by Naomi West
But Lola didn’t feel like talking. It was all weighing too heavily on her shoulders. In her mind, she fantasized how the conversation with Bishop would go. She would tell him it was his, and he would shrug and take off on his bike. He wouldn’t want to be tied down with some brat. Still, she had to tell him. “I should go talk to him first.” Lola left the bathroom and picked up her cell. She sent a text to Bishop.
Where are you?
“Fine,” Brittany said with a pout, following her into the room. “I guess your best friend doesn’t deserve to know anything?”
“We’ll talk later,” Lola promised. She felt a little dizzy at having her suspicions confirmed, and she would rather go to bed than head out into public again, but she had to find Bishop. “I promise.”
Lola grabbed her purse and headed to the door.
“Don’t you want to change first?” Brittany asked, pointing at the oversized T-shirt.
Glancing down at herself, Lola shrugged. Bishop wasn’t going to like what she had to say no matter how good or bad she looked. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll be back later.”
Chris turned around when she opened the door. She didn’t say anything to him and headed down the hall, but she heard his footsteps behind her. Lola turned sharply. “What are you doing?”
“My job, the last time I checked. Despite your little stunt earlier, I’m supposed to be your bodyguard, remember?”
“I don’t need you right now. You should be guarding the room.” Lola took a few more steps toward the elevator.
“No, I’m supposed to be with you. I was only at the room because we had no idea where the hell you were. Butch is out right now trying to get extra help for when we have to go back to the airport tomorrow, and you and I both know he’ll slaughter me if I’m not with you.”
She pressed her lips together. “Fine. I’ll just stay here for now and maybe take a nap. Lead the way.”
As soon as Chris rounded the corner in front of her, Lola ran back to the elevator. She pushed the buttons on the panel next to it, then went around the next corner to the stairwell. The elevator doors opened and shut before Chris got to them, just as she had hoped. She could hear Chris shouting and banging on the elevator buttons as she pounded down the stairs, but she didn’t need his assistance to tell Bishop the news.
Just as she reached the lobby, her phone beeped. It was Bishop.
I’m at The Dive. Are you okay?
Not really, but that didn’t matter right now. A hopeful taxi waited near the curb for a fare, and she dove into the backseat. “The Dive, as fast as you can.”
The cabbie complied, grinning at her in the rearview despite the speed at which he was driving. “You know, they have much better drinks at the hotel bar than they do at The Dive. You’re really missing out by going to a little hole in the wall like that.”
“It’s okay. Just get me there quick.” Her breath was finally starting to slow down, and she wondered if Chris had seen her get into the taxi. She glanced out the rear windshield but saw no evidence that they were being followed, and she sagged into the seat.
Bishop swiveled on his stool as soon as she walked in the door. He got up and took her by the arm, leading her to a booth in the back corner. Fortunately, it wasn’t the same booth they had been sitting in when someone had opened fire on her. It was a little darker back here, and nobody had seemed to notice her just yet. “What are you doing here?” he asked, looking around as though he, too, was waiting for the crowds to arrive. “And without any security?”
“I left them behind,” she explained. “I need to talk to you.”
“I’ll get us a drink.” He headed toward the bar.
She caught his arm. “No, no drinks. I just want to talk.” His muscles flexed under her hand, and she instantly remembered how they felt around her. Lola wanted to have them around her once again, and she felt a spark of hope that he might not be upset about the baby. After all, Bishop had been the realest, most reliable person she’d known in a long time. He might put his arm around her, tell her everything was all right, and then take her off somewhere for yet another session of hot and heavy lovemaking.
“Is everything okay? Do we need to get out of here?”
It would be nice, but she didn’t want to wait any longer. “No, let’s just sit.”
But the door to the bar opened, and Lola felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle. She turned, seeing Chris’s form filling the doorway. He stormed in, his head flinging from side to side until his dark eyes locked on her. His rage was palpable as he marched up to her. “Lola,” he said in a low voice, “I’ve got the car outside. Get in. Now.”
“No,” she replied, planting her feet to the floor. “I’m not going anywhere. I told you I don’t need you, and you wouldn’t listen.”
“Yeah?” The bodyguard’s eyes darted from her to Bishop and back again. “What are you doing with this guy?”
“It’s none of your business. Now go away!”
“Stop being such a spoiled little bitch and get into the car!”
“Hey!” Bishop stepped between the two of them, his chest puffed and his arms wide. “You have no right to talk to her like that.”
“I’m trying to keep her away from local yokels like you,” Chris snarled. “Now get out of the way, before I get the police involved.”
Bishop’s voice was quiet, yet it held more threats than if he had yelled. “You go right ahead. I can promise you’ll regret it.”
