Twice as Hot (Tales of an Extraordinary Girl #2)(54)
Author: Gena Showalter

Beer in hand, Rome ushered me to a table in back. The one on our right was empty, but the one on our left was occupied. A young-looking man in a dress shirt and slacks had two naked women cuddled up to him, kissing and caressing.

Rome sat and I eased next to him. When his hand settled on top of my thigh, I shivered. I forced my body to remain relaxed, my expression soft. I wondered, though, if there were gentlewoman’s clubs where the men were the objects. If not, there should be.

The size of the crowd surprised me. "Are there this many people with paranormal abilities in Georgia?"

"Of course. They’re everywhere, in every state. But not all of them are scrims, and not all of their powers are overt."

"You’re new here," a man said, suddenly at Rome’s side though I hadn’t seen anyone approach.

Rome nodded, sipped his beer as if he hadn’t a care.

"Welcome." The man’s gaze traveled to me. He was handsome. Greek-god handsome. Blond, tall, chiseled, with a strong nose and chin. A savage gleam in his bright green eyes. Some kind of symbol was tattooed on his throat. A circle with something inside it. "I saw you come in. Wanna trade?" he asked, snapping his fingers.

A pretty brunette rushed to his side, sidling up and rubbing against him as if she’d been waiting for just such an invitation. She wore a leopard-print bikini and high heels.

Rome took a moment to look the guy’s bimbo over. He seemed to be mulling the possibility over in his mind, the jerk.

I pinched his knee, my skin suddenly hot. Not enough to burn through his pants, but close.

"No," Rome finally said. "Not now. I’ve been looking forward to this one’s mouth for hours. Maybe later, though."

Yeah, later – if I didn’t cut off his arms and use them to club him to death first. Bastard! I knew this was all for show, or rather, thought I did. The truth was, I didn’t really know this new Rome or what he was capable of.

"My name’s Johnny if you change your mind." Johnny’s gaze stroked me, as if he could already picture me naked (not that it took much imagination thanks to my Rome-mandated outfit) and he liked what he saw.

I shuddered.

That seemed to delight him, but he clomped off with his brunette.

Rome touched my thigh again, even leaned over as if he were whispering something erotic into my ear and said, "He’s a space and time manipulator and he’s been on PSI’s capture and neutralize list for a long time. He’s gone back to the past and, we think, placed major bets and made all kinds of money he shouldn’t have. As I’m sure you could tell, his weakness is women. Stay away from him. I’ll come back for him another time."

Suddenly Rome stiffened. He straightened abruptly and cursed under his breath.

"What?" I asked, glancing around. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

"Shit. I’ve got to leave you for a moment."

"What!" I demanded again, chest tightening. You are an agent. Act like one.

"It can’t be helped. Stay here, and you’ll stay out of trouble." He grasped my chin, his fingers warm.

"Do not move from this spot. I’ve marked you as mine and no one will touch you if they know what’s good for them." He gave me a hard kiss. Then he stood and strode off, and I was on my own.

Chapter Seventeen

What the helll?

My narrowed gaze followed Rome across the building, past a throng of people and – I lost sight of him, unable to see from my vantage point. A moment passed before I spotted him again. He was still moving through the – No, wait. He’d stopped in front of a busty blonde, and my jaw dropped at his let’s-get-this-party-started body language.

My fingers curled over the edge of the table. The blonde smiled up at Rome seductively, clearly in agreement; she even traced her fingers down the planes of his stomach. I couldn’t help but notice that he did not pull away from her.

Maybe he’d brought me rather than Lexis tonight because he didn’t want his precious Lexis to see him flirting with other women. Bastard. I wished to God my powers included supersonic hearing.

Once I would have known he would not do anything sexual with this woman. Once. But no longer. I was so angry at that fact, I felt like calling Memory Man back and telling him to keep the stupid memories. Rome didn’t deserve them.

With that thought, I could almost feel M-Squared’s longing for me stretching across the void between us…him craving everything I had to give…demanding more…

Where was he? Had he followed me to Colorado? I found myself glancing around the club as if I might catch sight of him.

A waitress passed me and I called, "Ma’am, I’d like – "

She didn’t even glance in my direction.

She placed the drinks balanced on her tray on another table, the male recipients eagerly lapping them up.

They were joking and laughing and clearly already intoxicated. One even pinched her ass. She tossed him a grin that belied the gleam of irritation in her eyes.

Done with them, she moved toward me again.

"Excuse me. I’ll have a – "

Once more, she couldn’t be bothered to spare me a glance. Perhaps karma was belatedly kicking in, punishing me for having been a less than solicitous coffee wench – er, barista – back in my days at Utopia Cafe. Or maybe the waitresses were instructed to only answer to the men. That made sense. I hated it, but it did seem fitting in this Men Are Superior club. I wondered how many of said men would feel superior to me while writhing in the heat of my fire.

Now, Belle. You are not a violent person. You do not enjoy doing bad things. What would your mother say?

My shoulders sagged. My dad’s voice kept popping into my head at the oddest moments. It wasn’t fair, either. He knew just how to get to me, how to shame me into better behavior. It was one thing to hurt someone in order to save a loved one, but quite another to do so out of spite.

"Hey, hot stuff. We’ve never seen you here before," a male voice said.

Next thing I knew, a twentysomething guy with cute, puppy-dog eyes and a dimpled smile was sidled up to me. He smelled of expensive cologne – and sex.

I crinkled my nose. "I’m taken," I said. Kind of.

"By who? You don’t look taken to me."

The voice was identical to the one that had first spoken, but it came from my other side. I quickly switched my attention – and found myself staring into a face identical to the one I’d just been looking at.

Another quick switch – first guy was still there. Twins, then. I studied them closely. Only difference was, guy number one had three freckles beside his right eye, like a half-moon. Guy two didn’t.

"What?" I asked, having lost the thread of the conversation.

Both men laughed.

"Whose woman are you?" the second asked.