Page 19 of Modern Romance September 2026 Books 1-4

‘No, he won’t.’

Hope gasped. ‘Did you fire him?’

Axel’s mouth twitched. ‘No, I didn’t fire him. He asked for leave. It turns out he wasn’t well.’

‘Oh, poor George, he did have a migraine that day. I hope it’s nothing serious.’

Hope caught Axel’s slightly dumbfounded expression and asked defensively, ‘What?’

But Axel just shook his head and now they were stopping near the steps leading up to the plane. Hope’s door was opened and she got out to see someone carrying bags onto the plane. Axel came and met her and put out his hand for her to precede him. She felt very conscious of her high-street clothes as she climbed the steps.

The plush interior was the same as she remembered. There was a new air steward, a smiling young man. Hope felt like a fraud, or that at any moment someone would pop out from behind a curtain and say, ‘Ha! Fooled you, now get back to work!’

But no one did. She was led to the back of the plane to where Axel had been sitting only…yesterday? It felt like a year ago.

‘Make yourself comfortable.’

Axel’s voice from behind her. Hope chose to sit opposite where he’d been sitting the day before. She felt stiff. Awkward.

Paul, the steward, appeared. ‘Can I get you anything?’

Hope had to force herself not to jump up. ‘Um, just some tea, please?’

‘I’ll have coffee, thank you,’ Axel added.

Paul disappeared and the plane readied for take-off. Soon they were airborne and England was dropping away beneath them. Hope sipped some tea, hoping it would make her feel more settled.

Axel was looking intently at a small tablet. As if sensing her attention, he lifted his head and then put the tablet down and said, ‘Sorry, I’m being rude.’

‘No, don’t be daft, it’s not as if you need to pretend this is a real…date.’

And then his gaze narrowed on her and he said, ‘You look…good. Did you do something to your hair?’

Hope felt giddy for a second that he’d noticed her post-spa treatment glow. But then she felt self-conscious at the thought that he’d be comparing her to all those sleek women she’d seen in the photos. She touched her hair. ‘No, it’s just some make-up and a conditioning treatment.’ She wouldn’t be telling him about the intimate parts of her that had been waxed and buffed.

In an effort to avoid his forensic gaze, she asked, ‘Is this what you normally do? Fly someone to an event to be with you?’

Axel shrugged minutely. ‘It depends if I’m seeing anyone. I might call up someone who lives in whatever city I’m going to.’

‘These are women who you also see for…’ Hope’s voice trailed away. She was losing her nerve.

Axel supplied, ‘For sex?’

Hope nodded, cursing her big mouth and endless curiosity, but she had to admit that everything about Axel Drakos’s life was so fascinating to her. It was so far removed from her own.

‘Yes, if I find them attractive. I enjoy sex, Hope. And I especially enjoy it with a willing, experienced partner who knows that sex is just sex.’

Well, that ruled her out for ever. She wasn’t experienced and she had a sneaking suspicion that even if she were ever to know this man on a more intimate level it would be like taking a wrecking ball to defences she’d built up over her whole life.

Not that anything like that would ever happen in a million years. This man didn’t see her like that. And she didn’t want him to, she assured herself hurriedly. The thought of all that tawny-eyed focus on her and those big hands exploring her— She suddenly felt hot and flustered. She stood up abruptly. ‘Excuse me, I need the bathroom.’

She went towards the front of the plane and Axel said, ‘The bathroom is the other way.’

Hope stopped and turned around. She’d been going for the toilet near the cockpit. ‘I forgot, I’m part of the one per cent now.’ She didn’t look at Axel but she thought she heard a small snort. She made her way to the back, where there was a bedroom and a sizeable bathroom that also had a shower.

She looked at herself in the mirror and cursed softly. She had to get it together. There were two spots of bright pink in her cheeks and her eyes were huge and too bright. This was no post-spa glow. It was an Axel glow.

She splashed water on her face and once she looked slightly less visibly flustered she went back out and noted with relief that Axel was on his phone, speaking what sounded like Italian.