Sun-kissed (The Au Pairs 3)

"Eliza told me to put it in the dryer--and look," Paige said smugly. "The outfit's ruined. It'll never be ready for the show."

"I was going for a distressed leather thing," Eliza explained, examining the destroyed fabric with a critical eye. She had asked Paige to set the machine on delicate, but obviously the malicious assistant had made sure the machine was set on high.

The leather was nubby and indeed shrunken.

"Here," Eliza, decided, handing the model a pair of denim cutoffs. She pulled the dress higher on the waist. "It's a top!"

"Naturally," Sydney agreed, fanning away.

"Naturally," Eliza repeated, beaming her million-dollar smile Paige's way. No matter how badly Paige tried to sabotage her efforts, Eliza could do no wrong.

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if only all nerf football games ended this way

JACQUI ARRIVED IN THE HAMPTONS AT SUNSET. THE PERRY

estate, Creek Head Manor, was just as immaculate and photo-shoot-ready as ever, as if waiting for its close-up in Metropolitan Home. Laurie, Anna's jovial assistant, had arrived a week earlier to make the proper preparations, and there were long-stemmed white calla lilies blooming in all the vases and fresh Italian linens on each bed. Anna had ordered yet another renovation over the winter, and the house now boasted a solarium and a fully equipped wet bar in the master closet. The master bath also housed Jackie Onassis's former bidet (purchased at an exorbitant price at auction) to match the existing Marie Antoinette bath tiles.

Jacqui made the kids dinner and gave the little ones baths, and after she'd tucked them into bed, reminding William and Madison not to stay up too late, she was finally free to unpack and set up her own room. She trudged up the rickety steps to the highest floor and opened the door, tearing through a cobweb.

After living in high style in the city for a year, going back to the au pair cottage was a bit of letdown for Jacqui. The room was dark and musty and smelled like mildew. Jacqui threw open the

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windows and immediately wished she were back in her apartment's central-air-conditioned comfort. She found wrinkled percale sheets in the drawers and halfheartedly tossed them on the stained and lumpy mattress on the single bed. It just wasn't the same without Eliza whining about the tiny bathroom or Mara admonishing e

veryone to prepare for work the next day.

She sat moodily at the edge of the bed and lit a cigarette, tossing the ashes haphazardly into the nearby planter that contained a dry ficus tree.

Jacqui scratched her cheek and took a long puff. Eliza was still in the city, and Mara was on the boat with Ryan--best to let them alone on their first night back. In the middle of unpacking, she spotted the lights from the pool illuminating the garden pathway. Now, there was an idea. She grabbed a towel from the bathroom and walked quickly out of the cottage.

Just what she needed-a little skinny-dip to make her feel better. Anna was out at the benefit, and it was past midnight, so the kids were asleep. ... It wasn't like there was anyone else in the house. . . . The water was warm and refreshing--the Perrys had it especially irrigated with the finest fresh water pumped in from a stream in the North Fork. She did a couple of lazy strokes, then floated on her back for a while. She swam to the side of the pool, where an icy tumbler was waiting. Thankfully, she knew where the keys to the liquor cabinet were kept.

After a few minutes, she decided she'd had enough and swam to the opposite edge nearer the path back to the cottage. She

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emerged from the water, dripping and naked, just as the bushes that lined the perimeter of the pool exploded with a crash.

Jacqui screamed.

Three boys wrestling over a foam football tumbled through the hedge that separated the Perrys' home from the Reynolds property.

"Twelve--twelve--twelve o'clock!" Duffy choked, still holding on to the Nerf. "It's her!"

"Sweet Mother of Mercy," Ben exclaimed, craning his neck. "Swear to God, I'm never going back to Harvard."

"Senorita, please excuse my stupid friends," Grant said in his slow southern drawl, which would have been charming had he not been lying on the ground, his face smashed up in the grass.

They stared round-eyed at Jacqui in all her naked glory, wearing nothing but her Brazilian--bikini wax, that is.

"Merda!" she cursed, wrapping a towel around herself and running back to the au pair cottage, leaving three very love-struck boys in her wake.

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mara has king-size