Page 1 of Do Opposites Attract?

Chapter One

The ballroom was dazzling. The jazz band played, diamonds glittered. Waiters strutted round with silver platters filled with canapés and the finest champagne. Wealthy men in their handmade tuxedos danced with glamorous ladies in eye-wateringly expensive silk dresses. It resembled a scene from the nineteenth century, when girls in their finery would set out to snare a rich husband. Two centuries later it looked like very little had changed — bar a reduction in simpering and an escalation in blatant flirtation.

Brianna was so bored, she wanted to scream. She didn’t want to spend yet another Saturday night in the company of these pampered, idle rich. Not with men who seemed increasingly dull, or with women who cared about nothing but spending money and looking good. Her greatest fear was that she was fast becoming one of them.

Across the sea of black tuxedos and vibrant designer dresses, Brianna caught sight of Melanie. She smiled as their eyes locked. Melanie had been her best friend from school; was her bestfriend now. She too had more money than she knew what to do with. With an understanding borne of years of friendship, they simultaneously moved towards the exit.

‘When are you going to dance with me, Brianna?’

Her escape temporarily halted, Brianna turned to find Henry Doherty following her. He was attractive, if you liked men with bland, even features. Brianna didn’t.

‘Maybe later,’ she replied, giving him a cool smile. ‘And maybe never,’ she muttered under her breath, gliding quickly through the hotel and into the welcome fresh air of the London evening.

‘I see you’re much in demand again.’ Melanie had followed her out and was looking furtively up and down the street to check nobody was watching them. With a nod of satisfaction she delved into her satin evening bag and proceeded to light two cigarettes.

Brianna didn’t smoke. Neither did Melanie. At least not when they were sober. In fact, Brianna hated it with a passion and refused to go out with any man who smoked. But every now and again, when she’d had too much to drink, or was feeling low, a cigarette was just what she needed. Tonight it was a combination of both.

Taking a deep drag she rested against the cool wall of the hotel. ‘I didn’t see you standing around like a wallflower either,’ she remarked as the nicotine slowly seeped into her veins, relaxing her.

‘One of the privileges of being your friend is that I seem to acquire the men you reject.’ Melanie grinned and rested against the wall next to her. ‘Of course the downside of that is they always know they’re getting second best.’

Brianna emitted a very unladylike snort. ‘What a load of bull. Look at you with your shiny blonde hair and baby blue eyes. You could never be second best.’

Melanie shook her head, though she was still smiling. ‘And look at you, Brianna Worthington. I might be the cool blonde, but it’s the sexy brunette the men are desperate to meet.’

Brianna took another drag from her cigarette. ‘Bollocks. It’s my trust fund they’re chasing, not me.’ As the sole, fourth generation heir to the Worthington family business, being fabulously wealthy was something she’d grown up with. ‘Still, who cares? Far easier to be the one being chased than the one doing the chasing.’

‘Speaking of your trust fund, how is life in the family emporium? Found a job you actually enjoy yet?’

Brianna snorted again, a sound totally at odds with her appearance. ‘Sure. Running a chain of shops is exactly how I see my life unfolding.’

‘Good heavens, only you could call the illustrious Worthington department stores a chain of shops. If your father heard you, he’d disown you.’

‘Sometimes I think that might be a good thing,’ Brianna admitted quietly.

Melanie shot her a look of disbelief. ‘You’re kidding me. Then you’d really have to work for a living.’

‘So? You don’t think I’ve got the stamina to do a nine to five, five day week?’

‘Stamina, yes, boredom threshold, no. You’d be tearing your hair out after a fortnight.’

‘Only if I chose the wrong job.’

‘And what, pray, would be the right job?’

The conversation was becoming way too serious for a Saturday night. ‘Okay, you win. I can’t imagine anything I’d want to do seven hours a day, five days a week.’ She shuddered. Taking a final puff of her cigarette, she crushed the stub under her five inch silver Jimmy Choo’s. ‘Come on, my friend. Let’s go back and party.’

Grabbing Melanie by the arm, the pair of them strode confidently back into the hotel, oblivious to the envious glances of other women and the frankly lustful gazes of the men. They both lived in a world where they were used to being pursued and adored.

On entering the glittering ballroom once more, Brianna paused. There was Henry again, his eyes scanning the room. With a sinking feeling in her stomach, she guessed he was looking for her. Bugger. She liked him well enough, and had certainlyknownhim long enough because their mothers were great friends, but it didn’t mean she wanted to spend the rest of the evening with him. Especially as he seemed to be angling to move their relationship on from friendship to something more. It simply wasn’t going to happen. He might be good-looking, but romantically, Henry left her cold. What was it about rich men that made them dull? Maybe they didn’t feel the need to try. Or maybe their lives were so empty it left them with nothing interesting to say.

‘Henry’s on the prowl for you,’ Melanie whispered, nodding her head in the man’s direction.

‘Which is why I’m about to make a run for it.’

Her friend chuckled. ‘Coward.’

‘I prefer to think I’m being kind.’

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