The Au Pairs (The Au Pairs 1)

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say hello, and just as she hit the sidewalk, she was pulled roughly back into the store by the ever-vigilant Scoop salesgirl.

"Whoa! Miss! Where do you think you're going?" she said with a viselike grip on Jacqui's elbow.

"Hey! Jacqui! It's great to see you! Nice Polo!" Luke hollered from across the street without slowing his pace.

Huh. Jacqui reluctantly followed the salesgirl inside. Maybe he didn't want to spoil the romantic dinner they'd planned that evening? Somehow that didn't feel likely, and making all these excuses for Luca was starting to wear on her.

"Seriously, I can't buy this. I can't wear it and I can't afford it," Mara said.

"What are you talking about?" Eliza asked. "I get 25 percent off at this store. VIP discount, hello. That dress was made for you. And didn't we just get paid?"

Jacqui paid for her outfit, and Eliza put her purchases on the table. A Marc Jacobs Stella handbag, several C&C California T-shirts, four pairs of Jimmy Choo sandals, and a new Theory dress. The whole thing amounted to five hundred dollars more than she had actually made. "Put the rest on my Visa," she told the salesgirl.

Mara hesitated, but she did need a new dress, and those flip- flops were so cute.

"All right, I'll take it," she said reluctantly.

Shopping bags in hand, Eliza led them to her second-most favorite shop in East Hampton, Scoops--with an s--where they all ordered chocolate parfait sundaes.

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contrary to queer eye logic, not all gay men dress well

That night, when all four kids had finally been put to bed, the three au pairs hung out in their room and made plans.

"You coming out, Mara?" Eliza asked. "Don't say no again!"

Mara was reluctant, but it wasn't as if she had anything better to do. She had already walked Zoe to the bathroom, so she didn't have to stay home for that. And Jim was giving her the cold shoulder after she had told him she couldn't take the weekend off to visit. She had even sent him a care package from Barefoot Contessa, complete with scones and muffins, as a guilt present, but it had done nothing to thaw his temper.

"Oh, okay. But we're not going to stay long, right? The girls have ballet in the morning."

"Yeah, we'll stay for, like, a minute," Eliza said, winking at Jacqui. Mara pulled out her new red dress.

"WHAT are you doing?" Eliza asked, taking it from her and putting it back on the hanger.

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"Um, wearing my new dress?"

"Sweetie. This is for the polo match. It's all wrong for Jet East. This is a day dress. Also, you don't want to show up at polo wearing something everyone's already seen." Eliza sighed. "Here--put this on," she said, handing Mara one of her own shirts--a clingy, black jersey halter with a plunging neckline. "You can wear it with your jeans; those are cool. And your new flip-flops."

Jacqui came out of the bathroom wearing a black lace top and silk cargo pants that she had bought especially for her date with Luca that night. She stood in front of the cracked antique mirror with Mara.

"Don't pull your hair back; wear it down," Jacqui said. Pierre, Eliza's hairdresser friend and self-proclaimed "Queen of Hair," had come over that afternoon to give all the girls a haircut gratis, in exchange for posing with their new styles for his portfolio. Jacqui started to brush Mara's hair expertly. "See, you keep the flip here, and kind of smooth it down here--but shake it out and make it all messy-messy."

Jacqui brought out her twenty-pound, professional makeup artist's trunk and began to apply foundation, powder, eyeliner, eye shadow, and lipstick on Mara.

When Jacqui was done, Mara looked at herself with the hand mirror Jacqui provided. "Don't you think it's too much?" She'd never worn this much makeup in her life, not even counting the spring formal she had gone to with Jim last year.

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"You look almost better than me!" Eliza said, a little enviously. "Almost being the operative word," she joked.

Mara laughed.

They said good-bye to Jacqui, and Eliza pumped her fist in the air when she saw the twins hadn't left yet. Their Mercedes SUV was still parked in the driveway.