Inferno: A Devil Chaser's MC Romance (9 page)

Bishop wore his favorite faded blue jeans and a plain black tight t-shirt with his black boots. He didn’t wear his DC cut just in case it might attract any unwanted attention while he was out with Tessa. He wanted her to feel comfortable with him at the football game. He left Myles in the truck, and he went to the door to pick her up. He knocked on the door and anxiously waited for her to answer. He’d been looking forward to spending time with her and hoped to pick things up where they’d left off last weekend.

Tessa answered the door with a nervous smile. She was wearing dark denim jeans, and a black, long-sleeved t-shirt that showed a hint of her cleavage. Her hair fell loose around her shoulders, and she smelled like a mixture of vanilla and lavender. He noticed that she wore more makeup than usual, but it only highlighted her piercing dark almost black eyes. She looked beautiful.

“Wow, looking good, Teach,” he said, raking his eyes down her body. “It’s gonna be hard to keep my hands to myself with you looking like that,” he added with a playful smile.

Tessa’s skin flushed at the thought. “Not looking so bad yourself,” she said, trying to control her nerves. Her silver bracelets clinked around her wrist as she turned towards the door. “Let me round up the kids, and we can head out.”

Drake met them at the door holding Izzie’s hand and said, “We’re ready to go, Mom.” Drake turned to Bishop and said, “Hi, I’m Drake, and this is Isabelle, but we just call her Izzie.”

“Nice to meet you both. I’m Cole Bishop, but most folks just call me Bishop. Myles is in the backseat of the truck. Y’all go grab a spot, and we’ll get going.”

After the kids got seated in the back, Bishop put his hands on Tessa’s waist and helped her up into the truck. He gave her thigh a light squeeze before walking around to his side. The kids were already talking ninety-to-nothing before he even started the truck. He gave Tessa a wink, and headed to the ballgame.

Bishop was surprised at how many people greeted them as they made their way to the bleachers. It seemed like every kid in town knew Tessa, and they were eager to speak to her. She smiled and spoke to each of them as they made their way to their seats. He reached for her hand, and instinctively her fingers laced with his.

The boys decided not to sit with them during the game. They wanted to hang out with their friends and toss their football behind the bleachers. Izzie sat beside Tessa and stayed pretty quiet for the first few minutes of the game.

Eventually, she warmed up to Bishop and began her line of questioning. “Why do you ride a motorcycle if you have a truck?”

“I usually drive my motorcycle when it’s just me, but sometimes I need my truck. Like I did tonight.”

“Momma says motorcycles dangerous. Didn’t your momma tell you that?”

“Yes, she did, but since I’m a big boy now, she lets me drive one anyway,” Bishop replied. Smiling, Tessa gave his hand a light squeeze. She seemed to find this conversation amusing.

“Do you ever go really fast? What do you do when it rains?”

“I don’t drive that fast very often, and I usually drive my truck when it’s raining. It’s not much fun to be on a motorcycle when it’s raining.”

“How did you get to be so tall? My dad’s tall, but not as tall and big as you are,” Izzie asked looking up at him.

“Well, my dad’s pretty tall, so I guess I get it from him. I also try to eat all my vegetables. My folks always told me eating vegetables makes you big and strong.”

“Momma tells Drake that all the time, but all he wants to eat is take-out and junk food. I like what Momma cooks better. You should try her spaghetti. It’s really good, and she always makes a big salad to go with it. That way you can get your vegetables, too.”

“I’d like that,” he replied smiling over at Tessa. “Maybe you could get her to make that for me one day soon.”

“I can do that. She likes to cook. Drake’s favorite food is Chinese. What’s your favorite?”

Isabelle’s questions went on for the first half of the game. During half time, Bishop went to the concession stand to get them all some hot chocolate. The night air was getting a little chilly, and he thought it might help warm them up.

The conversation between Tessa and Bishop flowed easily during the second half of the game. Tessa seemed to enjoy being there with him, and he really liked being there with her. It had been a long time since he’d actually wanted to spend time like this with a woman. She made him realize that he wanted more than just a quick lay from one of the Fallen girls from the club. He wanted to be with her.

