Skinny Dipping (The Au Pairs 2)

"Allison was just giving me a ride home," Ryan explained, introducing the girls to each other. "Remember my friend Oz? He had a bonfire last night," he said, looping his arm around the six-foot-tall Charlize Theron clone. Allison was wearing a thin white tank top and drawstring pajamas. Her hair was messy and uncombed, but Mara noted how effortlessly sexy she looked. This was not a girl who took half an hour choosing just the right outfit and pulling tendrils out of her ponytail.

"And this one was in no condition to drive!" Allison cooed, tickling Ryan's stomach.

"Hey!" Ryan protested, smacking her hands away. They wrestled, and Allison pretended to get upset when Ryan caught her hands behind her back.

Mara watched them flirt, her stomach tightening. Just a year ago she and Ryan had spent almost every night of the last week entwined in each other's arms and telling each other their deepest, darkest secrets. She remembered every scar on his body (the

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one from when he blasted his knee skiing, the one down the side of his right calf from wiping out on his skateboard), every story he'd told her about growing up (Christmases in Maine, his Outward Bound safari in Kenya, how he still had lunch with his old Latin professor in New York), and especially the way his nose crinkled when he closed his eyes and kissed her. Even though Mara knew she was the one who'd broken up with him, it hurt to see him flirt with someone else.

Mara was relieved when the show was over, but felt anxious when Ryan took a seat next to her on the patio table. Allison mentioned something about being cold, and Mara watched the girl's long, lithe figure glide to where a jeep was parked on the sand. They had driven up the back way, onto the private beachfront that bordered the Perry estate, which meant that Allison came from a family that also owned a mansion on Georgica, since the back roads were all private. Allison was exactly the kind of girl a guy like Ryan Perry was meant to be with. Mara put down her yogurt cup; she'd lost her appetite.

Allison bounded back up to the patio, wearing a boy-sized Dartmouth sweatshirt. Mara remembered that Ryan had wanted to go to Dartmouth and wondered if he'd gotten in. Allison promptly sat on Ryan's lap.

"What's this?" Allison asked, poking at an exotic-looking fruit display in the middle of the table.

"That's a persimmon," Ryan said, pointing to what looked like a squashed orange tomato. "And this is a rambutan," he

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explained, holding up a prickly red ball. "Anna gets them shipped in from Indonesia."

One of Anna's many pretensions was snobbery over the local produce. Even if the Hamptons were famous for their plump strawberries, peaches, and pears, rare, expensive and imported always trumped fresh and available.

"How do I open this?" Allison asked.

Ryan showed her how to delicately peel the skin, exposing the white jellylike substance inside.

"Yum!" Allison said, chewing. She peeled another and fed it to Ryan, who rewarded her with a kiss. They laughed and giggled, and Mara felt like she might vomit. She slid her chair back to get up.

"So, how was the Jitney? Crowded?" Ryan asked, finally looking in her direction.

She shook her head. "No--I flew. Anna set it up so I could ride with the Reynoldses on their jet."

"Really?" Allison interjected. "What's it like? I heard it's so tacky!" she said, her eyes wide.

"It's a new G5," Mara retorted, remembering what Garret had told her about the plane. "It's actually really nice," she added, feeling defensive.

"I bet," Ryan said, and Mara thought she heard a bite in his tone.

"Garrett is really sweet. He said he knows you," Mara said, deciding to feel Ryan out.

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"He used to be a good friend of mine," Ryan said, his face stony. "But he's not anymore."

Just then, a piercing whistle interrupted the early-morning silence, and they looked up to see the object of their conversation standing in front of the dirt path between the two houses, holding up a t

ennis ball. "Bounced over the fence," Garrett Reynolds explained. He was wearing crisp tennis whites and looked like a Ralph Lauren model.

"Hey," Ryan grunted.

"Hi, Gar," Allison cooed. "Heard you guys got some new wings."

Garrett nodded, smiling. He shambled over, pointing a finger at Mara. "Hi, gorgeous. We on for tomorrow night? I hope you've changed your mind. I've got the best table at the American reserved."

Just yesterday, Mara had gently turned him down for a date, but after the display Ryan had just put on with Allison, she decided to change course. Mara smiled winningly back at Garrett. "Sure, why not?" she told him.