Bishop

 

Bishop, like the rest of the people in the bar, was having a hard time keeping his eyes off Lola. She was absolutely delicious, and he had to find a way to be with her. She was a celebrity, after all, and that’s how they did things. They found someone they thought was good looking, banged them, and moved on with their lives. Lola had her phone out now, a bored look on her face as she scrolled.

 

“All right,” Sluice said from his barstool. “I can tell by the look in your eyes that you’re planning something. You might as well let me in on it now.”

 

Bishop grinned. His men knew him well, and that was part of why the Cobra Kings ran so smoothly. “Here’s the deal: I’m not too worried about the bodyguards. Between you and me and a couple of our other men in here, we could take them down, no problem. But there are cameras everywhere, and the last thing I need is for one of our brothers to be recorded doing something he shouldn’t.”

 

Sluice nodded, understanding. “And you’ve got to find some way to get rid of them if you want to get to Lola.” He stroked his straggly goatee as he thought. “What do you propose?”

 

“Distract one of them. Get him to go outside. Hell, maybe that will work with both of them. But we’ve got to separate the girl from the goons.”

 

Snapping his fingers, Sluice’s eyes sparked with an idea. “They’ve got a car parked outside. We can go for that.”

 

“Good man.” Bishop slapped him on the back. “Get on that.”

 

The vice president moved off to speak to a couple of the other men, and only a few minutes later the sound of a car alarm came from outside. The tall, handsome bodyguard reacted, breaking his guardian stance and running for the front door, shouting.

 

Bishop laughed to himself. It had worked, but the big bald guy was going to be more difficult than the young one, for sure. He bided his time, pretending he was just there for his beer. With a little bit of luck, he would get his chance.

 

Sure enough, the bald guy soon realized that his companion wasn’t coming back. He kept glancing anxiously toward the front door of the bar, but Bishop already knew what had happened to the man without even looking. The Cobra Kings had dispatched him. They hadn’t hurt him, not seriously, but he wouldn’t be able to perform his duties for at least a day or two.

 

“Hey!” the bald man shouted at the bartender. “We’ve got to get these people out of here. I’ve got a situation on my hands.” He began moving toward the door, herding the crowd in front of him as he went.

 

Jimmy jumped to the rescue, pulling several wet floor signs out from behind the bar. He set them up between the edge of the bar and the booths, blocking off the back corner of the establishment where Lola sat. Surprisingly enough, the crowd didn’t just knock them down and come barreling through. This was Rolling Hills, after all. “There you go! I’ll stick around and make sure everything’s okay.”

 

The security man gave him a dubious look and then glanced at his boss. She gave him a curt, upward nod with her chin, telling him to go. Her eyes immediately went back to her phone. She didn’t have a care in the world for what was going on. It must be nice.

 

Bishop gave the big man just enough time to get out the door before he got up from his barstool and swung over the bar. Jimmy watched him from his place near the wet floor signs, his eyes worried, but he didn’t say anything. There was now plenty of room around Lola and nobody to tell him to stay back. Jimmy could try, but both of them knew that if it came down to it, the biker would come out on top.

 

There was something about her that Bishop couldn’t quite explain. Maybe it was the way her hair fell across her face, hiding one of those big beautiful eyes until she swiped it out of the way. The killer body definitely didn’t hurt. But she was unbelievably attractive, like something out of a fantasy. Real people weren’t like that. They had flaws, and even though they did their best to hide them, they always came out. She was bright and clean against the dirty brick wall behind her and the torn cushion of the booth bench underneath her, her skin glowing even in the dim light. Lola exuded such confidence and distance, and Bishop was sure that it drove most people away. It just made him want her more. He slid into the booth next to her.

 

Lola looked up, setting the phone down on the beaten wood tabletop. She sat up straight but she made no move to get away from him. “Can I help you?”

 

Her voice was like silk, and Bishop instantly understood why people paid her to sing. He hadn’t heard a note, but he didn’t need to. If her speaking voice was that luxurious, then she could probably put thousands of people under her spell with a concert. “I like to think I’m helping you. Here you are, in a strange town, with a whole crowd of people just desperate to lay their hands on you. Your bodyguards have run off and left you with a scrawny barkeeper to defend you. I think I know my position here.”

 

“Figures a guy like you would want to talk about positions,” she countered. Her azure eyes darted over his leather vest, his faded tattoos, the studs in his ears. “I wouldn’t have thought there were any bikers in this one-horse town. Or is it Halloween and I forgot to dress up?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

 

Flames danced under his skin. He liked watching her full mouth as she spoke, wondering what those pink lips would look like on his body. She reminded him of someone, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. “I’m the real deal, and in fact I’m the president of the Cobra Kings. We run this town, so if you want to stay safe you’ll stick with me.”

 

“It’s nice to see you’re so humble,” she jabbed. “But I’m pretty sure I can take care of myself. These fans are nothing compared to the ones I’m used to. Hell, they won’t even jump a little piece of plastic to get to me. They must not be all that crazy about me.”

 

“I think they are,” Bishop replied. His throat was tightening. Every sense was going off like an alarm. She looked good, sounded good, smelled good. He couldn’t yet know what she tasted like, but he could easily imagine it. As for feel, well, there was only one way to find out. “They’re just too polite to do anything about it. Me, on the other hand, I’ve found that manners never got me anywhere.”

 

He slid his hand across the small space between them until it met the warmth of her thigh. If he had to stand up anytime soon, he would be in trouble. Lola’s skin was as smooth as her voice, and the muscle underneath it well-toned. Bishop felt his breath coming on faster as he tuned out the sound of the fans. Sure, everyone was watching. But he didn’t care. He had to have her. He was going to have her.