Page 47 of Rock Hard
She and Johnny had been around Carly’s age at the time, maybe a little younger. By that point, they had accepted they weren’t going to be placed. Most people wanted the younger kids, the ones who didn’t already have attitudes. But that one couple had seen something in Johnny they really liked and had gone as far as having the paperwork drawn up. Alice had never felt more conflicted. She had wanted Johnny to be happy, but she hadn’t been able to bear the thought of spending the rest of her adolescent years in the group home without him. Luckily, it had never come to that.
“They never came back for you.”
“Yeah, they did, but I made sure they wouldn’t want me anymore.”
Johnny’s bombshell rocked through her like an earthquake.
“Oh, Johnny, what did you do?”
“Doesn’t matter.” He shrugged as if it was no big deal. As if he hadn’t given up a chance at being part of a real family because of her. “I wasn’t going to leave you, Alice. You needed me.”
Tears welled up in her eyes until they overflowed.
Johnny put his arm around her and pulled her as close as the seats would allow. “Hush, now. I’d do it again a thousand times over. I wouldn’t give up those teenage years with you for anything.”
Johnny was such a good person. So much better than her.
“I’m no better than Rex. I cared more about myself than Carly.”
“Not true.”
“But you said—”
“I was only trying to make a point. It’s not the same. You and I, we only had each other, but Carly has a father, Alice. He might not be father of the year, but heisher father, and they’ve got to work it out. You popping in and out of her life isn’t making that any easier for either of them.”
“But I love her.”
“I know you do.” Johnny kissed her forehead. “But you’ve got to make a choice, babe. Be there for her—reallybe there—or leave the parenting to someone who will.”
“That’s a hell of a choice.” Alice sniffed. “You know why I can’t be there.”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but ... maybe you should give Rex another chance.”
“What?”
“Look, you know I’m not the guy’s biggest fan, but based on what you’ve told me about what happened this morning, I think there’s a good chance you rocked Rex’s world.”
She snorted, a wet, sniffly sound. “Yeah, right. He couldn’t run far or fast enough away from me.”
“Exactly my point. What do you think would make an alpha male turn tail and run like that? I’ll tell you what I think. I think that, when you two kissed, some big light bulb went off in his fat lion head and he finally realized what you figured out a long time ago. That you are mates. And I think that scared the shit out of him.”
Alice shook her head, not daring to hope. “I don’t know, Johnny.”
“Just think about it, okay?”
Think about it, he said. As if she had been doing anything else!
So many times, she had imagined how things might play out if only she’d had the courage to tell Rex the truth. That she was a lion shifter, just like him, and more importantly, her lioness believed he was her mate.
In her dreams, Rex admitted that he, too, believed they were mates and declared she was the only female for him from that point on.
In her nightmares, Rex laughed at her for being a naïve fool and told her that he could never limit himself to one woman.
Well, now at least part of the truth was out. Rex knew what she was, and something about that kiss had shaken him up. Did she dare hope that Johnny was right, and that Rex had felt that incredible connection between them, too?
Beside her, Johnny closed his eyes and hummed softly. He made small movements with his fingers, tapping out the melody as it developed in his head.
A picture flashed in her mind, a memory of a much younger man, sneaking into the church hall to play the old upright piano there. She would sneak in along with him and curl up in the corner in absolute awe.
