A/N: Is anyone even reading this? LOL. I hope so. If you are, gimme a shout. I'm just gonna keep posting.

Chapter Three

The bubble bath felt heavenly. The lavender scent both calmed and warmed her whole body as she submerged herself up to her chin in the big tub. Althea closed her eyes and thought about the day's events. Things couldn't have gone any better, save for the hypothermia. She was just grateful that Emmett came home when he did or things would have gone much differently.

She didn't know why, but she felt very safe and at ease with him. Much more than she ever felt with House. With House, there was an intensity that Emmett never possessed. Emmett was the complete opposite, although he did have his moments where he could be very intense.

She smiled when she thought back to the New Year's Eve party in 1666 where he was given a glass of whiskey and passed out at the stroke of midnight. It took more than a couple of buckets of cold water to revive him and he spent the rest of the day in his quarters with a bad headache. He had only been at court for a month and that party was what made her take notice of him. He was old to be sure, but he was very lively and animated. His antics amused her. Most men his age, in her time, had one foot in the grave already. But not Emmett. He had the energy and drive of a man half his age. He was also very smart and knowledgeable about many topics she was interested in and they formed a friendship.

Soon, the bathwater became cool, so she begrudgingly got out and dried off, slipping on the large robe. It smelled of Emmett and she took in the scent before grabbing a long button up shirt he provided and putting it on and climbing into the large bed.

The house was very quiet. It was certainly different from New Jersey. There was no traffic or city noise and it was hard to fall asleep. After an hour with no luck, she got up and quietly padded downstairs.

Emmett heard her leave her room and wondered what she was up to. It was still somewhat early, only a little past ten so he figured she was unable to sleep. Part of him considered going downstairs too, but he thought better of it.

He figured she was exploring on her own, and he was fine with that. It wasn't like he had anything to hide. Anything private he kept locked up tight in the basement of the guest house.

But God how he ached for her. He glanced down at the very obvious tent under the covers and chuckled. "You still got it, old man," he muttered to himself. His mind started wandering back to the time he spent in 1666 and the time he caught her in his workshop looking at one of his Playboys in wonder because he forgot to lock the door. She was so damn innocent and naive that it was impossible to be angry with her. Instead, he considered grabbing her and kissing all the scientific terminology out of her. That certainly would have taken a lot of kissing, he chuckled.

He wished his mind hadn't gone there, however. His boxers had become increasingly tight as he thought of that night after her birthday party where he'd kissed her. And then the next day, when they'd kissed again.

"Jesus, get a hold of yourself, man," he groaned as he tried to erase those thoughts from his mind. He knew what he had to do and he shook his head in wonder. Was this how it would be as long as she was staying with him? Maybe having her in the guest house was a better idea. At least if she wasn't under the same roof, he'd be less tempted to act on his impulses. But knowing she was downstairs…in one of his shirts…most likely nothing else underneath…

He rolled over onto his stomach and groaned loudly at the discomfort, pounding his pillow with his fist. "You're going to be the death of me, Althea," he murmured into the pillow. "But what a way to go."

XXX

Morning came way too quickly for Emmett. He cracked one eye open and listened for a moment. Not hearing anything, he figured Althea was still asleep so he got up, put on a sweater and some jeans, and went down to the kitchen. To his surprise, Althea was sitting at the breakfast bar drinking coffee and watching the small TV on the counter. He was just thankful she was wearing more than just his shirt.

"Good morning," he said and was delighted when she greeted him with a dazzling smile.

"Good morning, Emmett."

"Sleep well?" he asked as he went to the coffee maker and poured himself what was left in the pot.

"As comfortable as that bed is, not really, but I usually don't sleep well in a different bed."

Emmett nodded. "I'm the same. That said, I had an idea."

"What's that?"

"I thought you might be more comfortable in the guest house."

She frowned. "I like this house."

Damnit! He thought to himself. "Well, the choice is yours of course, but don't say no until you see it for yourself. You might like to have your own space, as opposed to sharing a house with an old man."

Althea frowned again. "Why do you say things like that about yourself, Emmett? Yes, you're older than me, but you're not old where it matters. You're not senile and decrepit by any stretch of the imagination. How did you get me here? To this house? You had to have carried me, right?"

He nodded, thinking about how he'd like to carry her up to his bedroom right now.

"I don't know many old men who could do that. I'm not exactly a teenage girl anymore."

"I can see that," he said, giving her an appraising smile which made her blush. "Be that as it may, some might think there was something else going on here."

She shrugged and gave him a look. "So? I don't give a damn what people think. And neither should you."

"Me? I stopped caring what people thought of me years ago. But I do care what they might think about you."

"Why? I don't. I don't know those people and they don't know me."

"This is a very small town. People talk."

Althea shrugged again. "Let them talk. What are they going to say? Oh, did you hear about that crackpot scientist? He's got some young jailbait living with him."

Emmett started laughing and he couldn't stop. The very idea of people actually saying that was hysterical. His laughter was quite infectious and it had Althea giggling too. "See? It's ridiculous. Who cares?"

"Where did you hear that word?" Emmett asked her once he finally managed to stop laughing.

"Which?"

"Jailbait."

"Oh, it's often the title of that porn House watched."

Emmett practically spat out the coffee he'd been drinking when she said that. "Excuse me," he said as he grabbed a napkin while she laughed. "I think House was a bad influence on you, Althea."

"I'm absolutely sure of it." She gave Emmett a sexy glance as she put her coffee cup in the dishwasher. Then she walked past him, still smiling demurely. "I'm not Daddy's little Princess anymore, Emmett. I'm over twenty-one and I can do what the fuck I like, when I like. And now, I'm just going to get changed and then we can go get my stuff."

