Twice as Hot (Tales of an Extraordinary Girl #2)(51)
Author: Gena Showalter

"No," I conceded softly, "I don’t." And now, because of her, would I have the chance? Yeah, my heart ached with each picture drawn by Lexis’s words. But…"Believe me, I know what it’s like to grow up with only one parent. But, Lexis, Sunny is lucky. She has two parents who love her. Two parents who will always be there for her. And you know, deep down, that you and Rome are not meant to be. You once told me that yourself."

Sherridan tapped her chin as she studied the board, as if she were deep in thought about her countermove.

Another thought slammed into me. If the world righted itself, meaning Rome’s memory returned and we ended up married, would I want to have a child? I mean, I didn’t know if the little tyke would inherit my powers, since they weren’t actually part of my genetic makeup – or were they now? We also had to consider Rome’s powers. If we had a four-elements-wielding, jaguar-shape-shifting kid…wow. Just wow. Sunny placed herself in danger every time she walked through walls. How much more danger would my kid be in? My stomach twisted, shooting a sharp pain through my chest.

I wanted so badly to talk to Rome about this, get his opinion, but he might freak at the thought of me with a child. In his mind, we were practically strangers. Strangers who had made out against my bathroom door, but strangers nonetheless.

I wanted to interrogate Lexis, too, but wasn’t sure she’d tell the truth. She’d told me I would end up marrying someone else, after all, and I knew that wasn’t going to happen. Ever.

"Anyway," I said, "Rome’s a good father. He runs to your side anytime you call. He phones Sunny every night, goes to see her every day. You don’t do everything on your own. He and I have brought medicine and stayed with her, too. At your house, no less. If that girl even sniffles, Rome and I are at her side as fast as we can get there."

She had no reply to that, so Sherridan and I continued our "game" in silence, our pieces practically making out with each other. My mind continued to swirl, though. If Rome ever got his memories back, he and I would need to have a long talk about this baby thing. Did he want to have one with me? Maybe even more than one?

Those were the kinds of questions couples needed to discuss before they walked down the aisle. I’m not sure why we hadn’t. Or maybe I did know. We were crazy in lust with each other, and sex seemed to be the only thing we concentrated on when we were together.

Was that a good thing? Don’t get me wrong, that kind of passion was a must for any romantic relationship. But what kind of things did we have in common, aside from our powers and PSI? He liked action-adventure movies (when he wasn’t critiquing them and telling me "that could never happen"). I liked romantic comedies. Well, he pretended not to like those, but it was really only his tears during those black moments that he hated. He listened to crappy classical music – I know, it had surprised me, too – and I listened to rock.

Depression settled heavily on my shoulders. What if Rome’s memory returned, but we realized we were never meant to be together? Not like I’d done any planning of said wedding lately, anyway. I didn’t have a dress, hadn’t ordered invitations yet, hadn’t reserved a church.

Was all of this an omen?

Had Lexis been right, after all? In the end, would Rome walk away from me? Would I marry someone else? I wondered, no longer quite so confident that it couldn’t happen.

I swallowed bile. Felt tears burn my eyes. Stop it! If you cry, you’ll ruin Rome’s equipment – not to mention the outfit he bought you.

"Speaking of Rome, where is he?" Lexis asked on a sigh, distracting me. "I’m worried about him." I was beginning to worry, myself. By now, Rome had been gone three hours. "A few" equaled no more than two in my book. I wiped my eyes with the back of my wrist, saying, "Still have that brooding feeling?"

"Yes, but it’s not about him."

Was she trying to convince me? Or herself? Could he be – No. No, I couldn’t think like that.

But the tears returned, faster, hotter, my mind so used to painting the blackest picture. I forced them to slow, then stop, turning my mind to happy thoughts. I had a party to attend. What kind of party, I still didn’t know. What I’d do there, I didn’t know either. What I did know was that my current state of mind would not help the case in any way. And the party would be for the case. Otherwise, Rome would not take me to it.

At the door, there was a slide, a click and a whoosh. Rome strode inside the room. All three of us sat at instant attention, our focus riveted on him. He had soot on his cheeks and his pants were ripped. He was panting and sweating, as if he’d been running.

I jolted to my feet, meaning to race to him, wrap him in my arms, but managed to stop myself in time.

"Everything okay?"

His gaze raked over me, pupils thinning, elongating. His hands fisted. Imagining them in my newly dark hair, perhaps? Under that intense scrutiny, my ni**les hardened and my legs trembled. My blood heated.

Even though he might very well be turned on because I now looked liked Lexis.

Ouch.

I was back to wanting to kill him.

"Everything’s…lovely. I decided to test Big Rocky’s security and see how many guards would come running if one of their alarms was blown from the inside."

I didn’t want to contemplate how he’d gotten an alarm to blow. "And how many was that?" We hadn’t noticed anything on the monitors.

"A lot. But I did manage to get a camera in there." His gaze shifted to Lexis. "Get Sunny on the phone. I want to talk to her just in case we aren’t able to make calls later on." Just in case things got complicated, he meant.

A few minutes later, Lexis was laughing with her little girl and my chest was aching again. After she said her goodbyes, she handed the phone to Rome.

He was already smiling as he sat on the edge of the bed. "How’s my ray of sunshine?" The ache spread, deepened.

They spoke of cartoons and Sunny’s uncle – Rome’s brother – who watched her while her parents were away. They laughed about a booboo Sunny had gotten while riding her bike. They argued about Sunny practicing her ability to mist through inanimate objects. But then Rome frowned. "I know I promised, honey, but now is not a good time. Fine, all right, you win. You always do. She’s right here," he said.

"Hang on." Hesitantly, he handed the phone to me.

I gripped it, hating how stiff my knuckles were, how trembly my chin was, and said, "Hey, baby girl.

How are you?"

"I miss everyone." There was a pout in her sweet five-year-old voice. "I want to see you."

"I’ll come by the moment I’m back in town. Swear."

"When?"