Checkmate With Bishop: A Hellions MC Novel by J. A. Hornbuckle Page B

into my pockets as he opened the outside door.  “We can talk more then.”
    “Sleep sweet, babe,” he said on a deep note, using the same words, said with the same inflection I’d heard every night for five years.
    “You too, Stan,” I called back, allowing my eyes to follow him as he walked to his bike, his shoulders in counter-rhythm to his hips.  God, he was still gorgeous but with a mature handsomeness, more confidence which made him twice as sexy as he used to be.  “Be safe, honey.”
    I saw his feet stutter and his shoulders square but he didn’t turn around when I spoke.  Just lifted two fingers of his right hand which he flicked my way.
    The typical good-bye of an ever-so-cool Hellion biker.
     
     

Chapter Nine
     
    Bishop’s mind was a muddle as he rode the sleepy streets of Missoula, making his way home after seeing Dory.
    Christ! 
    His beautiful ex-wife had only gotten better in the years she’d been away.  Not that she hadn’t been the stuff of dreams when they’d been married.  But the woman she’d grown into blew that innocent young thing right out of the water.
    What had she gone through to give her that level of poise, that kind of confidence?  Because he sure as shit didn’t believe it was just from being a mom.  Although, after meeting J.R., Bishop could understand raising that kind of kid could force a person to step up their game.
    Jesus, the kid was a pistol.  Smart and so sure of himself, much more than Bishop had been at that age.  And could think on his feet, if the way he’d responded to Bishop’s wink as they’d been introduced was any indication.  Bishop didn’t think Dory would appreciate knowing her son had called him on the sly and had winked to tell J.R. that he wouldn’t be a snitch about it.  The kid’s nod in response was clue enough that Dory would be kept in the dark.
    He pulled into his driveway and stowed his ride in the detached garage, his brain still working through their meeting.  A meet that hadn’t been arranged or planned to death before it happened.  But he hadn’t been able to wait, hadn’t been able to stay away knowing that she was in town.
    He’d been on pins and needles all day aware, so very aware his Dory was on the road, making her way back to Missoula. 
    Or to him, if he was gonna go the self-honesty route.
    So much so he’d had to take notes at the attorney’s office, his brain unable to take in all the info while it was filled with memories of Dory and of the ‘them’ they used to be.  But he’d notated all the points the legal-beagle had made, of the documents that needed to be supplied and of the decisions he would have to make regarding tying up the loose ends of his life.
    Letting himself into the house, Bishop briefly scanned the rooms finding the kitchen completely gutted.  It seemed as if the Hellion crew had put in a full’s day work, finally getting the last of the old removed.  There was a certain symmetry to it, he decided.  On how his past, the scattered bits of his life were being put in order on so many different levels.
    He hung up his cut on the rack attached to the wall by the door and made his way down the hall to his bedroom.  But it was all done by rote, out of habit because his mind was still filled with the images of her, of the sound of her voice and her laughter as they’d talked.
    And, Christ!  The things they’d talked about. 
    He would’ve bet his fucking bank account she’d never want to talk about the Hellions.  Not since so many of their fights had been over his involvement with them as a recruit and for her to ask about them had stunned him to his core.  She hadn’t even asked him to remove his motherfucking cut, for god’s sake!  The one thing she’d screamed at him, telling him in no uncertain terms had no place being worn in her presence back in the day.
    Shit, what a difference a few years made!
    Shucking out of his t-shirt as he moved, Bishop was assailed by the smell