The pizza joint they went to after the game was packed. It was a town favorite, and lots of the kids met there on the weekends. They squeezed into a corner booth and placed their order.

“I can’t believe we lost. That just sucks,” Myles said to Drake.

“I don’t see why either of you cares who won or lost. You never watched any of the game. You spent the entire time throwing your football behind the bleachers and flirting with all the girls. Seems like you had a good time either way,” Bishop said to Myles.

“It was fun, but I wasn’t flirting with any of those girls. The only girl I wanna talk to wasn’t there tonight.”

Bishop didn’t push Myles for more information about his new love interest. He decided to save that for when it was just the two of them. He turned to Isabelle and asked, “Did you have a good time at the game tonight?”

“Yes, sir. It was really fun. You know, this place isn’t very fancy. You need to take Momma to someplace nice. Your date needs to be special,” Izzie said with her eyebrows furrowed and a grimace on her face.

Bishop turned to Tessa and noticed that her cheeks had turned an embarrassed shade of red. “I’ll work on that for the next date. You think she will give me another chance?” he replied with a smirk.

“Yeah, you’re really nice. I think she’ll be okay with another try.”

“Sweetheart, this place is just fine. I’m having a wonderful time. Now, stop giving Bishop a hard time and finish your cheese sticks,” Tessa said firmly. Her eyes locked with Bishop’s as he winked, and her shoulders shook as she laughed silently to herself.

After they finished their pizza, they dropped off Myles at their neighbor’s house and took Drake and Izzie home to meet Courtney.

Courtney opened the front door with a wild smile. “What’s up, my lovely couple? Y’all are looking mighty fine. I bet the whole town’s talking about you two tonight. Did y’all give ‘em something to gossip about?” she said giving them a goofy wink.

“Don’t even start, Courtney. We’ll talk when I get back if you’re still up. We’re going to his clubhouse now. Wish me luck,” Tessa said with a worried look on her face.

“I’m sure it’s going to be great. Hopefully, it’ll be late when you get back, and I’ll be asleep. Hint. Hint,” Courtney said as she wiggled her eyebrows.

Bishop took Tessa’s hand and led her out to the truck. Neither of them spoke as he drove them over to the clubhouse. He could tell that she was nervous, and probably thinking all kinds of crazy shit like most women do.

He figured he might as well prepare her a little for what she might run into. “I take it you’ve never been to a clubhouse like this before, right?” he began. Tessa shook her head in response. “It’s not that big of a deal. It’s just a place for the guys to meet up and let off some steam after a long week. They’ll be drinking, playing pool, and acting like delinquents by the time we get there. Most of the guys are pretty cool.”

“I’m looking forward to it. I just don’t want to say anything stupid or act like a complete weirdo while I am there,” Tessa stated, never looking over at Bishop. She kept her gaze focused out the window.

“Just be yourself. I wouldn’t bring you if I thought you wouldn’t like it, or if I thought they might give you a hard time. The girls might be a little harder for you to get along with, but the guys should really like you.”

Tessa’s eyes moved to look over at Bishop and her voice went up about three octaves when she asked, “What girls? Wives or girlfriends? And why wouldn’t they like me?”

“We have some girls that hang around the club. They’re there to hook up with the brothers from time to time, but they aren’t officially with anyone. They tend to get a little possessive when outsiders come in, but Doc’s Old Lady, Melinda, should be there. She’s cool, and she’ll help you get a grip on things.”

“You mean you have groupies or something? Isn’t that kind of degrading?”

“They aren’t groupies. We treat them like part of the family. They might not be tied to us by marriage or claimed as Old Ladies, but we treat them with respect, and they do the same for us. They help out around the club, and we make sure they’re taken care of,” Bishop told her. He hoped that she wouldn’t get upset about the Fallen girls. They were a part of the club, and she would have to accept them if this thing between them was going anywhere.

Tessa paused, reflecting on what he’d said. “So…do you sleep with these girls often?” Tessa asked with a hopeful look in her eye. He knew she wanted him to say no, but he knew he needed to be honest with her.

