I'll be out of town for a few days, but I hope to post another chapter when I return next weekend. Meanwhile, here's the next one.

Chapter 46.

We spent Sunday morning in bed, and the afternoon the way we'd spent Saturday afternoon, in front of the TV. But as the hours ticked by, I began to wonder how the change in my relationship with Jess was going to affect things at the hospital.

Jess must have noticed my disquiet because she asked, "What's wrong?"

I could have have deflected, I'd perfected the art over the years, but I thought it might be worrying her as well. "We should decide what we're going to say tomorrow."

"You mean to your team." She nodded. "I've been thinking about that too." She shrugged. "Maybe we shouldn't say anything."

"I know that I can hide things from them. I've done it many times before, although Chase and Thirteen have become harder to fool of late, but do you think you're that good an actress?"

"If I'm motivated," she said. "It's really none of their business." She paused to think. "I'll be busy tomorrow setting up files for each of the patients and the control group, so we won't be spending that much time together."

"That might not be enough."

She slipped her arms around my waist and looked up at me with a grin. "We will pull it off."

"You do know that they suspect something already. Maybe we need to try some slight of hand, or throw them a red herring, to distract them."

"What would you suggest? How can we get them off the scent?"

"For one, we could pretend to hate each other, or at least, to have had a disagreement of some kind."

"So, in addition to the fact that we'll both be too busy, we should give each other the cold shoulder when we're in the same room, we shouldn't speak, or better yet, act antagonistically towards each other? That might work," she said, nodding.

"Or one of us could pretend to be interested in someone else." That was also an option, although I wasn't crazy about it.

"Now, who else would I be interested in? Chase? He's clearly taken by Ellie."

"How about Thirteen?" I asked.

"You're kidding, right? I mean, I know you said she swings both ways, but I don't!" She was so adamant about it, I dropped that idea.

"OK, How about Foreman?" That brought an immediate frown. "Wilson?"

That one she considered. "I don't know. Am I his type?"

"Well, you're not as needy as they are, but you're pretty and sexy. Smart too."

She grinned. "Why, thank you, Dr. House!"

I realized, maybe too late, that I'd just complimented her. But she deserved it, so I didn't try to take it back. "So you'll consider coming on to Wilson?"

"Only if you can guarantee it won't backfire."

She had a point, but I shrugged. "Whatever happens, Wilson can handle it."

That settled, we went back to watching the baseball game. The Yankees were losing to the Red Sox, making me smile, but I saw that Jess was frowning. "It's all right," I told her, putting an arm around her shoulders. "There's still time for them to pull out the win."

She looked me in the eyes and said, "But you'd prefer it if they didn't." She had that right. "I know, it's only a baseball game," she said.

I studied her face, wondering why it was so important to her, certainly more important than a Yankee loss would be to me, since I didn't have a bet on the game. But that didn't mean I was going to start rooting for the Yankees. Still, I shrugged and said, "Doesn't matter to me." It was as far as I was willing to go.

Jess seemed to relax. "Good, because if we're going to fight, I'd hoped it would be over something more substantial."

"Then again, I hear make-up sex can be awesome."

She laughed, either at what I said or my wiggling eyebrows. Then she shook her head, kissed my cheek. "Dr. House, I don't think you'll ever stop surprising me."

She surprised me too, all the time, especially by her reactions to the things I said or did. As an example, she picked that moment to snuggle against me and close her eyes, forgetting the ballgame. I wasn't sure what to make of that, so I held her and enjoyed the closeness. I think we both fell asleep before long. All I know is that when I woke up, she was still nestled in my arms, the game was over, and I was starving.

"Jess?" I whispered against her ear. "Jess, do you think you can get up now? My arm's going numb and my stomach is making growling sounds."

"Hmmm," she mumbled as her eyes opened. "What time is it?"

"Probably close to seven thirty. I can't read the watch on the arm that you've got trapped, but it's getting dark outside."

"Oh! I'm sorry!" She quickly shifted, freeing my arm, but not letting go completely.

I checked the time. "Seven forty-five. Let's order in." I was in no mood to get dressed to go out.

"Um-hmmm," she said, nuzzling my chest.

"I'm going to have to get up to place the order," I whispered directly into her ear.

"Gimme another minute." She nestled deeper.

I smoothed her hair and kissed the top of her head. It was kinda nice to cuddle with Jess, made me feel warm in places that had been frozen for years.

Jess finally lifted her head, a thoughtful look on her face. "Pizza or did you want something more substantial?"

"Do you like Mexican? Because I know this place that does dynamite fish tacos. And they deliver."

"I've never had those before," she admitted. "I'm willing to try them. You wouldn't steer me wrong, would you?"

"You'll love 'em." I extricated myself and stood with the help of my cane, walked to the kitchen and picked up the phone. Garcia's was on my speed dial. I added a six-pack of Tecate to the tacos, and some nachos in case we needed more food after we finished with the fish.

The food arrived in about thirty-five minutes. The aroma emanating from the bag was enough to make me salivate, but Jess didn't look as enthused. I took out the tacos and handed one to her. "Just give it a try."

She made a face, but unwrapped it and took a bite. Although she didn't spit it out, I could see she didn't really like it. I knew there'd be things that I liked that she didn't, but I'd never expected this would be one. I probably should have gotten her an enchilada or something.

"How about some nachos, then?" I asked, digging through the bag for them.

"Sure, why not?" She took the chips and cheese sauce, salsa, and olives. Now those she seemed to enjoy. In fact, she ate all of them up, not leaving any for me. Then again, I had all the tacos, so I guess it worked out.

Now that we had some food in us, I decided there were a few more things we had to settle about living together. "Jess, there's something we have to talk about."

"Oh-kay," she said, carefully putting all of the trash in the bag the food had come in. "What did you have in mind?"

"Nothing to be alarmed about," I hastened to tell her, seeing how worried she looked. "What are we going to do about the address you list on your employment forms?"

Jess shrugged. "I thought I'd just use my old address in Dorsey."

He smiled. "You know, that might fly!" She even had a brain.