Page 16 of Modern Romance May 2026 Books 5-8
She lifted up her chin. ‘Good. Because storming off suits you better. In our “pretend” past.’ There was a rasp to her voice now. ‘And then you realised you made a big mistake and came looking for me.’
Now it was his turn to shake his head. ‘We bumped into one another by chance, and it all started up again.’
What exactly did he mean by ‘it’? But he didn’t need to ask the question.
He could feel ‘it’ skating over his skin and in the low thud of hunger in his stomach. And he was certain, without having any kind of proof, that Dulcie was feeling it too.
It had always been that way, their bodies communicating without language. But this wasn’t their story, it was make-believe. And yet it felt real, and that faint tremor beneath her skin and the flush across her cheeks looked real too.
Because he knew her desire as well as he knew his own.
For a moment, they stared at one another, his pulse reverberating inside him so loudly he was surprised she couldn’t hear it.
‘And you think that’s believable?’
There were pink smudges on her cheeks shaped like thumbprints, just as if he had touched her there, and for a few half-seconds they stared at each other in the shifting silence shimmering around their too tense bodies. And then he stepped closer, close enough that he could feel her warm breath and watch her eyes cling to him as he moved.
‘It’s not a question of whether I believe it. It either is or it isn’t.’
‘And is it?’
‘Let’s see, shall we?’ he said, and he brought his mouth down on hers and he felt her body stiffen, her hands press against his chest except she wasn’t pushing, she was pulling him closer. He felt his body harden and he parted her lips, deepening the kiss, his hand flattening against her spine, and he was on the verge of tilting her head back and moving to kiss her throat when he heard the sound of his bodyguards’ voices in the adjoining room.
It was enough to shatter the spell he was under. Loosening his grip, he broke the kiss and Dulcie edged away from him, her blue eyes wide and shocked.
‘I think we can pull it off, don’t you?’
Without waiting for her response, he turned and walked over to a marble-topped console table and picked up an envelope. ‘I have a contract for you to sign. Once it’s signed, I’ll transfer the money to your account. And you’ll need a ring,’ he added after a moment.
Her pulse nudged the skin at the base of her throat. ‘I still have the one you gave me.’
She had?
The air seemed to thicken around him, and he wanted to ask her why. But he still had his ring too and cross-examining Dulcie might legitimately require him to explain his motives for hanging onto it. Better simply to move on.
‘And I have the one you gave me.’
There was a beat of silence and then she said in that light, clear voice that he found so fascinating, ‘So what happens now?’ She had recovered her composure, but he could still see the faint flush of colour along her collarbone.
He took his time, wanting to enjoy the storm still swirling in her eyes. ‘We restart our married life together,’ he said softly.
And this time it would be on his terms.
Chapter Four
DULCIE FELT HERphone vibrate as she was standing in the queue of people for passport control at Brindisi airport.
Oscar.
Her muscles clenched around the knot in her stomach. But as she stared down at the screen, she saw that it was just her phone updating, and she felt the same churning mix of relief and guilt as she had back in England when she watched Oscar walk off with Elaine O’Neill, the director of the Dymphna Clinic.
He had turned and waved to her and smiled encouragingly. And she knew that it was where he needed to be. But she’d still had to curl her toes into her shoes to stop herself from running after him, and she had driven away with tears blurring her eyes.
After that, she’d spent what felt like the remainder of the day staring into her wardrobe and hating all the contents. She was going to Italy, so it would be warm. But what exactly did you pack for a fake second-chance romance?
If this reunion were real, she would probably be packing barely there lingerie, but it wasn’t. As for outerwear, the last time she and Ettore had been together she had still been a student.
Back then, her clothes were jeans and tees and hoodies and the occasional sexy dress. She had smartened it up for work but then she’d lost her real job, and now she was back to being a part-time student with two jobs. But nobody cared what she wore under her lab coat. And the cleaning company provided a uniform.
