The Au Pairs (The Au Pairs 1)

Her cell phone blared the familiar chords. Oh, oh, oh, sweet child o' mine. .

Mara checked the caller ID.

JIM M flashed.

Ugh.

She shut it off. Ryan might have a girlfriend, but that didn't mean she was ready to make up with her boyfriend. Yet.

194

ryan gets schooled

At the end of the evening the rest of Ryan's friends trooped to Charlie's after-party at the nearby American Hotel, and Eliza went with them. Mara had pleaded exhaustion, and Camille had left, so Ryan took Mara home.

"You know, we never did get to have that Scrabble game," Ryan said as he pulled into the driveway.

"Yeah, I guess we both got kind of busy," Mara said, a little more cutting than she'd meant it.

Ryan gave her a sidelong glance. "Do you want to play?"

"Sure."

They set up the board in the kitchen, and Mara counted out the tiles. She adored board games. She knew it was really dorky of her, but she couldn't help it. In seventh grade she had won a Trivial Pursuit tournament, and she was addicted to the Game Show network.

They played a heated battle, but Mara kicked his ass, spelling sacristy, temptation, and gigolo to Ryan's cat, mop, and yam.

195

Finally Ryan placed his tiles down and spelled "Xer." "Xer?" Mara asked. "Prefixes aren't allowed."

"No, it's like Generation X-er." Ryan explained. "A member of Generation X. You know, those people who are a little older than us and sold out the grunge thing for five-dollar cappuccinos." He smiled at her. "Let's see. I'm on a triple-word tile... ."

"Xer isn't a word."

"Yuh-huh."

"No way. It's slang." Mara shook her head.

"Are you saying you challenge?"

"It's not a word!" Mara laughed.

"You're killing me!" Ryan said.

"I'm not going to challenge, but it's not a word. Go ahead, leave it on. There's no way you're going to win anyway."

"Oh, look who's cocky now."

"That's right." Mara grinned.

"I'm not going to take your pity," Ryan huffed, collecting his tiles.

"Leave it! Leave it! I was only kidding." Mara laughed.

They put away the board game and Ryan opened a bottle of wine, which they drank while looking out at the view from the porch. But their silence wasn't as comfortable as it had been all those times before.

"So, what happened with Camille?" Mara finally asked.