Skinny Dipping (The Au Pairs 2)

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seventh circle of hell, indeed

"you see that table over there?"

Eliza nodded. She looked over to where Kartik was pointing. It wasn't just a table, it was the table--the table that Mara had danced on the night of the nipple photo, and the one that Chauncey Raven usually commanded.

"Make sure they get extra-special treatment," Kartik said.

Eliza nodded and walked over to the table to deliver her standard welcome: a monologue on the services offered at the club, with a personal gesture--a bottle of the most expensive champagne. It was a pretty little speech that never failed to impress the VIPs, who, if male, would drool over Eliza, wondering if she was part of the "services provided," or, if female, would try to bond with Eliza, since most celebrities had been waitresses or hostesses until they hit it big.

"Hi, I'm Eliza. I just want to welcome you to Seventh Circle," Eliza said, beginning her speech, when she noticed who it was that had caused Kartik to single the table out. "Sheridan Dunlop?"

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"Oh my God. Eliza!"

Sheridan Dunlop had been a year ahead of Eliza at Spence but had dropped out and moved to Los Angeles after her junior year. She'd since cornered the market on icy blond Wasp princess roles, now that Gwyneth Paltrow had joined the ranks of stay-at-home moms, and had recently been nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal of a deaf-mute prostitute. She was sitting with a bunch of old friends from New York and the Hamptons. Carolyn Flynn was there, as well as her old friends Taylor and Lindsay, and ... Jeremy 7 .

"Hey, Eliza," Jeremy said casually, as he smoothly took the bottle of champagne from her grasp. He was actually sitting between Taylor and Lindsay, and Lindsay had her hand on his knee.

Eliza was stunned. She'd thought all along that Jeremy was with Carolyn, but now it was even worse. Lindsay--Lindsay, that smug little copycat wannabe with the bad nose job and the hyena laugh. She was looking at Eliza like she'd won a prize.

"Hi, Jeremy. Great to see you, Sheridan," Eliza said, walking away.

She was holding back tears on the back patio, shakily smoking a cigarette when Jeremy found her.

'"Liza," he said, touching her shoulder.

"They're just using you, you know," she said quickly. "They're the kind of people who . . . who . . . they don't even really like you. They just want something from you. Lindsay's not exactly an honest person, you know."

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Jeremy raised his eyebrow, pulling his lips into his mouth. "You know, I'm not sure you're exactly in a position to be talking about honesty. I know all about you and Ryan Perry."

Oh.

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there's more than one

kind of pond scum

THE NEXT MORNING, MARA WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE a massage at Naturopathica with Poppy and Sugar. She was looking forward to it, since the stress of the lost earrings was definitely getting to her.

"Have you seen the twins?" Mara asked, bumping into Laurie outside their bedrooms.

"I think they left."

"They did? How?" The twins hadn't had their own car for weeks.

"I think they took Poppy's BMW," Laurie explained.

That was her BMW, but Mara didn't feel like correcting Laurie, who'd been pretty cold ever since Mitzi Goober had mistaken her for Mara's assistant at the beginning of the summer.

Still annoyed, Mara walked into the kitchen and flipped through the newspapers. GEORGICA POND DRAINED OVERNIGHT! blared the latest issue of the East Hampton Star. Georgica Pond was a pretty lagoon and nature preserve next to the ocean, where

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