Her entire body felt lax and loose again after making love with Adam twice in a row. But it was more than just sex that had her finally feeling like she could relax.

It was knowing that he’d still be there when she woke up.

“If you ask me,” he said as he looked down at her, “the bed has never looked prettier than it does right now.”

She was so very tired, but the desire in his words had her blood heating again. “You promised to make love to me in all three places I listed. You’ve given me two, if we switch the shower for the sand.” She reached for him. “Now I want the bed.”

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.