All I Ever Need Is You (15 page)

Adam gently stroked her cheek. “All parents should want their kids to have everything—especially the things they were never able to have themselves. Since love betrayed her, I can see why she wouldn’t want it to do a number on you, too.”

Relief washed over her that he understood so well. “It may also have been the first time she’s ever seen me dancing with a man anywhere near as good-looking as you.”

“Were those her exact words,” he asked with a grin, “or just your take on things?”

“Sometimes I forget that your head is already big enough.” But she couldn’t help laughing with him.

“Speaking of your mom,” he said a moment later, “do the two of you co-own the business?”

“No. Why do you ask?”

“You said something at the wedding that made it sound as if you were still running it with her.”

“My mother loved running the business, but being responsible for creating—and executing—one of the best days of people’s lives isn’t exactly the least stressful career in the world. Colleen was never interested, but since I clearly was, when I graduated from business school, my mother tried to give it to me.”

“You and all those sexy-as-hell biz school brains. No wonder I love scrambling them up so much,” he teased. “But you wouldn’t just take the business from her, would you?”

“How could I? I wanted to make sure she’d be able to live comfortably in her retirement. And even though she’d always been a good saver, I knew that plenty of wedding planners would have jumped at the chance to buy the business from her just to get their hands on her contacts list. I’d had a couple of jobs that paid pretty well through college, so I was able to give her a down payment on what the company was worth along with a percentage of profits. Profits she’ll always deserve for building something so wonderful.”

Kerry had never told anyone so many of the details of how she’d come to acquire the business from her mother. Not even her sister. But it was always so easy to talk to Adam. She knew he wouldn’t judge her. Not when he’d had plenty of reasons to so far, but never had.

He brushed a lock of hair away from her cheek, and just that faint touch of his fingertips sent thrill bumps rising across the surface of her skin. “You talk a good game,” he said softly, “but we both know you didn’t pay her for the business and cut her in on the future profits just to make sure she’d have a comfortable retirement. You keep her as a part of the business because you love her.”

“The business was so much of her life—her whole life, really—for so many years that I didn’t want her to feel like she had nothing once I took over. I want her to feel that if she ever wants to come back and work on a wedding, she doesn’t have to ask, that everything is just as much hers as it’s ever been. And I want to make sure that my standards of excellence are just as high as hers, so that she’ll never be disappointed in the choice she made to turn her blood, sweat, and tears over to me.”

“She’d love you just as much, even if the business went south. You know that, don’t you?”

Kerry wanted to say,
Of course.
Wanted to believe that it was true. But though she nodded, Adam noticed her pause. Because he noticed everything.

“I’m not going to deny that I’ve met plenty of people who give out love tied to strings,” he said, “but though I’ve only met your mother once, I’m positive hers doesn’t come with any. How could it when you’re the kind of daughter every parent dreams of having?”

The spot in her chest that had been tight and achy ever since her mother had shown up at the wedding suddenly loosened.

“How do you do it?” She struggled with the emotion rising within her—a mix of gratitude and breathlessness, leaving her feeling touched and overwhelmed. “How do you always know just what to say to make me feel better when I’m all twisted up in knots?”

“I’m usually the one saying all the wrong things, sometimes on purpose, sometimes by accident. But with you—” His dark eyes burned into her with deep emotion that seemed to equal hers. “With you, everything is easier. Better, too. So much better, Kerry, than with anyone else.”

She’d never needed a kiss more, never wanted to lose herself in one the way she wanted to lose herself in his tonight. But when she heard male laughter coming from behind one wall—a wall that was only barely standing, according to Adam—she made herself draw back.

“I shouldn’t keep you from your work any longer, especially not when I’m sure your guys will be wanting to head home as soon as they can. Text me when you think you might be free again, and we can—”

“Tonight. I can be free tonight in two hours. Three max.”

Her heart leapt in her chest. “Are you sure? Because you—”

“Can’t work these guys too much longer without all of us getting sloppy. And I don’t want another night to go by without you.”

“I’ll be working, too, and I have plenty to keep me busy on my computer at the hotel, so promise me you won’t rush and get hurt.”

“I won’t get hurt,” he promised, but he made no promises about speed.

* * *

Four hours later, Adam finally walked into the hotel suite. He’d texted Kerry several times to let her know how things were coming along, but unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to cut his guys loose until after nine p.m. By the time he’d finished closing up the site and dealing with paperwork that needed to be waiting on county desks first thing in the morning, another hour and a half had passed.

