His lips brushed the sensitive skin on the insides of my legs as he trailed kisses, switching from one leg to the other until the heat of his breath touched my tender flesh. I shuddered and grabbed handfuls of the sheets underneath me just before his tongue slipped inside of me and then moved up to my clit.

I cried out his name until I came against his mouth. Every single flick of his tongue had taken me farther under the wave of pleasure that overtook me.

As I gasped to get air into my lungs, he filled me in one swift move. I lifted my knees and pressed them to his ribs. "I love you, Della. I love you so much, baby. So damn much," he said with a hoarse voice full of emotion. It was as if he knew this was it for us. That tomorrow wouldn't come. This was the end. I fought back the tears clogging my throat and grabbed his face so that I could kiss him. I couldn't talk. I didn't trust myself to talk. I showed him how much I loved him with my mouth.

With each thrust I lifted my knees and cried out. He never stopped telling me how much he loved me. It was a chant as we both climbed to our release.

"Woods!" I screamed his name in ecstasy as the world blurred.

He held me to his chest as he jerked inside of me. My name was a strangled cry from his chest as he shuddered against me.

Our chapter was over. It was the most beautiful chapter in my life. I knew I'd had the happy ending way before it was time and now I had to live the rest of the story without him. It wasn't the way life was supposed to be, but it was my life. And I'd had Woods in it. That made it all okay.

Woods had kissed my head, telling me to sleep late. He had an early meeting and I could come to work when I was ready. I had pretended to be sleepy and nodded, keeping my head buried in the pillow to hide my tears. When the door clicked behind him I turned over and stared at the ceiling.

My heart had just walked out that door.

I moved without thought as I showered and dressed. I boxed up the things I would be shipping that morning to the address Tripp had texted me. I then packed a small bag I could carry with me. I wasn't sure where we were going and when we would make it back to the South Carolina address I was shipping my things to.

Woods called me around ten and asked if I wanted to eat lunch with him. I didn't want to lie to him but I couldn't tell him the truth either. So I told him I was behind on work and if he wanted me to come back, then I needed to catch up. He didn't argue with me. When I told him that I loved him one tear rolled down my face. I was glad he couldn't see me.

On a piece of paper I wrote:

I will never forget you. Thank you for everything but it's time I move on. I want to see the world. This life isn't for me. It doesn't fit. It isn't what I dreamed of. Don't come after me, just let me go. I hope you find the happiness you deserve.

I'm sorry,

Della

Woods

I ended the strange phone call from Tripp and stared down at my phone for a few minutes. Nothing about that conversation had made sense. He'd asked me how life was. I'd told him it was good. He had said I should strive for great. I told him it was perfect and he had gone silent. Then he'd said, Sometimes what we think is perfect is royally f**ked up. I had asked him what he meant and he said he was just checking in and hoped I'd figure life out soon.

What the hell had all that meant? Was he drinking before lunch? Glancing at my clock, I realized it was my tee time with Jace. When Della had turned me down for lunch I'd let her because she wanted to work. I couldn't keep making her feel like she wasn't important. So to keep myself from begging her to have lunch with me, I'd called Jace and set up a tee time for us.

I had a meeting with my new lawyer at three, then after that I would hunt her down. I thought she'd be ready to take a break then. Smiling, I let Tripp's weird phone call go and I headed down to the golf course.

Jace was standing at Bethy's golf cart with his hands on the roof as he leaned in, flirting with her. I never would have guessed those two would have made it so long. Bethy had been the wild local girl who lived in the next town over. She slept with the rich boys and they acted like they didn't know her in public. Until Jace. He'd decided that she was worth it. He had seen something more.

"You gonna stop making out with my employee long enough to play a round?" I asked as I approached them.

Jace grinned over at me, then flipped his middle finger. "Suck it, Kerrington."

"You two need me to get y'all a caddy?" Bethy asked.

"We're real men, baby. We don't need a caddy," Jace said, winking at her.

"Let's do this. I have a three o'clock appointment," I informed Jace.

The cart I'd ordered was brought around with my clubs. Jace said his good-byes to Bethy and put his clubs in the back of the cart. "It's been a while since we played a round," Jace said. "Boss man never has any time."

"Della has taken a lot off me. I need to give her a raise."

Jace chuckled and propped his feet up on the dash of the cart. "You told your momma about the new-board idea?"

"I won't be telling her. It isn't her business. I'm meeting with the lawyer today to make sure this is handled the correct way. The lawyer will make sure the board knows they've been terminated."

"You know, I always thought the board, like, owned a portion of the club," Jace said.

"My grandfather forbade it in his will. He wanted the club to always be under the Kerrington name. He didn't allow investors unless they were family. That was one of the reasons my father wanted me to marry Angelina. She would become family and he would merge her father's clubs with the Kerrington Club. My grandfather wouldn't have wanted that. I've looked over his business plan. I know his dream for this place. My father had other ideas and he was going to use me to accomplish them."