At some point, Gunner had thrown on clothes, which meant that he had gotten dressed while I was in the shower. When I realized he was wearing slacks and a nice white dress shirt, a burst of ice ran through my veins. I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d heard my conversation with Coyote or my conversation with myself. Neither one would have been any good.

 

Instead of indicating that he had heard anything he shouldn’t have, though, he gently took me by the arm and walked me downstairs.

 

“We need to talk,” he said firmly.

 

I knew it! I was busted. He had found out that I had sent those emails to myself. He knew what I was up to, and I was about to disappear. I was about to learn why he called his MC The Immortal Devils. Hell, just the way he moved in bed was enough reason to call them that!

 

“Is everything okay?” I asked nervously as he guided me down the winding spiral staircase and out the back door to where a couple of plates and glasses of wine waited for us on a table on the patio.

 

“I don’t know yet,” he said, “but maybe we can figure that out while we eat lunch. Please, take a seat.”

 

I was too nervous to eat, but I wasn’t about to turn down his offer. I sat down in one of the small chairs on either side of the little round table. I found that I was incredibly self-conscious with his house staff present. I tried to cross my legs but realized the shirt wasn’t quite long enough to keep from showing me off that way, so I sat with my legs down and closed.

 

“Couldn’t we do this inside?” I asked him. “I’m kind of exposed out here.”

 

“No one is going to notice,” Gunner said, laughing. “Eat,” he said, nodding at my plate. “I had them prepare this with you in mind.

 

I looked down at my plate. It was a salad. I saw two different types of lettuce, spinach, and another leafy vegetable I didn’t recognize, probably kale or something crazy like that. There were cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, and bleu cheese crumbles. I picked up my fork and rummaged through the leaves to see if anything else was hiding in there for me. There was also bacon and grilled chicken, but it wasn’t lying right on top like at restaurants. It had been tossed in with the vegetables, like a sane person had made it.

 

I shook my head and laughed. I was relieved that he hadn’t skipped out on the meat.

 

“What’s so funny?” he asked with a knowing look in his eyes, and I could see he had done it on purpose to see my reaction.

 

“You had me worried there for a minute,” I told him. “I was starting to think this was just rabbit food.”

 

“What gave it away?”

 

“I dug into it to see if there was anything else. I’m glad there was. Is there any dressing?” I asked.

 

“What would you like?”

 

“Ranch or bleu cheese,” I told him.

 

“I’ll get you both.” He put his napkin on the table and got up to go inside before I could stop him and tell him not to bother. He came back a moment later with bottles of both ranch and bleu cheese dressing in his hands.

 

“You really didn’t have to,” I said.

 

“No, it’s fine. We might as well make it as enjoyable as possible, right?” He gave me a look that told me he wasn’t just talking about the salad. That was his philosophy on everything.

 

“So, what did you want to talk about?” I asked as I poured a little bit of both dressings over my salad. Might as well make it as enjoyable as possible, right?

 

“I want you to stay,” he said bluntly.

 

I knew it! That was what I was hoping this was going to be about. I was so thankful that I hadn’t been busted, or that he wasn’t going to call me out for it. He busted me when he found me in the office. But he was asking me to stay! I just didn’t know what to say to that, unfortunately.

 

“I don’t know,” I said hesitantly. “I don’t want to impose.”

 

“You’re not imposing. I really enjoyed last night and this morning,” he started.

 

I felt my face blush. I must have been turning bright red like my hair.

 

“I did, too,” I said modestly, trying to downplay just how much I really enjoyed the sex. “But is that the only reason you want me to stay?” I asked, trying to channel the spurned lover. I was really just messing with him to see what he would say.

 

“Definitely not,” he said. “But let me ask you something. Have you ever done anything like we did last night and this morning?”

 

“Yeah, last night and this morning,” I said between bites of food, unable to resist the opportunity to take a stab at him.

 

“I’ll take that as a no,” he said.

 

“Well, you still haven’t answered my question,” I said, dropping the hurt act and sticking with usual smart-assed tone.

 

“I’m not going to say what you’re trying to get me to say,” he teased, “but I will tell you that I enjoy this right here, too. I enjoy that you challenge me even in conversation. Talking to you is fun.”

 

“Good. I’m glad I’m entertaining. Now, what were you saying about the sex?” I smirked as I returned to my salad.

 

“I was going to say that if you would agree to stay, I would be willing to teach you more about the sensual arts,” he said slowly, in a very seductive tone.

 

Talking to him without underwear on was dangerous. All I had to do was open my legs and he could be inside me immediately. Staying so we could explore each other sexually would be dangerous, too, but it would also give me more time to hunt for clues as to the whereabouts of the Sun Stone.

 

“I’m not sure I understand what you’re offering me,” I told him, mainly because I wanted to hear how he would describe my time with him.

 

“I’m offering more of what you’ve already had. I’m offering you the chance to explore your body with me, your desires. I want to let you explore everything that turns you on and gets you off.

 

His voice and his words were turning me on. I wondered if he knew that. Shit, he probably did.

 

“Are you sure you don’t just want to explore what I can do to get you off?” I teased. “I mean, I wouldn’t mind, because it seems to be working for me, too,” I added quickly, before he could say anything else.

 

“Well, if that’s what you want to do, we can definitely do that, too.” He shot me another of his knowing looks. He knew exactly what I was thinking, because he was thinking it, too. We both knew I wanted him. I wanted him right then. If I hadn’t been feeling bashful in front of his staff, I would have opened myself to him right there on the patio so he could take me as part of his lunch.

 

“There’s so much I want to do that I’ve never done before,” I blurted out in a rare moment of complete and open honesty, sort of like when I told him my real name instead of an alias. A voice in my head started telling me it was time to abort this mission. Surely, Coyote had someone else who could take it.

 

“Well, I want to ask you to stay tonight at least. Take the night to think about it. I have a meeting with the MC this evening. It’s important business stuff, just the founding members, so you will have the house and my staff to yourself. If you need a charger, I’m sure any member of my house staff can get one for you. I just ask that you stay out of my office,” he said with a wink.

 

“Got it, and I’m really sorry about that,” I said, laughing.

 

“No, it’s fine. I don’t mind. But I also ask that you don’t ask the staff for sexual favors, please,” he said with a completely straight face, except I could see that his eyes were smiling.

 

“Well, if you come back tonight, and I’m in the pool house with one of your boys, just don’t interrupt unless you want to join in,” I said with a wink.

 

“You’re bad. I’m going to have to teach you some manners,” he teased.

 

“Please do, but can it wait until after we eat?” I asked in a tempting tone.

 

“Not if you keep talking like that,” he said, playing along.

 

“Fair enough. Okay, I’ll stay the night, and I’ll let you know what I’m thinking in the morning,” I agreed, even though I knew that staying tonight meant I would be staying for good, which was exactly why he had asked me to do it.

 

He was good. He didn’t come across as manipulating, but he didn’t need to. He made me want to go along with his plans so they felt more like my own. All I wanted was to find that diamond, get laid a few more times, and get the hell away from him before he forced me to form a complicated attachment to him by pleasing me beyond my wildest dreams far too many times.

 

“Excellent,” he said with a wide smile across his face. “Well, by the time we finish eating our lunch, you should have some new clothes to try on, and by tonight, your other clothes should be clean. It’s my understanding your dress had to be dry-cleaned.”

 

“Yes, of course,” I said.

 

“Well, you should be good to go by tonight, so if you decide in the morning that you want to leave, you can. I won’t ask any questions,” he told me with a sense of finality in his tone.

 

“Oh, I don’t think that will be a problem,” I told him suggestively as I returned to my salad to finish it.