Twice as Hot (Tales of an Extraordinary Girl #2)(34)

Rome kicked the door shut with his foot, the sound of the knob clicking into place almost deafening in the sudden silence.

The old Rome would have tripped Reese for saying such a romantic thing. The new Rome hadn't even glanced at him as he stalked out. I couldn't complain, though. Finally, I was alone with my kind-of/kind-of-not fiance, no one looking in through a two-way mirror, no one recording our every word.

Rome tossed a small square at me. "This yours?"

I looked down, saw Cody's smiling face in my lap. "Yeah. So?"

"So. It was found in your purse. You guys really dating?"

Rather than answer him, I said, "How's Lexis?" Let him stew, I thought, feeling a little mean.

His jaw tensed for a moment. Then he shrugged, as if the answer hadn't mattered to him. "She's good." Too bad. On both counts. "And Tanner?"

"The kid? A little cut up, but he claims he needs the scars. He's a little...out there." A polite way of saying he was weird. "No, he's not. Chicks dig scars, therefore he likes scars. It's perfectly logical. And just so you know, if I hadn't decided to marry you, I would have married him." If he would have had me. Right now, only my admirer - who may or may not want to kill me - seemed interested.

Rome blinked over at me. "You're lying."

I was, and I didn't feel guilty. I raised my chin. "How do you know? You don't know anything about me."

He couldn't refute that, and he clearly didn't like the reminder. His expression darkened. "Isn't that child a little young for you?"

"I'm twenty-five. He's twenty. Hardly a big difference."

"Yes, but when you were learning to drive he was telling girls they had cooties."

"Yeah, well, that turns me on." Apparently it had turned Lexis on, because she had dated him and she was older than I was.

Rome's tongue flicked out, tracing the seam of his lips, as if the picture in his mind made him hungry. So very hungry. For what? "What else turns - Never mind." He stuffed his hands into his pockets, his skin flushing. "It's better if I don't know."

Me. Hungry for me.

How close we were to actually flirting. How far would he take it, this man who had no idea who I was?

Let's see, shall we? "So...you came in here because you wanted me?" I asked, knowing very well how suggestive my words were.

His pupils dilated, the only sign he'd noticed. "Yes." He cleared his throat. "I wanted to...thank you for helping me back there. You didn't have to, and hell, everyone would have understood if you hadn't, considering how shitty I've been to you. And on that note, I'm also here to apologize." My eyes widened, and I sat up straighter in the bed. I would have stood, or thrown my legs over the side and sat up completely, just to be closer to him, but that would have revealed the hospital gown in all its ugly glory. Right now my legs and stomach - and thereby my modesty - were covered only by a light blue blanket. "Well, I wanted to thank you, too, for coming to my rescue. But if you're going to apologize to me, I'd rather it be for forgetting me when you said you'd love me forever. Oh, and for treating your ex like a freaking queen."

"Good. Because I'm apologizing for all of it," he said, his jaw clenched. "Everyone knows we were a couple, and until a few days ago you thought so, too. You didn't know this would happen to me, and you didn't -  don't deserve my cruelty."

Were, he'd said. Everyone knew we were a couple. Past tense. I fingered the engagement ring I still wore and tried not to sink under a wave of depression. "Why did you treat me like that?"

"Because I - " He shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. His gaze remained fixed on me, even though it was obvious he wanted to glance away. "Because I woke up thinking I was supposed to be working things out with my ex-wife, but I took one look at you and - " Once again he stopped, but this time he didn't continue. He'd taken one look at me and had...wanted me? Craved me like the air he breathed? The way I did him?

"Yes," he said, clearly shamed. "Whatever you're thinking, yes. I wanted you when I should have wanted her. And every time you looked at me, that wanting just got worse. I thought if I pushed you away, made you angry, something, you'd stop looking at me and the wanting would go away.

It...didn't."

My skin heated, burning, blistering, the thought of his desire sparking my own. But that desire was underscored with a jubilation so complete, tears filled my eyes. Even without his memories of me, he couldn't deny his body's reaction to me. That was a start. A very promising start.

"Don't cry," he croaked. "Please don't."

"I'm not." Shaking, I swiped my eyes with the back of my wrist. At least I didn't have to worry about rain falling from the ceiling. These were tears of hope, not sadness. Not that I was crying, I reminded myself. "Really. It's dusty in here, that's all."

His gaze zeroed in on the puncture wounds, and he bared his teeth in a scowl. "John should use a needle on you."

So we were off the subject of his desire for me, were we? "You've said that before. About the needle." He ran his tongue over his teeth, a sure sign of irritation. With me? Or himself? "I wish I remembered. I wish my memories hadn't been taken."