And every single second that he’d been working on the building, he wished he could have been here with Kerry, instead.

The lights were on throughout the suite, and his heart beat faster knowing he was only seconds from having her in his arms. Her name was already halfway from his lips when he saw her.

She was curled up asleep on a dining room chair. Her computer was open on the table in front of her, but the screen had gone dark…and she was so beautiful that his heart turned over in his chest. He swore it literally flipped head to tail, then back again.

A part of him didn’t want to do anything to wake her. Not when she was clearly exhausted. But how could he let her stay in such an uncomfortable spot?

And more important, how could he possibly stop himself from touching her?

There wouldn’t be any wild and crazy sex tonight, but that was okay. It was enough just to get to spend the night with her, even if she slept through the whole thing.

As gently as he could, he lifted her from the chair. She was soft and pliable and smelled amazing as her eyes fluttered halfway open.

“Adam.” Her beautiful mouth curved up as her eyes closed again, and she snuggled into his chest. “You’re here.”

“I’m sorry it took me so long.”

“You’re here now.” He was laying her down on the bed when she opened her eyes again and said, “I’m so glad you’re here with me.” She reached out and put her hands on his face. “So handsome. Sometimes I wonder if you’re even real.”

He’d never seen her like this, halfway between awake and asleep, her words soft and a little bit rounded on the edges. “I wonder the same about you,” he told her. “You’re so beautiful that I lose sleep dreaming about you. So breathtaking that I lose brain cells every time I look at you.”

“I dream about you, too,” she said, her words barely above a whisper. “Every night.” She threaded her hands into his hair. “Dream with me tonight, Adam.”

He already knew he couldn’t refuse her anything. Especially not on a night like tonight, when it really did feel as though some special spell wrapped all around both of them, making the divide between dark and light, asleep and awake, no longer clear.

Their kiss swamped his senses, dragging him deeper into her, then deeper still, until he couldn’t remember a time before her, couldn’t possibly imagine a life after her.

As he nibbled his way down to her exposed neck, she said, “I love the way you kiss me all over.”

“I love the way you taste all over,” he said as he covered her breasts with his hands and she arched into them with a sigh of pleasure. Moments later, when he opened up her shirt and unclasped her bra, her sigh turned to a breathless gasp as he stroked her bare skin.

“I love the way you touch me.”

“I love touching you.” He ran his hands down from her breasts over her taut stomach to unzip her pants. “I love how soft you are.” He slid his hand beneath her panties, and she shivered with need. “I love how sensitive you are.” As his fingers moved over then into her, she instinctively pushed up against his hand.

“I love the way you make me feel, Adam.” Her breath caught in her throat again as he covered her breast with his mouth at the same time as he took her with his hand. “Only you can make me feel this good.”

“I love knowing what I do to you.” He stroked her nipple with one thumb, stroked across the arousal between her thighs with the other. “I love it when you let yourself go for me.” Her gaze locked on his as her inner muscles tightened on him and her breath hitched. “Show me how much you love it, too.”

“Love.”
She whispered the word against his mouth as she arched into his touch, giving herself up to him without holding anything back.

All week long, he really had lost sleep fantasizing about her. And yet, even now, when he needed her so badly that his need was a constant ache throbbing in the center of his chest, the dream-state continued. Each new patch of skin he revealed tantalized. Every sexy sound she made as she opened one button after another on his shirt and ran her hands over his chest titillated.

But the best part of all was watching her smile and hearing her laugh as fabric tangled, as fingers fumbled, as kisses teased.

Finally, when there was practically nothing between them, Adam found himself wishing out loud, “I want to feel you. All of you.” He knew it wasn’t possible. Not tonight, anyway. But that didn’t stop him from wanting to move inside of her, skin to skin.

“I do, too. All of you,” she echoed.

God, it was tempting, so tempting to give in to that urge to be completely connected to her.
Soon
, he promised himself as he put on protection, soon they’d talk about being each other’s one and only. Especially since she was already his, the only woman he ever thought about anymore. The only one who’d ever kept him up at night. The only lover to whom he had ever wanted to give all of himself.

“Love me, Adam.”

