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Holly could only conclude that neither of them wanted love, or romance. They just wanted a beautiful woman to share their lives, and their beds. Not such a terrible crime, she supposed. But rather cold-blooded.
She shivered again.
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.”
