PHENOMENAL GIRL 5 (15 page)

“Oh, so no man would ever want to go out to dinner with me just for my company?” I snapped. “Just because
you
don’t find me attractive doesn’t mean that my being asked out by someone who looks like a movie star is a vendetta against you. Some men
do
find me attractive, Robert, as hard as that may be for you to believe!”

He looked as if I’d hit him. “It is not like that at all. I just know Simon better than you. I am not trying to suggest…”

“Spare me the attempts to backtrack out of calling me repulsive,” I interrupted. “Now, I have a date to night, so…”

“You cannot go.”

I gritted my teeth. “Excuse me?”

“You have to work to night.”

“I’m allowed some nights off, Robert! Last week you let me stay home from patrol to watch the season finale of a television show.”

“Well, for this you cannot.”

“You have no right to tell me what to do.”

“Wrong. I am your superior until your two years of training are completed, and then Rath becomes your boss. So technically, yes, I do have the right.”

“A boss can’t tell me who I can and cannot date.”

“Romance is distracting, and you do not need any distractions right now. Your training comes first, above all else.”

“Work’s always come first for me, and I’m tired of it.” With that realization, a wave of calmness settled over me. I took a deep breath. “If you want, I’ll do a quick patrol when I get back from my date, but I
am
going. I don’t care if you two hate each other, you can’t stop me. Fire me if you want, but be sure to tell Rath that it was over having a friendly dinner with a future teammate. In case you’ve forgotten, Robert, I’m not staying here to be your sidekick forever. I’ll be joining the EHJ on a full-time basis soon.” With that parting shot, I shoulder-checked him, knocking him out of my way, and headed upstairs to hide out in my room until it was time to get ready for my date.

“You seem tense,” Simon said at dinner. “Have another glass of wine.”

I looked at the half-f glass that I had barely touched. “I’m okay, really. I just had an argument with Robert.”

He sighed. “We never saw eye-to-eye, either. He’s too far behind the times. But Rath will never kick him out because of their history, and Toby’s nostalgic for him because he helped found the team back in the forties. But the rest of us just put up with him and his old-fashioned ideals and wait for him to die. Again.”

That was harsh. I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. “Did you have problems working for him?” I asked, determined to know why they hated each other.

Simon drained his glass. “Did I ever. He wouldn’t take the least little suggestion I made, had me working all the time,
and then took all the credit for it, and expected me to act like an old man. I was young and wanted to have fun and he didn’t see the need for it.”

“He told me you were an arrogant little opportunist who uses women. And that is a direct quote.”

“That sounds like something he’d say about me.” Simon gave a mirthless laugh. “I just wanted to get ahead on the team and he didn’t. I did what I needed to do for the actual team leaders to take notice. I took only the best cases, held elaborate press conferences, and got a publicist and an agent, all to get better exposure. And it worked. As soon as I graduated to a full member, I became one of the standbys of the team. I was going on all the missions, like the space thing I was telling you about, when normally they stick you with monitor duty and base camp work for the first year or so.”

“And the using women part?”

He shrugged. “I’m not going to lie, Lainey, I date a lot. It’s hard not to. We’re like a movie star and a rock star rolled into one. I’m young, and the only commitment I’ve made is to the Elite Hands of Justice, so what’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing,” I said. But there was no way I was going to be another notch on a bedpost.

“The women throw themselves at me and, hey, I’m a hero, I will always catch a hot woman if she falls.” He laughed at his own joke, and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat again and started looking around for the waiter to signal for the check.

He launched into a long tale about some mission to space, how he alone had saved the day and had hot alien women offering themselves up to him, but I tuned him out, instead thinking of Robert and the fight we’d had. Just because Simon was full of himself didn’t mean Robert could tell me what to do, especially in the romance department. I was allowed to date whomever I wanted.

The waiter must have noticed my eyes screaming for help, because he brought the check. I pounced on it, calculating my personal total and giving the waiter a generous
tip. Simon didn’t even fight me on it, and I noticed when we left that he barely gave the waiter five percent of his share. So he was cheap, too.

