Twice as Hot (Tales of an Extraordinary Girl #2)(23)

Cody groaned as though he were in pain. "Are you sure I can't take her out? Girl-on-girl crushes are my favorite, and I'd like to hear more about hers."

Men! "I'm sure," I told him. More loudly, I called, "We're in here." The footsteps quickened. Then, "Oh, look at the pretties!" Sherridan cooed as she brushed past me to smell the orchids. "Who sent? Rome? Has he finally come to his senses, the jackass? Or maybe his amnesia has a silver lining. It wasn't like he was this considerate when he was using half his brain rather than none of it."

"I wish, but no." Bastard. "They're from a secret admirer."

"Maybe Sherridan sent them," Tanner said, leaning against the entry frame. Did my heart good, seeing him so relaxed. "Since she's into girls and all."

Cody gave another of those groans.

Both Tanner and Sherridan faced him. Tanner nodded in acknowledgment. Sherridan puckered her brow in confusion.

"Hey," she said in greeting. "I'm Sherridan, Belle's friend. And you are...?" Was she serious? "Uh, Sherridan. You've met him. In John's office. Even a few times in passing before that." I glanced from her to Cody, Cody to her. Her features registered disbelief. His registered embarrassed irritation. "Remember?"

She frowned, bit her bottom lip. "I'm drawing a blank. Are you sure he was in the office?" Was everyone in my life destined to suddenly forget pieces of their own?

"I was there," Cody answered for me.

Ouch. He sounded pissed.

"Sure, sure, I, uh, recall now." Sherridan laughed, probably to cover her lie, and damn if it wasn't a good look for her. Her cheeks glowed a rosy shade of pink, and her blue eyes sparkled. Tall and curved as she was, she could have been a goddess or an Amazon come to passionate life. Had to make her total disregard hurt Cody's ego.

He turned to me. "I see we didn't need to have this conversation after all."

"What conversation?" Tanner asked.

I patted Cody's cheek as I said, "I'll tell you later, Crazy Bones."

"Belle." It was a warning unlike any I'd heard from Cody before. "I thought we were speaking in confidence."

"When did I ever give you that impression?" I said, all innocence. "I tell Tanner everything."

"Some things a man likes to keep private."

"Like what?" Sherridan asked.

Cody gritted his teeth. "I'm out of here. I'll call you tomorrow, Belle. Maybe." He didn't wait for my reply, but stalked from the kitchen, then the house, the door slamming behind him.

"You are such a liar," Tanner said.

I gasped in affront. "I told the truth! I do tell you everything."

"Not you. Her." His gaze slid to Sherridan, who was squirming in place.

"What?" she asked, projecting the same innocence I had.

"You can't fool Mr. Sensitive." He'd chosen the name himself, and it always made me laugh. "You totally remembered him."

"You did?" I stared at her, wide-eyed. How dumb was I, not to have known that? "You sly little hooker, why'd you pretend you hadn't? And don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. I'm impressed." She crossed her arms over her ample chest and grinned. "Clearly he's a player. I mean, I remember you told me he even romanced the silver foxes at your dad's assisted-living center when he was on guard duty."

That was true. When I first acquired my powers, Pretty Boy had used my family to try and force me to work for him. Cody had been sent in as protection. But now that PB was dead and my dad in an undisclosed location, no longer in need of round-the-clock security, Cody had come back to PSI.

Thinking of those dark days had me wondering if Pretty Boy had done something similar to Memory Man, held his family over his head like the sword of Damocles. And if Desert Gall had done - or would do - the same in PB's place. Could that be the reason M-Squared had taken Rome's memories of me?

At her behest, to save someone he loved? Had she just wanted to torture me?

Maybe. But Cody had said M-Squared hadn't done what PB or DG had wanted most of the time, which was why they'd kept him locked up for so long. So why would he suddenly start obeying them?

More than that, I doubted DG knew about me. We'd never encountered each other, and I was new to this game. Unless she'd somehow heard that I was working her case.

God, this was confusing. I didn't know what to believe. And really, when had I become such a text-happy teenybopper? With all these acronyms, I was going to need that Who's Who reference guide Sherridan had mentioned.

"Are you listening to me?" Sherridan asked. "Cody was romancing silver foxes, Belle. Silver foxes. That clearly shows that as long as a woman is breathing, he's interested. So when I saw him checking me out in John's office, well...I decided to push him away before anything could get started. I know I date a lot of men, but I'm looking for Mr. Right. He is not that person." Maybe I hadn't needed to warn Cody away, after all. I'd never seen Sherridan so strong; she could have sent him away on her own, no problem. And had. Still. I was grateful Cody was on his way out of town and her newfound strength wouldn't be tested daily. "I'm proud of you." She beamed over at me, curls bouncing. "Thanks."