Page 45 of Modern Romance September 2026 Books 1-4

And then she realised that Axel’s voice had stopped. She got up from the bed, wrapping the sheet around her, and went to the window that looked out over the front of the villa and to the beach and sea. Just in time to see Axel in snug swim trunks that left very little to the imagination, striding down the path, onto the beach and into the sea, plunging under the foaming waves and striking out with strong arms.

Her insides clenched when she thought of him patiently teaching her how to swim. Well, how to float. It was so far removed from the man she’d first met—who’d appeared so cool and aloof and remote. Controlled.

She could see Axel coming back towards shore and she scrambled back, dropping the towel, jumping into the shower and dressing in shorts and a midriff-skimming loose top before he found her ogling him like a lovestruck groupie.

* * *

‘What are we looking for?’ Axel asked Hope as they walked among the colourful market stalls in the nearby town.

‘Anything that catches your fancy, really. Fruit, vegetables. I can do a mean seafood stir-fry.’

Axel carried a bag over one arm and dutifully followed Hope, who kept stopping when she spotted something. She dazzled the stallholders, language proving to be little barrier against her innate friendly charm.

He was as mesmerised by her as the stallholders. She was wearing a plain sundress with wide straps. Buttons down the front. A pale blue colour that made her eyes pop. Sandals on her feet. Toenails painted a pretty pink.

Axel was aware that he was acting so far out of character that he almost didn’t recognise himself any more. Since when had he gone swimming in the sea and then lain down on the sand to dry off? Letting the sun sink right through to his bones? Not since he’d been a child, if even then.

Since when had he worn a uniform of shorts and polo shirts?

And since when had he become so desperate for one woman that he couldn’t get enough of her? Surely, by now Hope should be losing her appeal? But if anything, he wanted her more than ever.

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he took it out. A text from Michalis.

The photographer is tailing you now.

Axel’s first reaction should have been one of satisfaction. This was, after all, the object of this mission, to be seen with a woman who looked like a solid partner and not just a hook-up in advance of his important meeting with Baros.

But his actual reaction was one of exposure and irritation that he’d invited a stranger into this idyll. Hope turned around at that moment and looked up at him, smiling. She was holding up a melon. ‘Isn’t this amazing? It’s so fresh. We can have it with Parma ham.’

She saw his face and her smile slipped. Axel felt as if he’d betrayed Hope. He cursed himself. The sun was getting to him.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘Nothing, I just heard from my staff that there’s a photographer tailing us.’

Hope’s sunniness diminished further. ‘Of course, I forgot. You did warn me to expect it.’

He had. But now it was like a cloud crossing the sun. Hope put the melon back and continued looking at the stalls.

They came out the other end into a pretty square and she turned to him again and she was smiling but Axel could see that it was forced. The fact that he knew which smiles were genuine and which were fake sent danger signals to his brain but then she came up to him and reached up, pressing a kiss against his mouth. The heat was instant in his blood.

Axel put an arm around her and when she broke away, he said, ‘Thank you.’

‘Just doing my job.’

He held her to him. ‘It’s no longer a job if you’re not being paid.’

Her blonde hair was gleaming in the sun. Axel wondered what it would be like longer. But then he noticed that she’d tensed.

‘You are paying me… You’re giving me stuff and you’re teaching me about sex and how to swim.’

Axel had a violent surge of rejection at the thought of her using what they’d done together with another man. And also…that this was still a job. And that she might not even be here if he offered her a choice now.

‘Are you here because you want to be, Hope? Considering that the original parameters have changed somewhat.’

She blinked and her cheeks went a little pink. ‘Yes… I want to be here for this…whatever this is for as long as it lasts.’

Something inside Axel eased. He said, ‘It’s not a relationship.’