All I Ever Need Is You (3 page)

She was being silly. Adam Sullivan was one of the most successful architects in Seattle, with beautiful women constantly vying for his attention. He hadn’t actually asked her out again. She was just jumping to conclusions because a secret little part of her wanted him to be pining for her.

But she knew that he had dozens of more important things to take care of than trying to woo her via a couple of cute little boxes full of sugar. Perhaps if he kept sending her surprises, then maybe that would mean that he was actually trying to romance her, but she couldn’t imagine him continuing to take the time to come up with more surprises for a woman he’d only just met and who had turned down his offer to take her out on a date.

For the rest of the day, she deliberately pushed her thoughts of him to the background. But before she shut down her laptop for the night, she made sure to write him another polite email.

Adam,

Thank you for sending me the box of incredible candies. Your cousin truly is a genius and I would appreciate it if you could give me her contact information. Perhaps I could help with the first step in her going pro?

Best,

Kerry

* * *

The next morning, when the delivery man arrived with only one package—a sample of hand-painted dinnerware that she’d ordered from an artist in Oregon—Kerry couldn’t stop the sinking in her stomach. Though it was all for the best that Adam had stopped sending her surprises, what woman wouldn’t want to know she was wanted by a man like him? Even if she wasn’t interested...

But a few moments later, Joe walked back in, carrying another box. One that looked incredibly fragile. “I didn’t want this to get crushed. Not when it’s such a great-looking package.”

Adam hadn’t forgotten her.

Joe had been delivering packages to her for the past couple of years, and she knew he was happily married with two young children. Clearly, by the way he was smiling at her, he was hoping she’d find herself in the same place soon. “There’s no card with this one.”

She frowned. “There isn’t?”

“I looked everywhere in my truck for it just in case it fell out, but I didn’t find anything.”

“Thanks, Joe. I’m pretty sure I know who it’s from, even without the card.”

His eyes twinkled, and though she could see he wanted to ask for more details, he was as professional as ever, simply wishing her a good day before heading out to make the rest of his morning deliveries.

She ran her finger over the lid, trying to guess what could possibly be inside, before finally opening it.

Oh my.

Kerry’s breath went when she saw what was inside, and she suddenly wasn’t so sure she’d be able to get it back any time soon. Not when she was staring down at an impeccably rendered model of Dromoland Castle, which her ancestors had begun building back in the late sixteenth century, made entirely out of candy, cookies, and frosting.

The castle smelled spicy and so yummy that she was tempted to lick the frosting to see if it would taste as good as it looked. Only, Kerry knew she had already given in to temptation one too many times where Adam was concerned. And clearly, another email wasn’t going to cut it today. There was no telling herself, this time, that he was just trying to hook her up with new suppliers for her weddings.

No one had ever had something so amazing made for her before. She couldn’t imagine why he wanted to date her so badly—maybe because she was the only female challenge he’d ever encountered? But despite all the lovely gifts, they hadn’t changed her mind.

A few delicious sweets, no matter how breathtakingly original or perfect for her, didn’t mean he would ever be a stick-to-one-woman kind of guy.

Quickly confirming that her first meeting wasn’t for a couple of hours, she carefully closed the lid on the most amazing gift anyone had ever given her and picked up her purse. It was time to go see Adam in person to thank him for his latest gift.

And to tell him in no uncertain terms that she still wasn’t going to date him.

Kerry had heard of Adam Sullivan long before he’d ever set foot inside her office for their meeting. For most of the past decade, he’d been considered the West Coast’s top architect specializing in historic renovations. In fact, the building she lived in had been one of his first projects.

Still, she wasn’t prepared for how lovely his office was. Not at all big or flashy, like that of an architect whose wedding she’d planned who had practically plated his office walls in gold, Adam’s office was in an Arts and Crafts style building, and as far as she could tell, every piece was preserved. As she ran her hand over the gorgeous wood beam, she had to admit that the fact that he clearly loved history so much was yet another interesting facet to him.

Of course, that was right when he opened the front door and caught her fondling his building. She dropped her hand as if it were on fire.

Darn it, she was even being seduced by his building!

Unfortunately, looking at his gorgeous face didn’t help her snap out of the seduction. What had she been thinking coming here today? A phone call would have worked just as well, and then she wouldn’t have had to shove away this insta-lust that was shooting hot and fast through her veins every time she looked at him.

“Well, this is a nice surprise.” His smile was so warm and sexy all at once that it sent the heartbeat she was working to slow jumping again. “Come inside.”

Glad for the training her mother had instilled in her on how to be poised in any situation, no matter how nerve-racking, Kerry moved past him. The inside was even more stunning than the exterior. “Your office is beautiful.”

“Thank you.” He sounded pleased by her admiration. “I had my eye on it for years and made a dozen offers before the owner finally let me have it. Want a tour?”

