All I Ever Need Is You(11)

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.”

Before she could respond—or even begin to untangle her overexcited synapses into thinking of a response that might make the slightest bit of sense—his secretary beeped him on the intercom.

“Jay Jones has arrived for your eleven o’clock meeting, Adam.”

The sound of the buzzer yanked Kerry back to reality. One where she’d been about to ask—to beg—Adam to pretend that it was already Friday night.