Playing with Fire. Gena Showalter

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СКАЧАТЬ REFERENCES:

      “If you do not enforce strict ‘attendance’ policies, Miss Jamison is the perfect candidate for your company.”

      —Mr. Ron Peaty, Manager of Utopia Café

      “Please give my friend a job. Please.”

      —Miss Sherridan Smith, best friend

       Résumé of Belle Jamison, aka “Wonder Girl” (Final Draft)

       OBJECTIVE:

      To kick major scrim ass; save the world from parasters; mentor my smart-mouthed sidekick, Tanner; track down the elusive Dr. Roberts; and, um, learn to control the flying dirt balls that keep mysteriously hitting any woman who checks out Rome.

       EXPERIENCE:

      • Many hours of (hot and heavy) practice with Rome, aka “Cat Man”

      • Totally successful elimination of the evil scrim Pretty Boy

      • Roasting marshmallows with my bare hands (and eyes) •Watering the flowers at my dad’s assisted living center (without a hose)

      • Orchestrating a snowball fight in the middle of summer (Tanner so got his ass kicked!)

       EDUCATION:

      • The School of Rome

      • Awarded straight A’s and aced all “extra credit” assignments

       INTERESTS:

      Long walks on the beach (with Rome), sunsets (watching them with Rome), romance novels (acting out the love scenes with Rome), cold winter nights (snuggling with Rome), Rome in kilts/uniforms/calendars (or nothing at all), and massages (given by Rome).

       REFERENCES:

      “If you’re looking for trouble, Belle is the girl for you. PS.—Hurt her and I’ll kill you.”

      —Mr. Rome Masters, aka “Cat Man”

      “Need a gal who can fry the bad guys but still give your hair the perfect blowout? Wonder Girl’s the one for you!”

      —Miss Sherridan Smith, best friend

      “You’ll never find a sweeter, harder-working gal than my baby Belle.”

      —David Jamison, father

      “Once you get to know her, she’s not a stranger.”

      —Sunny Masters, friend and one day, perhaps, stepdaughter

      “I predict she’ll do great things. Just don’t leave home without a raincoat, a fire extinguisher and moist towelettes.”

      —Lexis Masters, aka “Know It All”

      “I’ve never met a nicer, more wonderful woman—with such great cleavage!”

      —Tanner Bradshaw, aka “Mr. Sensitivity”

      

      

      In 2011, Belle Jamison returns in a brand-new adventure. Don’t miss twice the romance, twice the danger and twice the fun in TWICE AS HOT, coming soon from Gena Showalter! Turn the page for your sneak peek …

      

      

      OKAY. HERE’S THE LOWDOWN. My name is Belle Jamison, I’m twenty-five and smart, depending on who—whom?—you’re asking. (Sadly, my teddy bear of a dad is the only one who would pipe up with an affirmative “She’s brilliant!”) I’m a former coffee wench (plus former bus driver, used car salesman, factory worker, maid and a thousand other menial jobs), now employed by the mysterious and shadowy PSI: Paranormal Studies and Investigations.

      Oh, and I happen to control the four elements with my emotions. (If you ask my ultra-hot fiancé, Rome, he’ll tell you that control is relative.) Anyway.

      Used to be, I was an everyday, average, normal girl. Normal and wishing for bigger and better. I should have known better. Sometimes you actually get what you wish for, and the results are not what you expected. I’d wanted excitement. And yeah, I’d gotten it. But that excitement came with a death warrant.

      See, a few months ago, a crazy scientist secretly dropped a chemical into my grande mocha latte and that chemical … changed me. Belle Jamison, average no longer. Suddenly I could shoot fireballs from my eyes, freeze an entire room with a brush of my fingertips against a wall, cause a tempestuous rainstorm with my tears and start a level five tornado with only a thought.

      At first, I was upset. I mean, really. Being able to destroy the entire world and everyone in it is a huge burden to carry. But that burden also brought the sexy and insatiable Rome Masters into my life, so I don’t begrudge it too much. Anymore. Plus, once I had a little influence over my abilities, people who pissed me off “accidentally” got their eyebrows singed, and that was pretty damn fun.

      Sure, Rome once tried to kill me. Or, as he’d say, to “neutralize” the oncoming disaster and threat I’d become, as I’d had no control over my new abilities. Sure, I later accidentally-on-purpose Tasered the hell out of him. But now we can’t live without each other.

      Some people hold hands to show their love; we draw blood. Or we would, if Rome was anywhere to be found.

      “I swear, he has five seconds to call me or I’m going to torch his entire gun collection and use the melted metal to make a few necklaces. Maybe some earrings.”

      My best friend Sherridan looked up from the romance novel propped against her upraised legs. She lounged on the couch, a vision of curly blond hair, big blue eyes more often than not filled with sadness nowadays and curves that went on for miles. I wasn’t jealous. Really. “He’s called you like four times in the past week. And seriously, you should be embarrassed. I’ve never met anyone who has as much phone sex as you two have.”

      My eyes narrowed on her. “How do you know about the phone sex?”

      “Duh. I pick up the phone and listen.”

      I gasped, felt a spark of something hot inside my chest.

      Sherridan laughed. “Kidding, I was only kidding. You’re, like, freakishly loud. Seriously, ear plugs don’t help. Cranking up my iPod to full blast doesn’t work. Despite myself, I’ve been really impressed with your skills.”

      Color flooded my cheeks. This was the problem with roommates. “Rome was supposed to call me again last night. He didn’t. He hasn’t. That’s not like him. Do you think something’s wrong?”

      “Stop worrying, “ she said with a wave of dismissal. “That he-man can morph into a jaguar, for God’s sake. He’s fine. He’s probably planning a surprise homecoming or something.”

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