www.millsandboon.co.uk

      This one is for my family for always believing in

      me and making me feel special even

      though I know I’m not.

      One

      What had she been thinking?

      Gail Little took a deep breath and walked into the makeshift hair and makeup area for the set of the reality-TV dating show Sexy and Single. She had never in her entire life thought of herself as sexy, but single … now, that was something she had buttoned up. She’d always thought she’d hook up with a guy in college, and they’d fall into a relationship as they both started their careers. Then, after three years of dating, they’d get married, but now she was staring down thirty and still alone.

      “I’m Kat Humphries, the PA for Sexy and Single. I’ll also be your handler for all of your segments.”

      Gail shook Kat’s hand. She’d expected to see Willow Stead—the producer of the show and one of her best friends—instead of a PA. Willow had gotten the idea to do the show when Gail had signed up with Matchmakers Inc. Though Gail had only told her friends she wanted to find a husband and didn’t meet the right kind of men at work, the truth was she wanted a family of her own and her biological clock was ticking. So she’d signed on with the dating service, never expecting her experiences would become the focus of a TV show.

      Kat looked to be in her mid-twenties and wore a pair of slim-fitting jeans and a T-shirt from a bar in Mexico. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she had an earpiece attached to the radio at her belt.

      “Follow me,” Kat said.

      Gail nodded and went with her to a bank of lighted mirrors set up against the wall. This was behind-the-scenes television that few viewers ever saw. Not very glamorous, but as the owner of a very successful PR firm, it was a world Gail knew well. Funny that she never pictured herself as the one going onstage.

      “Have a seat here. The hair and makeup people are on their way. You’re a few minutes early.”

      “Sorry about that. I didn’t want to be late,” Gail said. Kat nodded, but held up one finger as she listened to something on her headset.

      “Please stay in here until I come back to get you,” Kat said. “We want to capture that first moment when you and your match see each other.”

      Gail wanted to groan. But she knew deep down that if she stayed in her rut any longer, her life would be nothing but work, and her dreams of a family and all that went with it would never be realized.

      She stared at herself in the mirror as she waited for the hair and makeup person to arrive. Her thick, curly hair with its wild, out-of-control style framed her face. She reached up and pulled her hair back … that was how she usually wore it for work. Because let’s face it, she thought, her unruly hair didn’t scream sexy and single.

      A man and woman approached her. “Hello, Gail. I’m Mona, and this is Pete. We’re going to be doing your hair and makeup. Just sit back and relax.”

      Gail did just that, wondering what she’d gotten herself into. She’d wanted a man to spend her holidays with instead of being home alone, which might have been fun for Kevin in the Home Alone movies, but for her, a grown woman, it had been … lonely. She craved the perfect Christmas, for example, and images of it played in her mind like home movies. She was in the business of image and reality, so why couldn’t she create the perfect image and reality for herself?

      She’d developed a PR plan to take herself from a business success to a personal success. She was very good at enacting her plans, so she had no doubt this one would work. Of course, she hadn’t expected Willow to love the idea so much that she’d turn it into a reality TV show.

      “Okay, we’re done,” Mona said.

      They turned her back to face the mirrors. Her thick, unruly hair had been straightened and styled to brush her shoulders. Her eyes were bigger than she’d ever seen them before. Her lips were so large and perfect. She’d had no idea a little lipstick and eye shadow could make her look like this. She didn’t recognize herself.

      “What do you think?” Pete asked.

      “I don’t look like me,” she said.

      “Sure you do, honey. Just not the you that is usually in the mirror,” Mona said.

      And that had been exactly what she’d wanted. “What do I do now?”

      “Wardrobe,” Pete said. “Your dressing room is over there.”

      She walked over to the tiny dressing room in the corner. There was a woman sitting there reading a paperback book—one that Gail had just finished. This was the life she was used to, and Gail felt as though she could just sit here for a few minutes. The woman put the book down and smiled at her. “Looking good.”

      “Thanks.”

      Gail had the feeling that Alice must have experienced when she fell down the rabbit hole, because twenty minutes later she stood in front of a full-length mirror in a couture gown by Jil Sander. The well-fitting