Page 145 of Modern Romance October 2025 5-8

The saleswoman oohed and aahed, and shooed her back into the changing area, closing the curtain, cutting off his line of sight completely this time.

Bereft. It left him bereft.

He waited impatiently for her to return from the changing area and when she did so, he was a little disappointed to see the sleeveless, halter-top dress that flowed down to the ground from her throat. The saleswoman disappeared to answer a ringing phone at precisely the moment that Rin turned to look at herself in the mirror and Enzo lost his breath.

It whooshed out of him inelegantly. The dress was backless. Smooth delicate skin covered the gentle slopes of the shoulder blades and spine left bare to his ferocious perusal. The dress caressed only the side of her body, hinting at—and only just stopping short of revealing—the curve of her breast. The material came back together just below the flare of her hip, hovering tantalisingly at the base of her spine.

Hypnotised, he got to his feet and came to stand just behind her. Barely inches from her, he could feel the heat of her skin draw him in against his will. She turned her head to the side, not enough to see him, not enough for him to see her, the gesture could have been one of submission, if it wasn’t for the way that her hands were fisted at her side.

He bit his lip, staring down at her, every part of his body as tense as the line that drew taut across her shoulders. His pulse raged in his ears. His fingers ached to take her hips, and haul her back against him. Against the hard ridge of his arousal. Something he would not allow himself to do. But hedidbend down and place his lips against the curve of her neck.

It was just a test, he assured himself. Just to see, to make sure that he was protected against her this time, and not taken unawares like he had been with the first kiss. But sensation swept over him like the pull of the ocean, drawing him beneath a tide of lust that he was helpless to fight. A drowning death he was only happy to surrender to.

Unable to help himself, he opened his mouth to taste her with his tongue. She shivered beneath the erotic caress, her nipples taut, her breath a sharp jerk in her chest, and he thanked god he wasn’t the only one so affected by whatever it was between them.

He took that much because it punished them both for the games they were playing.

He took that much because that was the price he was willing to pay for being undone by her completely.

And with that thought ricocheting around his brain like a bullet he stepped back. The saleswoman returned to the room and he reached into his pocket and held out his card.

‘Put anything she wants on that,’ he ordered, before turning on his heel, picking up the bag containing the item he’d already purchased and stalking from the shop.

He needed some air, because he couldn’t see clearly when it came to her, and he wasn’t so arrogant that he didn’t consider that he might be genuinely at risk of the one thing he’d promised himself as a child he’d never do; falling for someone who only wanted to use him for their own ends.

He couldn’t prevaricate any longer. He needed to push this game forward if only just to get to the end.

Rin, would you come to the upper deck?

I have something to ask you.

Erin stared at the text she’d received for longer than was necessary. Was this it? Was he going to ask her to marry her?

After Positano, Enzo had been quiet all the way back to the yacht and she wasn’t sure if she’d done something wrong, or...or...honestly, she didn’t really know any more.

Because when he’d found her in the shop, when he’d come to stand behind her, when he’dkissedher... She’d felt it. The pull, the attraction to him. Even now she shuddered, felt a fresh explosion of tingles across her skin. From amemory. Her heart-beat raced, her skin flushed... She’d wanted him so much it had filled her chest and stifled her breath. She’d swallowed that want to prevent it from escaping, but it had only bled into every cell in her body, hot, pulsing,needing.

But she wasn’tthatwoman, mindlessly reacting to the charms of a playboy. She couldn’t be. She had one purpose here and she needed to hold onto that, she thought as her fingers curled and her knuckles whitened in determination.

Slowly, she made her way up to the deck, hugging the scarf she’d bought with her own money around her shoulders as the slight chill of the night wrapped around her.

And once again, arriving on the upper deck, she paused in her tracks.

If she’d thought that the deck had been extravagant before, this was...a whole new level.

A single chair had been placed in the centre of the deck within a circle of rose petals. Enzo stood in a white tuxedo jacket and shirt, the tie and the trousers, midnight black superfine wool, a bouquet of roses in one hand and a flute of champagne in the other.

‘Signorina Carter,per favore,’ he said, gesturing for her to take the seat amongst the pretty petals.

She opened her mouth to object, but this was what she’d wanted, wasn’t it? This would give her the chance to give back to her mother what her father had taken from them. This was everything she needed. So why was she hesitating now?

She took the seat and realised that it faced outwards towards the dark seascape that stretched for miles. In the background, a romantic song began to play, coming from invisible speakers with lyrics that spoke of everlasting love and soul mates finding each other.

Then, out of the darkness, a thousand lights began to glow, twisting and morphing like starlings, ebbing and flowing with the music, until they formed an image of hearts and the wordlove.

Drones. She realised they were drones and for a moment, lost herself in the delight of how beautiful they were. Hypnotised by the sight and sounds she was surrounded by, she almost didn’t realise that Enzo had come to stand beside her and when the drones finally formed into the question she should have expected, Enzo had dropped to his knee and upheld a small velvet box with the most stunning pink diamond engagement ring in it.

‘So, will you,cara?’ he asked. Nodding his head to the sky that had ‘Will you marry me?’ written across it.