My heart is breaking for a woman I just met, a woman whom I encouraged to leave me. But I can only be mad at myself. If I’m not gonna fight for her, then I don’t deserve her.

Maybe I’m meant to live this life alone.

“You okay?” Hope asks from across the room.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

Since we slept together about a week ago, we’ve been inseparable, which I know is wrong. It’ll only fuck me up more in the end. I can’t bring myself to care, though. It’s worth it, and I’m going to take advantage of what little time I have to be with her.

“You done packing?” I ask, and she nods.

I can’t believe she’s really leaving. The thought of never seeing her again makes me sick. She is everything I’ve ever wanted in a woman and all the things I never thought to ask for. It’s why I can’t be selfish and keep her here with me. I see the way her eyes light up when she talks about the job or when she’s talking to them on the phone. This is what she’s meant to do. New York is where she’s meant to be, and I can’t change that.

“I’m going to miss you,” she says, closing the distance between us and then sliding onto my lap, so she’s straddling me.

I place my hands on her hips, loving how right she feels pressed against me. “I’m going to miss you, too.”

It hurts to look at her. Because I know this is the last time I’ll see her. My body and mind are fighting with each other, both screaming two very different things.

She cups my face, and I kiss her palm the same way she kissed mine the first night we were together.

“You know you can tell me what you’re thinking,” she says.

I shake my head because I can’t.

She takes me by my cheeks, forcing me to lock eyes with her. “Yes, you can.”

“I—” I can’t even get the words out. “You should go. You want to hit the road as soon as possible.

Firmly, she presses her lips together, trying to get a gauge on me, and I do my best to smile, but my smile almost makes me break.

Fuck, I’m a pussy.

With her hands still on the sides of my face, she says, “Please let me in, Chase. I need to know what you’re thinking.”

Something inside me gives. All the reasons I had for not telling her shatter, and the words leave my lips of their own accord. “I’m in love with you, Hope.”

She blinks, once and then twice. I’m not sure what she’s thinking, but I can’t keep this from her anymore. I can’t pretend that I’m okay letting her go without telling her how I feel.

“You are?”

“Yes, I mean . . . I have been since the moment I laid eyes on you.”

“Why haven’t you told me?” She looks angry, and I just shake my head.

“I wanted to, but I didn’t want to scare you or hold you back from something you really wanted because that wouldn’t be loving you fully.” Her hands slide from my cheeks to the front of my chest, settling over the frantic thumping of my heart. But without another word, she leans in and kisses me. Our passion in this moment is more powerful than even that first night. More desperate. More raw. Her tongue caresses mine, causing my cock to grow, and even though I shouldn’t, I give in . . . just one last time.

Moving my hands to the hem of her shirt, I lift it, only breaking the kiss long enough for the fabric to pass between us. Her tits strain the fabric of her white bra, and I reach behind her to unclasp it. As the straps slide down her arms, I lean in and take hold of both her boobs, squeezing tight around them in a way I know she likes before I suck on her nipples.

My mouth forms around one, and she knots her fingers into the back of my hair, moaning so sexily. Her hips grind against me, and as much as I want to take my cock out and fuck her, I don’t.

I want to cherish this time, our last time. I work between her breasts, her hands holding my head where she wants it. Then she stands and unbuttons her pants before pushing them and her panties off. She’s standing before me stark naked, and I gesture her to me with one finger.

She presents her pussy to me, which I reach for. Her heat burns my insides as she gives me a coy smirk. My dick is rock solid, straining my jeans so awkwardly that it hurts.

She’s wet for me—she always is—and I separate her pussy lips so I can rub her clit. Her hand finds my cock, and I have to let it free. Once it is, she moans, gripping my shaft at the base and stroking me perfectly before suddenly hopping on. My body blends into hers, and I want to tell her, no, to slow down, to stop. I know the moment we are done fucking is the moment she will leave.

With her naked body straddling mine and her hands knotted in my hair, she moves, and I just let her be, ignoring what’s to come.

I focus not only on the pleasure but also on her, Hope, the woman I just professed my love to.

She makes the most delicious noises ever, and as I get lost in this moment, I contemplate going with her. Leaving the inn, my parents, and my brother all behind. I know it sounds crazy, but maybe I should do it. ‘Cause God knows I can’t live without this woman.

Her body tenses, her movements falter, and I can tell she’s close. Her eyes are fixed on mine as she fights to move, her orgasm stopping her. Reaching down, I flick her clit, helping her along, and it makes her wild. She screams the way I love to hear and slams so hard on me, I blow. My orgasm is strong. It’s so fucking amazing what she can do to me. Energy radiates through my balls, and I grunt, slamming into her pussy. Her body rattles forever, and I enjoy every second I get to watch her in bliss.

Finally, she relaxes, looking down at me with those eyes. Those eyes that are the key to my soul—my existence.

“I’m coming with you,” I tell her, and she smiles—the biggest I’ve seen yet.

“No. No, you aren’t.”

“Oh, yes I am. I’m going to support you on this,” I declare, my hands still gripping her body, my body. Holding her in place with my shaft still balls deep inside of her, I hold her gaze. I told her from the start that if we did this, she was mine, and damn it, I meant it.

“No, you aren’t because I’m not going anywhere. Chase, I love you, too. And as crazy as it might seem to turn down the job in New York City, St. Helena and you are my home now. As painful as the journey has been, my entire past makes sense. All of it has led to this moment, to me being with you, and I wouldn’t change a second of it. Because if I did, I wouldn’t end up here, with you, and I wouldn’t be the luckiest girl in the entire world.”

I’m not sure how to top what she just said, and my mind doesn’t seem to believe her, so I murmur, “Say it again.”

“I’m not leaving.”

“Again.”

“I’m staying here with you, Chase, forever.”

“Fuck, I love you, baby.” I stand, my cock still inside her as I carry her to the bedroom, gently laying her back on the messy sheets from our restless night.

“I love you,” she whispers in my ear and with those words and her body beneath mine, I move, stroking my cock in and out, in and out, growing harder than I ever knew was possible.

I’m not sure how today went from being the worst day of my life to the best, but it did, and I’m not going to try to make sense of it. I’m going to cherish my time with my girl for as long as she’ll have me.