Page 10

“I’ll say it. It wasn’t a crush. Not for either one of us,” he said softly and took a long draw on the beverage the waiter placed before him.

“And now you’re engaged.”

“I am. Lucien Donovan’s daughter Lily. She is a very sweet person.”

“Gee, isn’t that nice? She is sweet. When is the wedding?” she asked sarcastically. She didn’t like this side of her personality. It was bitchy and jealous, but damn it, long dead feelings were resurfacing.

“September 26 th . Your brother is part of the wedding party. I made sure your parents were free to be there. You’ll get an invitation in August. Please don’t come. I don’t need the distraction of you.”

“Congratulations. I’ll send a gift with Mom and Dad,” she said. “I think I saw her, your bride, in the lobby of Donovan Security. Pretty, blonde, in a pink suit. Smelled like sweet candy.”

“Rebecca, I’m very glad you will be in New York. We need someone like you there. If I had to see you every day…I just don’t know.”

“Don’t you? What a ridiculous thing to say to me! If you have such strong feelings for me, isn’t that a sign that you maybe shouldn’t be getting married to sweet Lily? I mean, thinking about making love to another woman while, you’re, well, you know…that isn’t good.”

“It’s a mess. Yesterday, I was content. It was maybe boring, like vanilla, but now I’m a mess. I’m thinking about things I should not be thinking about.”

“All because of me, your Bex. Do you want me to apologize for your feelings? Should I apologize for the passion we feel for each other?” she asked sarcastically.

“No, I want to do the right thing. You need to go back to New York as soon as possible. And I need time to think.”

“Or what? I’ve cast a spell on you, and you cannot control yourself.

You’ll throw me on the nearest flat surface and make passionate love to me.

” She was being cruel, and she knew it. But it was the most honest conversation she might have ever had with Mitch.

Marrying Lily was going to ruin his life and hers, too.

“Don’t tempt me, Bex. I’m strongly attracted to you, but I don’t know if it is real or if it would endure, so I need to distance myself from it. This, this thing between us needs to be nipped in the bud. I will not cheat on my fiancé.”

Rebecca stood, she didn’t need to hang around and hear how she was like some disease to Mitch, something to recover from because she was scared, she might do something really desperate, like cry over him. If he couldn’t admit that he loved her, she had to get away from him.

“Where are you going?” he asked, with a sadness in his voice she hadn’t heard before.

“I’m removing temptation from your presence so you can think and make order out of the chaos of your life. I wouldn’t want you to toss me on the table and start ripping my clothes off. Making love in public has never been my style.”

“No, no…don’t go,” he said, standing quickly. “Please, Rebecca…”

She didn’t think, she didn’t rationalize, but she did grab the lapels of his suit jacket and used surprise to her advantage.

She pulled him toward her, and when he was close, she kissed him.

Not the kiss of a lovesick teenager or that of unrequited love.

She kissed him like the lovesick woman that she was.

She kissed him for all it was worth. And then he surprised her by kissing her back.

His hands rested on her hips, then they wrapped around her body, and he pulled her flush to him as his lips moved in perfect harmony with her own.

The kiss lasted a long time. Too long. The chatter around them stopped as the two lovers found each other again. When he pulled back from her, his warm eyes met hers in surprise. They had kissed a lot six years ago, but this one kiss was more powerful than anything they had ever shared.

“Wow,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” she said as his hands loosened their hold on her. “I know I shouldn’t have done that.”

“I’m not sorry,” he said, his hands running along her curves. “Which is why we have a problem.”

She pulled a tissue from her pocket and touched it gently to his lips, removing the red lipstick she had left there, but when she was about to stick the tissue in her pocket, he took it from her and put it in his pocket.

“I guess I’ll talk to you from my office in New York,” she said.

“I can’t wait. There will be a weekly video sales call on Zoom. I’ll see you then.”

“What day is it on?”

He had to think before answering. “Tues…um…Wednesday. I’m not thinking very clearly at the moment. I’m sorry. The idea of taking you upstairs and making love with you is dominating my brain and other parts of my anatomy. I feel like six years just disappeared.”

“It hasn’t. A lot has changed. And you know me. I don’t poach. See you in a couple of weeks,” she said as she stepped away, turned her back, and didn’t look back as she walked out of the Windsor bar.

She walked to the elevator and punched the button. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Mitch standing at the entrance of the Windsor bar. One finger wag, one acknowledgment was all it would take. He would join her. They would go to the suite, and in about five minutes, they’d be making love.

She stepped into the open elevator, met his gaze across the lobby, and shook her head as the doors closed.