Made in pale pink chiffon, it was halter-necked in style, with a V-shaped cleavage slashed down past her breasts. Her already small waistline was cinched in tightly with a wide silver chain belt, making her full bust look even more voluptuous.
Of course, wearing a bra was out of the question. They didn't make frontless bras. Thankfully, the dress was fully lined, and draped in soft folds over her breasts, which minimised the visual impact of her naked nipples.
She'd bought the dress last night, at an expensive boutique in the city, driven to the extravagance by her desire to knock Richard dead when he picked her up tonight.
The salesgirl had raved, of course, saying it looked simply fab on her.
"Not many girls can carry this dress off," she'd said. "Most don't have the curves for it. Or the skin."
Holly knew what she meant. She did have smooth, honey-coloured skin with no freckles. To be honest, she'd thought she looked pretty fab in the dress, too.
But now that the moment was almost at hand-it was five to eight-her confidence was wavering. Had she gone too far with the dress and accessories, along with her hair and make-up? Would Richard like her dressed to thrill? He'd asked for sexy but maybe, once he saw her, he would prefer the more au naturel Holly of last Saturday night.
The phone ringing startled her. Oh, no, please, not Richard calling off our date, she prayed as she picked up the receiver with a shaky hand. She couldn't bear it.
"Yes?" she choked out.
"I'm outside," Richard said, "I can see a light upstairs, but the place is in darkness down here. Are you ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be."
"No need to be nervous," he replied. "Reece and Alanna are very nice people."
"It's not them who make me nervous."
He laughed. "You don't have to be nervous of me. Now come downstairs this minute. I want to see what you look like."
The moment she came through that door out onto the pavement, Richard realised she did have to be nervous about him. Very nervous.
He'd expected her to doll herself up tonight. What he hadn't expected was to be totally blown away by the results. One glance at her in that provocative pink dress and Richard was consumed with a desire so hot and strong that his already-frustrated body was in danger of spontaneous combustion.
As he watched her lock the door he vowed then and there that she would not just stay the night with him. But all of Sunday as well. If he had his way, Holly would not be going home till Monday morning.
At last, she turned and walked towards where he was standing by the open passenger door, trying not to look too gobsmacked. Or too lustful.
"You look ravishing," he complimented, stepping forward to take her free right hand in both of his. Her left hand was swinging a cute little pink evening bag, which matched her dress. Her lips were pink, too. A slightly darker, brighter pink, the vibrant lipgloss making her mouth look wet and inviting.
A decidedly X-rated thought zoomed into Richard's mind. Not the first X-rated thought he'd had about her this week. He really was in a bad way.
He dropped his gaze swiftly downwards, lest the darkness of his desires showed in his eyes. Her high heels were silver, he noted, the same as that decadent-looking belt.
More appalling thoughts.
His eyes shot back upwards, past her braless breasts and that sinful-looking mouth.
Not much peace there, either.
Her hair was up in one of those sexy styles where loose strands fell around her face, covering half of her eyes and brushing sensually against her neck when she walked.
For a second he wondered if she was wearing panties, then decided that of course she was. Holly was not the kind of girl who would go without panties.
When he lifted her fingers to his lips she actually trembled.
"I'm going to be the envy of every man at the party tonight," he said as he straightened. "Shall we go?"
Holly did her best to pull herself together once she was in the car and they were on the way. But she could not seem to get her head around the way Richard had just looked at her. As if he wanted to eat her alive.
She hoped she hadn't looked at him quite so lasciviously.
But, dear heaven, black did become him.
She'd thought him handsome last Saturday night, dressed in that other black suit. In a black tuxedo, however, he looked not just handsome, but super-suave. Like James Bond on his way to an international casino.
Thank the Lord she'd gone to the trouble she had. And that he liked the way she looked. Nevertheless, Holly didn't believe Richard would be the envy of every man there tonight. She understood full well that this was going to be a party full of genuinely glamorous and beautiful women. It was being held at Reece Diamond's home, a waterside mansion in East Balmain not far from where Richard lived.
Richard had told her quite a bit about Reece Diamond during his phone call last Sunday night, making Holly curious to see what kind of man he was. The most fascinating part had been how he'd met his wife, apparently through an introduction agency called Wives Wanted, a computer matchmaking service that catered for rich men who wanted beautiful wives, and beautiful women who wanted rich husbands.
Love was not precluded, but it was not high on the list of priorities with the clients of Wives Wanted.
Holly didn't like to criticise Richard's best friend, but privately she thought the whole deal sounded too much like legalised prostitution for her liking. She could not understand, either, why a man like Reece Diamond would need to employ such a service to find a wife. Richard had described him as charming and good-looking and highly successful. That didn't sound like the type of man to need help in finding a wife. It was a strange situation. But fascinating, in a way.
Holly was very curious to meet the wife as well. Alanna. What kind of woman put herself out there like that? If she was as lovely a person as Richard said, then why wouldn't she want to be loved?
Holly knew she could never marry a man she didn't love and who didn't love her.
Thinking of love and marriage reminded her of Mrs Crawford, and Melvin.
"Did your mother's plane leave on time last night?" Holly asked when they stopped at the first set of lights.
"Yes, thank goodness. I've never seen her so excited. Melvin, too. Truly, they were acting like giddy teenagers together."
"You really like Melvin, don't you?"
"Very much so. He's just what the doctor ordered for Mum, if you'll pardon the pun."
Holly laughed. Richard had a wonderfully dry sense of humour, rather like her dad.
"How did your business go this week?" she asked.
"It would have gone better," he replied ruefully, "if I'd been able to put my mind on it."
His head turned and their eyes met. Holly's heart stopped beating for a few seconds, before it lurched on.
"I … I know what you mean," she said huskily.
"I wonder if you do."
"I'm not a child, Richard."
His eyes dropped to her breasts, making her nipples tingle as they tightened.
"I can see that," he said.
"The … the lights have gone green," she told him shakily.
He said nothing in reply, just turned his eyes back onto the road and continued on, almost as though nothing had happened between them.
Lord, but she felt out of her depth with this man. His mother's warning popped back into her head, urging her to be careful. But she didn't want to be careful. She wanted to be reckless, and wicked. And she wanted him to be wicked.
She wanted his eyes back on her again. And his mouth. And his hands.
The wanting was acute and intense, a hunger that wasn't going to go away till it was satisfied.
Holly sucked in a deep breath, glancing at the clock on the dash as she slowly exhaled. Ten past eight. It wouldn't take all that long to get from Strathfield to East Balmain. Both were on the western side of the city. Balmain was a lot closer to the CBD than Strathfield, of course. A very trendy suburb these days. Very "in".
She needed to be there, to be surrounded by other people, to not feel the way she was suddenly feeling, as if she was in danger of losing total control of her life.
There she'd been last weekend, trying so hard to make sensible plans for the future, and along had come Richard Crawford, blowing them all out of the water. She couldn't think about a new job or a new place to live when all she could think about was him. She hadn't had her résumé done yet, let alone applied for any position. Instead, she'd gone out and blown nearly two thousand dollars on what she was wearing tonight.
Her perfume alone had cost over a hundred dollars, an exotic scent that was supposed to be irresistible to men. That was what it was called. Irresistible. She'd resisted the temptation to practically bathe in it, but she'd sprayed it in places she'd never sprayed perfume before.