Crystal Hefner needs no introduction. Long and lithe, with blonde hair, green eyes and an infectious smile, it’s no wonder she caught Hugh Hefner’s wandering eye. She was at San Diego State, one semester short of her degree, when she met Hef - back then, she went by her maiden name, Harris. “I went to a Halloween party at the Mansion, and there he was,” she says. “He was so easy to talk to. We were both psychology majors, so we had a lot in common. It was like we already knew each other.” He was sixty years her senior, but by the New Year, the pair was inseparable. Hef asked her to be his number-one girlfriend and move in with him at the Mansion – and to top it off, he asked her to be Miss December 2009. After a year of weekend trips and romantic dinners, Hef proposed to her on Christmas Eve – with a three-carat diamond ring, no less – and a speechless Miss Harris said yes. But five days before the wedding, Crystal got cold feet and ended their engagement. The new issue of Playboy introduced her as Mrs. Hugh Hefner, and she had to be rebranded as a runaway bride. “I was overwhelmed,” she says. “Hef proposed to me on camera. There were legal proceedings – a prenuptial agreement, Playmate contracts – and there were other girls. It was too much for me.” But Crystal still had a place in her heart for the Playboy founder, and in June 2012 – nearly a year to the day that she ended the engagement – she announced their reconciliation. “We’re happy,” says Crystal. “I’m his number-one girl again.” Indeed she is. On New Year's Eve at the Mansion, Crystal Harris became the third Mrs. Hugh Hefner in an intimate family ceremony. These days, she’s lady of Beverly Hills’ most notorious house – with her two dogs, Lady and Charlie Hefner, she presides over the Mansion’s gardens and grounds. She’s an entrepreneur, a DJ and designer of a loungewear line, and at the end of the day, a very happy wife. “I won’t lie – I love glamour,” says Crystal. “Flying in private planes and fine dining? Give it to me all day, every day! But growing up, I was far from a rich girl, so I don’t take this for granted.” As Miss December knows best, anything can happen with Playboy.