All I Ever Need Is You (The Sullivans #14)(48)

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.

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?”