Bought: One Bride(3)

"Not any more, I'm not."

Richard wished he hadn't sounded quite so bitter. Reece looked startled.  As well he might. Reece knew nothing about Joanna's betrayal. Men, even  the closest of friends, didn't tell each other things like that.

"I've made up my mind about this," Richard stated firmly.

"Can I ask why?" Reece probed.

"It's not rocket science, my friend. Just the need for companionship. And some regular sex."

"You could get that from a girlfriend."

"I don't want a girlfriend. I want a wife."

"Aah, I get the picture. It's because of the bank. Your position as CEO would be consolidated if you were married."

Now it was Richard's turn to be startled. "It has nothing whatsoever to  do with the bank. I simply want to be married. I want what you've got,  Reece. A good-looking woman who's happy to be my wife, and to have my  child."

"I didn't realise you wanted a family."

"Why on earth would you think that?"

Reece shrugged. "You were married to Joanna for two years, more than enough time to have a baby."

"That was not my doing," Richard informed his friend, doing his best not to sound cold.

Reece still frowned. "I thought you were happy with Joanna … "                       
       
           



       

"I was," he said truthfully enough. His unhappiness hadn't begun till  after she'd died. "I was mad about her. But she's gone, and I'm here and  I'm lonely, all right? I want a woman in my life. What I don't want,  however, is romance. I've been there, done that."

Reece nodded. "Yes, I can understand where you're coming from."

"You should. I know how you felt about Kristine. Which is why you went  to Wives Wanted in the first place. Because you were still in love with  her."

"The way you still are with Joanna."

Richard didn't deny it. If he had, he might have had to explain.

"Now that that's all settled, I'm going back inside to have another look  at my fabulous new penthouse," he said, scraping back his chair and  standing up. "Which reminds me. Can I move in before contracts are  exchanged?"

"Move in today, if you like."

Richard was not an impulsive man by nature but, today, things were a-changing. "You know what? I think I will."





CHAPTER ONE





HOLLY glared for the umpteenth time at the FOR SALE sign that had been  taped on the shop window less than half an hour earlier. Fury and  indignation warred inside her swirling stomach and whirling head.

How dared her stepmother do this? How dared she?

A Flower A Day was at least half hers by rights. She should have been consulted. Should have been considered.

But any consideration for her feelings had clearly ended with her  father's death. Any hope of his beloved business one day being hers had  died with him.

She'd been stupid to stay on. Especially stupid to work for such a  pathetic salary, considering she managed the shop now, and did the books  as well. Every Sunday, no less. Her day off!

Heck, Sara took home almost as much money as she did. And Sara only  worked from Wednesday till Saturday as a casual. Sure, Sara was an  excellent florist with loads of experience but Holly was every bit as  experienced. She might only be twenty-six but she'd been working with  flowers all her life. Her dad had started training her to be a florist  when she'd been knee-high to a grasshopper. She'd joined him in the shop  soon after her fifteenth birthday.

Holly's heart twisted as she remembered how happy they'd been back then. Just her and her dad.

And then Connie had come along.

Holly hadn't realised till after her dad had died two years back what  kind of woman her stepmother was. Connie had been very clever during the  eight years she'd been the second Mrs Greenaway.

But Holly had certainly known within weeks of her dad marrying the  attractive divorcee that her stepsister was a nasty piece of work.  Jealous, spiteful and devious. Unfortunately, Katie had been equally  clever with her new stepfather as his new wife had.

Butter wouldn't melt in her mouth around him.

Holly bitterly resented the money Connie and Katie had wheedled out of  her dad. Only the fact that he'd seemed happy had made her stay silent  over the vicious things Katie had said to her in private.

Of course, after her dad had died, all gloves had been off. Connie had  begun showing her true colours and Katie … well, Katie had gone from bad  to worse.

Holly knew she should have moved out of their lives altogether right  then and there, but she just couldn't bear to part company with her  dad's flower shop. She still felt close to him there. So she'd moved  into the flat above the shop and set about getting A Flower A Day back  on track.

Business had fallen right off after her father's stroke, Holly having  been so upset that she'd had to close the shop for a while. It had taken  over a year to get all his old clients back and to start making a  profit. Not that A Flower A Day would ever be a great money-making  concern. Strip shopping wasn't very successful these days. The malls had  taken over.

The shop and the flat, however, were still worth good money, despite  being ancient and not in the best of condition. Probably over a million.  More if someone bought it as a business, along with the goodwill.

Holly glowered at the FOR SALE sign one more time. She'd been crazy to  work so hard for so little when she'd known, deep down, that the only  ones who would reap the rewards were Connie and the obnoxious Katie.  Unfortunately, her father had left his wife everything in his will, made  soon after they'd been married when Holly had only been sixteen. He'd  relied on Connie to look after his daughter. But the merry widow had had  other plans.

So had her rotten daughter …

But Holly didn't want to think about that. She'd thought about what had happened over Christmas far too much already.

If Dave had really loved her, Katie would not have been able to steal  him. But she had. She was even going to marry him. That should have been  the final straw for Holly but, strangely enough, it hadn't been.                       
       
           



       

The final straw was that FOR SALE sign.

Holly decided then and there that she'd played Cinderella long enough.  The time had come for some major changes and major decisions. She knew  she'd be very sad to walk away from her dad's pride and joy, but it had  to be done. Because it wasn't going to be her pride and joy for much  longer. It would soon belong to someone else.

"I'm just ducking down to the station, Sara," she said crisply. "I need this morning's Herald."

Sara glanced up from where she was finishing an exquisite table setting  of pink carnations. It was for a local lady who was a pink addict.

"Looking for a new job?" Sara said.

"Absolutely."

"About time," Sara muttered.

A very attractive redhead in her midthirties, Sara had seen plenty of  living and did not suffer fools gladly. She'd long expressed the opinion  that Holly should strike out on her own.

"You're right," Holly agreed. "I'll be looking for a new place to live as well."

Sydney's Saturday morning Herald was always chock-full of job and  flat-share advertisements. Holly had actually looked before; a few weeks  ago, after Dave had left her for Katie. She just hadn't had the courage  at that stage to totally change her life, and to leave everything that  was so familiar to her.

But she'd found the courage now.

Sara smiled her approval. "Atta girl. And don't you go worrying about  me. As soon as you're out of here, so am I. I wouldn't work for that cow  Connie if this was the last flower shop in Sydney."

"She is a cow, isn't she?"

"Of the highest order. And so's the daughter. For what it's worth, Katie  deserves Dave. I was pleased as Punch the day you got rid of him."

"Er … he dumped me, Sara."

"Only good thing he ever did for you. Now you can find yourself a really nice bloke, someone who'll appreciate your qualities."

"Thanks for the compliment, Sara, but really nice blokes are hard to  find. They certainly haven't been thick on the ground in my life. Dave's  not the first loser boyfriend I've had. I seem to attract the fickle,  faithless type."

"Go get yourself a job in the city, love. Where the suits are."

"Suits?"

"You know. Men in suits. Executive types. I used to work at a flower  stall in Market Place. There was an endless parade of male eye candy  walking by there, I can tell you. Talk about yummy."

"Yes, but does wearing a suit to work equate with being a nice bloke?"

"Nope. But it often equates with money. Might as well fall for a rich guy as a poor guy."

"You didn't." Sara was married to a man who worked on the railways.