A Seductive Kiss

Chapter 1

People thought Dianne Leigh Harrington had the world on her personal yo-yo string. Strikingly beautiful with an exquisite face the camera loved, she was known around the world as "The Face," the only model for the House of Harrington's print advertisements and lead model for their runway shows. She was on the A list, got into all the exclusive nightspots, was voted one of the beautiful people in People magazine, was sought after by some of the richest men in the world.
Those who thought she lived a fairy-tale life were wrong.
In a one-of-a-kind, haute couture, strapless, blush-pink evening gown created especially to show off her smooth bare shoulders, shapely curves, and long legs, from the side split to midthigh, Dianne sipped her vintage champagne in a quiet corner of the lavish Plaza Hotel suite, and fought not to sigh.
She was lonely. So what else was new?
Dianne could recall few occasions in her life when she had truly felt happy and wanted. Tonight, with her two closest friends in the room, should have been one of those rare occasions. It wasn't. She felt too much like the odd man out, just as she had always been.
So she did what she always did when she felt left out: smiled, sipped her drink, and pretended she didn't have a care in the world. Too bad it wasn't true.
She should be content for once to observe rather than be observed. But the more she watched the obviously in love couples circulate around the suite, the lonelier she became. Because, just like always, tonight when the party was over she'd go home alone.
While she enjoyed her glamorous career as a model and spokeswoman for the House of Harrington, and visited some of the most fascinating cities in the world, she wanted more out of life. She was frequently in the company of other models or people in the fashion industry. They tended to go out in groups, but before the night was over they usually paired up with someone in the group or with someone they'd met. Dianne wasn't into casual affairs, so she always ended up alone.
The couples in the room had what she'd longed for all her life: unconditional love. She wasn't jealous, she just wanted what they had, wondered what it felt like to be totally loved and wanted.
As an only child, she'd been barely tolerated by her self-absorbed parents. Her mother, beautiful, elegant, and always perfect, was a slave to fashion. Her handsome father's unrelenting passion was golf. They looked good together, and freely enjoyed being the recipients of the Harrington fashion fortune. Neither would have dreamed of working. If they thought about Dianne at all, it was when it was convenient or when it made them look like the loving, charitable couple they pretended to be in public.
What a bunch of crock, Dianne thought as she took another sip. Her parents only loved themselves. They even bought their own Christmas presents since they reasoned that they knew what they wanted better than anyone. Dianne seldom made their Christmas list unless they hoped to gain from it somehow.
No matter how many years had passed, Dianne still thought of the Christmas Eve when she was five years old. With TV cameras rolling, her parents had made a very public display of donating her toys to those less fortunate. There had been no cameras the next morning when her mother presented herself with a flawless diamond necklace and earrings to match. Her father's gift to himself was a membership at one of the most exclusive golf clubs in the country.
Dianne shook the memory away....