Twice as Hot (22 page)

“Who
cares about dating when we’re on the verge of a mission?” She kicked at the
carpet. “And yeah, I helped you get this house, but I can’t blow-dry your hair
from fifty paces.”

Again
with the blow-drying? “You’re wonderful the way you are. In fact,
I
want
to be
you.
”

Her
expression hardened, her narrowed gaze lifting. “No, you don’t, you liar. You
can’t. You’re special.”

“So
are you—”

“Rome
really liked the suit,” she interjected, clearly done with that line of
conversation. She tossed her purse on top of mine and collapsed in the
recliner. “I think he was imagining peeling it off you.”

I
sighed, unsure of just how to convince her of her fabulousness. “No, he didn’t
and no, he wasn’t. I casually mentioned changing into it before heading home,
which I didn’t do, I might add, and he couldn’t get away from me fast enough.”

She
kicked up her legs. “Because he had a hard-on he didn’t want you to see.”

A
girl could hope. We’d left Rome at headquarters, and he hadn’t cared enough to
say goodbye. Hadn’t tried to follow me, protect me. Monitor me. He was probably
with Lexis again. Okay, no probably about it. He was. In a few hours, they were
meeting us at a private airstrip, and then we were all flying to Colorado,
where Big Rocky headquarters was located.

They
were probably making arrangements for their daughter. Sweet little Sunny. My
chest constricted as her image filled my head. Petite, dark-haired, with the
face of a heartbreaker. When I returned, I was going to visit her. Her dad and
I may not be getting along, but I loved that little girl.

Hold
me, Belly,
she was fond of saying, and I would laugh and scoop her up.

She
was five years old and as mischievous as the devil. You couldn’t turn your back
on her without severe consequences, but she loved as fiercely as her daddy.

“Speaking
of hard-ons, I bet Cody’s screwing the brains out of Little Miss Pruneface and
that’s why he’s so determined to go undercover,” Sherridan said sulkily,
pulling me from my thoughts. “
Really
undercover.”

The
man
was
fond of seducing for information. Poor Sherridan. I could tell
she was intrigued by and attracted to Cody. I’d known he would hurt her,
though. He’d expressed interest in her one day but might have given himself to
the enemy the next. Typical.

If
he’d really wanted Sherridan, he wouldn’t have cared about my warning to stay
away. He would have fought for her. Women deserved to be fought over, after
all. We were a prize to be earned and treasured. At least, we should be, I
thought darkly. I couldn’t imagine Rome fighting for me in his current
condition.

Hopefully,
Cody would return in one piece and I could freeze his ass to the wall for
intriguing my friend. Rome could fry beside him. Fire and ice. A nice contrast.

“Since
I am
not
a liar, I will just say that yeah, you’re probably right.”

“Bastard.
Think he’ll be okay?” Sherridan asked despite her obvious irritation with him.

“He’ll
be fine.” I hoped. Cody had power over electricity and could disappear inside a
light socket—talk about freaky—but what if Desert Gal drained him of water the
way Elaine had drained Tanner of energy before he could get away?

Before
leaving PSI, I had tried to talk John into allowing Elaine to go with us to
Colorado, but he had firmly refused. Taking a maybe-kinda-sorta enemy into a
known enemy camp was not an intelligent strategy, he’d said. Men. Such idiots
sometimes.

“All
right. Enough of that. We’ve got two hours,” I said, forcing myself to push
from the wall. My knees almost buckled. “Be ready.”

“Yes,
ma’am.” She saluted me and popped to her feet, then we went our separate ways
in the hall.

There
were five bedrooms in the house, and Rome and I had the master suite. I
lumbered inside, my legs still strangely heavy, and shut myself in. The trek
from PSI to the house had left me sweaty, so I hurried through a shower,
mentally cataloging everything else I needed to do: dress in something less
ridiculous than my previous few outfits had been, pack and weapon up. I should
probably grab some food, too. I hadn’t eaten since yesterday, I realized, and I
hadn’t gotten any sleep last night.
Aaah,
no wonder I was shaky. Elaine
had nothing to do with it.