“I have from time to time, but I can tell you this: I haven’t been with anyone since the day I met you at the school. Those damn skirts you wear have my head all
kinds
of twisted up,” Bishop said as he turned to her with a wicked grin. “None of these girls have anything on you.”

Tessa blushed at the compliment. He couldn’t tell if he’d made things better or worse for her. Now she seemed even more tense. When he cut the engine to the truck, he reached for her chin. He turned her to face him and said, “I had a great time with you tonight, and if you don’t want to stay, we can head out. Just give it a chance.” She visibly relaxed and nodded with a smile. He pulled her closer to him and brushed his lips across hers. He meant for the kiss to be brief, but the moment their mouths touched, he changed his mind. As his tongue stroked hers, she leaned into him, placing one hand on his chest and one behind his neck. He slipped his hands under her ass and pulled her into his lap, never losing contact with her mouth. She dug her fingernails into his shoulder as her moan vibrated through him. She eased her legs around his waist as her hand roamed over his broad chest and up into his hair. She obviously had a thing for his hair. Her hips slowly began to grind into his growing erection. Suddenly, he swiftly pulled away from her, hating the loss of her touch.

“Damn, babe. You keep kissing me like that, and the only place we’ll be going is back to my place.” Seeing the look of confusion on her face, he didn’t wait for her to respond. He opened the door of the truck and helped her down. He took her hand and led her to the clubhouse. He stopped her at the front door and pulled her close to him. He cupped her face with his calloused hands and looked at her intently. “Soon, Tessa. Very soon.” Then, he gave her a forceful kiss, backing her up against the door. Just as she was losing her restraint, he released her mouth. He couldn’t help but smile, knowing how easily she responded to him.

An old country song was blaring from the jukebox, and the loud voices of the men echoed through the room. It looked like any bar you might find in any small town. There was a large L-shaped bar when you first walked in, several dartboards, and a pool table in the back corner. Several tables and chairs were scattered around the room, and there were a few neon beer signs lining the walls.

Crack Nut Bobby and Doc were playing a game of pool, while Renegade and Goliath sat at the bar drinking beer. Two of the Fallen girls, Jessica and Cindy, were with Melinda, Doc’s Old Lady, talking to Otis. He’d been waiting to get patched in for the past few months, and Bishop knew it was time to make him a brother. He was just waiting for the dust to settle after Ace’s death before he brought it up for vote in church. The other prospect, Bulldog, still needed time to prove himself. He hadn’t been with them for very long, and he’d already shown that his temper was his weakness. He needed to learn to rein that shit in if he wanted to become a brother anytime soon.

“This is it. Looks like it’s a pretty quiet night. Let’s head to the bar, and I’ll introduce you to my VP.” Bishop placed his hand on Tessa’s lower back and guided her over to the bar. When Goliath looked over at him, Bishop said, “Hey, guys. This is Tessa. She’s the lady that’s been making Myles do all that hard work after school. She’s been trying to teach him a big lesson by painting and doing crafts,” Bishop said. She slapped his shoulder as he smiled and pulled her over closer to his side.

Goliath’s eyes raked over her. He knew he was a good-looking guy. He was in his mid-forties with dark brown hair and light brown eyes. He worked out every day and had a passion for staying fit. He wanted to be prepared for any shit that might come up with the club. Nobody wanted to fuck with him. He knew how to handle a threat, and most people tried to keep their distance. The ladies seemed to have a thing for his bad boy image, and he always had some girl hanging on him.

“Damn, Bishop. You’re right. Myles does have a hot teacher. Don’t think you did her justice, though,” Goliath said as he reached to shake her hand. His eyes continued to roam over her tight jeans and up to her breasts. With a sexy smile he told her, “If you ever have a lesson you wanna teach me, I’m ready to learn.” He wiggled his eyebrows as she pulled her hand back.

“I might have a lesson or two for you,” Tessa said with a chuckle. “Nice to meet you.”

“Back off, Goliath,” Bishop told him with a glare.