Chris hauled back and swung, but Bishop blocked the blow. His right fist went flying into the bodyguard’s side, but Chris had a grip on him now. They tumbled to the floor, a tangle of flying fists and kicks. Lola yelled at them to stop, but if they heard her they showed now sign. The other few patrons in the bar gathered to watch but made no move to interfere.
“Holy shit.” Lola grabbed her phone and called Butch. He was the only person she knew who could break the two of them up. “You’ve got to get down to the bar. Chris is causing trouble,” she said quickly.
“I was just on my way back to the hotel. What’s going on?”
Lola held out the phone for a second, then pressed it back to her ear. “You catch that?”
“Enough. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Bishop was on top of Chris now. He had him pinned down between his legs. His arms ratcheted back before shooting forward, pounding the other man in the face. Blood spurted from Chris’s nose, but he showed no sign of giving up. He was on the losing end, but instead of blocking the punches from Bishop he was struggling to land a few strikes of his own. His fist glanced off Bishop’s jaw but had little effect.
Lola stepped backward, wanting to stay out of the fray just as much as she wanted to dive into it. She wished she could yank the two of them apart, but it would have been impossible. They were deadlocked together and determined.
It seemed to take forever for Butch to get there, but in reality it was only a few minutes. He stomped into the bar, pushed through the small crowd of bar patrons, put his hands under Chris’s armpits, and dragged him to his feet.
Bishop stopped swinging and jumped up, but his stance said he was ready to continue the fight if need be.
“Get him,” Chris commanded, his voice slurred as he pointed at the biker. “He won’t leave Lola alone.”
“I came here because I wanted to talk to him,” she retorted. “If you would have listened to me, none of this would have happened.”
Butch was watching the situation closely. “You’re all right with this guy?”
Her patience was running thin, but none of this was Butch’s fault. “Yes.”
The big man nodded. “We’ll be in the car when you’re ready.” He dragged Chris out of the bar, still protesting. The other patrons went back to their seats, and things were mostly normal. A few people were still glancing her way, but they had seen what Bishop had done to Chris. They weren’t going to mess with her.
Lola sank into the booth and Bishop sat down across from he
r. “What the hell was that all about?”
She shook her head. “He’s just trying to do his job. I came here, like I said, because I wanted to talk to you.”
“What about?” His eyebrows inched toward each other.
She took a deep breath. This was where her life changed, but it would all be all right. Bishop cared about her; the fact that he had pummeled Chris like that proved it. He didn’t have to get involved, but he had chosen to. Now he was involved all the way. “I’m pregnant.”
Bishop stared at her for a long moment. “I see.”
This wasn’t at all what she had been hoping for. “I thought you might be happy. I mean, it’s yours.”
“How do I know that?” His face was suddenly twisted with hurt, an expression she hadn’t seen on him before. Bishop had always been more arrogant than anything else, but it was clear he was pulling away from her now.
“Excuse me?” Lola couldn’t believe her ears. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Come on, Lola. You’re a star. I’m not dumb enough to believe I’m the only guy you’re sleeping with.”
Anger washed away any last traces of hope she’d had. “Don’t you dare say such things about me!”
“Why not? I saw the way Chris was on television, sitting right next to you and practically fucking you with his eyes right in front of the entire country. You might have denied the rumors, but he certainly didn’t. And then the way he looked at me when he came in here and saw us together? That wasn’t a professional relationship, Lola. He was jealous as hell.”
“Of course he was, because he wants me to be with him. But I’m not, and I never have been.” There had been so many ways Lola could have imagined this conversation would go, but this wasn’t one of them.
The ice in Bishop’s stare was painful. “I’d like to believe you, Lola. But I saw the way he looked at you. I saw the possessiveness in his body when he saw the two of us together. There’s a lot more going on there than you’re letting on.”
“I see.” And she did. Lola thought she had meant something to Bishop, but if that had been the case he would have believed her. There wouldn’t have been a question about whose baby was growing inside her. A void opened up in the floor underneath her, and she fell through. She had been desperately hoping for Bishop’s support. He didn’t have to love her or agree to be with her, and she didn’t even expect any child support from him, but now she had nothing. “If that’s the way you want it to be, then fine.”
Lola headed outside and got in the back of the waiting car. Butch was behind the driver’s seat and Chris was in the passenger seat next to him, holding a tissue against his bloody nose. “Did you and your boyfriend kiss and make up?” Chris asked. Butch punched him in the arm.
“Just take me back to the hotel.” She watched The Dive slip by out the window as they headed downtown. Things had taken a seriously wrong turn somewhere. “Chris?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re fired.”
“I know.”
Chapter Seventeen
Bishop
Bishop slumped down in the booth seat and buried his head in his hands. A figure sat down across from him, and he looked up hopefully only to find that it was Jimmy.
The bartender slid a beer across the table. “You look like you could use this. Need an ice pack to go with it?”
