Free Cheat (Karma Inc. Book 1) by Gillian Zane Page A

and chat. Endless orders of low carb beer and pinot noir took over my world. When the DJ packed up, the crowd at the bar thinned a bit and I had time to take a breath.
    Bishop obviously had a bit of downtime on his side too, because he was chatting up a cute blonde who was nothing but smiles for him.
    “Cassidy!” he called me over.
    I walked over to the two with a questioning look on my face. He hadn’t introduced me to any of his conquests before, besides his girlfriend.
    “This is my little sister, Bev. Bev, this is Cassidy.” The blonde stuck her hand out with another huge grin and I took it, my face slipping into a grin reflexively.
    “Bev goes to Loyola, she’s going to be a lawyer,” Bishop said with obvious pride in his voice.
    “Wow, Loyola, that’s a great college,” I said nodding my head as Bishop launched into how Bev could argue her way out of anything and would make a wonderful lawyer.
    “I’m not there yet,” she blushed. “I still have to make it through these finals, and then get into law school.”
    “It was nice to meet you, Bev,” I said as I noticed the pile-up had started back at my side of the bar again.
    “Nice to meet you too, Cassidy,” she said and turned back to her brother. “About that application. It’s going to cost sixty, just for the application, can I…” Their voices faded as I got further away. I did see Bishop reach in his pocket and pull out a wad of cash and hand it to her. She leaned over the bar and hugged her brother in a tight embrace. I had found Bishop’s weakness.

Chapter 15
Pancake Breakfast
    “ Y ou in the mood for pancakes?” Bishop asked as he locked the door of the bar. His sister stood next to him and nodded her head eagerly.
    “Who isn’t in the mood for pancakes?” I responded.
    “That sounds good,” Porter, the new bar back said, joining us on the sidewalk outside of the bar.
    “Great, we’re going over to Igor’s Pancakes, want to come? You can ride with us,” Bishop said to me.
    “Perfect.” I followed him to his sister’s car, sitting in the back so he could sit up front with his sister.
    The place was a hole in the wall, but it was large and open twenty-four hours a day, breakfast always served. Our waitress was animated for it being the middle of the night. Porter’s girlfriend joined us. He introduced us, but I forgot her name almost immediately. They huddled on the far side of the table, whispering and groping each other under the table. Must be a new relationship.
    The conversation between me, Bishop and his sister was animated and entertaining. Even though we had all had a long night, we were still wide awake and ravenous. I did notice Bishop was different tonight though. With his sister around he interacted with everyone differently.
    The most obvious difference was that there were no flirtations between us, no double meaning innuendoes. No sex-driven comments or sidelong glances. He didn’t even flirt with the waitress, even though it looked like she wouldn’t have minded his attention.
    He was behaving like a gentleman in front of his sister, which pissed me off because it showed he knew better. I had to admit, though, this knowledge was useful. I could use his sister against him. He wanted to be the gentleman in front of her, not his usual lecherous self.
    After we finished our pancakes, Bev stood, fixing her outfit.
    “I have to go, everyone, thank you so much for breakfast.” She made no attempt to leave money for the bill. Big brother would cover her.
    “It was nice meeting you, Bev,” I called.
    “It was! I would stay, but I have my last final tomorrow and I have to get my rest. Can’t be tired.” She laughed and hugged her brother when he stood up to walk her out.
    “We’re still going to the beach house for the weekend, right?” Bishop asked as he walked her to the front of the restaurant.
    “Yes, we can go right after your shift. I’ll come with Angela to pick you up on Thursday,” she responded,