Simon babbled in the car all the way home. He never asked me anything about myself, not that I cared. The women he had bragged about being with must have only been in it for one thing, and it wasn’t his scintillating conversational skills. I didn’t care how hot he was, I wasn’t into casual sex with someone so self-centered.

We reached the mansion, and I knew the awkward moment of the date had arrived. Knowing the type of guy Simon was, he expected to kiss me. I didn’t want him to, but I was going to have to work with him again, and couldn’t be rude and run into the house without a word. I was going to have to find a tactful way to get out of it.

He pulled up to the line of cars and parked right in front of the mansion.

“He still loves to trot out those cars,” he said. “Do you know how many times I had to wash those damn things like I was his servant? Makes me want to key them.”

“Don’t you dare,” I snapped. Seeing his wide eyes, I tried to soften my tone. “Those are gorgeous cars. It would be sacrilege to hurt them because of him.”

“Oh, you’re a fan of cars?” At my nod, he smiled. “I’ll have to take you for a spin in my new Ferrari. Custom made.”

“Sounds nice,” I said, but didn’t mean it. I like old cars, not the modern designs.

“Does he make you drive that old junker car around town?”

“I haven’t seen any junkers.”

“He had some POS from the seventies he made me use when I had to run errands for him. The only time I was allowed to touch these cars was to detail them.”

Thinking of Simon detailing the cars made me smile. “Well, I have the Mustang, so…”

“He lets you drive the Mustang?” Simon looked angry. “Just figures he’d let the hot chick drive one of those cars
while I got stuck with a beater.” Then he must have realized he had insulted me, and changed tones. “Not that you don’t deserve to drive around in a Mustang…”

“It’s okay, I get it.”
You’re an idiot
. “Well, thank you for taking me out to night, Simon. I appreciated the change in scenery.”

He smiled. “I’ll bet. You just hang in there, Lainey, I’ll see what I can do about getting you full-member status before two years.” He leaned forward. “And I’m just a phone call away.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.” I just wanted out of the car. “Well, goodnight…” I trailed off, seeing Robert open the door of the mansion.

Simon grabbed my face in his hands, turning it to face him, and kissed me. It wasn’t gentle or even passionate: it was all tongue and saliva, lacking in technique and clearly for Robert’s benefit. I pulled away, wiping my mouth off with my hand, and scrambled out of the car. “What the hell was that? A little finesse is appreciated, not drool.” I think Robert’s lack of tact was rubbing off on me.

He frowned. “No one’s complained before.”

“I think we’re just better suited as friends, Simon.”

He looked me over and turned on the one-hundred-watt smile. “We’ll see, babe.”

Robert stood at the front door, hands behind his back, giving Simon the evil eye as he peeled off, unnecessarily burning rubber on the pavement and honking as he left. I passed by, keeping my head held high, preparing for the inevitable
I told you so
.

“How was your date?”

“Fine.” I managed, as if I hadn’t been drooled on.

“Did he show his true colors, or can he behave on a first date?”

I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. “You just don’t like him and the feeling is mutual.”

“Did he talk about me on your date?” Robert’s eyes twinkled with amusement.

“He was trying to commiserate with me,” I said, annoyed that he found this funny. I immediately went for the low blow. “Sounds like you have a problem with your wards having a social life while you have none.”

“Lainey, I am sorry for trying to keep you from dating. You are right, it is none of my business.”

“That’s right, it’s not.”
What brought on the change of heart?

“And I have already been out on patrol, so you do not have to worry about it. Go to bed and relax. I am sure it has been a long night.”

“Um…thanks?” This was leading up to something.

“I got another call from Fantazia. We have an appointment to see her next week. She may have information about our mysterious friend.”

“Great.”

“And you can take patrol tomorrow while I am out.”

Alarms went off in my head. “Out?”

“Yes, I am taking Victoria to a concert and dinner tomorrow night.”

It was like someone set off a bomb in my head. I went from calm to mental in two seconds flat.

“Are you kidding me?”

His expression stayed bland. “Why would I be kidding you?”

“Oh, my God, you have to be the most immature man I have ever known, and you’re older than time.”