When
I finished, I wrapped myself in a towel, padded into the bedroom and—

Stopped
dead.

Rome
sat at the edge of my bed, dark, dangerous and glaring.

I
clutched the terry-cloth towel
so tightly my knuckles creaked. My hair was dripping
down my back. My skin was damp, flushed from the steam and, now that I’d seen
Rome, tingling. Any other time, I would have dropped the cloth and beckoned
this man over. Any other time, we would have laughed and loved, and I would
have marveled at the bliss that was my life.

Fine,
I would have taken it for granted. Now, however, I knew better. Knew how
quickly something prized could be stolen.

“What
are you doing here?” I asked, the question emerging shakily. “Did something
happen?” Nothing but bad news could have parted him from his precious Lexis,
the hateful side of me thought. Just call me Bitch McBitcherson, the paranormal
name I currently deserved.

“No,
nothing happened.” Rome pushed to his feet, unfolding his big, strong body from
its semicrouch. I was used to his height, loved it even, but just then he
appeared intimidating. Menacing. A scowl darkened his features, and I could
hear the rumble in his throat.

His
cat wanted free. To fight or to play? Sadly, I couldn’t tell anymore. But I
still reacted.

Suddenly
trembling, I backed up a step. My heart skidded out of control, beating so hard
it was like a hammer in my chest.
He’s not affecting you. You’re just
hungry, remember? Hungry for food,
I hastily added.

“Rome,
you have to tell me what you’re doing here.”

Remaining
silent, he stalked to me. There was lethal power in every step, and for a
moment I could have sworn I was transported to a jungle, the swish of trees and
the howls of the monkeys in my ears.

This
time I backed up until I hit the wall.

Only
when he was a whisper away did he stop, his body threatening to press into
mine. His wild scent filled my nose, a decadent reminder of what I didn’t
have…what I might never have again. Oh, I loathed those kinds of depressing
thoughts. Where was my determination? Still, I tried to hold my breath. When
that didn’t work, I tried to move around him. But he had me completely pinned,
surrounded by his strength and heat.

“Belle,”
he said softly.

I
had to strain my neck to look up…up…at him—and found those crystalline irises
swirling with fury.

He
was mad at
me?
“How’d you get in here, Mr. Break In?” I demanded, pointing out his sin before
he could point out mine, whatever it was. “This is private property and you no
longer belong.”

“Hardly.
This is the address on my driver’s license, so I knew I’d have a key. I used
the only one I didn’t recognize, and what do you know, the door opened.”

“Well,
you can just give the key back. You don’t live here anymore.”

He
arched a brow, his fury fading to…amusement? Still he didn’t back away from me.
“Says who?”

“Says
me.” My head tilted to the side. “Says Lexis, I’m sure.”

The
fury returned, stronger than before, nearly sparking. “I’ll come over any time
I damn well please.”

“Why?”
I asked—again—then cursed under my breath as the answer popped into my head. He
was here to monitor me, as he’d told John he would. I would have been happy
about that if I didn’t so easily recall the way he’d sworn never to kiss me
again. “Never mind. I’m buying a vicious dog. He’ll chew you up and spit out
your bones.”

“I’m
sure he’ll
try.
”

Infuriating,
conceited man. Did he know what a turn-on that was? Probably. I tried another
approach. “As you can see, I’m fine. I’m not causing any trouble or using any
of the elements irresponsibly. You can go.”

The
rumbling started up again. “I’m not going anywhere. There was a box on your
porch when I arrived. I took the liberty of opening it,” he added, not even
pretending to be ashamed.

Another
present? And he had dared to open what was clearly meant for me? “You had no
right!”

Rather
than defend his actions, he continued throwing words at me as if they were
weapons. “It was from your secret admirer.”

Deep
breath in, deep breath out.
Calm is your friend.
“Well, what was it?”

