by Bella Andre
And, of course, he gave her everything she wanted.
Just the way he always had before.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Kerry was surprised to find sunlight streaming over her when she woke the next morning. Woke in a strange bed, no less. One that she didn't recognize. Not until it all came rushing back to her as she came fully awake.
Adam.
Feeling like the sun had finally come out again when she'd seen him after too many days apart. Running into his arms. Making love with him in the lake. And then the shower. And then again in this bed.
She wanted to stay wrapped up in the sheets, under the beautiful quilted comforter, and just let herself stay steeped in his scent and her memories of how good it had been to be back in his arms. But she was here to put on a wedding, so when she saw by the small clock on the bedside table that it was already ten in the morning, she jumped out of bed.
She hadn't been sleeping well all week without him and knew she must have crashed after that last time he'd made love to her, slow and sweet. That third time, he hadn't been in a rush, had seemed determined to give her more pleasure than she'd ever guessed was possible for any one person to feel. Again and again, he'd taken her to the edge, then over, until she'd lost track of where one orgasm ended and the next began. And then, when he'd finally taken her...
She lost her breath all over again just remembering how it had felt as though Adam was giving her everything, his heart and soul, in those beautiful moments. But even as more pleasure took her over, even that pleasure took a backseat to the emotion pumping from him to her.
So much emotion that she could still hardly believe it. Could all of that really be for her? And if it really was, could it possibly last?
Looking around the small sun-filled bedroom, she saw her bag standing against the door and realized Adam must have brought it in from her car. How long had he been up? And where had he slept last night?
Knowing she couldn't risk running into any of the other Sullivans looking like she'd just fallen out of bed, she went into the connected bathroom and took a quick shower. After putting on her clothes and making sure her makeup hid the remaining vestiges of her sleepless week without Adam, she went out in search of him. On her way down the hall, she saw that the sheets in the guest bedroom were rumpled and his clothes from yesterday were on top of it.
God, she was so confused. More confused and conflicted by what she wanted, and what she thought she shouldn't want, than she'd ever been in her entire life.
Turning the corner into the kitchen, she saw Adam standing by the corner windows. He was looking out at the lake, but she couldn't stop looking at him.
There was a smile on his lips when he turned around and said good morning, but she could see all the questions in his eyes, and knew that he was waiting for her to make her decision--to be with him for real this time. Or not.
"You should have woken me up," she said, her words seeming far too loud, too hard, for this beautiful morning on the lake. But she was nervous. And Adam Sullivan had always thrown her off her game. "We never talked last night, and I promised you that we would."
"You needed the sleep." He put his coffee cup down and began to move across the room to her, making her heart pound even faster than it already was. "You didn't even wake up when I made myself go and sleep in the other bedroom."
"You didn't have to go."
"I didn't want to. Leaving you in the bed alone was the last thing I wanted to do, but since we hadn't talked yet--"
A knock sounded at the door, startling both of them. Frustration rode Adam's features as he went to open it. Rafe and Brooke--whose wedding happened to be the reason she was here at the lake in the first place--were standing on the front porch.
*
"Yay, I'm so glad you're here!" Brooke rushed inside to give Kerry a hug. "Rafe and I saw your car and wanted to make sure to welcome you properly."
It was clear to Adam that Kerry was glad for a few moments to try to gather her composure while she hugged Brooke and Rafe hello. From the moment he'd turned to see her standing on the threshold of the kitchen, he'd been able to see the wheels of her mind spinning like crazy.
"I got in late last night," Kerry explained after the greetings were done. "I'm actually supposed to be staying at the Inn on Main Street."
Guessing that she felt that she needed to justify why she'd clearly spent the night here with him at his parents' lake house rather than at her planned lodging, Adam added, "I could see that she was tired from the drive from Seattle, so I convinced her to crash here last night."
Kerry shot him a grateful glance, and he went to pour her a cup of coffee. Every second of the night after leaving her alone in the bed, he'd wanted to go back to her bedroom. But though he hadn't gotten any sleep, he was glad to see that she looked far more rested than she had last night. It had worried him to see her that tired--and to know that he had to be the reason for it.
He'd meant it when he told her mother all he wanted was to make her happy. The thought of making her sad destroyed him.
But though she'd initially been flustered, both by seeing him in the light of day after their long night of lovemaking and then by Rafe and Brooke showing up at the door, he was impressed by the way she shifted back into professional mode. This was his brother's big wedding weekend, and no matter how much Adam wanted time alone with Kerry to give everything he had to convincing her to be with him, he would never forgive himself if he did anything to ruin his brother's wedding. At this point, he was just grateful to be near the woman he loved for the next three days.
Patience, which had never been his strong suit anyway, was nearly killing him this week.
"How are you both doing?" Kerry asked Brooke and Rafe, her slightly flushed cheeks the only sign that she was at all ruffled by Adam being in the room with her. "I can't wait to go over everything with you today."
"We're good," Rafe said as he drew Brooke close and kissed his bride, then kissed her again before letting her go. "Real good."
