I downed the shot and set the glass on the bar. Della came walking out of the ladies room and I took a minute to appreciate her tiny blue jean shorts and those boots I’d seen on her once before. I knew exactly how she looked in nothing but the boots. The black lacy top she was wearing was strapless and when she raised her arms even a little a small sliver of her stomach would show.

The girl sure knew how to dress to drive a man insane.

“Stop lusting, bro. You sealed your fate already,” Grant said with a chuckle as he walked up to me.

“I’m not married yet,” I muttered and shot him an annoyed glare before looking back at Della.

“No, but you will be. If you’d wanted Della more than the VP job you’d already have her. You made that choice and I’ve known you long enough to know you’re sticking with it.”

“It’s more complicated than that.”

Grant crossed his arms over his chest and stared at me. “Really? How so?”

I didn’t want to explain how I felt about Della to him. This wasn’t his business. He out of all people should know what it feels like to want someone you know is a really bad idea. He’d been there, done that, and gotten burned. He just didn’t know that I knew about it. He thought it was a big secret. Nothing with Nannette was a secret. Ever. His former step-sister was all kinds of f**ked up evil. He’d known that most of his life. This thing that I had with Della was different but just as impossible.

“You know just how complicated things can get, Grant. I know you do,” I said in a low voice meant only for his ears.

Grant’s eyes narrowed then he smirked, although it wasn’t an amused one. More of a disgusted one. “Who told you?” he asked.

No one had told me. I’d watched it happen. Not much went on in my club that I didn’t see or hear about. “No one else knows. I saw it. I don’t think anyone else did.”

Grant’s face looked sour. “It’s over.”

I nodded. “I figured. No one can stay close to her for long.”

We stood in silence and both watched Della. When her eyes finally turned and met mine, I decided to make my move. We were talking tonight. I wasn’t letting her blow me off again. Not this time.

Della

I shouldn’t have looked at him so long but I hadn’t been able to keep pretending he wasn’t staring at me. In a weak moment I met his steady gaze and saw the sadness in his eyes. He had secrets hidden inside. I knew what that felt like. The stupid part of me wanted to reach out and help him.

Luckily the smart rational part of me knew that he was walking this way and I needed to move. He would want to explain again. I didn’t need his explanation. I understood. Tonight was about having fun with new people. Not me running off to find a dark hole to hide in if my crazy started to break through.

I only made it two steps before his large hand wrapped around my upper arm. “Please, Della. Don’t. I just want to talk.”

Again with the sadness. It was even in his voice. He was hurting somehow. I’d hurt for so long all alone. Identifying pain in others was easy for me. I was drawn to it in some strange perverse way.

“What do you want, Woods?” I asked without looking at him.

“To talk. I just want to talk.”

He wanted to talk. Fine. We could talk if it would give him some closure. Maybe ease that sadness in his eyes that haunted me. “Okay. But we talk in here.” Being alone with him wasn’t going to happen.

“Fair enough,” he replied.

I finally turned around and stared up at him. He really was beautiful. Sometimes it was easy to ignore. But up close when he was completely focused on me it was harder. I’d seen those eyes glowing with passion. I knew what his mouth tasted like and I had heard his cries of pleasure. I never would again, but those memories were hard to forget.

“Come sit with me,” he said, gently pulling my arm toward an empty table in the corner.

I took the seat across from him putting the safety of the small cocktail table between us. He had something he wanted to say and the sooner he said it the sooner I could get away from him.

“What is it you want to talk to me about?” I asked.

Woods ran his thumb over his bottom lip thoughtfully and I jerked my eyes away from his face. I didn’t want to look at those lips and remember.

“About the other night. I was trying to be honest with you, and I screwed it up. I shouldn’t have let you leave without explaining everything to you.”

I knew sitting down that this was the only thing we had to talk about. It still didn’t ease the pain that came with it. I had been so open and free with him. And no, he hadn’t been honest.

“If you had been honest you wouldn’t have had sex with me before telling me you were about to get engaged. I didn’t even know you were in a relationship. And one so serious! Were you with her back when we… the night we… met?”

He rested both his elbows on the table and leaned forward.

“No. I wasn’t. It isn’t a real relationship, Della. Not like you think it is. It’s a business deal. Her father’s company merging with my father’s. We aren’t exclusive… or we weren’t until I gave her the ring.”

A business transaction? What? “I don’t understand,” I finally replied.

Woods let out a soft bitter laugh. “You wouldn’t because it’s screwed up. My grandfather built the Kerrington Club. It’s been successful down here but it isn’t in the big leagues. The Greystone name being joined with the Kerrington name would open doors for my father… and me, that couldn’t be opened before.”