The Au Pairs (The Au Pairs 1)

"Boring sounds perfect."

"My dad's in construction. He builds, like, developer houses, and he always complains about the shoddy jobs they do. He always tries to do his best, but no one ever wants to pay for it. They put, like, plastic windows in their houses. He's a good guy. My mom's a social worker. She works with autistic kids, home- schools them. I'm the youngest. My sister Molly is married and lives in South Boston with her husband. She has two kids. My other sister, Megan, is a hairdresser. She's a riot. She makes all her own clothes and she looks like Julia Roberts."

"You guys sound close."

"We are," Mara said, her eyes misting a little. She really missed them. "Every summer we go out to Gloucester for a week. It's nice. Nothing like this, though."

"What made you decide to take this job?"

"I needed the money," Mara admitted. "And talk about boring, nothing ever happens in Sturbridge."

"Well, I for one am glad you decided to make it," Ryan said, leaning down to look in her eyes.

Mara was a little drunk, and for some reason, she didn't look

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away. He was gorgeous--but more than that, he was smart--and funny--and just adorable. She lowered her lashes. She felt his breath on her cheek. She raised her lips to meet his.

And pulled away when she heard the patio door bang open. Poppy stood in the doorway, holding a cigarette and an open

bottle of beer. "Ryan! I didn't see you there! You scared me!"

"Hey, sis," Ryan said, easing back into his seat.

"How was Charlie's?" Poppy asked, leaning on the glass door. "Oh, hey, you're, like, one of the au pairs, aren't you?" she said, turning to Mara.

Mara nodded.

"That's Mara. Mara, you've met my sister Poppy, haven't you?" Ryan asked.

"I think I'll go to bed now," Mara said, jumping up and saying good night.

"Good night," Ryan said, trying to catch her eye, but Mara refused to look at him.

Poppy shrugged. There were so many people going in and out of their house, it was hard to keep track. "Ry, you got a light?"

"You shouldn't smoke," Ryan told his younger sister on his way inside. "It's bad for your skin."

"Screw you," Poppy sneered. Her older brother was such a killjoy.

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these girls aren't as predictable as they look

"Cody! You get back here , you hear? Cody!" Eliza yelled in despair.

The three-year-old streaked out of the main house completely naked, chortling to himself.

Inside, William was gleefully lobbing soggy Cocoa Puffs onto the floor, and Zoe and Madison were bickering over who ate the last blueberry scone.

Eliza made a last-ditch effort to try and tackle the baby. With Jacqui nowhere to be found and Mara nursing a killer hangover (mixing star fruit margaritas and cabernet was a very bad idea, it turned out), Eliza was the only one available for kid duty.

"Need some help?" Jeremy asked, picking up Cody by his elbows and swinging him into Eliza's arms.

"They never listen to me," Eliza lamented.

With Jeremy's help Eliza got all the kids, the picnic basket, the Hokey Pokey Elmo, the Limbo Elmo, the Chicken Dance Elmo,