Page 57 of Modern Romance May 2026 Books 1-4
Shane smoothly stepped forward to welcome them both and made introductions to all the team members present. The princess shook hands with them. Massimo numbly followed suit. His smile was set as stress rippled through every muscle. He’d not been this close to her in weeks. He wasn’t supposed to get this close—notbecause it was what she’d requested, but to maintain control ofhisphysical reaction to her. But he couldn’t stop himself from studying her. Her hair was swept beneath that cap. The polo was loose on her slim frame. She looked pale, her fine features drawn. She shook hands with Celine, offered a slight answer to the question he’d not heard.
‘You know Mr Hearnshawe of course,’ Shane said to Lily.
‘Of course,’ Lily replied.
The chagrin in her glance stopped him in his tracks but there was no way to avoid touching her. He’d shaken hands with everyone else in the damned room. He stared, watching her whiten slightly as he offered his hand. There was a tiny hesitation before she put her hand in his. He immediately tensed, gripping her too tightly as an electrical charge shot up his arm. Shocked, he inhaled but with that, he caught her scent and then just held her hand longer. His whole body tensed. Gold flecks sparked in her hazel eyes and he finally felt her gently tug away. He immediately released her.
Hell. That brief contact had been too much, too long. He couldn’t actually speak. But Lily could. She answered Celine’s questions with a polite, deeply annoying level of acuity until Massimo finally recovered himself enough to suggest to the princess that they move out to inspect the track.
He escorted Celine away, turning his back on the sharpness in Lily’s eyes as they left. He’d breached the boundaries she’d imposed. He’d stepped too close. But she needn’t punish him—he was already truly suffering for it. He’d not wanted anyone the way he wanted her. And she didn’t want a bar of him.
Conrad came third again with Emiliano closer than ever in fourth. This time, Massimo watched Lily at the podium celebrations safely from the suite. She wasn’t sparkling this time. Maybe it was the screen but she looked paler than she had before the race. There was an almost desolate downturn to her mouth.
He frowned. Was she tired?
Austria
Lily religiously participated in every prerace team fitness routine. To make the pit crew, she had to hold her own strength-wise. Of course she was physically weaker than the guys, but that didn’t mean she wastooweak, so she showed up to any and every chance to prove herself. But on the morning of the Austrian race she felt atrocious. For the first time, there was no way she could run the track with the team.
It wasn’t surprising she was exhausted; the weekend thus far had been hectic. Plus, her period was due. She wished it would hurry up so she could get her usual energy levels back; there was too much on the line for her to feel off.
She skipped breakfast at the hotel, but by mid-morning needed something to take away the gross taste in her mouth. The faint nausea was just nerves ahead of the race. On her break she went to the team trailer—a gleaming, three-storied paradise with private spaces for the drivers, a strategy room and VIP suites that also housed a team café. She walked in, about to scope the cabinet for a snack, when she saw Massimo at a corner table, a laptop open before him and a furrow between his brows. She stopped but it was too late. He glanced up and went stock-still but his blue gaze sharpened. What little appetite she had disappeared altogether as with one look she responded as if she was back on that plane. Her body remembered every small, snatched moment they’d shared in the darkness. She’d desperately wanted to forget it; instead, she was filled with the irresistible longing to walk over, slide onto his lap and lift her mouth for him to plunder. She didn’t. She dragged in a shaky breath, trying to get control of herself.
Why was he working in here? Why was he at every race? It was horrific and so awfully unfair. Because she hopelessly, endlessly wanted to see himmore, but he was the boss! More than that, he was so far out of her league—he entertained actualprincesseslike the one who’d been hanging off his arm in Belgium last week. The beauty was probably his new lover.
Strong wind suddenly rattled the windows, as if her bitter fury had manifested it. She backed out of the café and forced concentration; wind like this could impact the race hugely. She would snack later.
In the race Conrad placed second but to the team’s disappointment, Emiliano’s car had an engine fault and he was unable to finish.
‘This was delivered for you, Lily.’ Shane handed her a bag moments after the checkered flag fell.