“No, he didn’t get much in on me.”
“Didn’t look like it,” Jimmy said with a grin. “You were giving him a good wallop. Guess he was horning in on your territory, eh?”
“Something like that.” Bishop didn’t want to talk, because he didn’t really know what to say. There was too much to process. “He’s lucky his buddy showed up. I wasn’t ready to stop.”
Jimmy shrugged. “It’s been a while since we had any blood on the floor. It turns out you’re just good for business, Bishop. Things were just beginning to die down after the Lola incident, but you’re bringing it all back.”
“I’m not interested in anybody’s publicity, not yours or hers.” Bishop took a long sip of his beer, but it didn’t make him feel any better. He felt as though he had been duped. Lola had allowed him to believe he was her hero, and that she wanted to be with him. He had even been stupid enough to sleep with her, twice. But she was playing him just as much as Chris was supposedly trying to play her, or maybe even more.
“Maybe not, but you’re still the guy making it happen. Check this out.” Jimmy pulled his phone out of his pocket, touched the screen a few times, and handed it over. “In this day and age of cell phones and social media, it takes no time at all for word to spread.”
Bishop blinked at the screen a few times, not sure that he was reading things right. Numerous posts, dated from just that morning, were claiming that Lola Lennox was pregnant. There was speculation as to who the father was, with plenty of people imagining it was Chris, but nothing that had been officially confirmed. “You’ve gotta be shitting me,” he murmured.
“And look down here. They already know she was at the bar again.” Jimmy leaned over the table and scrolled down to a different message board. “Someone spotted her coming in, or maybe it was one of the people that’s sitting in here right now. I don’t know, but I have a feeling I’ll be working the taps on a constant basis this weekend.”
They were even talking about the fight, and someone had mentioned Bishop by name. Sometimes there were distinct disadvantages to living in a small town. Everyone who lived in Rolling Hills knew who he was, and he was paying for it. Handing the phone back, Bishop stood up. “I’ve got to get out of here.”
“If you want to stick around, you can have anything you want for free.” The barman stood as well and stepped back into his place. “I mean, you were always good business before, but now you’re like a walking, talking marketing package.”
“Shut up.” Bishop knew Jimmy only meant well, and he had no idea that Lola was claiming the baby was his. He left and headed into town. The sun shone down on his shoulders and the wind blew through his hair, but he still felt as though he was living through a waking nightmare. He bypassed the clubhouse, even though he knew he could find plenty of solace in comradeship there, and headed to a small café in the heart of the downtown area. It had been a while since he’d had something decent to eat besides bar food or frozen meals.
Lydia’s Café was a small joint snuggled in between the larger buildings that had been built on either side of it. A long counter ran down one side and chrome-edged tables occupied the other side. The linoleum was old and yellowed, but clean. The place was crowded for a midweek afternoon, but it was always cheap and fast. Bishop sat down at a table.
“Haven’t seen you in here for a while.” Lydia herself came to wait on him. A plump woman in her sixties, she wore her hair in a gray pouf on top of her head. The button-down dress and frilly apron gave a certain sense of authenticity to the atmosphere. She was one of the folks in Rolling Hills who had welcomed the arrival of the Cobra Kings, and Bishop had a feeling it was because they reminded her of her own wild youth. “What can I get for ya, sugar?”
She always made him feel as if he was being served by a grandmother he had never known. “A pork fritter sandwich and some home fries,” he replied without looking at the menu. “And a slice of apple pie after that.”
Lydia didn’t bother writing the order down. She never did. “You feeling a little down today, son? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you eat that much. You’re always too busy and trying to get back on the road.”
“I’ll be all right.” It was sweet of her, but she was just another link in the gossip chain.
She stepped into the kitchen and Bishop looked up at the old tube television mounted above the counter. The entertainment segment of the local news came on. “Thank you, Matt,” said a female anchor with pumped-up hair and overdone eyeshadow. “Tonight we bring you a special report that I think we were all hoping for, but none of us were expecting. It turns out that Lola Lennox has returned to Rolling Hil
ls! She was spotted at the airport and at the Magnolia Blossom Hotel. She has even made a return to the sight of the now infamous shooting last month at The Dive. Here we have some footage of her as she disembarked from her plane on Tuesday.” The clip rolled, showing Lola fighting through the crowd with a determined look on her face. “While we’ve asked several sources if they have any idea just why Lola is in town, nobody seems to know. Stay tuned to Channel 5 Action News for more updates.”
Bishop tipped his head back and groaned. He couldn’t get away from Lola. She was everywhere, and this stupid hick town was crazy about her. They wanted any kind of attention and excitement they could get, and Lola gave it to them all in one package. There was even a big sign over the counter advertising the new Lola Burger, whatever the fuck that was.