Kerry was his dream woman come to life beneath him, her hands warm as she held on to his shoulders, her legs strong as she wound them around his hips and he began to move into her. And then they were rolling over so that she was every one of his fantasies come to life as she straddled and rocked, making the most beautiful sounds of pleasure while moonlight streamed over her.

She brought him right to the edge, then stilled just long enough for him to catch his breath before starting all over again.

Perfect
.

Nothing, no one, had ever been so perfect as this incredible woman who’d just turned the tables on him. He’d always been in control in bed, always taken the lead, but tonight she led him every step of the way, straight toward heaven.

Again and again, she teased him with her curves, her heat, her kisses, until everything blurred in his head. Until his brain stopped functioning altogether, and he was operating on sensation alone.

The next thing he knew, she was on her knees, and he was, too. And, somehow, it was right where they both needed to be, with him right there behind her, taking and giving in equal measure. Her words all ran together in his head.
TakeNowPleaseNeedMore.
But he understood them all, because they were falling from his lips, too.

Sex had never been so wild.

Making love had never been so sweet.

And nothing had ever felt as right as flying out over the edge with Kerry, and then falling back onto the bed with her lithe curves still cradled against the front of his body.

But a few minutes later, as her breathing steadied and she fell asleep with him still spooned against her, he knew he was wrong.

This
felt even more right.

“Adam, I have the most amazing news!”

Kerry stood on the sidewalk with her phone to her ear on Wednesday morning, nearly a week after she’d last seen him at the construction site and their latest hotel suite. She’d been slammed with three back-to-back weddings the previous weekend—Friday, Saturday, and Sunday—and playing endless hours of catch-up in the office the first half of this week made for a really long break since she’d last seen him. Too long.

Especially considering how sweet he’d been about her sister last Friday night. When he’d learned that Kerry had a Friday night wedding, he’d offered to do any Friday night bar pickups if she needed them. Fortunately, Colleen had to fill in at work that night, so neither of them had needed to worry about her getting into trouble at a seedy bar.

Kerry and Adam didn’t have plans to meet again until the following night, but she couldn’t resist calling him with the good news. Could barely even wait to get out of the realty office to dial his number from just outside the building, standing on the sidewalk in sunshine that felt just as warm and happy as she did inside.

“The house is mine! I just finished signing all the papers.”

“That’s great news. I’m so happy for you.” But just from the way he’d said her name, she would have known he felt that way without him needing to say anything more. “Let me steal you away for lunch today.”

“I have a meeting in a few minutes, and another couple this afternoon, but I’m pretty sure I could meet you for an hour at noon.”

“Meet me at the house.”

“The house? The one I just bought?”

He was laughing as he said, “That’s the one. See you at noon.”

* * *

As Kerry got out of her car, she was surprised to find Adam sitting with his back against the old oak tree on a big blanket, a picnic basket beside him.

When he caught sight of her, he quickly stood and pulled her into his arms. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you.” She kissed him then, and it was so natural. So sweet, in fact, that she didn’t stop kissing him for a quite a while.

“If I’m going to get a kiss like that every time you buy a house,” he said when they finally stopped kissing, “I’m going to ask my Realtor sister to show you a few more.”

She laughed, but didn’t move out of his arms. “I’m good with this one, thanks. Although the truth is that you’re probably the only person on the planet who would congratulate me for buying this house.” Not to mention the only one she wanted to celebrate with beneath the big oak tree.

He pulled a champagne bottle from the basket and popped the cork, which went flying off into the mess of the yard that, thankfully, was now all hers to deal with. It wasn’t until he began to pour it that she realized it wasn’t champagne. It was sparkling apple juice.

“I almost brought champagne,” he told her when he caught her surprised expression, “but I thought it would be more fun for our picnic to be more like the ones you had when you were a kid.”

“Oh, Adam.” Her heart felt so full, almost overwhelmingly so. “Apple juice is perfect.”

He held out his glass. “To your new home—and to the two of us bringing it back to its former glory together.”

“I can’t wait,” she said as she clinked her glass against his.

They both sat on the blanket, and even though she hadn’t been to a picnic since she was a little girl, it felt perfectly natural to sit beside Adam and look up into the beautiful branches of the tree that was even more majestic now than it had been twenty years ago.

She should have known that Adam wasn’t done with his surprises as he began to pull out grilled cheese and PBJ and apple slices, all things she guessed he’d probably had on picnics as a kid. But they didn’t look like something a deli would have put together.

