Page 51 of Last Mile

“Fine,” Bishop replied.

“See ya later, then. Bye, Samantha.”

“Bye, Boone.”

After he was gone, Bishop and I stood in an awkward silence.

“Guess I better get going, too,” I said. The truth was I wanted to stay there with him in that room until we recaptured what we’d had when we were interrupted.

“Let me walk you out,” Bishop said as he hopped down off the table.

“The rough- and- tumble boxer is a gentleman at heart, huh?”

He winked at me before pulling a T-shirt over his head. “We all have our secrets.”

As we started out the door, Bishop nodded at the beefy bouncer. “Listen, there’s something I wanted to ask you,” he said to me.

“What is it?”

“This Saturday night we’re having a birthday party for my brother, Rev. Since he’s our president, it’s going to be a pretty big party— one that lasts all weekend. Members are coming in from all over the state. I wondered if you might like to come.”

I drew in a breath as I carefully weighed my next words. This was exactly what I had been hoping for— a chance to be with the full Raiders MC again to see what I could overhear. While I wanted to give a hurried response, I had to temper myself. I knew I couldn’t look overeager, which in turn could make me look suspicious.

Misreading my hesitation, Bishop said, “Fuck, I’m sorry. That was a real stupid thing of me to do.”

“Excuse me?”

“After what happened to Marley, I guess the last thing you want

is to be around a group of bikers.”

Once again, I found myself speechless, but this time it was over Bishop’s thoughtfulness. Then I felt like a complete bitch by using it to my advantage. “I would be lying if I said your offer didn’t surprise me . . . and unnerve me a little. But at the same time, I think it might be good for me to be around the club again.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, you say you guys are going legit, so I guess I can’t help giving you a second chance, right?”

Bishop grunted. “Yeah, just remember you don’t know shit about any of that. Got it?”

“I promise.”

“So can I pick you up at seven?”

Just as I was about to agree, an image of my house flashed before my eyes. I quickly clamped my mouth shut. There was no way in hell I could let Bishop see where I was living. None of it matched the Samantha Vargas he knew. “Why don’t I meet you there?”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, since I flaked out a few days after Marley’s death, I’ve been working late to make up the time and get the boss off my ass,” I replied. My mind felt as if it were treading water in the deep end to keep up with all the lies I was spewing.

“Oh, okay, then yeah, just come here.” Bishop cleared his throat. “Guess if I picked you up, it would seem like a date, huh?”

Shaking my head, I stared down at my shoes. I realized I didn’t

have to worry about Bishop suspecting anything about me and the club. Instead, his worry came in the form of concern that we were overstepping some sacred bounds because of Gavin. He would have given any FBI profiler a run for the money with him being so honorable and considerate. The fact that he had a conscience wasn’t something I had ever bet on, and in turn, it made things even more difficult. I needed him to be a Neanderthal who didn’t give a shit about what Marley would have felt about him making a move on me.

“I guess it could be seen that way,” I said.

“I, uh, well, I just didn’t want you to think I was some bastard for hitting on you so soon after Marley died.”