Page 65 of Modern Romance May 2026 Books 1-4
She broke off as he reached in and unfastened her seatbelt and grabbed her hand to help her out. He needed to make sure she was safe.
‘What the hell are you doing?’ he growled as soon as she was out of the car.
‘What amIdoing—what areyoudoing?’ She sharply jerked her head.
He glanced back briefly and saw the pit crew behind him. They ought to be practising tyre changes; instead, they were gaping. Right. People. Honestly, he didn’t care. All that had mattered was getting her out of the car in the rain. He would get that right this time.
As Shane moved forward to smooth things over with the startled passenger, Massimo glared at Lily.
‘My office in the suites,’ he muttered beneath his breath, conscious that she was now getting wet. ‘Now.’
She stiffly marched through the garage ahead of him. His blasted phone rang. He irritably switched it to mute and shoved it back into his sodden pocket. Ahead of him Lily paused in the corridor. He stepped past, showing the way.
‘What were you thinking?’ She faced him as he closed the door and waved her hand in his direction. ‘You’re soaked through.’
He didn’t give a damn. ‘What wasIthinking? You’re the one driving too fast while pregnant!’
Her jaw dropped. ‘It was a trundle around the track, not even at the normal speed limit.’
He couldn’t contain the energy in his body. He’d nearly had a heart attack. ‘You have huge things on your mind—you can’t concentrate enough to drive safely.’ It wasn’t possible. He knew this. Emotions hindered clarity and performance.
‘Of course I can,’ she snapped. ‘Itwasn’tfast. I didn’t even need to wear a helmet.’
He stiffened. ‘Is that meant to make me feel better?’
‘You don’t trust the safety features of your own car?’ she asked.
‘Not when it comes to you.’
‘You’re totally overreacting.’
‘Look at therain!’ he roared.
She paused. He saw the moment she remembered. Of course she knew. Everyone fucking knew his parents had died in a high-speed car crash in the rain. But none of them kneweverything. And he didn’t want to see herpity. He was just too angry.
But he couldn’t stop staring at her. Couldn’t stop inhaling every damned aspect of her beauty. Water streamed down her lovely face, down her neck. Her sopping-wet top clung to every curve and straight of her body, revealing her tempting delicacy.
‘You know I would never put my child at risk,’ she said shakily. ‘I can take care of myself.’
‘Really? Have you even had breakfast?’ He’d bet his fortune she hadn’t. ‘Why the hell are you—’
‘Why are you here at all?’ she interrupted fiercely. ‘You don’t usually come to the Singapore race!’
He blinked. He didn’t come because he had a board meeting. One that, for the first time in five years, he’d rescheduled because he’d needed to seeher. He was furious about his inability to resist being near her. And how did she even know? ‘What makes you say that?’
Colour mottled her cheeks. She’d bothered to find out somehow. She’d beenpleasedto believe he wasn’t going to be here. She didn’twanthim to be. So the pretty dress she’d worn last night hadn’t been for him. Jealousy billowed through him in an outrageous, unstoppable wave.
‘You can’t be this controlling.’ She furiously glared at him—gold flecks sparkled around those huge dark pupils.
His fury tripled. He’d played it her way last night. He’d gone against every instinct and left her when she’d asked. He’d respected her wishes. Why could she not respect his? Why had she come to work so damned early when he’d told her not to and then driven in conditions like these? He had every right to be irate. Her repeated rejections of anything he said or offered aggravated him more. It wasn’t arrogance to know most women would’ve immediately said yes to his proposal. It was simple maths. The more billions he had in the bank, the more they were interested.
Was she really not interested at all? Had her taunting invitation for him to seduce her been a ploy? No, that all-access pass hadn’t been offered entirely in anger. She still wanted him and he would prove it. He was compelled by irresistible physical need and she was, too. He couldseeit now in her jagged breathing, in her tight little nipples tormenting him through that slippery shirt, in her blooming flush. With a smothered groan he slammed her against the door with his whole body and pressed his lips to hers.Hard.
For a second she was completely still, then she ignited—incandescent—with anger. All fiery energy, she flung her arms around his neck and pressed just as hard back. Her lips parted and he stroked deep, but she curled her tongue, too, duelling with him over who claimed who. Fury kissing. He’d never known it before, never wanted it to end now. Her hands swept through his wet hair, her fingers tightening, twisting, holding him close to her with passionate anger. He felt her shudder, then her energy coil. She jumped the second he knew she would and he caught her, clutching her closer and higher so she wrapped her legs around his hips in an echo of those intimate moments in the air. Having her back in his hold—open and giving,taking—was everything. He lost his head. He would strip her, see her, have her. He wanted to take her entirely into him, to inhale her as if she were everything and all he needed to survive another second. He was filled with her heat and energy, feeling her beauty, her lush generosity.Thiswas what he remembered. What he’d dreamt of night after night for the past two damned endless, agonising months. He’d ached for the way she flared with this exquisite responsiveness—she almost killed him with her fire. But slowly, the intensity between them altered. Anger lessened. Desire deepened.
He kissed down her neck, desperate to go lower, to lick and suck her breasts, to tease over her stomach and lower still. To have her utterly naked and his. But he was too busy drowning in the fiery demand of her kisses, her clutching limbs, to even start. Her moan destroyed him and he pressed her harder against the door, revelling in her supple, strong, silken body. The noises took a moment to impinge on his searing brain. She stilled the second he did. He lifted his lips from her and looked into her dazed, gleaming eyes—listening to the voices in the corridor but not hearing a word being said.
Shock chased the slumberous heat from her expression. He tried to relax his hold on her enough to lower her back to her feet but they were inches away from the satisfaction they both craved, and he almost couldn’t let her go. Slowing his breathing hurt. Settling the searing ache in his body hurt more. He felt her shiver uncontrollably—a preamble to the orgasm now too far from her grasp and it was nothing but torture.
