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This was a no-win conversation. He always thought Lily might be a latent tigress in the sack.

He just needed to show her the way. Now he was starting to think she wouldn’t like sex or making love with him or anybody else for that matter.

It was a scary prospect. A sexless, non-physical marriage.

He wanted his partner to enjoy the physical aspect of their marriage.

His mind wandered back to Rebecca, for good reason. She was the most sexual being he’d ever met. She liked him enough to ask him to be her first. But that was a long time ago, and this is now. And he was scared. What was in store for him with Lily and their marriage?

A traditionally chaste kiss at Lily’s father and mother’s door in Belgravia called an end to a disastrous evening. Then a cab ride home left Mitch with one thought: It was now only hours until he saw Rebecca.

He remembered every little detail of their last time together.

How many men had come after him?

Was there someone special in her life?

Why hadn’t Alex called to tell him that Rebecca was interviewing with their company?

When he got to his flat after dropping Lily off, he did a quick calculation in his head and picked up his cellphone. He dialed Alex’s cell from memory.

“Hey, it’s Mitch. Can you talk?” he asked as Alex answered on the second ring.

“Good timing. How is London?” Alex asked.

“Rainy and cold, like every other damn day.”

“I hope you start to like it a bit more. It is about to be your forever homeland.”

“Yeah, we will see,” Mitch said. He still had delusions of running from the altar and heading back to the New York office of Donovan Security. “Is your sister interviewing with my company?”

“So you heard?”

“Why is it a big secret?”

“I don’t know. I do as I’m told,” Alex said, “Why don’t you tell me?

Everyone is being quiet. The old man is pissed that she doesn’t want to work in the family business.

She’s second in her class, and there is a part of me that wondered if Dad would make her my boss, but she has other plans. It is quite the mess.”

“Why do I feel like I’m in the middle of some brain teaser?”

“Okay, because you are my best friend, I’ll tell you this even if it costs me something.

Rebecca is cagey anytime I talk about you.

When I asked her if she was going to call you when she was in London, she got all weird and then admitted that she was interviewing with Donovan Security, and I wasn’t to tell you because she didn’t want special treatment.

I think that is bullshit. I’ll ask you again.

What happened between the two of you before you left for London?

Nothing has ever been the same. You won’t visit when she is home, and neither of you will talk about it. ”

“Nothing happened,” Mitch lied. He kept their secret. Ever since he’d left the States, it felt like part of him was missing. He tried to chalk it up to being homesick. But Mitch knew the truth. He was Rebecca-sick.

“See?” Alex said, and Mitch knew that he didn’t believe a word he said. “That is the kind of evasion I’m talking about. Are you still marrying the boss’s daughter?”

“Yes,” Mitch said with no enthusiasm. For the first time, he really acknowledged that he was hoping something would prevent that from happening.

“Try to sound a little more excited,” Alex said. “Lily is pretty from the photos you’ve shared.”

“I’m just trying to understand everything with Rebecca. Let’s stay on the subject.”

“Your little Bex is single, by the way. She broke up with her boyfriend, Ken, about two weeks ago. He said something about her being second in her class, and it made her angry, so she told him to stick it and moved out of their apartment. Dad was upset because he was sure she would marry him, and it would justify the last two years of them living in sin. Mom thought he ‘didn’t bring out Rebecca’s passion,’ whatever the hell that means, so she was happy about the breakup.

Becca does everything to the beat of her own drum. ”

Mitch did know what the hell “bringing out Rebecca’s passion” meant.

He had to swallow his jealousy. He wondered what kind of a lover Ken had been to Rebecca. He wanted to punch him, but at least she was single.

He had no right to be jealous. He was getting married to Lily in three months.

He loved Lily. Everyone was right. They’d be great, and they’d have a great life.

Boring, but great. That was unfair of him.

Their life would be perfect. He liked perfect, so what was his problem?

It was just that sometimes, coloring in the lines wasn’t as fun as coloring outside.

“I’m sorry she had a bad breakup,” Mitch offered. “She doesn’t deserve that, and he sounds like a jerk. I trust Vic’s opinion.”

“My sister is fine. She has this way about her. She gets what she wants.”