Kerry beamed at them. "I'm so glad to hear that." Tires crunched on the gravel outside just then, and she looked at her watch. "That must be the delivery trucks with the rental furniture. Let me just direct them where to put everything, and then the three of us can sit down to run through the plan for the weekend." She turned to include Adam. "We should also figure out exactly where to put the gazebo. It's absolutely amazing, Adam, and I want to make sure we have it in just the right spot."
Kerry hadn't quite made it to the still-open front door when his parents, rather than the delivery people she'd been expecting, stepped onto the porch.
"Rafe! Brooke! Adam!"
His mother and father looked thrilled to see them, just like always. It didn't matter if only twenty-four hours had passed since the last time they'd been together. Adam never had to question his parents' love for him.
But Kerry had done exactly that for more than twenty years with her father. And, now that he knew her so well, it wasn't hard to guess that losing her father's love had made her feel as though she should question everyone else's love for her, too. Not only that of her mother and her sister, whom she was continually afraid of disappointing--but Adam knew his love was the biggest question of all for Kerry.
Max and Claudia Sullivan both turned to Kerry at the same moment, and Adam made the introductions before anyone else could. "Mom, Dad, this is Kerry Dromoland."
His mother held out her arms, and Adam was glad to see how readily Kerry walked into them. "It's so nice to meet you, Kerry. I've heard such wonderful things about you."
His father stepped in next, holding out his hand to shake hers. "It really is a pleasure to meet you. Truly."
Quickly pulling herself together yet again, Kerry smiled at them both. "I'm sorry we haven't met before this. I've really been looking forward to meeting both of you, too. I know you must have heard this a thousand times before, but you have extraordinary children."
"Thank you."
&nbs
p; Adam's mother looked very pleased with Kerry, and Adam knew she was already trying to figure out what her grandchildren would look like from a combination of Kerry's and Adam's features.
Normally, that would have bothered him. But now? Hell, he was wondering the exact same thing. More than wondering, actually--more like ready to get going with making those kids with Kerry and starting the family that he'd never wanted before, but now couldn't see a future without.
"We don't want to get in your way, Kerry," his father said, "but anything you need help with, I want you to promise that you'll let us know. Anything you need, no matter how big or how small--don't hesitate. As far as we're all concerned, you're one of the family this weekend, and we couldn't be more pleased about it."
Kerry continued to smile at his parents, but Adam was so attuned to her that he felt the emotion well up in her as if it were his own. "Thank you so much. That means the world to me." When the actual delivery truck came just then, she rushed out.
Rafe and Brooke followed her, leaving Adam with his parents.
"She's beautiful, Adam." His mother was still watching Kerry from the living room window. "Even from meeting her for a few minutes, I can see that her beauty isn't just on the outside."
"I agree," his father said, but the questions in his eyes for Adam were crystal clear.
"No one knows about us," Adam told them both. "No one but you two." He ran a hand roughly through his hair. "And right now, honestly, there isn't anything to know. I'm crazy in love with her, but--" He bit back a frustrated curse.
His mother came to put her arms around him. "The way you look at her--and the way she looks at you when she doesn't think anyone else can see. Honey, I don't have one single doubt that you two belong together. She'll see it soon, too. I know she will. Some things just take time to work themselves out. Just try to have a little patience. And faith that what your heart knows is true really is."
"Patience." Adam growled the word as though it were the worst thing in the world, and his parents both laughed.
"Come on," his father said. "Getting that heavy furniture set up according to the plan your beautiful wedding planner came up with is sure to help keep your mind off things for a little while."
But even though Adam knew his parents were right about having patience and faith, they were totally wrong about one thing.
Nothing could pull his thoughts away from Kerry.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Kerry felt like she'd blinked, and suddenly the big family dinner was about to begin.
It had been one of the busiest days she'd ever spent getting ready for a wedding. Not only because of the work she'd had to do to get things in place for the huge family dinner on the beach tonight and for tomorrow's wedding, but also because she'd met so many famous--and best of all--truly nice Sullivans that her head was spinning.
Sullivans had come from all over the country for Rafe and Brooke's wedding. Adam's four siblings from Seattle and his parents, Max and Claudia, were there, of course. Adam's siblings alone were impressive enough with Rafe, the private investigator, and Brooke, a chocolate-maker extraordinaire; Mia, the Realtor, who was married to Ford, one of the biggest rock stars in the world; Ian, the billionaire businessman, and his movie star fiancee, Tatiana; and Dylan, who was renowned for his hand-built yachts, his writer wife, Grace, and their toddler son, Mason.
But then there was the San Francisco crew--Chase, the famous photographer, his quilter wife, Chloe, their young daughter Emma, and new baby, Julia; Marcus, the winemaker, and his pop star wife, Nicola; firefighter Gabe, his numbers-whiz wife, Megan, and their daughter, Summer, and baby, Logan; Irish pub owner Jake, his librarian wife, Sophie, and their toddler twins, Smith and Jackie, who had been making everyone laugh all day long with their antics; race-car driver and auto mogul Zach and his dog-trainer fiancee, Heather; movie star Smith and his fiancee, Valentina, who co-wrote and produced movies with him; and choreographer and dancer Lori, with her rugged cowboy husband, Grayson. What's more, their mother, Mary Sullivan, was one of the warmest people Kerry had ever met.
