Lori Borrill - Underneath It All

Six winners. Six fantasies .

Six Million Dollar SecretS…

Plain Jane Kurtz is going to use her winnings to discover her inner vixen. But what’s it really going to cost her?

She Did a Bad, Bad Thing by Stephanie Bond Available from Mills & Boon ®Blaze ®in July 2008

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New girl in town Nicole Reavis is on a journey to find herself. But what else will she discover along the way?

Underneath It All by Lori Borrill Available from Mills & Boon ®Blaze ®in August 2008

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Risk taker Eve Best is on the verge of having everything she’s ever wanted. But can she take it?

The Naked Truth by Shannon Hollis Available from Mills & Boon ®Blaze ®in September 2008

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Young, cocky Zach Haas loves his instant popularity, especially with the women. But can he trust it?

For Lust or Money by Kate Hoffmann Available from Mills & Boon ®Blaze ®in October 2008

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Solid, dependable Cole Crawford is ready to shake things up. But how “shook up” is he prepared to handle?

Tall, Dark and Filthy Rich by Jill Monroe Available from Mills & Boon ®Blaze ®in November 2008

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Wild child Liza has always just wanted to belong. But how far will she go to get it?

What She Really Wants for Christmas by Debbi Rawlins Available in the M&B™ collection Her Christmas Temptation in December 2008

Lori BorriLL

An Oregon native, Lori Borrill moved to the Bay Area just out of high school and has been a Californian ever since. She credits her writing career to the unending help and support she receives from her husband and real-life hero. When not sitting in front of a computer, she can usually be found at the baseball fields playing proud parent to their son, Tom. She’d love to hear from readers and can be reached through her website at www.LoriBorrill.com.

Dear Reader,

When I was asked to write a novel for the MILLION DOLLAR SECRETS continuity series, I was thrilled. For years I’ve been contributing to my office lottery pool and have often dreamed of winning it big with my friends and co-workers. But I’ve also read enough real-life stories to know that winning a fortune doesn’t always bring happiness.

That’s what Nicole Reavis discovers when her lottery win brings more headaches than wealth, plus a slew of publicity when she moves to Atlanta seeking peace. Of course, when all’s said and done, she finds her peace thanks to a love that money can’t buy.

I hope you enjoy this continuation of the MILLION DOLLAR SECRETS series. Please drop me a note and tell me what you think of it. You can contact me through my website at www. LoriBorrill.com or mail me care of Harlequin Books, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.

Happy reading!

Lori Borrill

by

LORI BORRILL

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Many thanks to Kathryn Lye for giving me the opportunity to work on this project and having faith that I could do it.

And thanks to Leeanne Kenedy for giving me the support and encouragement I needed to see this project through. I can’t wait to return the favour!

This book is for Al and Tommy, my forever and always.

1

“OKAY, LADIES, THE NEXT man up for grabs is Evan Phillips, this handsome real estate broker for Century South.” The woman at the microphone motioned to the dark-eyed hunk on stage and added, “Evan, please tell the women in the crowd what they’re bidding on.”

While the man detailed a romantic evening starting with dinner at Atlanta’s infamous Sun Dial restaurant, Nicole Reavis turned to her friend and coworker, Eve Best. “Some days I love my job.”

Eve smiled. “As opposed to days when you’re stuck in a catfight between girlfriends?”

Nicole winced. As chief segment producer for Eve’s cable talk show, Just Between Us , much of her job involved researching topics for upcoming shows. Tonight, it was the annual Children’s Charities Bachelor Auction, a glamorous event at a trendy new club where some of the city’s most eligible bachelors auction off a night on the town for charity.

Three days ago, the job had her dodging blows between two women who’d claimed to get along beautifully even though they were both dating the same man.

Proof that in the world of daytime television, life was never dull.

“And I noticed you’ve come here tonight but were conveniently AWOL when I was screaming for security before those women destroyed our conference room.” Nicole shook her head. “Thank heavens we got them together before we put them on the air. How humiliating would that have been?”

“Hey, if I’d been there you know I would have jumped in and helped.”

Nicole smiled in agreement, knowing Eve would have come running if she’d been in the studio at the time. Though Nicole was the new girl on the set, she and Eve had hit it off right from the start. She’d hit it off with everyone on the crew, for that matter, and the catfight incident was quickly becoming known as Nicole’s official transformation from newbie into battle-scarred veteran.

“Besides, I needed to be here tonight to help make sure Penny doesn’t get herself into trouble.” Eve scanned the large crowd. “Where is she, by the way?”

Penny was one of Nicole’s new research assistants, a young woman just out of college, barely of legal drinking age, and highly naive, almost too much so for a talk show that focused on relationships and sex. But the eighteen to twenty-five demographic was a hot one, and Nicole was willing to overlook Penny’s inexperience for the perspective she brought to the show.

“She’s getting the list of participants from the organizers. It’ll be interesting to interview them after their dates to see how this sort of thing generally turns out for couples.”

“We’ll start the bidding at two hundred dollars,” the woman onstage said.

The announcement caused a swarm of hands to go up. It looked as though the sexy real estate broker would be a hot commodity this evening.

Admittedly, before she came here tonight, Nicole had faced the evening with skepticism, wondering why this group of obviously successful singles would pay such a high price for what equated to a blind date. Surely, they couldn’t expect to find their soul mates under circumstances like this.

But once inside the doors, she realized this wasn’t about finding soul mates, it was about fun and fantasy, and the organizers of this event had played every angle to that end. Every year, the auction was held at one of Atlanta’s swankiest new spots, tonight’s at a bar called Oasis. The place was high class all the way, the interiors alone surely costing the owners a small fortune.

Set up like an underwater tide pool, the walls were painted in murals that gave the feeling one was standing on the ocean floor. Art glass chandeliers hung overhead like floating squids and sea urchins, glass seashells adorned the sconces that lined the perimeter. The floor was tiled to look like sand with touches of mother of pearl embedded here and there, and the moment Nicole had stepped inside, she was swept into the surreal atmosphere.