Sierra

 

I struggled to get my clothes on in the back room of the abandoned house where Gunner had grown up. My body was still shaking from the sudden passion that had flowed through it while he had me pinned against the wall. I felt like I had lost part of myself to him during the sex we’d just had.

 

I pulled my jeans on over my ripped panties and grabbed my shirt from the floor. I had to sit down on the old wooden floorboards to put my socks and shoes back on.

 

“Holy shit, Gunner. What did you do to me?” I blurted out.

 

“Hopefully something good,” he said with a laugh.

 

“It felt good, but I’m starting to wonder. Man, I can’t stop shaking.” I held my hand up for him to help me get up from the floor.

 

He reached down and took my hand in a firm grip. He pulled me up into an embrace with his arms around my waist and shoulders and kissed me. It was a possessive, commanding kiss, but I wasn’t going to complain. Hell, I wanted him to be able to claim me as his.

 

It was just too bad that there was something of his I needed to get for my boss. If not for that, things would have been very different.

 

I felt like he was trying really hard to win me over. He hadn’t said anything about knowing what I was really up to, but I could tell he knew it had to do with the Sun Stone. I wanted to tell Coyote to kiss my ass with that thing.

 

I also needed to get away from Gunner long enough to look at the floorplans and figure out where in the house it was. I didn’t know when that was going to happen, though. We were about to head back to the house to change and go out to dinner. I needed him to get called away to an MC meeting or something so I could have some time alone to search the house again.

 

By the time we made it back to the house, the evening light was beginning to die out. I had to change in front of him and watch while he changed in front of me. He even asked me to keep the door open while I went to the bathroom.

 

He knew something was up, and he wasn’t going to trust me to be alone while he thought I was up to something. I may have said too much when I was being open at lunch.

 

He picked out my clothes for me, putting me in a very nice black evening gown that reached the floor and heels that couldn’t be seen through the long skirt, but he claimed he could tell from the shape of my back that I was wearing heels.

 

I sat back on his bed with my legs crossed and watched him put on a formal black suit and tie.

 

“This is getting awful formal for just a steak dinner,” I commented while I watched him painstakingly adjust his tie in the mirror. It had to be perfect.

 

“You don’t understand. We are going to the finest steakhouse in the city.”

 

“Yawn.” I waved my hand in front of my mouth. “Gunner, when will you get it? I don’t care about your money. I know money. I’ve had money for most of my life. It’s not a big deal.”

 

I got up from the bed and walked up behind him. I leaned to the side to look around him into the mirror and helped him adjust his tie one last time before turning him around to face me.

 

“You impressed me more today by taking me to the house you grew up in than you will ever impress me by showing me how much you can spend on a steak,” I said point blank.

 

“It’s not about the price. It’s about the steak. Trust me. You’ll see what I mean,” he assured me. He ran his hands up and down my arms and kissed my forehead before turning me around and walking me back out of his closet.

 

I watched as he slid on his shoes and turned to check his look one last time in the mirror.

 

“Are you ready?” he asked finally, still facing his reflection.

 

“If you are,” I said with a laugh. “Think you can tear yourself away from the mirror long enough to actually go? I mean, you’re definitely sexy, and you should know that by now without having to look at yourself all night.” I took his arm in mine and started to tug at him jokingly.

 

“Yeah, I guess so.” He sighed. “Besides, I’ve got you to stare at all night. You’re much prettier than I am.”

 

“Not by much.” I winked.

 

A driver met us downstairs in front of the house and held the car door for us to both get in. Of course, Gunner let me in first, and he slid in behind me. The driver already knew where we were going, and he drove us there without a word from Gunner.

 

We rode together in the backseat. His arm reached across the back of the seat, behind me, as I sat against him, with my head on his shoulder. I really hated myself for what I was about to do to him the next time he left me alone in that house, but until I destroyed this attachment, I could at least enjoy it as much as possible, I figured.

 

The restaurant was at the ground floor of a five-star hotel in the heart of downtown, just like everything else he had shown me. After seeing his hometown earlier in the afternoon, I would have rather eaten at a small down-home restaurant there, run by someone who probably remembered when Gunner Kaye was a kid and could tell us embarrassing stories of shit he used to get into around town.

 

I wondered how many times he’d stolen fruits, vegetables, or candy from that corner grocery store, for instance. I wondered what his history was with the store clerk. Maybe he had dated the guy’s sister back in high school or something.

 

There was no history in the white table cloths and golden lights of the best steakhouse in the city. The place was all glitz and glamor, and almost everyone there was probably there more to show off that they could afford it than to enjoy steak that was supposedly worth every penny of its price tag.

 

I had never been one to think much about the difference between ritzy places like exclusive clubs or five-star steakhouses and places like where we had visited on the back of his bike. But since he had pretty much forced me to think about it, I couldn’t help but focus on how odd it was for him to eat at fancy restaurants when he grew up in a town that didn’t even have a grocery store.

 

We were seated in the back, away from everyone else. Gunner ordered their best red wine. I hated it when people ordered like that instead of actually ordering what they wanted. Your best red wine meant the most expensive, regardless of the year or the winery.

 

I took a deep breath. I was being far too critical of him. He was just trying to make sure I had a good time, I told myself.

 

“Should we go somewhere else?” he asked after the waiter stepped away.

 

“No, I’m sorry. I just have a lot on my mind,” I told him. I couldn’t believe I was about to open up to him and let him know what I was thinking instead of saying something completely smart-assed to lighten the mood.

