My dear and loyal readers: I am so sorry for making you wait for the next chapter. And also for not responding to your wonderful reviews. I can only apologize and blame both the holidays and an extremely emotional and stressful past week. I promise to catch up on all reviews this week and be more prompt with my updates.

Chapter 6

The next morning, when House woke up, the bed beside him was empty. He knew that Julia rose early, besides he could smell the coffee brewing, so he knew she was nearby. He lay there for a little longer, then rose slowly and grabbed the jeans that were on the floor beside him. He pulled them on quickly, then limped out of the bedroom and found Julia standing near the little kitchen area staring at the mugs on the counter.

"Morning." He said. She looked up and saw him, then looked away.

"Hi, um, the coffee is just about ready."

"Good." He hesitated, realizing that she felt awkward about the previous night. It was really up to him to make the next move. And what he did would set the tone for how they progressed.

He walked towards her slowly, and putting his finger under her chin, lifted her face. "How are you doing this morning?"

"I'm okay. I'm sorry if I was…"

He shook his head. "You were fine. I'm glad I was here."

"I am too."

He leaned down and kissed her softly. When he pulled back, he saw the amazement on her face. Her lips were parted and her eyes were wide.

In for a penny, in for a pound, he thought. He leaned down and kissed her again, this time deepening it and putting his arms around her back.

Julia closed her eyes. She didn't plan on kissing Greg, but now that it was happening, she decided to enjoy it. No, not just enjoy it, revel in it. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned her body into his.

Finally, they ended the kiss, but when she would pull away, House kept his arms around her.

"Greg, I…"

"Shhh." He told her. "Don't analyze this. Did you like it?"

She nodded.

"Then that's all you need." He leaned down again and kissed her again.

She reluctantly pulled away from him. "I have to go…I have things…I, uh…"

He smiled. "Go. Do what you have to do. I'll see you later."

House was sure that he had her. He knew her secret and it would be easy to get her to sleep with him. And he was proud of himself, because he had been supportive the night before. And he really liked her. She was nice and caring, besides being really attractive. He went back to bed to sleep a little, confident in his ability to win the game.

That had been her first cup of coffee. She always had one when she first got up, then went off to help some people. When she returned, she had her second cup with House while she contemplated the ocean.

By the time she was back, House was sitting there with his coffee. She grabbed hers and sat beside him. They watched the ocean in silence for awhile, the way she liked. When he saw that she was ready to get up, he rose too and took her hand.

"Maybe we could spend some time together tonight."

She looked at him. "Greg, the kiss was nice, but I'm still not considering sleeping with you."

"Why not? You told me your secret, you can get past it now. Move on and all that."

She tilted her head. "Do you think that was it? My daughter's death?"

"Isn't it?"

"No, Greg. There's a lot more to me and what happened to me than just that."

"But…"

She smiled and kissed him lightly. "Let's take our time here. There is a lot to think about."

She got on her bike and rode away, leaving him more confused than ever.

Julia was also confused by the kiss, but not about her decision to take it slow. She hadn't expected him to kiss her like that – sweet and romantic. And she certainly hadn't expected it to move her that much. It had been a long time since she'd kissed anyone. Of course, a first kiss with someone was always exciting and it had been a REALLY long time since she'd shared a first kiss.

She knew he wanted to have sex with her, though she wondered why. She didn't think of herself as particularly appealing to the opposite sex. She certainly didn't do anything to make herself attractive. But he was a man after all. And she was close by. Still, he'd been kind the night before when he probably could have taken advantage of her vulnerability. And the kiss today had been nice, but he hadn't pressed it.

She knew that he thought he had her figured out after she'd told him about Megan. She swallowed the lump in her throat that always formed when the image of her beautiful daughter came to mind.

He had no idea how much she was keeping inside of her. She wondered if he'd still want to sleep with her if he knew. Probably, but either way, she wasn't ready to share it all. And taking it slow with him seemed the wisest thing to do.

He had noticed that she seemed to take care of everyone on the island. There were elderly people that she helped with daily tasks. There were young mothers that she helped with their children. There were so many others that she seemed to be the one they turned to. Of course, there was Tom, making sure he had time to go fishing and didn't work too hard.

He'd thought that once he began working at the bar, she would take some time for herself, but all it did was give her more time to help other people.

He was usually disgusted by so much self-sacrifice, but with Julia, he couldn't be. She was so honest and natural that he couldn't help but respond to her. Especially, since he was one of the people she was taking care of.

She made sure his cabin, including his bathroom, was cleaned. She washed his clothes and cooked for him, not to mention the coffee every morning.

After that night, she didn't cry again, nor did she speak of her daughter or her past. She went on with her daily tasks as she always had.

She also didn't invite him back to her bed. But he wasn't giving up that easily.

She hadn't resisted his kiss, so he pushed on with that. That evening when he returned from the bar, he saw her sitting on the beach. He sat beside her and they were silent for a while.

That was one of the nicest things about Julia. She didn't need to be talking all the time. They sat like that for some time, then he reached his arm out and put it around her, placing his hand on her shoulder. Then he pulled her closer to him.

Jesus, he was acting like a teenager trying to cop a feel.

But she didn't resist, so he kept his hand there. Eventually, she dropped her head onto his shoulder. He let it stay there for a while, before bending his head down and kissing her lightly on the lips. Again, she didn't resist, so he increased the pressure of his lips. She put her arm around him and they kissed more.

But just as he thought he was going to hit pay dirt, she broke away and stood up.

"I need to go to bed. Time to say good night, Greg."

He realized that she worded it that way to let him know that they would not be sleeping together. Still, he thought he'd give it one more try.

He held out his hand. "Can you help me up?"

"Sure." She took his hand and pulled. When he was on his feet, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her again. Once more, she didn't resist, but then she broke away.

"I'll see you in the morning. Good night." Then she walked back to her cabin.