“Did you make us these sandwiches?”

“I may not be a great cook, but I’ve always known my way around a sandwich.”

She knew exactly how busy Adam’s schedule was. He wasn’t just one of the most highly sought-after architects in Seattle—his notoriety was international, with clients from every corner of the world beating down his door to get him to work with them.

And yet, he’d taken the time today to make sandwiches for their impromptu picnic.

Kerry immediately thought about her mother, wishing she could see how wonderful a friend Adam was. Although, surely her mother would read more into this picnic than was actually there, so it was probably for the best that she didn’t know about it.

“The sandwiches look delicious,” Kerry said, and when she took a bite of one, she realized he hadn’t been exaggerating his sandwich-making prowess. “I didn’t know peanut butter and jelly could be this good. What’s your secret?”

He grinned at her. “Secrets have to be earned.”

She grinned back, easily guessing the kind of payment he was looking for as she brought her mouth back to his again. She’d take any excuse to kiss him.

“Time to hand over your secret now.”

But he just stared at her lips and said, “Secret?”

Loving being able to scramble his brain with her kisses, she laughed and reminded him, “Your PBJ-making secret.”

He finally dragged his gaze—dark and full of desire—from her mouth. “I grind up the nuts myself. And more than just one kind of nut.”

“Clearly, your genius isn’t only in working with buildings.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were worried about inflating my ego.”

“That was before.”

“Before what?”

The first thing that came into her head was
Before you made my world go topsy-turvy.
But she said, instead, “Before I realized just how modest you really are.”

He shook his head, laughing. “I’m not modest.”

This time she was the one raising her eyebrow. “Any other architect of your stature would take every possible chance to remind the people around him of just how important he is and how ridiculously lucky they are to get to work with him. But instead of doing any of that, you’re here having a picnic with me in front of a house that isn’t grand enough to deserve even an hour of your attention, let alone several months.”

“Grand is overrated.”

Knowing that she was embarrassing him with her compliments, she turned her gaze to the house. “It’s hard to believe it’s mine now.” She couldn’t remember ever feeling this happy before.

“I wish I could have seen the Realtor’s face when you said you wanted to buy it,” he said with a grin. “Did you tell them you’re planning to keep the house, rather than tear it down?”

“They practically said,
Are you sure you really want this place?
They didn’t even try to negotiate. Clearly, they wanted to take my money and run before I changed my mind.” She shook her head. “If only they knew that I had no intention of changing my mind, because this is where I’m meant to be.”

“I agree,” he said in a serious voice. “I mean, your current place is great, and I should know because I worked on renovating the building. But this house, this property, this neighborhood—it’s all really you. Exactly where you’re meant to be.”

This rambling old house would never be the fancy, glossy, expensive place in the “right” part of town. But somehow this street with kids riding by on their bikes and moms pushing strollers and gray-haired women watering flowers in the front yard was really her in a way that nothing else had ever been.

She took in a deep breath of the air, sweet-smelling from the wallflowers in bloom along the side of the property, then took another bite of her delicious sandwich. She was washing it down with a sip of sparkling juice when he asked, “How were your weddings this weekend?”

“They were all good. All three couples are obviously very much in love, and I think things will last.”

“But?”

She shouldn’t be surprised anymore by the way he always heard the things she wasn’t saying, but it was such a rare gift that she still never expected it. “Well, they were different from Jodi and Paul’s wedding.”

“How?”

Normally, Kerry wouldn’t discuss her clients with anyone. But Adam wasn’t just anyone. He was the one person who always seemed to understand her. “Jodi and Paul are best friends in a way that I’m not sure any of the three couples from this weekend are. I just feel like that makes such a difference.”

“From what I can see with my siblings and cousins who are married, I think you’re right on the money. Same goes for my parents. Mom and Dad always turn to each other first because they aren’t just husband and wife, they’re also best friends, which I think has made a difference for them over the years. In fact, this weekend, when I saw my cousin Ryan and his fiancée, Vicki, at the baseball game, they were more gushy over each other than ever—and they’ve been best friends since they were in high school.”

“Did you have a good time at the game?”

“It was great. You would have had fun with us.”

“At a baseball game?” She was surprised that he seemed to mean it. “Do you really think I’d like it?”

