Page 49 of Modern Romance May 2026 Books 1-4
He stiffened slightly. ‘Well, I do own a car…’
‘That’sthe mistake,’ Lily murmured playfully, enjoying the tragic jokes. ‘Guys assumeI’mthe car. But I’m not. Nor am I the tyres.’
‘You’re the driver.’
‘Exactly.’She rode out the ridiculous analogy. ‘Maybe I like the challenge of a hard-to-control machine. One with an engine powerful enough to get me sixty times around the circuit asfastas possible.’
‘So you do like it fast,’ he noted. ‘You want to hit the apex?’
‘Sure, but to do that I need full power and pace.’ She rolled with it. ‘Some downforce. All too often there’s not enough grip and they burn through the rubber before the finish line.’
‘Sounds like you need a better make and model. What if he’s too powerful for you to control?’
Yeah, he was arrogant. And a rogue.
‘Oh, I’m anexceptionaldriver,’ she purred.
‘Exceptional?’ he echoed softly. ‘You realise you’ve just taken the route straight to my heart.’
‘Sorry, but I’m way too fast for you to handle. You can’t catch me. Can’t match my pace.’
‘Maybe you should be careful. If you lose control you might crash and burn.’
‘But I don’t lose control,’ she replied. ‘I always hit the racing line.’
His laughter then was full-throttle amusement and fully attractive. Smiling wide, Lily slumped lower in her seat, wholly relaxing at last. It was a simple joy to share weak jokes with a handsome stranger who smelt good and sounded better. She watched the coffee machine’s LED display flicker haphazardly before finally failing for good and plunging them into darkness.
‘Oh look at that.’ She shook her head and then muttered the commentator’s catch phrase for the start of every race. ‘It’s lights out and away we go.’
Chapter Two
MASSIMO WISHED HEreally could put the pedal to the metal and floor it somewhere with her. The bad racing banter had gotten worse and worse but he’d relished every silly pun and he didn’t want it to stop now. Which it would—instantly—if she knew who he really was. The lack of light saved him. Bought him more time. More intimacy.
He’dalmostadmitted it but she’d assumed he was a courier and he’d not corrected her. He’d notlied. But he felt uncomfortable. Except if he confessed all now, she would be furious; she’d want to know why and how and they were both too tired to deal with that discussion. He’d tell her nearer the end of the flight. Yeah, he was a selfish jerk, but there was no point in making the next few hours a complete awkward misery.
‘It doesn’t seem as if that light’s going to come back on,’ she murmured. ‘This really is a poor girl’s private plane.’
‘A what?’
‘My team teased me with that when I told them I was flying cargo, but I think it’s great.’
It was extremely different to Massimo’s private jet. He had a decent sofa on there on which they could stretch out together and sleep. Or not sleep. They could—
What the hell?He mentally berated himself. The woman wanted peace and solitude, not a leering jerk invading her personal space.
‘I’ll tell you a secret,’ she whispered, before yawning.
He leaned closer, eager to hear anything she wanted to share, especially something secret. ‘What?’
‘Canada was my first full race weekend with the team.’ She spoke soft and slow, sounding disappointingly sleepy. ‘I’m not the wheel gun-blazing super-pit-crew queen I made myself out to be.’
Yeah, but he understood the need for some bravado, a veneer of quiet confidence to hold her own. P1 Global was a tough enough nut to crack without the additional gender imbalance she faced. ‘Well, maybe notyet, but I’m sure it won’t be long before you are.’ He meant every word. She was a true enthusiast, living her dream life with the job she’d long wanted. ‘Was it everything you’d hoped it?’
‘And then some.’ She yawned again. ‘It was amazing.’
He sat in the darkness, enjoying the satisfaction in her voice. Not wanting to ruin her moment, or for the moment to end, he played ignorant and couldn’t resist asking. ‘Where’s the next race?’
He waited for her to answer. But there was silence.