She knew she should tell him no and get right to her point, but she’d always been drawn to beautiful things. Something that was going to be her downfall where Adam Sullivan was concerned, if she wasn’t careful. But surely one little office tour wasn’t going to send her swooning into his arms, was it?

“I’d love one.”

He held out his hand to her, and she instinctively reached out to take it. It wasn’t until her skin touched his, and his searing warmth enveloped her, that she realized what she’d done.

Or how natural it felt.

Perhaps swooning in his arms wasn’t so far in the distant future, after all.

He was a natural tour guide as he led her through each room and introduced her to his staff, all of whom seemed to worship him. And when he finally brought her through to his office and handed her a framed picture of what the building had looked like the day it became his—more than halfway to crumbling in on itself—Kerry almost started worshipping him, too.

“You saved it.” She looked from the photo of the decrepit building to his dark eyes. “How did you do it?”

“Blood, sweat, and lots of help from my family. Keeping this picture on my desk reminds me that nothing is ever too far gone to be treated right.”

She looked down at the picture again, and as she turned to take in his private domain, she was overwhelmed by his passion for what he did. Especially since she felt the same way about her career.

Giving herself a mental shake, she put the framed photo back on his desk. “I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m here.”

“Appreciating it, mostly.”

She could feel her cheeks heating even as she said, “First, I wanted to thank you in person for the lovely gifts and to ask where you found the person who made that incredible model of Dromoland Castle?”

“A friend I went to school with decided to stop working as an architect in order to make models out of candy. Pretty damned impressive, isn’t it?”

“I’ve never seen anyone make something that complex or that whimsical all at the same time.” Despite knowing she needed to stay on track with her real purpose for coming to see him, she had to tell him, “Driving over here, I couldn’t stop thinking about how blown away my clients would be if we could hire your friend to make models for them. Maybe of the place where they had their first kiss or where he proposed and she said yes.”

He wrote a number from memory on a yellow pad and handed it to her. “She’s hoping to make a splash with the new business, so if you call, make sure to ask for pictures of her series inspired by her favorite buildings in the Pacific Northwest. Her Space Needle looked so great I nearly didn’t eat it.”

“You
ate
a model she made of the Space Needle?”

“Every last bite.” He raised a questioning eyebrow. “Didn’t you taste your castle?”

“I almost did, but I’m going to force myself to admire it for a little while before I gobble it down Cookie Monster-style.”

His laughter rang out, filling her with even more warmth, even as she knew she was doing a
terrible
job of keeping her walls up around him. He was just so easy to be with, and she couldn’t help but admire what he was doing with his life. Not to mention his heart-tugging devotion to his family.

“Have I mentioned how much I like you, Kerry?”

It was such a sweet thing to say—and so surprising—that she had to take a deep breath, and then another when the first one didn’t do a darn thing to make her less lightheaded. C
learly, he was
brilliant
at this wooing stuff.

“Your gifts were all great. Your office building is amazing. And it’s wonderful the way you’re helping out with the gazebo at your brother’s wedding. But I still can’t go on a date with you.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not in the wedding-planning business for money. I’m not even in it because my mother started this business twenty-five years ago. I do what I do because I believe in love. Love that’s meant to be. Love that will last forever.”

Again, he didn’t look at all ruffled. “It’s good that you believe in what you do. It must be why you enjoy it so much.”

“I really do. Just as I can tell that you love what you do.” Belatedly remembering that she hadn’t come here to talk about the things they had in common, she said, “So now you must understand why we can’t date.”

“Sure. It makes perfect sense. You’re looking for forever with someone and I’m not.”

She’d already known he was direct, but even so,
wow
, she was surprised by his blunt statement. One that was perfectly accurate.

Kerry knew she should be relieved that he got it. That he could clearly see that the two of them could never work in a million years.

But the disappointment she was feeling was a heck of a long way from relief.

“Good,” she made herself say. “I’m glad we both—”

“Want each other.” He moved closer, and even though he wasn’t touching her, her body came as alive as if he’d pulled her into his arms.

No one had ever spoken to her like this. Totally straightforward and honest. So honest that it made her head spin almost as much as breathing in his clean, masculine scent did.

“What are we going to do about how much we want each other, Kerry?”

A dozen naughty visions ran through her head of the two of them tangled up in each other, his hands in her hair, his mouth on hers.

Still, her reply was, “Nothing.”

“Really?” He let his question hang between them, right alongside all the sparks and heady desire that they were generating from nothing more than a conversation in his office. “Do you really think
nothing
is an option?”

There were few things Kerry appreciated in a person more than honesty. So maybe that was why his question made her stop and think instead of blurting out another automatic refusal. Really think for a few moments about everything he was suggesting.

If he had pushed her in any other way—if he had tried to pin her against his desk and kiss her into changing her mind—then she would have been able to reject him again outright. But the truth was that her body was humming just from being this close to him.

