© 2002

I would like to express my thanks to the following people who helped during the writing of this book: Floyd and Gloria Skinner, for sharing their knowledge of yachting with me; Coast Guard Petty Officer Mike Brock, for taking my call and answering all my questions; and to the many authors of the many research books that I pored through in the writing of this book.

Of all the humiliations Lola Carlyle had suffered in her life-and the list was quite long and juicy- seeing her naked pictures on the Internet was without a doubt the worst. Anyone with a modem and a credit card could view fifteen different photos of her in the buff. Each one a bit more embarrassing than the last. Knowing that they were out there was a constant disgrace, a weight on her shoulders, an anvil on her head pressing into her skull.

The photographs had been taken of her several years ago by her ex-fiancé, Sam The Jerk. Sam, the guy who’d always professed his unending love, the guy who’d told her she could trust him with anything, had used her photographs to bail himself out of his financial problems. Four years after their breakup, he’d developed www.lolarevealed.com and had created the source of Lola’s biggest shame.

In the past, Lola had posed for professional photographers-too many times to count. But Sam was an investment banker, and he’d shot the pictures with a disposable Kodak he’d picked up on a munchie run. In a moment she could only look back on and attribute to complete insanity, she’d allowed him to snap a series of butt-naked photos of her in his bed, riding his stationary bike, and sitting in the middle of his kitchen table chowing on candy bars and bags of Doritos.