Mitch knew this to be true.

“Well, you can ask her about it tomorrow. I think she will be in your office at ten in the morning.”

***Rebecca***

She had turned down Lucien Donovan’s offer to have her stay at Claridge’s or the Savoy.

It was actually a bit insulting. No, she was staying at her family’s hotel.

In light of the fact that Lucien knew her father, she was pretty surprised he would suggest a competitor.

She arrived the afternoon before the big interview.

It was a long day of travel, but she had a nice flight and even managed to sleep somewhere over Canada.

Now, she was in the VIP suite at her family hotel.

The room service menu was uninspired, but she found something to order.

It tasted as bland as she feared. Or was she just stressed about her final interview tomorrow?

One thought was on a continuous loop in her mind: What would it be like to see Mitch after all these years? A quieter voice in her head wondered if she still had a crush. The fact he was her first lover made him special, but it didn’t make him the love of her life.

When Lucian Donovan approached her to discuss career opportunities, she was initially skeptical, but then she thought of the benefits.

She had planned to work for her father, but then she remembered how Mitch had decided to take his own career path that had nothing to do with his connections to her family.

She had come to admire him for it, getting a little real-world experience.

When she told her family she might want to work for another company for a few years before tucking into the family business, they were initially surprised, a little angry, and then finally supportive.

She knew she could thank her mother for cajoling her father. Her brother was another story.

Alex had been the one to catch up with her while she was packing the night before. He had appeared in the family bedroom she was staying in between graduation and her first job. “Hey, why are you doing this?”

“What exactly am I doing?” she asked, looking at the different clothing on her bed. “I thought I was packing. What do you think I’m doing?”

“Dad could use you in about six different positions as of yesterday. You are kind of slapping him in the face. Interviewing across the pond?”

“Oh please. Don’t sound so dramatic. He did just fine for the last couple of years that I was at Wharton. I want to experience another business before joining the family firm. Weren’t you listening when I explained it at dinner a few nights ago?”

“Why Donovan Security?”

“Why not? I love cyber security. I have a degree in computer science, and that is what they are hiring me to work on. Who knows, I might even bring this knowledge back to Stark International. Wouldn’t that be cool?”

His next words threw her off her center. “Is this about Mitch? Does he get a finder’s fee or something?”

She dropped the skirt she was carefully folding. “Lucien Donovan approached me. I don’t even know if Mitch knows about it.”

“You could have said no,” Alex said. “You’ve had a few very interesting offers. Dad thinks Lucien Donovan is a dick.”

“This work intrigues me,” she said. “Global cyber security. Sounds ominous. That would be a good foundation for a lot of other things.”

“Mitch is what intrigues you. And haven’t I mentioned that he is engaged? Why are you doing this?”

She knew Mitch was engaged. Did she want to get a look at the other woman? Yes. Was this a good way to go about it? Not at all.

“I’m worried about you. You are sounding a little paranoid,” she said. “I haven’t even seen Mitch in six years. He’s an old friend, and it is good for him to get married. I hope she is a nice girl.”

“I’m going to ask you again: What happened before he left for London?”

She momentarily remembered the feel of Mitch when he held her close, and there was nothing between them but their skin. She’d never known such passion as what he’d brought out of her when they’d made love.

“Alex, what did or didn’t happen is none of your business. It doesn’t concern you. I think you are kind of obsessed. Maybe you should look into that. Get some help.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better? Something happened, and it changed our friendship. I can’t attribute it to anything else. It has to do with you and Mitch. He never comes here when you are here. He takes great pains to never see you.”

This was not new information for her. It hurt a little, the ways Mitch avoided her.

“Give it a rest. It is none of your business,” she said and resumed folding the skirt.

“Fine, I’ll just think the worst. He met you for lunch in New York and seduced you.”

“Maybe I seduced him,” Rebecca said with a laugh, hoping to shock Alex enough that she would throw him off the trail.

“Why would you say that?” Alex asked. “Is that what happened? Did you get carnal with my best friend?”

They got carnal at every possible opportunity, for two wonderful weeks of her life. He’d done things to her no other man had ever done.

“Please. You are so crude.”

“Answer the question.”