And, if she was being completely honest with herself, as much as she wished it were otherwise, he was right: Not going out on a date with him wasn’t going to make this intense, if irrational, desire go away.

But could she do it? Could she take what she was fairly certain he was offering? Sex with no emotional strings. The option to scratch the itch with no expectations of anything more. No future. No forever.

Nothing more than pleasure.

Excitement fluttered within her belly at the shocking thought. Excitement that she could no longer deny had been building more and more within her since the moment their eyes had met in her office.

Kerry had never let herself entertain the idea of a sex-only relationship with anyone, not when she’d always been sure that someone would make the mistake of falling and that at least one heart would end up broken. Probably hers.

Any way she looked at things, though, she couldn’t see herself ever falling in love with Adam.

Yes, he had a knack for sending the perfect gift. And he was also clearly devoted to his family. His brain was impressive, too. But she was looking for a life partner. For the one person she could trust no matter what. For the man who not only meant everything to her, but for whom she meant everything, too.

And Kerry couldn’t imagine a world where Adam Sullivan would ever look at
any
woman like that.

Which meant, she was shocked to realize, that he was actually the safest possible man for her to enjoy a purely physical relationship with. Just long enough to scratch this itch that had been driving her a little crazy for the past three days. And then, when they both decided to go their separate ways, no harm would have been done to either of them.

All because love was absolutely out of the question.

In the span of several heartbeats, excitement shifted to heady anticipation. She’d come here to turn him down once and for all, and the truth was that she had done that. They weren’t going out on a date. No romance. No expectations barring having a really good time getting naked with the sexiest man she’d ever met.

Adam continued to wait patiently for her response, even though she was certain he could hear her careening thoughts as loudly as if she were yelling them. And Kerry decided that if she was going to make this decision, she was going to do it with total confidence.

The knowledge that there would be no tears shed for Adam Sullivan at any point in the future made it easy to push back her shoulders and tilt up her chin so that she was nearly eye to eye with him in her heels.

“One night.” She liked the sound of the two forbidden words more than she ever thought she could. “One night of just s—”

She halted on the word as her brain finally caught up with her mouth. But even though this conversation was unlike any she thought she’d ever have, she couldn’t stop there. Not now. Not when the biggest, craziest leap of her life was suddenly—and desperately—calling to her.

“Just sex,” she finally finished in a steady voice. “With no expectations of more.”

“What if we both want more than one night?”

Her eyebrows went up. Was he actually negotiating with her?

Although the truth was that his endless nerve had her body heating up just as much as everything else about him did. Her smile grew a little bigger as she said, “As long as we both always know it’s just sex.” She was pleased by the way the words
just sex
rolled from her lips so much more easily that time.

His own smile came slow and hot then, and she was as close to swooning as she had ever been as he said, “Not just a nice surprise. The best damned one I’ve ever had.”

The things he could do to her with words had her wondering just what he was going to be capable of once mouth and hands and naked skin were involved. And oh, wasn’t it lovely to know that she was actually going to find out?

Still, their negotiations weren’t over yet. “Your brother and Brooke can’t know. None of your family can know, either.”

Now
his
eyebrows were going up. “You want me to be your secret?”

“Rafe and Brooke are very important clients. I won’t jeopardize their wedding for any reason.”

“Not even for hot sex with me?”

Honestly, by now she didn’t want to walk away, not when her body was already humming and buzzing with desire. But if he couldn’t even agree to this? “If you won’t keep it a secret, then it looks like you and I won’t—”

“How many siblings do you have?”

Frowning at the sudden change of subject, she said, “One. A sister.”

“Then you’ve got to know just how good family is at getting up into your business and sniffing out anything even remotely secret. Fortunately, I have a few tricks of my own.” He grinned, more than a little wickedly. “You want us to keep each other a secret, then that’s what we’ll do.”

“Good.” She was pleased, turned on...and out of her depth all at the same time. Which meant that she needed to turn back to what she knew better than anything else—putting together meetings and calendars. “Are you free Friday night?”

His nod was so easy that she had to wonder how many times he’d done this before. Then again, it didn’t matter, did it? Because there was no place for jealousy in one night of sex.

Instinctively knowing they shouldn’t bring anything personal into it, she said, “The Four Seasons is halfway between our offices.” She’d been meaning to check out the recent renovations they’d made to the location for her clients. Her night with Adam could also double as research for her business. Perfect.

“I’ll make the reservation,” he said.

“Thank you.” This was good, their being so businesslike and efficient. It was as far from setting up a date as she could imagine. “I should be able to get there by seven.”

But
businesslike
and
efficient
went out of the window as he took another step closer to her, reaching out to brush away a lock of hair from her shoulder. Even through the layers of wool and silk, she could feel the heat of his touch, and barely fought back a shiver of need.

“Seven will work for me,” he said, “although I hope you don’t have anything you have to get to in the morning. Because I’m not planning on letting you get much sleep, Kerry.”