âWhat is it that you want of me?â
Lucille composed herself to take the plunge. âI want what you offered me on the phone.â
âAnd what was that? Please remind meâ¦â
âA strictly sexual and very private affair,â she bit out.
âAh, yes,â he drawled. âI do recall. Iâm to be your secret lover and you, my secret playmate. So for how long would you envisage thisâ¦arrangementâ¦lasting?â
Forever, came the involuntary thought.
Dear Reader,
I admit it! I find playboys fascinating. I love reading about their glamorous lives, their beautiful women, their many affairs. Thereâs something exciting about these wicked devils who dare to do what an ordinary man wouldnâtâor couldnât.
Iâve always thought a playboy makes an excellent romantic hero, because he is the ultimate challenge. Can one special woman make an often cynical man reassess his lifestyle and yearn for something finer, deeper and more permanent?
When my editor asked me to write a trilogy, I happily chose playboys for my heroes. Three handsome Aussie males who seem to have it all but find, once they meet that one special woman, that they want herâ¦her respect, her love. Only this time getting what they want isnât so easy as it usually is.
I hope you enjoy AUSTRALIAN PLAYBOYS. Do write to Harlequin Presents>® and let us know what you thinkâand which heroes personally appeal to you!
âLUCILLE, when are you going to start dating again?â Michele asked between sips of her cappuccino.
Oh-oh, Lucille thought ruefully. Here we go again.
âSurely you donât mean to stay single and celibate for the rest of your life,â Michele swept on, âjust because you had one bad marriage. I donât doubt your Roger was a right royal pig, but not all men are like that. Take my darling Tyler, for instanceâ¦â
âNo, thanks,â Lucille said with a dry laugh, then downed the last delicious mouthful of jam and cream doughnut. âHeâs all yours.â
Michele plonked her coffee cup down with an exasperated sigh. âWhen are you going to believe that Tyler really loves me? That heâs really changed? That his playboy days are well and truly over?â
Lucille was tempted to say in thirty years or so. But that would have been too cruel. Michele was only three weeks back from her honeymoon and still glowing. Lucille didnât have the heart to destroy her best friendâs romantic illusions about her handsome new husband.
But, truly, what chance did that marriage have of going the distance? Sure, Tyler seemed to be madly in love with Lucille at the moment. But would he feel the same in six monthsâ time, when the heat of the honeymoon cooled down and old habits kicked in?
The son and heir to the Garrison media fortune had a long history of throw-away girlfriends and Lucille had no faith in a wedding ring changing that. Sheâd warned her friend at the outset not to fall in love with such a man, just to have an affair and enjoy the sexâwhich was reportedly fantasticâwithout getting emotionally involved.
But of course that had been futile advice with someone like Michele. The girl was too nice for her own good. Heck, sheâd stayed loving and loyal to her first boyfriend for ten years. And heâd been a total rat. What chance had Micheleâs sweet heart had against the golden boy of Sydneyâs social set, once heâd set his sights on her?
Yes, Micheleâs marriage was doomed, in Lucilleâs opinion. But she wasnât about to say so. She regretted not being clever enough so far at pretending to believe it was a case of true love all round.
âDonât take any notice of me,â Lucille said swiftly. âIâm just an old cynic. If anyone could make a man change it would be you.â Michele might be twenty-eight-years old, and a brilliant advertising executive to boot, but underneath the brunetteâs surface sophistication snuggled a soft, sweet soul. Life hadnât made her hard, or cynical, as it had Lucille.
Maybe that was why Lucille enjoyed the other girlâs company so much. Because, for a while, she could soak in the warmth of her sweetness, rather like a lizard basking in sunshine.
She missed Michele no longer living in the flat next to her. She hated seeing the âFor Saleâ sign out at the front of the building. Now she was really living alone, with no other close friends, just nodding acquaintances. Thank God their respective workplaces were both in North Sydney, so they could have regular lunches together, plus the odd shopping expedition.
Still, their friendship would never be quite the same now that Michele was married.
âDonât think you can avoid answering my first question.â Michele resumed determinedly. âYouâre only thirty years old, Lucille. And, might I say, one stunning-looking woman. I want to know when youâre going to get over Roger and move on with your life.â