Page 59 of Modern Romance January 2025 1-4

Thatwas why he was here, because he still wanted her, physically. Instead of his need abating after they’d been to bed together, the craving had grown stronger.

Thatwas why he’d returned to London. He wasn’t a man habitually driven by hormonal impulses. Portia was the sole exception. It must be something to do with imprinting on her as his first love. Or their affair being cut short so abruptly.

And the fact that she’s a fine woman.

Portia had an allure that even her severe business suits couldn’t dim.

Lex stared at the little white figurine before him. A piece of prehistoric, Cycladic sculpture. The female figure was stylised, its face almost smooth, breasts and hips rounded, arms crossed. But there was something about the figure, something powerful and enigmatic that drew him.

A grunt of laughter escaped. Powerful and enigmatic, that was how he’d describe Portia’s allure.

It wasn’t just her slim body, her feminine shape now more rounded than in her teens. It wasn’t only her passion, her unbridled hunger for him that had met and matched something raw and untamed in himself.

There was somethingelseabout Portia, something that had sunk its claws deep inside him and wouldn’t let go.

He didn’t know what it was and he didn’t want to know. He just wanted to sate it so he could move on with his life.

Except she’d refused him.

His lips curved in a reluctantly appreciative smile. It wasn’t often anyone said no to him these days. He’d striven to get where he was, initially with backing from his father, but his success was due mainly to hard work, strategic vision and the ability to negotiate to get what he wanted.

Clearly his negotiation skills were rusty. Portia had been so definite when she turned him down.

He’d withstood temptation for three weeks but then he’d caved and booked a flight to London.

He needed this done. Complete. Then he’d move on.

Thisbeing his rampant sexual hunger for her.

‘Mr Tomaras.’ The husky voice tightened his belly. ‘You’ve seen something you like?’

He turned and met familiar velvety eyes that drew him back to that night in bed with her. All that softness. All that eagerness. He’d been so aroused he’d worried he might come on too strong. But Portia had met him with a wild hunger that matched his own.

He couldn’t believe she didn’t want him anymore. Surely he saw a flicker of interest, her colour deepening?

‘Ms Oakhurst. Is that how it’s going to be? No more first names?’

She shrugged. ‘This is my workplace.’

Yet she’d sought him out. She could have slipped past without saying a word while his attention was elsewhere. But then Portia had never been one to shy from a challenge or what she believed to be right.

Something dropped hard inside him. Had she come to tell him face-to-face that she didn’t want to see him again?

‘Ah. Discretion.’ He nodded as if it made sense, when the only thing that made sense to him right now was the need to gather her close and kiss her until neither of them could remember their names. ‘To answer your question, yes.’ Deliberately, he lowered his voice. ‘I see something I want.’

She blinked, pupils dilating, and there it was. Desire.

He saw it in her parted lips. In the sharp rise of her breasts, betraying her breathlessness. In that now smouldering look that didn’t belong in a workplace. She might protest, but she couldn’t hide her response to him.

If he’d doubted, even for an instant, his continuing need for Portia Oakhurst, the leaping arc of heat between them proved him wrong.

Breathing deep through flared nostrils she turned to survey the spotlit figurine. ‘You’re a collector?’ She frowned. ‘It doesn’t really fit with the oil painting you bought here. They’re very different styles.’

Lex shrugged. Was she really so interested in his taste in art? Or was she finding words to fill the silence?

‘That was a spur of the moment decision.’

He’d regretted it soon after, for he didn’t have space in his life for sentiment. The painting had taken him back to a time when he’d been young and vulnerable. When he believed in...

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