STEPHANIE BOND
feels she won the lottery in November 1995 â when Mills & Boon bought her very first book! Since then, Stephanie has written over twenty-five books for Mills & Boon, and still loves bringing stories of romance and comedy to her readers all over the world. Stephanie lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband, Christopher. She loves to hear from her readers at www.stephaniebond.com.
Dear Reader,
Have you ever dreamed of winning the lottery? Jane Kurtz regularly plays the lottery with her co-workers, but she never really thinks about winning. Why would she? Everything in Janeâs life is perfectly ordinary â her looks, her car, her life. When she overhears her hot next-door neighbour make a crack about her sad little life, she longs to do something completely wild and unexpected, and thenâ¦she and her co-workers have the winning ticket! Jane shocks everyone by going to Vegas for a wild weekend. But Jane herself is shocked when her hot neighbour follows her to make sure she doesnât get into troubleâ¦with anyone but him!
I hope you enjoy this first of six books in the MILLION DOLLAR SECRETS mini-series. Please share with your friends the great stories that you read between the pages of Mills & Boon>® novels! Visit me at www.stephaniebond.com.
Much love and laughter,
Stephanie Bond
1
âLISTENâ¦IâM sorryâwhat was your name again?â
Jane Kurtz turned off the handheld airbrush machine that was depositing a perfect layer of makeup over the zits of celebutante Casey Campella, todayâs guest on Just Between Us. âItâs Jane.â
âOhâ¦right.â Casey wrinkled her nose. âListen, I donât want to look orange on camera. I have a lot of friends and family here in Atlanta, and theyâll all be watching the show.â
Watching for tips on how to make their own home sex tape reminiscent of the one of Casey and her current boyfriend that was making the rounds on the Internet. Jane bit her tongue to keep from saying that as far as Casey appearing on camera looking too orange was concerned, it was too late.
Instead Jane wet her lips. âI promise you wonât look orange, Ms. Campella. But Iâm afraid youâll have to be still in order for me to do the best job possible.â
Casey sniffed and looked away.
Jane turned the airbrush machine on again and continued to apply a flawless application of makeup on the young womanâs face, conceding that what she lacked in skin texture, she made up for in bone structure. The only thing higher than the womanâs cheekbones were her boobs, which allegedly had their own fan club and Website.
When the foundation layer was complete, Jane turned off the machine and proceeded to enhance the womanâs deep blue eyes with strategic applications of false eyelashes, highlighters, shadows, and liner.
Next came the cheeks, which needed only a touch of sparkle, then the biggest challengeâcreating the illusion of a pouty, well-defined mouth from pencil-thin lips in a shade of red that would make the womanâs nicotine-stained teeth look as white as possible. All this while Casey talked on her phone with her boyfriend, who, from the one-sided R-rated conversation, appeared to be as immature as the giggling starletâand very possible masturbating on the other end.
âI had a dream about you last night, babyâ¦no, me firstâ¦no, me firstâ¦okay, you go aheadâ¦oh, baby-cakes, thatâs so hot I can hardly stand itâ¦uhhuhâ¦I want you so bad right nowâ¦.â
In the midst of her frustration and embarrassment, Jane tamped down a stab of jealousy. What would it be like to have a man so crazy for you that he called you up to say naughty things?
âFive minutes,â an associate producer cued from the doorway, and Casey indicated that sheâd heard.
âGotta run, baby. Be sure to tape the showâ¦weâll watch it together.â From her throaty laugh, it was clear what they planned to do while they watched her discuss their sex life on the hottest regional talk show around.
Fighting an eye roll, Jane sensed another sex tape in the making.
Casey disconnected the call, then leaned forward in the bright illumination of the mirror to scrutinize her makeup from every angle. Her forehead furrowed in a frown.
âIs there a problem, Ms. Campella?â Jane asked.
âNo. In fact, I lookâ¦amazing.â
Jane smiled and gave a little nod. âIâm glad youâre pleased.â
âThank you, uhâwhat was your name again?â
âJane.â
âRight.â Casey stood and tore off the paper cape protecting the red trench-coat style mini-dress that Jane had chosen for her from wardrobe. It struck the perfect balance between classy and trashy. The curvy celebrity did a twirl in the full-length mirror, winked at herself, then looked Jane up and down. âIâm just wondering, if you can make other people look this good, why donât you do something for yourself?â
Janeâs smile dissolved as the woman strode away in the decadent Donald Pliner black stiletto boots that Jane had spent the better part of two days hunting down. A few seconds later, music sounded and the audience burst into wild applause and cheers, indicating that the current âitâ girl had blessed them with her appearance.