"Alright," he said weakly as he watched her go up the stairs. He then glanced down at the tent in his jeans and sighed. "Down, boy."

XXX

The drive to the B&B was uneventful, and then they stopped to get some groceries on the way back. She claimed to know her way around a store so Emmett left her to it as he perused the magazines. When she was done, she found him looking at an Astronomy magazine as she snuck up behind him. "What, are they out of Playboy?"

"Yes, and I'm not a fan of Penthouse," Emmett said absentmindedly before he froze and quickly slammed the magazine shut as if he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He whirled around to see Althea smiling smugly.

"Come on, Uncle Emmett," she said as he tugged on the sleeve of his coat. "It's chilly in here."

He was going to ask her what the Uncle was about until he noticed a few of the ladies in town staring at him with her. He merely shrugged at them as they went to the cashier and checked out.

"I see what you mean now, Emmett," she said as he drove them back to the house. "Those women looked at you like you were a pariah."

He nodded. "I'll give you the ten cent tour of the guest house."

"Good idea."

"I'll be in the basement most of the time so it's not like you'll be totally alone in there."

She watched him drive and shift gears. "When the snow is gone, will you teach me to drive?"

Emmett glanced over at her. "House never taught you?"

"Nope. He has a motorcycle and I took the bus everywhere. He does have a car, but it was usually in the shop."

"I see, and yes, I'll teach you. When the snow is gone."

Althea smiled and bounced in her seat, content with that. He pulled up to the guest house and she grabbed her things as he unlocked the front door. The place was chilly, as Emmett never kept the heat on, and Althea wrapped her arms around herself. "Why is it so cold in here?"

"The basement is heated because I'm down there most of the time, but I don't see the point in heating the whole place. Don't worry, it doesn't take long to warm the place up. By the time you're ready for bed tonight, it will be plenty warm enough."

Emmett went outside and brought in several bags of groceries while Althea looked at him, impressed.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked as he put the bags on the kitchen counter.

"Old man, my ass. I saw the Bowflex in the other bedroom. Someone's been working out."

He grinned, sheepishly. "Doctor's orders. House said it'll keep my bones strong as I get older."

"I think he just wanted you to look good so you could snap up one of those women in town," she laughed at his look of embarrassment.

"I have no interest in those women," he said, before realizing how that sounded and he glanced over at Althea who was looking at him with adoration. He'd seen that look before and he knew he was a dead man.

"Is that so? What women are you interested in, then?"

"Well," he said as he leaned against the counter. "There is one…but she's probably too young for the likes of me. I can only hope she'd be happy just being good friends."

Althea caught on and nodded, even though she was a little disheartened. "Any woman would be lucky to have you as a good friend, Emmett."

"I think the women in town have a different opinion."

She shrugged as she reached into one of the bags for a beer and cracked it open. "Their loss."

Emmett watched her guzzle the entire thing, crunch it in her hand and toss it over her shoulder into the trash bin, all without taking her eyes off of him.

"Lucky shot."

Althea grinned, took another beer and held it up as she cracked it open. "Double or nothing. I win, you show me your lab."

Emmett arched his eyebrow. "And if I win?"

"I'll cook you dinner tonight."

"You're on."

When she managed to do it a second time, Emmett laughed and shook his head. "You've definitely been with House too long. Why do I have the feeling that I've just been hustled?"

"Me? I'm just a simple girl from simpler times," Althea said with an innocent tone. "But if it makes you feel better, I'll still cook you dinner. I was going to make lasagna and there will be lots of leftovers."

"Sounds like a fair trade. Let's put this stuff away and go back to the house, let this place warm up."

XXX

It started raining when they were about to head back to the guest house and Emmett frowned. "We're going to get soaked."

"What? It's just across the lawn."

"You haven't experienced many Nor'Easters have you?"

"No, I suppose not."

"Well here's the plan. Forget the umbrella," Emmett said as he handed her one of his raincoats and grabbed another one to cover them both. "Put this on, and then we're going to run like hell."

Althea shrugged as she pulled the raincoat over her head.

"Ready?" Emmett asked as he unlocked the door. They could already hear the wind howling outside.

"As I'll ever be."

He opened the door and a blast of wind practically shoved them both against the side of the house.

Emmett laughed as he attempted to hold the jacket over them like an umbrella with one hand and wrapped his other hand around her waist to hold her close to him as they ran across the lawn. The wind and rain were relentless but they eventually made it to the safety of the porch.

He quickly unlocked the door and they ran inside, as he slammed the door shut behind them.

"That was not a storm, that was a typhoon!" Althea laughed as she took off her soaked raincoat only to find her clothes wet underneath. In fact, she was soaked to the skin from the thirty seconds it took to make a run for it.

"I told you it was no joke," Emmett said as he too was soaked. "Good thing I have a change of clothes here."

"Yesterday I had hypothermia. What's it going to be today? Pneumonia?"

"I hope not. Come on, I'll show you to the bedrooms and then we can put our wet clothes in the dryer."

"Good idea."

Emmett showed her the master bedroom which was a decent size and had a large ensuite bathroom. She put away her clothes, changed into a flannel shirt and jeans and tossed her wet clothes in the dryer around the same time Emmett came out of the other bedroom wearing a black T-shirt and dark jeans which made her look at him appraisingly.

"Well my, my, Dr. Brown," she said as she turned the dryer on, gave him one last saucy glance over her shoulder and went downstairs.