But Adam didn't dig into the food with everyone else. Instead, he told her, "I've made a few notes about the blueprints for the house we looked at last week. I know you love it as is, but there are a few things we should discuss. The blueprints are in the next room."
He took her hand and led her through to another construction zone. Kerry thought it was fairly easy to make beauty out of things when they were already in order, but she'd always been amazed by anyone who could find order in a mess like this.
Adam Sullivan was clearly a magician, one who wasn't scared off by a ton of work and a boatload of cleanup. Nor was he put off by digging through the rubble to find the beauty waiting many layers down.
He shoved a heavy door halfway closed, which was as far as it could go, and then they both moved into each other's arms at the same time. His hunger, her need--they were both so strong that the building could have started to fall down around them and neither would have noticed or cared. Not when they simply couldn't get enough of each other's mouths. Not when their hands couldn't touch enough skin. Not when she could have listened to him say her name over and over again for the rest of her life and never tire of hearing it.
And not when her week without him finally ended in the most perfect way--with his arms around her and her arms around him.
"I'd rip off all your clothes right now if I didn't know that my guys would enjoy it way too much knowing what we're up to in here."
"Maybe I'm supposed to care, but right now I don't. I just want you, Adam. That's all I want. Just you."
Heat flared in his eyes at her words, and his mouth came down on hers so hard it should have hurt, but all she could feel was pleasure. The pleasure of being with the only person she'd ever truly been free with--the man who had shown her how much beauty there was in that freedom.
Unfortunately, he dragged his mouth from hers a few moments later. "Forget my guys outside. Swear to God, if I didn't think this room would actually cave in around us, I'd already be inside of you."
Her breath caught in her throat at his wickedly hot words.
"That sound is going to fuel my fantasies for a hell of a long time. Especially," he said as he bent his head to her neck, "if I can get you to make it again right now."
The delicious feel of his stubble along the sensitive underside of her chin as he nipped and kissed her easily had her gasping with pleasure. But instead of pulling her closer, he put his hands on her shoulders and made both of them take a step back.
"I'll never forgive myself if I get us both killed here tonight. Or if anyone walks in on us and sees you like this." His eyes were impossibly dark and intense. "Your passion, your sensuality--they're all mine, Kerry. Mine."
She took a deep breath, and then another, knowing he was right and that they should behave more prudently. But after a lifetime of prudence, it was a lovely thing, frankly, to be risky every now and again.
Especially when it felt like he was hers, too.
"Besides," he added while she tried to get a grip on herself, "I wasn't kidding about my guys. I'd bet money on the fact that right now they're all talking about how gorgeous you are and what a lucky sonofabitch I am to get to spend even five minutes alone with you."
She would have blushed if her skin hadn't already been so flushed from his kisses. "They're just happy about the food."
"You really don't have the first clue, do you? No idea at all how beautiful or how sexy you are."
He brushed the pad of one thumb over her lips, and it was the most natural thing in the world for her to lick out against it, making him growl low in his throat as he barely managed to hold himself back. She did it again, partly because she wanted him so bad, but also because a secret part inside of her thrilled at knowing she could turn a man like Adam inside out with nothing more than the flick of her tongue against his skin.
"Just so you know, I'm using up every ounce of my self-control right now. You'd better prepare yourself, because things are going to get crazy once I finally get you naked."
She smiled so big her cheeks hurt. "I can't wait." And when he smiled back, just as big, she said, "I missed you this week." Her week would have been perfect if only he'd been a part of it.
"I wanted to cancel all of my meetings this week," he told her. "But I knew you didn't want me to be sitting in on all of yours."
She laughed, enjoying the picture of Adam crashing her client meetings, her weddings. He would be the very definition of a bull in a china shop. Despite that, she knew she would love every minute of having him there.
"Actually, it was really fun having you at the wedding on Sunday. Even if," she added, "my mother wasn't too pleased with me for kicking up my heels with one of the guests for a few minutes. I'm sorry if she made you feel at all uncomfortable. I'm sure she didn't mean to be quite so..." Judgmental was the right word, but she hated even saying it out loud to Adam now that she knew the real man behind the gorgeous face and charming grin. "So protective of me. She's always been like that with me and Colleen."
"Trust me," he said, "with a little sister and a zillion female cousins who are too pretty for their own good, if there's one thing I get, it's being overprotective. The only thing that would have upset me about my conversation with your mother would have been if she wasn't worried about you. Of course she wants the best for you."
"It's just..." Kerry had never told Adam about her father. She'd never really spoken to anyone about him, actually, not even close friends. Somehow, everyone had understood that the topic was off-limits. But when she was with Adam, all those usual limits just seemed to disappear. "My father walked out on us when I was a little girl. Just up and left. I don't know why. I don't even know if my mother knows exactly why. I guess he was just bored with having a family. And we never heard from him again. That's why my mom built her business--to save us. And that's also why she's always been so adamant about me and Colleen not getting involved with the wrong guy, because it's exactly what she did."
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 h
e 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.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
"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.