chatted easily with each other after they had ordered their dinner, House had even ordered a salad for them to share, yes it seemed weird to him too, but it had slipped out of him before he could stop it.

"My God, these portions are huge!" Annette whispered over to him after the waiter had left their table again.

"Yes they are. I don't think I can finish it." He eyed the salad.

"Served you right for ordering the salad." She told him with a smile.

"I told you it slipped out of my mouth, so shut up!" He smiled as well.

"Well, I'm not touching it so you better eat it."

"Unless you want to pay you better stop making remarks like that." He pointed out.

"You asked me out remember?" She smiled in triumph.

House mumbled something she couldn't understand and continued eating "Aha," he suddenly said "you better eat some of the salad otherwise I won't let you ride on the bike with me!"

"Fine" They started laughing at the same time.

"Can we go back to my apartment first? I want to pack a bag with some clothes, so we don't have to get up early."

"I like how you think." She giggled and he could see her blushing.

They ate their dinner in comfortable silence. And sure enough he didn't finish his pasta dish and neither did she.

15 minutes later Annette hurried to her apartment building while House waited for her.

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Wilson was just entering the apartment building when he saw House and Annette waiting for the elevator.

"Hi Annette, nice to see you again." He greeted them. House just nodded and kept his arm around Annette's waist. She just smiled at Wilson and snuggled closer to House and all three of them stepped into the elevator.

It amazed Wilson that House didn't seem to mind PDA's even at the hospital. His team was still talking about the kiss they had witnessed a week ago. And the nurses gossiped about the grumpy doctor holding the hand of a beautiful woman.

Wilson opened the door to the loft and House led her to his room and said "Just put your bag in there and I'll start the movie while you do that."

"So," Wilson said once they were alone in the kitchen "how was dinner?"

"Let me ask you something about that place, why are their portions so huge?"

"I don't know, but I thought you would like that. Did you bring the leftovers with you?"

"No, we took my bike. Wait a minute is that why you recommended that place so you could have the leftovers?"

"What? No, of course not."

"Right" House said not believing a word he said.

"Hey, what about that movie?" Annette asked as she entered the living room.

"Right" House said again and took a seat on the couch waiting for her to take a seat next to him. She immediately placed her hand on his right thigh and massaged it loosening the knots.

"You don't have to do that." He whispered even though he was enjoying the feeling.

"I know." She continued massaging his thigh.

House gently laid his hand on top of hers "Really it's fine" He whispered again. At the same moment Wilson joined them on the couch. They really needed furniture, he should have a talk with Wilson about that.

"So what are we watching?" House asked.

"Let's watch something fun." Wilson answered.

"Usually you want to watch action. What's wrong?"

"Two of my patients died today, one of them was a six-year-old boy."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Annette said immediately.

"Comes with the job, but it's always hard, especially when it's a kid." He hated seeing Wilson like that. That was the reason he rarely saw his patients.

House got up and limped without his cane to the kitchen where he dug out his secret bourbon bottle. He also got two glasses and limped back to the couch.

"Looks like you could use a drink." He said and filled a glass for Wilson and Annette.

"None for you?" Wilson questioned.

"We had wine for dinner, so I've reached my limit."

Wilson nodded understanding, Annette on the other hand looked at him confused.

"I'm on anti-depressions, so I can only have about two glasses."

Oh, well I don't have to drink this."

"No… it's okay I don't mind."

They never got to watch the movie, instead Wilson had talked about his patients. It was nearly 2 am before they finally were lying in bed.

"I'm sorry that Wilson ruined our night together." House whispered.

She lifted her head off his chest "It's okay. Your friend needed you tonight." He nodded and let her snuggle into his warmth again. "I did have a good time on the bike today."

"Yeah that was fun, but it's getting cold outside so there probably won't be that many days left for us to ride in this year." He pulled her closer, letting her slip her hand under his shirt. He noticed that she did that a lot, but he decided that he didn't mind at all.

It didn't take long for them to fall asleep.