Sun-kissed (The Au Pairs 3)

She heard the sound of Ryan's voice from the deck. He was probably talking to one of his surfing buddies who had stopped by for a visit. Their first houseguests! Mara wondered if there was anything in the fridge she could put together as a snack for them. She felt a Martha Stewart moment coming on. It would be fun to show off their new domesticity.

Mara hurried across their pier and stepped onto the back

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deck. She put her bag down in the living area and walked over to the front of the stern, where she found him. Ryan was on his knees, dressed only in his cotton pinstripe boxers, waxing the finish. He was sweaty, and Mara thought he'd never looked sexier in his life. There was only one problem.

This was no surfer dude.

A chick in a turquoise bikini scrubbed down the boat next to theirs. She leaned over her railing and splashed Ryan with suds from her sponge, and Ryan retaliated by throwing his rag at her.

Suddenly, Mara didn't feel very hospitable. The fantasy of serving hors d'oeuvres and cocktails went straight out the porthole.

Throughout the year, Mara had wondered how she would be able to stand it knowing that Ryan was the kind of guy who'd had so many girlfriends, and girls who were friends, and girls who wanted to be more than friends. The problem was he simply adored female company. He was a natural around women, having so many sisters, and was completely oblivious to the fact that Mara felt uncomfortable with how comfortable he was around the opposite sex. Especially those who could fill out a tiny turquoise string bikini.

"I'm just being friendly," Ryan would assure her. "You know you're the only girl for me." But the guy was a natural flirt--it was part of his charm--and as much as Mara didn't want to make him change, seeing him banter so easily with another girl didn't do a lot for her feelings of insecurity and self-esteem. It had been hard enough to get over the Eliza factor.

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"Hey, you, have you been standing there for long?" he said.

"Not really," Mara said coolly.

"Tinker, this is my girlfriend, Mara," he said, taking Mara in his arms.

"Oh, hi!" Tinker said. "I've heard all about you," she said in a friendly manner.

"Tinker's in my frat," Ryan explained.

Mara nodded. She knew Ryan was in a coed fraternity at Dartmouth. Somehow, she'd assumed any girl who wanted to join a fraternity would be just one of the guys--but Tinker was one hundred percent babe.

"Anyway, like I told Ryan, my sisters and I are living on my parents' boat this summer," Tinker said.

Mara smiled and tried to look enthusiastic about the situation, then turned back to Ryan. "You stink," she

told him.

"I do, do I?" he threatened, and pretended to smother her with his armpits.

"Stop." Mara giggled.

"C'mon," Ryan said. "Why don't we take a shower? We can get all clean . . ."he whispered. "And you can, you know, make up for deserting me last night. ..."

As Mara's knees turned to jelly, she squeezed his hand tightly. She was going to let him know how sorry she was she'd left him all alone last night. How very, very, very sorry she really was. She shot him a wicked grin. "You are a really dirty boy," she said.

He replied by blowing softly in her ear.

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"Nice to meet you, um, Tinker!" she called, feeling a buzz of anticipation as Ryan led her by the hand down to the master suite, where they would make the most of the rainfall shower-head, the Jacuzzi, the king-size bed. . . .

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too close for comfort

WHEN JACQUI ARRIVED BACK IN THE AU PAIR COTTAGE, she was startled to find that most of her belongings had been carelessly shoved into two small drawers and that a strange pillow was lying on the only single bed.

Shannon walked out of the bathroom in a robe, a towel wrapped around her head. "Oh, hi, Jacqui! I had to move some of your stuff since you took the whole closet. You probably didn't know I was going to be here, right? Anna's a bit of a spaz, I can tell."