Holly and Alanna found Richard and Reece standing out on the magnificent back terrace, which overlooked a resort-style pool and the water far below. The two friends were deep in conversation as they approached, giving Holly the opportunity to study both men. To compare them physically.
Reece Diamond was a flashy-looking individual, handsome in a decidedly Hollywood style, with bedroom blue eyes and streaky blonde hair that flopped sexily across his forehead. In a way, he had everything. The face. The body. The outgoing personality. He was drop-dead gorgeous to look at. Eye candy of the highest order.
But for all that, Holly infinitely preferred Richard's looks, with his dark hair, deeply set grey eyes and strongly masculine features. Maybe he wasn't quite movie-star material, but he was extremely attractive and very well built. He also had subtle layers to his persona whereas Reece was all out there, with everything he was and everything he owned on show.
Which included his trophy wife.
Alanna said she gave her husband everything he wanted.
Holly only had to look into that man's eyes as his wife walked towards him to see what it was Reece wanted from her. Holly imagined Alanna would be "on call" every single night.
Holly's insides tightened at the thought of being "on call" for Richard on a daily basis.
"Mike's just rung," Reece said straight away to his wife. "He's not coming. He sends his apologies."
"That's a shame," Alanna replied as she slid her hand through the crook of her handsome husband's arm. "I was looking forward to giving his latest girlfriend the once-over. You said she was a stripper, didn't you, darling?"
"Yes. That poor boy has no taste in women," Reece purred, bending to press his lips against his wife's bare shoulder. "Not like us, Richard. But I dare say he'll be happy enough with her, for the short time she'll last."
"I don't like men who treat women as sex objects," Holly said before she could think better of it.
"Some women don't seem to mind," Reece returned silkily, extracting his arm from Alanna's, then snaking it snugly around her waist, his hand coming to rest just under her right breast.
Holly found herself staring at it and wanting, not Reece's hand on her, but Richard's. And not under her breast, but right on it.
Her eyes lifted to Richard's, only to find them fixed on her cleavage.
Maybe he'd been wanting exactly the same thing.
When their eyes finally connected, Holly swallowed. Richard was looking at her exactly the same way Reece Diamond had been looking at his wife. With naked desire, not tenderness or affection.
Yet her heart flipped over just the same.
"I'd like to show Holly around the grounds," Richard said suddenly, his eyes not leaving hers. "The view is wonderful from the jetty."
"Why not take a bottle of champers and a couple of glasses with you?" Reece suggested. "If you wait a sec, I'll dash in and get them for you." And he did just that, returning in no time to hand everything to Richard, whispering something to him at the same time.
"What did Reece say to you just now?" Holly asked tautly before they'd even made it down the first flight of flagstone steps.
"He told me where he hides the key to the boathouse."
A boathouse. A much more private spot than a jetty.
"I don't want to go into the boathouse," she said rather sharply. She didn't trust herself to be that alone with him right now. Or vice versa.
"That's fine," he returned affably enough. "What do you want to do, then?"
"Can't we just walk? And talk?"
"Absolutely," he said, and they moved off again, making their way slowly down more flagstones.
"I would never want the kind of marriage Reece and Alanna have," Holly said, and waited nervously for Richard's reaction.
"What's wrong with their marriage? They're very happy."
"Maybe, but how long can it last, especially without children?"
"What makes you think they won't have children?"
"Oh, come on, Richard, just look at the way Reece dresses his wife."
"What do you mean?"
"Alanna told me he chooses a lot of her clothes. If tonight's dress is any guide, he doesn't give a damn how much of her is on display. It probably turns him on to make other men jealous of him. She's like a married mistress, not a real wife. He won't want to risk spoiling her figure with a baby."
"You're entitled to your opinion, but you're wrong. Reece was saying to me the other day they were going to try for a baby soon. As far as Alanna's dress is concerned, lots of women wear sexy evening clothes nowadays."
"But she didn't have any underwear on!"
"Now that's the pot calling the kettle black, don't you think, beautiful?"
She hated the colour that zoomed into her cheeks. "I'm wearing panties. And my top is lined. Unlike you-know-who."
He laughed. "You-know-who is an adult woman who went into her marriage with her eyes well and truly open. Look, I suggest you stop getting yourself so het up over Reece and Alanna's marriage. It has nothing to do with us."
Richard was right. She had been getting all het up about Alanna's marriage. Perhaps because she was afraid Richard would talk her into a similar marriage. Afraid that she might like the idea of being his married mistress.
She could see him now, taking her into the kind of boutique that sold sexy dresses and outrageously erotic lingerie. She would have to parade everything for him. In her mind's eye she could see herself in a black satin corselette with suspenders and black stockings and shockingly high heels. And no panties, of course.
He would command her never to wear panties once she was his wife. She was to be always accessible to him, even when she visited him at the bank. She would be in a permanent state of arousal, always ready for him.
Always …
Holly sucked in deeply, then let out a long, slow, shuddering breath.
This has to stop, she told herself, but remained shaken by her fantasies.
"That view is pretty spectacular," she said as her eyes lifted to focus on the bridge, and the city beyond.
Richard laughed. "What an understatement. That view cost Reece ten million dollars."
"My God," she exclaimed. "He must be very rich."
"He is," Richard said. "At the moment. His fortune tends to fluctuate. A few years back, he was practically bankrupt."
"What happened to turn things around?"
"Two things. There was this savvy banker who backed him when he wanted to borrow more money to buy land and houses. Then there was the property boom."
"Aah. So that's how you two became friends."
"Yes. I lent him some of my own money as well. Not just the bank's. Same with Mike, when he wanted to start up his software company. Both were very rewarding investments."
"So you're as rich as Reece?"
"Actually, no," he said, then added as cool as you please, "I'm a lot richer."
CHAPTER NINE
FOR the second time tonight, Richard regretted his words, plus his moment of vanity.
The look Holly gave him was not the same kind of look his dates from Wives Wanted would have responded with, if he'd outlined his wealth to them.
Not that Richard could read exactly what Holly was thinking. The only time he could do that for certain was just after he'd been kissing her. He knew what she was thinking at those moments.
Nothing at all.
Right now, however, her far-too-intelligent brain was ticking over. Richard suspected his character was being assessed, and possibly found wanting.
"Of course, money isn't everything," he went on, going into damage control. "But it can make life a little easier."
She laughed. "Oh, I'm sure it can. But I would imagine it could be very corrupting, to be able to buy whatever you want."
Richard wondered where this edge had come from that he was suddenly hearing in her voice. It occurred to him that he should never have told her the truth about Reece's marriage. Holly was far too young and inexperienced to understand where a man like Reece was coming from. She certainly would never appreciate what had made him the man he was today. Holly might have been hurt by that Dave bloke, but she hadn't been devastated.
Bringing her here tonight was a mistake. He'd been hoping to impress her. Instead, he might have ended up alienating her.
The thought that the night would not end the way he wanted it to end had Richard's hands closing tightly around the bottle of champagne and the two crystal flutes he was holding.
"Do you want to leave?" he asked abruptly.
"Leave?" Her eyes flared wide. "Why would I want to leave?"
"You don't seem happy here. You obviously don't like Reece and Alanna, or this kind of party."
"But I do! I mean … I think Reece is a bit much, but I do like Alanna. Truly, I do. I think their house is fabulous. This party, too."