 

“Is everything okay?” Every once in a while, someone asked the right question at the right time, and Gunner had just done that. He could have said something else to keep me from having to put myself out there for him.

 

“I’m still reeling after what you showed me this afternoon.” I started off light. There was so much more to say.

 

“What about it?” He looked troubled, like he expected me to fuss or get mad about where we had gone and what we had done.

 

“It’s just strange to me that you can come from that, from a place that poor, and eat at places like this so often.” That wasn’t quite what I wanted to say, but it was close.

 

“Well, you see how far I’ve come, haven’t you? This place is hardly going to break the bank. As expensive as it can get here, it won’t even register in my bank.”

 

“Don’t brag.” I sighed. “I don’t know how to say it, because today was the first time I’ve ever seen anything like what you showed me. I’ve always lived like this. Even when we didn’t have this kind of money, I was able to use my body to make it happen.” I was giving away secrets! What the hell was wrong with me?

 

“Well, what’s bothering you, then?” He reached across the table and put a comforting hand on mine. “You can talk to me about everything, you know? It doesn’t always have to be snide remarks, challenges, and jokes. It can be serious, too.”

 

“It’s just a huge jump, and I feel like you’re doing all of this to try to impress me when I’ve used my looks—not even sex, mind you, just my looks—to get this from people since I was a teenager. I wasn’t kidding when I said this afternoon was more impressive than throwing money away on fancy dinners. You know, I’d be happy to let your kitchen staff cook for us again,” I told him.

 

“Well, we can go if you’d like.” He raised his hand to summon the waiter.

 

“No, no. I feel better after getting all of that off of my chest. Let’s eat here. I want to try this steak you told me about.” I smiled at him to let him know I meant what I was saying. I hated that we were starting to connect now that I knew the diamond was so close.

 

I let him order for me, since he seemed to be the steak expert, and I sat back sipping my wine while we waited.

 

“Hey, is there anywhere to eat where you grew up?” I asked suddenly while he was looking down at his phone.

 

“Oh, sorry,” he apologized. “I wouldn’t normally do that, but I just got a text from the guys. They’re calling an emergency meeting. I told them I’ll be there after we eat. What were you saying?”

 

I could have allowed it to make me feel insulted, of course, but there was something very genuine about his love for the MC. Letting it distract him from our conversation and our dinner was actually endearing more than insulting.

 

“I asked if there were any places to eat in your hometown,” I repeated.

 

“There used to be.” He narrowed his eyes while he thought about it. “There was this lady named Lois who owned a little restaurant she ran out of her kitchen. She converted the front of her house into a diner.” He laughed and shook his head while he talked. “She basically converted the living room and dining room into a restaurant and built a screened in porch for additional space. Then, she remodeled her kitchen so it could support the restaurant. She converted one bathroom into a guest bathroom, kept her bedroom, and turned her second bedroom into her living room.”

 

“She lived at work?” I asked.

 

“Yeah,” he said thoughtfully. He took a sip of his wine before continuing. “You know, she might still be around. She’d be in her sixties, I think, or somewhere around there. We’ll have to look her up next time.”

 

Next time, he said. I wanted to cry, and I figured it must have shown on my face.

 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, more concerned this time.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine. You’ve just been so good to me, Gunner, and I’m afraid that all that’s going to have to end soon,” I answered, trying to explain how I felt without giving away why I felt that way. I couldn’t tell him that I was about to steal the Sun Stone and never see him again.

 

“It doesn’t have to,” he said. “I’m probably going to regret saying this, because I’ve never really let anyone in, but if you want a place to call home that’s not a hotel suite, I’d be happy to fix up your own space in my house.”

 

“If I stayed there, you know I’d want to stay in your bed,” I told him matter-of-factly.

 

“But you’d need your own closet space and a bathroom or whatever. We’d have to work something out.” He talked quickly, nervously, and took another sip of his wine.

 

“I don’t want to put you out, Gunner. You’ve been really good to me, and I’ve never been one to stay in one place too long, so it’s really not anything personal. It’s just probably going to be time soon.” I nodded as I finished.

 

And I was saved by the steaks arriving.

 

“Oh, finally, I get to see what this best steak in town is all about,” I joked, changing the subject.

 

We ate in silence, partly because of the awkward tension between us, and partly because of how flipping amazing the steak was. It was tender, succulent, and juicy. There was so much flavor in it, and it had the perfect texture as I bit into piece after piece.

 

It made me want to sink my teeth into the man sitting across the table from me. It made me want to put him in my mouth and feel his tender flesh between my teeth and across my tongue.

 

It was a good thing he had a meeting to go to after dinner, or else I was going to make things so much harder by fucking his brains out on the couch downstairs or in the pool.

 

As he finished his food, he sat back and downed the rest of his wine.

 

“Alright,” he said as he got up and dabbed the corners of his mouth with his napkin. “I’m really sorry to have to go like this, but I’ve got to run. The car is outside. You’ll have two drivers with you. I had another one ride my bike out so I could take it to the meeting. Don’t wait up. I’ll be late.”

 

He kissed me on my forehead, such a delicate, tender gesture it broke my heart again.

 

“I’ll see you when you get home tonight,” I told him. “I hope everything’s fine with the MC. Maybe you can tell me about it when you get home tonight.”

 

“I doubt it,” he said as he started to walk away.

 

“Wake me.” I had to throw that last little bit out there.

 

If everything worked out, though, I wouldn’t be at the house waiting for him when he got home.