“Sure,” he said easily. “Granted, the idea of you in tight jeans and a T-shirt with a beer in your hand is one of the sexiest visions I’ve had in a long time. But,” he added while she blushed, “you’re also competitive enough to really get behind your team. Which is usually the Mariners, by the way. Only when Ryan’s in town do we root for the San Francisco Hawks.”

She’d never had any interest in baseball, but she’d learned not to doubt Adam’s instincts about things. If he thought she was going to love it, odds were good that she actually would.

“Next game,” he told her, “you’ll see for yourself when I drag you there with me. And hopefully the whole crew will be there the way they were this weekend. Although when everyone’s there, it can get a little crazy.”

“Why? Just because there are so many of you?”

“Partly. But mostly because everyone is so damned famous.” He laughed. “Ford is a great guy, and he and my sister are perfect together, but it sure isn’t always easy going places with a rock star. And then when you throw my billionaire brother and his movie-star wife into the mix...” Laughing again, he said, “It can take a while each time to get used to the bodyguards the stadium insists on sending over.”

“Bodyguards?” It suddenly hit her. “Oh, no. I didn’t even think of hiring bodyguards for Rafe and Brooke’s wedding! How could I have overlooked that?”

He put his hand on hers. “You don’t need them. Not for a lake wedding.”

But she was still panicking. “Aren’t some of your cousins famous, too? In addition to Ryan?”

“Doesn’t matter how famous any of them are. No one is going to bother us at the lake. It’s the perfect private spot for our whole family to get together. You have to trust me on this, Kerry. No bodyguards.”

She made herself take a few deep breaths, but it was looking into his eyes that finally convinced her to stop panicking. “I do trust you.” She let another big breath go before saying, “And what I meant to say before I started freaking out about bodyguards, was how great it is that you guys are all so close. It seems like you spend a lot of time together.”

“We always have. They’re a great group to hang out with. Do you have any cousins?”

“My mother was an only child, and my father’s family didn’t stick around any longer than he did.”

“Regardless of whatever went wrong between your father and your mom, he never should have left his children.” Adam looked disgusted. “Something similar happened with my cousins in New York. Their mom walked out one day on the four of them and my uncle.”

“Oh, that’s horrible.” And she should know. “But you just have to move on and try not to let it affect you.”

As she lifted her arm to swat away a fly, she caught a flash of her watch face and realized with no small amount of disappointment that it was later than she’d thought. “I wish I didn’t have to leave for my meeting.” She helped him put away the food and then brushed crumbs off her lap as she stood.

“I’m just glad you were able to squeeze me in,” he said as he also stood. “We’ll celebrate more tomorrow night, okay?” He lowered his voice and said, “
Naked
celebrating. And this time I’ll be sure to have champagne to drink off your skin.”

Tingles ran through her at both the good-bye kiss he gave her and the delicious thought of celebrating in bed with him. “I can’t wait.”

And she truly couldn’t.

* * *

After Kerry left, Adam spent some time walking around the house and property and taking notes. All the while, he thought about the way Kerry had said she’d done her best to move on from her father’s desertion without letting it affect her. But even though he knew how strong, how resilient, she was, he also knew from experience that all the things you tried not to let affect you, still usually did.

Take him, for instance. When he’d been a teenager and his father had lost his job, they’d nearly lost everything. Home—and doing whatever he could to help save it—had never been more important to Adam. To all of them. Adam had been too young back then to actually support the family financially, the way his oldest brother, Ian, had, but he’d still gone out of his way to mow as many lawns as he could. He’d hauled and stacked wood and cleaned swimming pools—anything someone in the neighborhood would hire him for. And going into all those people’s houses had shown him, even more, just how important homes were for families.

Based on what had happened to his family, Adam knew it was no accident that he was fascinated with architecture, specifically reviving old buildings. Second chances were hugely important to him, too, which was why he very rarely built new.

And if he looked at what had happened to Kerry’s family, it was no accident that she was in love with happy-ever-afters and was willing to do whatever she could to help people have the best possible start to their perfect forever.

Adam was so lost in his thoughts that he nearly tripped over a spindle from the railing lying in the middle of the porch. Bending down, he picked it up and was surprised once again by the level of craftsmanship that the original owners had put into this house. They hadn’t cut any corners, not in the design or in the crafting of the house. The only reason it was on the verge of falling down was because of the neglect of some distant grand-nieces and -nephews. Thank God someone like Kerry, someone who loved the house so much, had taken it over.