“I do. But it doesn’t mean I can’t have you along.”

“Well, I would, but I have work in the morning.”

I felt like a giant pussy for being disappointed. “That’s okay. Another time.”

Samantha leaned forward in her chair. “I could always call in sick.”

“You would really do that?”

“Actually, my boss has been a little more lenient on me lately.”

“Ah, I see.” Sensing we needed a subject change away from Marley, I grabbed her by the waist and dragged her over to sit in my lap. “So you’ll stay with me tonight?”

Her eyebrows shot up into her hairline. “I thought you didn’t have women stay at your house.”

“I didn’t. Until you.”

Dipping her head, she let her lips graze against mine. “Yes. I’ll stay.”

I slid my hands into her hair, letting the silky strands fall between my fingers. “I’m glad.”

Just as I started to bring my lips to hers, she said, “But I’m going to need a change of clothes.”

With a laugh, I said, “You sure as hell know how to kill a moment.”

“I would really be killing a moment if I was in stinky clothes tomorrow.”

“Fine. We’ll throw your clothes in the wash.”

“And just what am I supposed to wear until they’re done?”

My mouth licked and nibbled across her jawline, causing her to shudder and tilt her head back to give me better access. “You’ll need to be naked for what I have in mind for the rest of the night.”

SIXTEEN

SAMANTHA

I woke the next morning to the bellowing sound of an unfamiliar alarm clock. When I shifted in bed and came up against a rock-hard body, the realization hit me that I wasn’t at home. I had stayed the night at Bishop’s. I had broken his rule not only of women not coming to his house but of not staying over.

Today we were rising early to go to Chattanooga on some club business. Yesterday when the secret meeting was broached by Rev, I had immediately felt divided. Part of me wanted to go to see what I could uncover, while the other part of me feared what I might find. I wanted more than anything to believe Bishop when he said his club was going legitimate. It was just incredibly hard to imagine the Raiders going clean after years of illegal dealings.

Bishop cursed as he slapped the alarm clock off. When I turned over to face him, he was furiously rubbing his face and eyes to wake up. “Good morning,” I said.

After a wide yawn, Bishop grumbled, “Morning.”

“I guess it’s safe to say you aren’t a morning person, huh?”

“Fuck no.” He cocked his head at me. “Are you?”

I shrugged. “I’m okay with getting up early.”

“Well, as long as you’re with me, you better not be okay with it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I don’t want you throwing open the curtains at the crack of fucking dawn while whistling a happy tune.”

I snorted at his summation. “You have nothing to worry about on that front, trust me.”

Bishop grinned. “I’m glad to hear it.” He stretched in bed and groaned again. “Fuck, I do not want to get up and get on the road.”

Snuggling up to his side, I asked, “So, what’s so important about this meeting that has you getting up early and missing work?”

“It’s just something Rev and I need to do. . . . I guess you could say it’s for Rev more than me, but I need to be there for support.”

As I traced the ink lines of one of Bishop’s tattoos with my finger, the irrational side of me couldn’t help worrying about what Rev needed to do and why Bishop needed to be there for support. It didn’t sound good at all, and that fact made my stomach churn. Of course, I couldn’t imagine why Bishop would ask me along if it were something illegal. Maybe he planned to use me as a lookout or diversion. That thought made me feel like a paranoid fool. More than anything, I hoped that today would give me evidence to support the claim that the Raiders had gone legitimate in their business dealings. I hadn’t yet broached the subject to Peterson because I wanted to make sure I had some concrete evidence to back me up. He had no idea that while I worked on the paper trails of other cases, I was secretly working on the Raiders.

“Are you sure about me going? It sounded kinda like a brothers’ thing.”

“Of course I’m sure. You heard Rev say that Annabel couldn’t go.”

“Yeah.”

“And there will be some other women there.”

“It’s good to know I won’t be the only vagina,” I said teasingly.

Bishop laughed. “You’ll be the only vagina that belongs to me.”

“Yes, Caveman.”

Bishop dipped his head to bring his lips to mine for a tender kiss. “I’m starting to dig you calling me Caveman. Kinda makes me hot.”

I grinned. “Why am I not surprised?”

“Guess we better get up and get going. Rev will have my ass if we make him late.”

“Where exactly is it we’re going in Chattanooga?” I asked as I sat up in the bed.

“You’ll see.”

“You really expect me to just get on the back of your bike and let you take me wherever you want?”

He laughed. “I sure as hell do.”

“You’re such an egomaniac!” I huffed.

Pulling me against him, Bishop nuzzled my neck. “Yeah, but you like it.”

I gave a resigned sigh. “God forgive me, but I do.”