Delivered by whom? Shane was gone before she could ask. Lily peeked inside the paper bag. Chocolate-covered almonds. Heat covered her in a whole-body blush. Her mouth watered—not in that horrible, nauseous way, but from hunger. Fortunately, everyone was going to the podium. Lily didn’t. She stayed in the shadows and indulged in the sweet and thought of the one person in the world who knew she couldn’t resist them.
Italy
As the Italian circuit was only five kilometres from Emiliano’s birthplace, Massimo had a list of sponsor meetings the length of his arm, plus family obligations. But while the pressure on Emiliano was more intense than any other race on the calendar, Massimo kept an eye on the screen in the VIP suite as always.
In the final minutes of the qualifying session, Massimo was shocked to see Conrad spin out of control. Time slowed as he watched his driver slam into the safety barrier, sending debris all over the track. He froze. Waiting. But both image and sound on the screen were static. After an interminable few moments, the team radio crackled.
‘I’m okay.’ Conrad uttered the best words in the world. ‘All good.’
Massimo exhaled sharply in relief. He stood as he watched Conrad climb out of the wreckage. He’d go straight to the medical centre and meet Conrad there.
He flexed his shoulders, trying to relax, but his own memory flashed. He remembered spinning like that, but the surface he’d been on had been slippery and wet. He’d not been in a P1 car, but a junior-level single-seater kart going nowhere near as fast as what Conrad had been travelling. Even so, the damage had been immense. Fortunately, there had been no rain here today. Conrad’s rear wheels had locked up and while it was aslowcollision, the impact still had severely damaged the car. Massimo knew that if Conrad was okay and cleared by the doctors, he would still want to race tomorrow. Which meant Lily faced a long night of repairs with the other mechanics.
He’d not seen her since she’d come to the café in Austria. He’d looked into her eyes—a kaleidoscope of green, brown and gold before she’d blinked and backed away. He’d kept the required distance but had sent her the almonds. She’d looked like she needed the nutrition, but he hoped he’d provoked her memory as well. His memory of her was driving him insane. Did she think of those moments on the plane as he so damned often did?
He was never going to know because she acted as if he didn’t exist. For Massimo Hearnshawe, this was something of a novelty. She never looked at him, which he knew, because he couldn’t stop looking at her. He was increasingly drawn nearer when it should be getting easier to stay away. Where that night he’d appreciated his anonymity, now his apparent invisibility was an irritant. Of course she was within her rights not to want him, except he didn’t want to think that was the case.
Surely, he’d not dreamed that heat in her eyes.
He worked through the night, shortening his action list in the hotel room, trying not to think about Lily working through piecing Conrad’s car back together. He couldn’t allow this distraction to ruin everything, not when he’d finally gotten Hearnshawe Racing to be capable ofwinning.
In the morning he worked in the VIP suite, keeping an eye on the prerace coverage, hoping for a glimpse into the garage that didn’t come. With a growl he pushed away from his desk and went in search of coffee. He needed a break from the intensity of back-to-back meetings broken by intrusive thoughts regarding Lily. He stalked to the team café. Someone had left a bunch of Hearnshawe uniforms in a pile on a chair in the corridor. But as he passed, the pile moved. He stopped, stunned to see it wasn’t a pile of clothing at all, but a small figure curled up on the chair. Lily Jones was fast asleep. He stared down at her, unable to breathe in case he woke her, unable to drag himself away.
Her skin was as creamy as ever, if anything more translucent, but her fine features seemed sharper. Her long lashes rested on those delicate high cheekbones and there were shadows and hollows that were new. Her full lips were slightly turned down, almost as pale as the rest of her. His fingertips tingled; the desire to trace her features was almost irresistible.
Massimo curled his fingers into fists. He knew exactly how he could bring her colour back, but she was no fairy-tale princess needing waking with a kiss, and he was no Prince Charming. He wanted her fully awake and wholly willing when he kissed her again. Not that it could ever happen. Bracing, he leaned back against the opposite wall. Keeping his distance from her as he’d promised he would, but equally unable to leave her alone. Not when she was this vulnerable. Hell, he had such a damned fixation on her.
