Bought: One Bride

She’d been more than willing to use her hands on him, and her mouth. And very happy to lean wantonly back against the tiles whilst he’d returned the favour.

Holly shivered at the memory.

When she returned to the bedroom and glanced at his gloriously naked form once more, Richard’s proposal for the rest of this weekend swirled back into her mind.

“No buts. And no clothes,” he’d said. “Just that belt, and wall-to-wall sex.”

God, but she was tempted. Just the thought turned her on.

But to really do that, to walk around Richard’s penthouse in the nude all day, to obey his every sexual command, was simply not on. It was not only shaming but demeaning. She would not do it.

Holly twisted the corrupting belt around so that the clasp was at the front. Her hands actually shook as she unclipped it, as though they didn’t want to obey her, but once they did a huge sigh of relief rippled through her.

Next, she looked for something to put on, shuddering when she spotted her pink dress on the floor, along with her panties and shoes.

No way would she be putting those on, either.

She had noticed a robe hanging up on the back of the bathroom door, but that had to be the one Richard was currently using. She quickly found the door that led into his walk-in closet and started searching for a spare robe, or something suitable to put on after she had a shower.

Everything in there was very neat and organised, just as she would imagine Richard’s wardrobe to be. All his suits were hanging up neatly in a row, along with a large number of business shirts. All white or blue. Along the opposite wall was a long row of casual clothes. Trousers, shirts, tops and jackets of all kinds, even leather.

But there were no spare robes.

After dithering for a while, Holly went back to his business shirts and selected a blue one. It was very good material, she noted. Soft and uncreasable. Expensive. Of course the darned thing would swim on her, but that was okay. She wanted to be well covered up when Richard woke.

Taking the shirt with her, she tiptoed back to the bathroom.

Richard woke to the sound of the shower running.

He smiled as he stretched. God, but he felt marvellous. Last night was exactly what he’d needed.

Holly was what he’d needed. Not just for one night, either. Or even one weekend. It might be a bit too soon to propose marriage, but there was no reason why he couldn’t ask her to move in with him. When the flower shop sold, she’d have to find somewhere else to live. Why not here, with him?

How wonderful it would be to come home to Holly every night. The memory of what she’d done to him in the shower popped back into his mind, making his flesh twitch back to life. She’d proved to be somewhat more experienced, sexually, than he’d imagined, but he’d surprised her, too, a few times. He was sure of it.

Still, she’d wanted him as much and as often as he’d wanted her. Hopefully, by the end of this weekend, she’d be more than willing to do whatever he wanted.

Unfortunately, her flower shop probably wouldn’t sell for ages. Property in Sydney was proving hard to shift at the moment. Maybe he could help things along.

Richard was planning a rather ruthless move on his part when the phone rang.

He wondered who it could be, calling him this early on a Sunday morning. A glance at his watch showed it was only twenty past nine.

Richard leant over and swept the phone off its cradle.

“Richard Crawford,” he answered crisply.

“Richard, it’s Reece.”

“Reece! Now what are you doing up at this hour? I thought you and Alanna would sleep in till noon at least. You—”

“Is Holly there with you?” Reece cut in brusquely.

“Er…she’s in the shower.”

“I think you might have a problem.”

Richard’s stomach tightened. “What kind of problem?”

“You know how you told me at the party last night that Holly wasn’t from Wives Wanted.”

“Yes…”

“It’s a pity you didn’t tell me that earlier.”

“What do you mean?”

“When you rang Alanna earlier this week to say that you were bringing a date to our party, she assumed she would be one of Natalie’s girls.”

Richard sucked in sharply. “You told Alanna I signed up with Wives Wanted?”

“Sorry, mate. There didn’t seem any reason not to tell her, considering she was one of Natalie’s girls.”

“I guess not. So what are you saying? That Alanna said something to Holly? She told her that I’d been looking for a wife through an introduction agency?”

“Afraid so. When they were in the powder room together. Alanna said Holly seemed okay about it, other than being somewhat surprised. Anyway, the girls promised each other not to say anything to either of us last night. They were worried we might be angry. But this morning, Alanna decided you should know that Holly knows. She also said you should know that Holly said she would never marry without love, especially a man who was still in love with his dead wife.”