“I do not know what you are talking about.”

“You’re doing that on purpose! I went out with someone you hated and you’re going out with someone I hate to get back at me. That’s so immature, Robert. What are you, eternally thirteen?”

“It is none of my business who you date, and it is none of your business who I date.”

“Oh, my God! You knew I didn’t like her so you deliberately picked her. Why does it matter if I date someone you don’t like?”

“Why does it matter if I date someone you do not like?” His dark eyes bored holes into mine. “Are you jealous?”

“Yes.” And God help me, it felt good to finally get it out in the open, even if it was going to mean weeks of awkwardness later. “Are
you
jealous?”

“Terribly.” He slid one arm around my waist, pulling me in tight, his warm lips descending to mine. His other hand brushed my cheek in a gentle caress.

In all those years of living, he had definitely mastered the kiss. It was slow and soft, but with enough passion behind it to make me lightheaded. I found myself drifting backward to rest against the closed door for support, pulling him along with me, kissing him back. Our tongues danced together, and he tasted faintly of coffee and brandy.

“We should not be doing this,” he said against my mouth between kisses.

“And yet we’re not stopping.”

“You are just so sexy it drives me crazy to not be touching you,
cara
. I do not know how I managed this long.” He reclaimed my mouth again and I felt a little sigh of pleasure escape. I had been crazy about him for weeks, never dreaming he was into me. Not really. But he thought I was sexy? I wasn’t going to analyze how it happened; I was just going to enjoy it.

The escalating passion between us threatened to build into something more explosive and powerful. My skin was starting to tingle in a delicious way the promise of something other than a kiss hinted at. I know I craved it, and I could tell he did too.

And of course, that’s when alarms started going off.

We froze, still up against the door.

“What the hell is that?” I asked, still in his arms.

“Damn it!” He broke away from me and started off down the hall.

“Whoa, you’re swearing, so it must be serious,” I said, following.

“The only way to set off the inter-house alarms is for there to be a code red threat.” He went into the library and started pulling books to get to the lab.

“That isn’t the usual villain threatening to blow up city hall, is it?”

“No, it is usually a villain threatening to blow up the world.” He descended to the lab, me at his heels.

“Should we call in the EHJ?”

“They are probably already dispatched. A code red requires more than one person.” He hurried down the hall to the monitors and clicked a few buttons. “Oh, hell.”

“What is it?” I tried to peer over his shoulder.

“It is a team-up.”

“Excuse me?”

“About six level-seven villains have hit the town. We have major trouble.”

I sighed. “So I guess it’s time to suit up.”

“It is unfortunate timing, but yes.” He gave me a rueful smile. “It is too bad. We will have to continue our…meditating later.”

I grinned at him and raised an eyebrow.

“It is what the kids are calling it nowadays,” he said with a smile. I swear, the temperature of the room went up about ten degrees.

“These mood-killers are going down,” I said, cracking my knuckles. “I’m feeling the need to kick a little butt.”

Chaos couldn’t begin to describe what I was witnessing. Robert and I blinked into existence at the nearest coordinates the EHJ could give us, and we were dropped into an all-out war.

“Thank God you’re here,” Aphrodite, one of the EHJ members, said, coming up to us seconds before a car dropped in the exact spot she had just been standing. The nausea I used to feel after a teleportation spell had all but stopped, but with World War Three going on around us, I felt woozy. I stumbled, and Robert caught me around the waist.

“Who is doing this?” he yelled over the din, keeping a tight grip on me.

“You name it, that’s who. It’s like every single high-powered villain we’ve ever fought decided to have a convention!” She glanced at me. “You there, Phenomenal Girl, are you alright?”

“Sorry, it’s the teleportation,” I said, standing straighter and moving away from Robert. “I’m okay.”

“Good. You’re on crowd-control, then. Try to protect any civilians and catch some of the debris they’re hurling at us.”

“
Schermo
,” Robert said, as what looked like a chunk of a building came flying at us. My nerves tingled as I felt his magic take effect and an invisible shield came up around us. “
Transmutazione ad acqua
.” The building chunk became water as it hit the shield.