Bought: One Bride(17)

"Then what is it? What's wrong? Is it me? Are you angry with me for some  reason? Are you upset over what happened out in the car?"                       
       
           



       





This was her chance to tell him, to bring the issue out into the open.  But if she told him she knew about his connection with Wives Wanted, she  would be breaking the promise she'd made to Alanna.

Holly did not break promises.

"No," she said. "No, I'm not upset over that. I guess I just feel a  little out of my league here, Richard. Everyone is so sophisticated and  I'm … " She broke off with a shrug.

"You are not out of your league," Richard insisted. "You are beautiful and intelligent and as good as any person here."

She stiffened. "Don't flatter me, Richard. I had enough false flattery from Dave to last me a lifetime."

"I'm not flattering you. I mean every single word. You're a very special girl, Holly."

She stared into his eyes, trying to see what he saw when he looked at  her. Was he sizing her up as a potential wife, or buttering her up for  his bed later tonight?

Thinking about actually going to bed with Richard after this party was  over brought Holly up with a jolt. Oh, Lord, now that was where she  would be way out of her league!

Yet she knew that was what Richard wanted. What she wanted, too. She'd thought about little else all week.

But if he was expecting an accomplished lover, then he was in for a  shock. She supposed she wasn't utterly hopeless in bed. But she did feel  a failure, the way she couldn't seem to lose herself in sex like some  people seemed to. There'd never been any bells ringing for Holly, or  stars exploding in her head, or whatever happened when you had an  orgasm.

Still, maybe things would be different with Richard. It had certainly  been different each time he'd kissed her. Very different when he'd  touched her bare breast earlier on.

A shudder of remembered pleasure ricocheted through her.

"It's a little fresh out here," she said. "Perhaps we should go back inside. I can hear dancing music."

"Do you like dancing?" Richard asked as they turned and headed back up to the house.

"Yes, I do. What about you?"

"I'm no Fred Astaire but I can hold my own."

"I'll bet you can. I'll bet you're good at everything."

He laughed. "Now who's using flattery?"

"But you are good at everything, aren't you?"

Their eyes met, and his were extremely confident. "I always do my best."





Richard didn't drive her home after the party. He drove straight to his  nearby apartment block, using his key-card to gain entrance to the  private car park in the basement. He slid the BMW into one of his three  allotted parking bays, turned off the engine and withdrew his car keys  before glancing over at Holly, who hadn't said a single word since Reece  and Alanna had waved them off.

He understood why. The time for small talk was over.

Any momentary worry earlier on that the evening would not end as he'd  hoped had long disappeared. She hadn't been able to hide her own desire  when they'd danced together. She'd pressed herself against him, her body  language much more telling than her eyes ever were.

"We'll be more comfortable here than your place," he told her, his own tension on the rise.

Her head turned slowly towards him. If she was shocked by his  presumption, she didn't show it. She did, however, seem somewhat dazed,  or drugged, like someone about to go in for a major operation. Possibly  she was a little drunk. She'd consumed the majority of that bottle of  champagne over the evening. He'd restricted his intake, since he was  driving. Still, he'd made sure she ate as well, not wanting her plagued  by feeling sick tonight, or having a hangover in the morning.

"Stay where you are," he commanded. "I'll come round and help you out."

"All right," she replied, then sighed a deep sigh.

Richard frowned as he hurried around to the passenger door. He hoped she  wasn't exhausted. They'd danced quite a bit. When he yanked open the  car door and bent to release her seat-belt, their eyes connected.

"Don't kiss me down here," she warned him huskily.

Richard smothered a sigh of relief. She wasn't drunk. Or exhausted. Just turned on.

He knew exactly how she felt.

Straightening, he took her nearest hand and helped her out, slamming the door behind them and zapping the car locked.

"My … my purse," she said shakily when he started guiding her towards the lift well. "It's on the back seat."

"Leave it."

"But … "

"Leave it, Holly."





Holly left it, her mouth drying appreciably as Richard led her over to a  lift door, which quickly opened when he pressed the up button. As he  ushered her inside she felt his fingers tighten on her flesh a little.                       
       
           



       

"Not … not in here, either," she said in a sudden panic.

"Absolutely not," Richard returned, and indicated the security camera up in the corner.

She stared at him as he went about inserting his security key-card, her eyes widening when he pressed the penthouse floor.

"You live in the penthouse?"

"One of them. There are two in this building."

My God. A penthouse. She would never have thought Richard a penthouse  type of man. It seemed he'd been right when he'd said earlier tonight  that she didn't know him very well.

The lift started to rise so smoothly she was barely aware of movement.  Holly hadn't taken much notice of her surrounds on the short drive here.  She'd been too worked up with a distracting mixture of nerves and  excitement.

In truth, she hadn't needed to see where they were going. She already  knew Richard had recently bought an apartment on a point at East  Balmain, not far from the Diamonds. He'd told her so.

He hadn't told her it was a penthouse, however.

Would a man planning to remarry buy a penthouse to live in? A penthouse  was more of a bachelor playground, a place for girlfriends and  mistresses, not wives. Good Lord, maybe Richard was planning to set her  up as his mistress! Maybe he already had some other woman lined up to be  his wife.

The lift eased to a supersmooth halt before the door whooshed open and  Holly gasped. For straight ahead, across an expanse of shiny marble  floor, was a huge window that had the most spectacular night-time view,  with the bridge on the right and the skyscrapers of North Sydney  straight ahead. As she walked towards it the harbour below came more  into view, the reflection of lights dancing in the darkened waters.

"In here, Holly."

She whirled to find that Richard had opened a door she hadn't noticed.  She saw then that there was another door in the wall opposite, clearly  the entry to the second penthouse.

Holly walked into Richard's penthouse, expecting one thing but being confronted with something totally different.

"Oh!" she said with surprise as she glanced around.

"What were you expecting? Black leather and bear rugs?"

"Something like that."

"Are you disappointed?"

"Heavens, no. It's … fantastic. Nothing like a penthouse at all. More like  a holiday house," she said as she walked slowly around the open-plan  living areas, admiring the easy living layout and the relaxed furniture.

"I'll give you a grand tour in the morning," Richard said, and started  coming towards her across the blue-and-yellow rug she was standing on.  "For now, the only room I want to show you is my bedroom."

All the breath zoomed from Holly's lungs as he pulled her into his arms.

"Can I kiss you now?" he asked, his voice soft but his eyes hard. So was his body.

Holly was seized by a mad, mischievous moment. "What if I said no?"

His eyes made her shiver.

"Don't tease me, Holly. I'm not in the mood for games."

His mouth closed off any further conversation. His arms encircled her  back, his hands settling at opposite ends of her spine, his huge palms  keeping her pressed against the full length of him.

She'd known he was a big man. A powerful man. Now she felt his power,  and his passion, his kiss going on and on and on. His head didn't lift  till she was dizzy from lack of air.

His sweeping her up into his arms was a welcome move. It saved her from  falling. As he carried her from the living room down a long hallway she  buried her face into his chest, trying desperately not to think, or  worry.

Strangely, this time, his kiss hadn't totally addled her brains. Maybe  because she knew the moment of truth was at hand. The mind was a  terrible thing. Cruel and merciless. And sometimes perverse.

By the time Richard carried her through an open doorway into what was  obviously the master bedroom, the butterflies in Holly's stomach had  reached epidemic proportions. Her head lifted from his chest and darted  nervously to the bed, which was huge, with a white cane headboard and a  shiny blue satin quilt.