“Lingerie.
With the words
Wonder Girl
sewn onto the ass of the panties.”

Totally
not what I’d expected him to say, and my lips curled into a slow grin.

His
eyes rounded like saucers. “You think this is funny?”

“Well,
yeah.” I probably should have been offended. I mean, really. Lingerie most
likely given to me by a man I’d never even met. A man who’d stolen my fiancé’s
memories, no less. But part of me realized that if it
was
M-Squared
doing the sending, he was finally tapping into Rome’s psyche and
learning
about me. What I liked, what I didn’t. That was just the sort of gift I would
have swooned over had Rome given it to me.

“Where’s
the box?” I asked.

His
mouth straightened into a mulish line as he braced his hands beside my temples.
“Don’t worry about that. I’m taking care of it.”

If
I inhaled deeply, my nipples would brush his chest. “I’m not worried, I just
want to see them.”

“Too
bad. Now listen. I stopped by the lab on my way here. There were no prints on
those chocolates, but they were a very expensive brand, so we’ve got agents
hacking into the distributor’s database to see who made the order and from
where.”

Mmm,
chocolate. Was that my stomach rumbling? “Sounds like a plan.” I flattened my
palms on him to push him away, but his heart beat faster and harder than I had
imagined, and I could only stand there in wonder, savoring the feeling. And
though his shirt kept me from actual skin-to-skin contact, the heat of him
enthralled me. “Now back off?” It was a question when it should have been a
demand.

Rome
didn’t. Rather, he pressed closer. So close my hardened nipples finally,
blessedly brushed his chest. I gasped; he hissed in a breath.

“Memory
Man,” he said, voice strained, “has probably been in this house. With my
memories, he’d know the best ways inside.”

“So
we’re one hundred percent sure it’s him? And really, you fortified the place
with all kinds of security.”

“Not
one hundred percent, no, but we’re pretty damn confident. And he’d know exactly
what security measures I used and how to bypass them.”

“Oh.”
How easy it would be to slide my hands up and around Rome’s neck. How easy to
draw his head down for a kiss…“Well, he hasn’t hurt me.
If
it’s him.”
Was that breathless temptress
me?

“Not
yet. But let’s say that he wants you to fall in love with him the way you fell
in love with me. I mean, we know he liked my memories of you. And if we’re
right, he’s trying to romance you, win your heart. When you fail to react the
way he wants, he could become angry.”

“First,
for all we know, whoever it is leaving me these gifts just wants to sex me up.”
I spread my fingers, felt his nipple harden underneath my palm. “Second, who
says I can’t fall in love with Memory Man?”

Rome
stiffened. He gripped my arms and shook me, forcing my attention to his face.
“Don’t kid.”

I
snapped out of the sensual fog, and my hands fell to my sides. “Who’s kidding?
He’s now in possession of your memories of me, which means he’s the closest
thing I’ve got to the real
you.
”

“He’s
dangerous, Belle.”

“So
are you, and we made things work. For a while.”

His
grip tightened and he leaned down, placing us nose to nose, his choppy breath
trekking over my lips. “You like taunting me, don’t you? Well, guess what? It
works. I can’t fucking get you out of my mind.” He released me long enough to
slam a fist into the plaster just beside my temple. “That kiss was a goddamn
mistake. It was supposed to purge you from my thoughts, make me stop wondering
what you taste like.”

He’d
wanted to forget me entirely? To never think of me again? Suddenly I felt as if
I’d been strapped down and cut open, salt poured into the wound. “I think I
hate you right now,” I said honestly.

He
pulled back, studied my face before shaking his head. “You don’t hate me.” His
gaze dropped to my mouth, lingered. “You want me.”

He
could have been saying
get naked,
as huskily as he’d uttered the words,
but that kind of assurance about my capitulation irritated me. A man that
confident would feel comfortable doing something destructive to a
relationship—like going home to his ex-wife—and think an apology was all that
was needed to patch things up.