Kerry had already met Adam's painter cousin, Drake, but today she'd also had a chance to meet the rest of the cousins from New York, all of whom had come without dates. Suzanne was a computer genius, Alec built luxury planes, and Harrison was a professor. Kerry had also enjoyed meeting Adam's Uncle William and watching Max and William together, brothers who were still obviously close even though they lived on opposite coasts.
Adam's cousins and his Uncle Edward from Maine had only just arrived before the rehearsal, so she hadn't had a chance to chat with them yet. Which was probably just as well, because she was already on name overload. Tomorrow morning she'd be fresher and would be able to get to know all of them, too.
Again and again throughout the day, she'd been struck by how close, how solid, the Sullivan family was. None of them seemed to care that they were an extremely famous and successful bunch. The only thing that had mattered to any of them during the day had been who could make the biggest cannonball splash off the docks and who had more hot-dog-roasting skill.
Kerry honestly never thought she'd live to see movie star Smith Sullivan go head-to-head in a paddleboarding contest with rock star Ford Vincent. A contest that ended with both of them trying to dunk the other and everyone else laughing their heads off from rowboats and kayaks before getting in on the fun.
Now, for the family-only dinner, Kerry had strung fairy lights across the beach and placed the tables beneath them. With the moon and stars shining down and the water lapping on the shore, it was one of the most romantic locations she'd ever seen.
Kerry wouldn't normally have been at the rehearsal dinner, but Brooke and Rafe had insisted on it. Knowing she wouldn't be working for the next couple of hours meant that she could finally take a few moments to sit back and sip a glass of wine while enjoying the beautiful location.
She had been to the lake once before, right after Rafe and Brooke had hired her, so that she could see what she'd have to work with for the wedding and reception, and had been amazed by its beauty. But now that she'd spent twenty-four hours here in and out of both Rafe and Brooke's cottage and their parents' house next door, now that she'd sunk her toes into the warm sand, now that she'd been in the crisp, clear lake--she'd fallen just as much in love with Lake Wenatchee as the rest of Adam's family. No wonder Rafe and Brooke had decided to settle here full time. And Adam had been right about the private location. They definitely didn't need any bodyguards here.
Or maybe it just seemed so romantic to her because the previous evening had been pure romance from start to finish as Adam had showered her with love any way he could--with words, with his body, with love radiating from his eyes, with every touch of his hands on her skin, with every single kiss.
Adam didn't have a plus-one, so it had made sense for Rafe and Brooke to suggest that she sit next to him at dinner. He hadn't come to the table yet, but she'd seen flashes of him in constant motion all day long. Usually alongside his father, who had clearly meant it when he'd said, "Anything you need."
Just like Adam. Because he'd always been there for her, hadn't he? No matter what, right from the start, without question or hesitation. He'd helped her with the gazebo, her sister, the house.
And then last night, she'd desperately needed him, and he'd been there to catch her in his arms and make everything that had felt so wrong when they were apart right again.
But all day long, not being able to actually sit down and talk through everything with him had made it all feel wrong again. Not their lovemaking last night, but the distance that still lay between them. Distance that she'd deliberately put in place a week ago when she'd been so sure that they couldn't be together.
Only, what if she was wrong? What if her mother was right about first impressions being wrong sometimes? And what if sometimes the most right thing in the world was the most unexpected? Not to mention exhilarating and frustrating and addictive?
With the din
ner starting in less than five minutes, Kerry was heading across the beach to take her seat when she heard delighted giggling. She turned to find Adam standing in the middle of the gazebo, holding little Emma and Jackie in his arms, one on each side.
He had showered off the hard, sweaty work of the day and was now wearing a dark suit that made him almost too handsome. Too handsome for Kerry's heart to figure out how to return to beating normally, anyway.
The girls were singing songs that she was fairly certain were from the movie Frozen in high-pitched, often out-of-tune voices, and Adam was dancing with them. The girls were obviously head over heels in love with him--and he looked just as thrilled with them. From one cheek to the next, he peppered them with kisses that had them giggling even harder.
It was, hands down, the most beautiful thing Kerry had ever seen in her life. Watching Adam shower his family with love was so beautiful, in fact, that she suddenly couldn't remember a single reason why she'd pushed him away.
Because Adam Sullivan, she now knew with perfect certainty, was an amazing man. A loving son, brother, cousin, and uncle. He never hesitated to give all of himself to his family.
Unlike her father.
Kerry's father had never given her anything. Not his love. Not his support. Not one dance that she could remember. No kisses on cheeks. No nights helping with homework. No advice about dealing with boys.
She'd thought she'd dealt with it, that she was over it. She'd even told Adam--you just have to move on and try not to let it affect you. But now, for the first time, Kerry realized that the big empty hole in her life where her father should have been had never fully closed, no matter how many years had passed.
Worse still, she could now see that she'd lived with that fear her whole life. Not only that men would leave her behind without a second thought, but that everyone she loved would leave her.
Hadn't she always worried about disappointing her mother? And hadn't she walked on eggshells with her sister because she hadn't wanted Colleen to turn away from her, either?