“I’ll build it.”
She was surprised by his sudden offer. It wasn’t that she didn’t think he could build a great gazebo for the wedding. It was that he was one of the most sought-after architects on the West Coast. How could he possibly have time to do something like this?
“Your overall design is good,” he continued, “but I’ll want to change the roof line and the stairs a bit.” Before she could even try to protest that he didn’t need to build it, he said, “Did you draw this?”
“It’s just a rough sketch so that you could visualize what I was thinking.”
“It’s a better drawing than most architects or graphic artists can do by hand. What’s your training?”
“I’m not trained. I’ve just been drawing weddings all my life.” When he looked confused, she explained, “My mother started Dromoland Weddings & Events when I was a little girl, and I sometimes needed to stay with her during the weddings when she couldn’t find a babysitter. She would give me crayons and paper to keep me from getting bored.”
“You were never bored at those weddings, were you?”
“No.” She smiled at the memory, a little girl watching all those beautiful brides and dashing grooms saying their vows, giving each other their first kiss, and dancing in each other’s arms. “I loved it.” Belatedly, she realized she’d lost her focus. Something else that never happened to her, especially during a meeting. “I’m sorry, I know you’re a busy man. I didn’t mean to veer us away from discussing the gazebo.”
“I’m the one who veered,” he said in that low voice that kept doing crazy things to her insides even though she knew better than to let it. “I was planning on heading up to the lake a few days before the wedding anyway, so I’ll take care of building the gazebo while I’m there. For now, I’ll do a drawing with my changes to run by you before I order the wood for it.”
It was the perfect solution to her new plan for Rafe and Brooke’s wedding, but all Kerry could feel was panic about having more meetings with Adam beyond this one. It didn’t make sense, the kind of breathless impact he was having on her, especially when they’d only just met. But just because it didn’t make sense, didn’t mean her heart wasn’t beating too fast or that her lips weren’t tingling from nothing more than his gaze dropping and holding on them while she spoke.
Adam Sullivan was exactly the kind of man her mother had warned her about her entire life. Exactly the kind of man she needed to keep her distance from, no matter how much she might want to bring him closer instead.
“Rafe and Brooke have told me how busy you are with your work as an architect. It’s wonderful that you want to help out with their wedding like this, and I know how much they would appreciate it, but I can’t possibly—”
“He’s my brother. She’s one of my closest friends. Building this gazebo is the very least I can do for the two of them.”
Yet again, it wasn’t poetry, but his words were so heartfelt that Kerry couldn’t help but lose a little piece of her heart to Adam right then and there.
“What else can I help with, Kerry?”
Yet another unexpected offer. One that somehow seemed sensual, even though that was totally crazy. Just as crazy as the fact that she could easily think of a dozen ways he could help her...and none of them had a thing to do with the wedding.
“Everything else is already arranged.” She stood. “Thank you so much for coming to meet with me and for offering to help with the gazebo.”
She held out her hand to shake his politely, but instead of pumping her hand once, he covered it with his and held on. “I want to see you again. And not just to go over my new drawings of the gazebo.”
Inside, her heart was screaming, Yes! But she knew better, knew he was not only everything her mother had warned her about, but also every husband she’d ever seen stray, every groom she’d ever seen leave his bride at the altar so that he could continue to run wild.
“No, I can’t.”
“Are you seeing someone else?”
“I’m not, but I still can’t go out with you.” There were a dozen excuses she could have made—she was busy, he wasn’t her type, she didn’t date relatives of the couples she worked with—but she didn’t want him to think dating her was up for negotiation. Gorgeous men with reputations as players were off-limits. Period.
And yet, despite the fact that she’d now said no to him twice in a row, he didn’t seem at all daunted. “Do you always say no to something you want?”