Twice as Hot (Tales of an Extraordinary Girl #2)(118)

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Like I need a nap." My voice was nothing more than a croak.

She chuckled softly. "That's the drugs talking. But guess what? You have filters now, right on schedule.

The doctors didn't even need to give you anesthesia since you were already out." Eyes widening, I reached up and patted my ears. They were a little sensitive, but that was the only indication anything had been done to me. Well, that and the fact that I no longer felt the need to throw myself at Sherridan every time she opened her mouth. As my arm flopped back to my side, my IV tube rubbed my chest, cool and jolting. My chest? I hurriedly looked down to make sure I was dressed. I was. Though someone had removed my clothing and placed me in a gaping hospital gown.

How many times could a girl wake up in a hospital before raising the white flag?

I relaxed against the bed and slowly grinned. "That's a powerful ability you've got there. Seriously, I was contemplating killing Cody so we could be a couple."

She snorted, but she never stopped smiling. "We'd never make it romantically. You're too demanding in bed. 'Harder, Rome. Now, Rome. Tie me up, Rome.'"

"Bitch," I muttered good-naturedly. It was nice to have my friend back. "You know you wouldn't be able to get enough of me."

"I like where this conversation is headed," a male voice said from the doorway.

I looked past Sherridan and spotted Rome in the doorway.

"Hey, baby," he said.

"Cat Man." A more welcome sight I'd never beheld. My heart even picked up speed, my monitor announcing it for all the world to hear.

He stalked to me and unceremoniously shoved me aside on the bed, where he plopped down and cuddled me close. "Mad?"

As if. "I'm grateful. I was walking toward Sherridan with every intention of making out with her, so you did me a favor. She would have fallen in love with me, and then where would we have been?"

"Now I'm mad at myself for stopping you," he grumbled, and we all laughed. Men!

Sherridan's humor died the quickest. She gripped the bed's rails and leaned forward, expression serious. "I want you to know that Cody visited me as often as he could while I was locked up. He brought me food, water, blankets. Anything I asked for, he snuck inside and gave me. And I know what you're thinking. I was mean to him after our rescue. But I was afraid he'd, you know, get bored and dump me. That he'd only done those nice things to keep me calm. He didn't. He wanted more. He's a good man, Belle."

Now my humor faded. "But will he stick around? I don't want to see you hurt. Because if he hurts you, I have to kill him and that will upset Rome."

A nurse entered, saw that I was awake and made a notation in a chart. The room quieted. She approached me, unhooked my IV and informed me I was free to go at any time.

When she left, I remained in bed, meaning to grill Sherridan a bit more. But Cody arrived, and the words vanished from my tongue. He walked straight over to Sherridan and drew her into his embrace. She willingly fell into it.

"What about Desert Gal?" I asked him, jaw clenched. "You two seemed pretty cozy when you were hunting me and Rome down. Not to mention while you were locking up Sherridan and Lexis." His eyes narrowed at the insult. "That was an act, and I can't believe you'd think otherwise," he said, and Sherridan was nodding as though she believed him. "When Reese gave her your location, he forced my hand. I had to act or she would have doubted my intent to join her team. She would have doubted my claim of being sick of PSI and all the people who work there. So I took Lexis and Sherridan. And yeah, I could have let them get away and told her it was an accident, but that would have raised even more suspicions and we didn't have time for that."

"Oh." I didn't know what else to say.

"Desert Gall is a disturbed woman with major daddy issues, and she needs help. I pretended to give her that help, but I kept my hands to myself. In fact, I told her I was gay. That way, I could keep her at a physical distance, as well as let her think she was pretty enough to one day change my mind." I folded my arms over my middle. "But you didn't keep Sherridan and Lexis safe." His shoulders slumped a little. "I know. But I did what I could. They're alive, aren't they?"

"Yes."

"Because I gave them to Desert Gal, she trusted me with the locations of three other compounds. We were able to raid them and pick up fourteen other innocents. Or maybe scrims. Time will tell. But believe me, letting Sherri be taken nearly killed me."

When Sherridan didn't immediately cut him a new eye socket for calling her by the hated nickname, I knew it was serious. My stomach twisted painfully.

"Besides," he added, "it's not like I had much help making decisions. In the beginning of this case, you were otherwise occupied. With Rome. With Memory Man. I knew Desert Gall was my responsibility." He was losing the shamed look and returning to total irritation.

Rome stiffened, ever ready to defend me.

"You're right," I said, hoping to ease things. "You're right. I wasn't a lot of help to you in that department."

Cody relaxed. Even offered, "Granted, you're a lot more focused now."

"Look at you two, playing nice," Sherridan said with a grin. "Don't be too hard on Cody, Belle. He did what he thought was right. And I had time to do some serious thinking while Desert Wasp had me in that cage, and even more time these past few days when I wasn't allowed to speak at home, and you know what I realized? Relationships eventually hurt, every damn one of them. Look at you and Rome. I know Cody's flighty and I know he'll eventually get tired of me and leave, but I'm willing to try for something with him while I've got the chance."