A/N: If I didn't reply to your review of Chapter 16, it's because FF won't let me! Sorry! I appreciate all my reviewers and normally always reply, but this time a mass thank you will have to suffice :D

Into Temptation, Epilogue

He glances at his watch. Tosses his tennis ball in the air. Taps his fingers against his desk. Cranes his neck to try and see further down the hall. He's sent her five texts in the last hour, each one answered with only one word. Working. Soon. Nearly. Almost. Stop! Another half an hour and he's going down there to drag her bodily from behind her desk.

His team had left hours ago – they had been without a case for the better part of a week, and all of them are taking advantage of that fact with increasingly earlier quitting times. He doesn't care. There was a time that he might have forced them to chart in order to keep them out of his hair and piss them off. But not this time. He has bigger plans for his paperwork. He expects he'll find out if it worked very soon.

She finally arrives twenty minutes later, looking tired but happy. And gorgeous. He marvels once again at whatever twist of fate had brought her into his life and given her the both the patience and skill to handle life with him.

"I'm on to you," she says with a grin, as she walks though his office door.

He returns her smile and pushes his chair back from his desk. "Not yet you're not," he says patting his lap. "But I'm open to the idea."

"I said on to you, not on you," she clarifies. "As in, on to your scam. I've been ordered to report here first thing Monday morning. Let's see if I've got this straight. You stop doing paperwork, so Cuddy sends me up to do it for you. Kills two birds with one stone, right? You get the pleasure of my company and you don't have to do paperwork. Win-win. Am I right?"

"Close. You forgot the third bird. You get to spend time around real doctors, which will inevitably lead to you wanting vacate the intellectual wasteland known as the ER and start practicing actual medicine again."

"And of course the only place I can do that is here with you?"

He shrugs. "Would that be so bad?"

"Well, I could come back…"

He grins. It was the first time he'd mentioned her returning to Diagnostics since they'd been together and he hadn't been expecting it to be this easy to convince her.

"But think of all the people we'd kill."

His grin disappears. "Huh? You lost me."

"Well, if I was working here…" She walks closer to him. "…we'd never get any work done." Still closer. "Because, I'd be wanting to…" She carefully lowers herself onto his lap. "…do this…" She brushes her lips against his. "…all day."

He wraps his arms around her and draws her into a longer more passionate kiss

"You do have a point," he allows a few minutes later. "But, to hell with the patients. Do you think Cuddy would pay us to fool around all day?"

"I highly doubt it," she says, dropping another quick kiss on his lips before standing up. "In fact, given the way she looks at you, she'd probably fire me."

"She won't fire you," he says in a tone that brooks no argument. He'll deal with Cuddy when and if the issue arises. He hopes she's still enough of a professional to keep her opinions to herself because he's already decided that this relationship needs to come out of the shadows as soon as possible.

"Guess who I saw today," she says, changing the subject, as she waits for him to collect his belongings. He rises and grabs his cane, jacket and backpack.

"Mick Jagger?" he asks hopefully.

Laughing she says, "Try again."

"How 'bout you just tell me."

"Caroline Landry – the little girl from the ER with the big chunk of glass in her knee and the snotty older sister."

He remembers, but shrugs anyway.

"Oh come on, you have to remember. You played video games with her? The same day you sent me flowers?"

"I remember you threw the flowers back in my face and stalked out of my office."

She gives him a hurt look and he immediately regrets his unthinking words. "House, I…"

"Did the right thing," he mutters, feeling like an idiot. "Sorry, I don't know why I say some of the things I say sometimes. I'm working on it."

"I know," she replies. And he believes she really does. She smiles and grabs his free hand. "Come on, let's go. How about we pick up a pizza on the way home."

"Tell me the truth. When did pursuing me stop being a game to you?" she asks as they enter the elevator. She's been debating asking the question for some time. He's never even confessed that it was, in fact, a game at first. But still she knows it was and she's curious enough to risk an argument by asking.

"When did it stop being a game or when did I realize it had stopped being a game?" he counters and she's relieved that he's not just going to deny the whole thing.

"Ah, both? I guess?"

"Question one – April 19, 2004." Her heart skips a beat when she realizes that's the day he interviewed her for her fellowship. The first day they met. "Question two – after I tasted your chocolate chip cookies."

"That's not all you tasted that day," she reminds him.

"Yeah, that also may have had something to do with it." He throws an arm around her, pressing a quick kiss to the top of her head and, after she turns her head to look at him, another, softer one, on her lips.

The elevator doors open to reveal Cuddy walking past, obviously about to leave for the day as well. House is a little slow in removing his arm and she squirms in needless guilt.

"House. Cameron," the other woman says, eyeing them with what looks like suspicion, but not saying anything else as the three of them proceed to the doors.

"Cuddy," he nods and she's immensely relieved that he keeps it at that.

"Good night Dr. Cuddy," she adds as they head in different directions once outside the hospital.

"I think she's getting suspicious," she whispers nervously once the other woman is out of earshot.

"Who?" he asks, looking down at her.

"Cuddy, obviously." They reach his car and she moves to walk over to the passenger side door. He grabs her arm to stop her.

"She doesn't know anything for sure yet though. Right?" he asks in a conspiratorial tone.

"Ah, no. I don't think so." She spies the mischievous look on his face just has he pulls her to him. He leans down and kisses her deeply. She tries to resist, but before too long, she forgets where they even are. She's wrapped in the arms of the man she loves and nothing else matters.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

She jumps at the noise and tries to pull away, but he holds her tightly in place for a few seconds before finally releasing her. She looks from his honking, flashing car to the remote control in his hand to the shocked look on the face of her boss standing beside her own car, fifty or so feet away.

"I think she knows now," he says. A car door slams and an engine starts.

She can only shake her head, knowing she should be annoyed, but mostly she's just relieved the cat's out of the bag. She knows he'll handle any repercussions that may come up next week. And whatever happens, it will be worth it.

"See I told you you'd never be able to resist me," he says, slinging an arm over her shoulder.

She elbows him in the stomach and proceeds to her side of the car. He's right, of course. She never could.

The End.

A/N: Thanks everyone. I had a great time writing this story.

Til next time...

~everytimeyougo