Page 6 of Modern Romance September 2026 Books 1-4

He was making conversation? She remembered George telling her not to talk to him unless he spoke to her. Well, he was speaking to her. She had no choice.

‘Um, for about four years now.’

‘Was it what you always wanted to do?’

Hope almost looked at him with a duh expression because, seriously, who had a burning desire to push a laden trolly down a narrow aisle where accruing bruises from arm rests and sharp corners was par for the course? Not to mention the dealing with some of the most badly behaved and rude people she’d ever encountered.

‘I guess I just fell into it. I was working as a waitress and a colleague told me about a training course. It was an opportunity to earn a bit more and also travel.’

‘You like to travel?’

It was one of Hope’s most fervent desires, to see the world. But, like buying her own home, it was pretty much out of her reach.

‘Yes, but so far my travel has been just around Europe.’ She added hurriedly, ‘Don’t get me wrong, there’s so much to see, but I would love to go a lot further some day.’

‘Hope, can I ask why you’re not looking at me?’

She turned her head and the full enormity of sharing a relatively confined space with such a spectacular specimen of human was seriously overwhelming. ‘George told me not to make eye contact.’

Drakos’s eyes widened fractionally, which only drew Hope’s attention to their unusual golden colour. ‘George was perhaps being a little overzealous.’

‘Oh…so you don’t mind people looking at you.’

His mouth twitched ever so slightly and Hope rolled her eyes at herself. ‘Of course, you’re used to it.’

‘Why would I be used to it?’ He settled back a bit as if genuinely intrigued by what Hope might say. She squirmed a little.

‘Well, just that…you’re a good-looking guy.’ Ha! Understatement of the year.

He blinked at that and Hope felt genuine envy at his long lashes. They should have softened all those hard edges but they didn’t. He said, ‘You think they’re looking at me because of how I appear physically.’

She spluttered a bit. ‘Well, that, and I guess the…’ She gestured with her hands to encompass the car and the general levels of supersonic wealth.

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a mobile phone. His mouth was definitely twitching now as he said, ‘Please excuse me, I have to take this call.’

Hope clamped her mouth shut again and averted her gaze. Brilliant, he was laughing at her and if she hadn’t already shown herself up as completely gauche, she just had now.

If the ground could open up right now she’d happily dive in.

* * *

Axel looked at the slight figure on the other side of the car. He’d had to take a series of calls since that first one and, in that space of time, he had been aware of Hope slipping off her shoes and curling her legs up under her and now she was fast asleep on the other side of the car, nestled into the far corner as if she was trying to make herself small enough not to intrude. Lashes long and curled, resting on her cheeks.

He thought of how she’d avoided his eye, upon instruction from George, and how Axel had found that intensely irritating because he’d wanted her to look at him.

She intrigued him and he told himself it was because she didn’t remotely resemble any kind of woman he knew. For instance, the fact that she was sleeping in his presence. Unheard of! He didn’t think he’d actually ever watched a woman sleeping—not even after sex, because he didn’t do post-coital lingering. Which was probably why he’d also been called cold on occasion.

Why, though, did she interest him? Axel was nothing if not forensic in his pursuit of figuring out all the angles. And then a word popped into his head. Vulnerability. She was displaying a level of vulnerability that people usually went out of their way to hide around him because he would utilise it.

But this was different. Hope had no strategic importance to him. And yet she slept in his presence, probably one of the most vulnerable things someone could do with another person.

He found he didn’t dislike it…

As if sensing his regard she stirred now and those eyelashes fluttered and her eyelids opened. He could see that it took her a moment to orient herself and then she looked at him and those eyes widened and two spots of pink came into her cheeks. She scrambled upright and looked for her shoes. ‘I’m so sorry, Mr Drakos, I must have been more tired than I thought.’

‘It’s quite all right.’

She seemed to realise then that the car had stopped. ‘Oh, we’re here, at my apartment.’