Page 44 of Rock Hard
Shit, he had been so caught up in his own head that he had forgotten about meeting up with the band in Rochester. It wasn’t a big show. Hell, it hadn’t even been publicized. But sometimes the guys liked to do unscheduled, unannounced appearances in small clubs. It kept things real, reminded them of where they had come from and why they did what they did. Plus, it made for good PR. Fans ate that shit up.
He put another bill down and stood, stretching out some of the kinks from parking his ass on the bar stool for so long. He still didn’t know what he was going to do about the whole Alice situation. All he knew was he had to do something. Maybe some ideas would come to him on the plane.
***
CHUCK WAS PACING THElobby when Rex got back to the hotel, but he knew better than to cause a scene in public. No, Chuck waited until they were safely in the elevator before he let loose.
“You hired me to be your personal security, didn’t you? Why bother paying me if you’re just going to go off on your own like that?”
“It’s complicated.”
“You’re Rex Løve. Your whole life is complicated.”
True enough. “No one recognized me.”
“But what if they had?”
“Then I would have called you.” Rex was about to point out that Chuck had abandoned his post earlier that day, but since he had a strong suspicion that Chuck’s absence had something to do with Alice, he refrained. Besides, given what had happened, Rex was glad no one else had been around at the time to witness his response.
The suite was empty when they got there, which was probably for the best. If Alice had been around, she would probably want to talk about what had happened, and he didn’t have time for that. He had a charter waiting. Rushing off this morning was bad enough. Taking off again would be even worse. Even he knew that much.
“I’m going to grab a quick shower,” he told Chuck. “Find Carly and tell her to get packed. We’ve got a plane to catch.”
Rex emerged thirty minutes later, displeased to find neither Chuck nor Carly ready and waiting. He texted the rhino, and paced the suite, growing more impatient with each passing tick of the clock. What was the hold up? Was Alice running interference, giving Chuck a hard time about taking Carly back?
When Chuck returned a short time later, alone, Rex was really unhappy.
“Where the fuck is she, Chuck? Couldn’t you find her?”
To his credit, the rhino shifter met his gaze head-on. “I found her.”
“Then, why isn’t she with you?”
“She isn’t coming.”
“Excuse me?”
Chuck crossed his arms over his barrel-shaped chest. “I said, she isn’t coming. Said I’d have to carry her out kicking and screaming to get her to go anywhere, and I’m not going to do that.”
Rex stared at him in disbelief, though that sounded exactly like something Carly would say ... and do. He might have even been a little proud if he wasn’t so pissed off.
“Find Alice. She’s the only one who can talk sense into Carly when she’s like this.”
“Alice is gone, boss.”
“What do you mean, she’s gone?”
“I mean, she’s gone, as in, checked out and left.”
Rex stormed into the room Alice and Carly had been sharing. Only Carly’s stuff remained. Then he went into the other bedroom, knowing what he would find. Sure enough, the panther’s stuff was gone, too.
Burning rage, hot and consuming, flared up within him. How could Alice have left with another male after that kiss?
You did, his lion huffed.
I went to a bar! Alone!
Images came to the forefront of his mind, unwelcomed and unbidden. A series of memories ... nameless faces, pawing him, propositioning him ... and he had let them, if only to get Alice’s attention ...
The familiar rationalizations felt hollow, empty. Rex couldn’t blame Alice for his behavior, not anymore. Not now that he knew the truth.
A new, horrifying possibility occurred to him. He had just figured out what Alice was to him, but what if Alice had already known? What if her lioness had recognized him as her mate a long time ago?
Rex sank down into the closest chair, his stomach roiling. If the thought of Alice leaving with that panther did this to him, what must she have gone through every time he had brought someone back to the room ...? Or the tour bus ...? Or the hallway backstage ...? Even if things hadn’t happened, he’d allowed them to look as if they had.
Chuck’s deep, raspy voice cut into his thoughts. “Rex? What do you want to do?”
It took him a moment to bring his mind back to the situation at hand. A brief glance at the clock on the wall confirmed what he already knew—that unless they left in the next five minutes, they weren’t going to make the flight. And, short of doing what Carly had threatened and tossing her over his shoulder, they weren’t leaving within the next five minutes.
“Call the pilot and tell him we need a later flight.”
