Sun-kissed (The Au Pairs 3)

"All right," Mara conceded. "I guess I could just write from the pictures tomorrow." She'd quickly become a pro at structuring her column to highlight Lucky's candid photographs.

"That's the spirit." Eliza smiled.

They settled into a couch near the door and ordered drinks. Jacqui was just telling them about the latest Anna Perry transformation when Taylor and Lindsay walked inside the bar. The two used to be Eliza's best friends, back when she was still the most popular girl at Spence, but they had dropped her like last year's Uggs when they discovered Eliza's family had lost all their money and Eliza had been reduced to working as an au pair.

"Oh, hey," Eliza said. Since her family was back in the black, her old friends from New York were cordial. Not that she cared one bit.

Lindsay merely shrugged, but Taylor's response was warmer. "Hey, E., I heard you got into Princeton--good job," she said.

"Thanks. Where are you headed?"

"I got rejected from Yale. Can you believe? My grandfather threatened to revoke his donation. But I got into Brown, thank

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God. So it's all good. Providence can't be any worse than New Haven anyway."

"How about you, Linds?"

"Oh, NYU for me," Lindsay said, exhaling a plume of cigarette smoke. "Close to home. I gotta get back to the city next weekend for some pre-frosh event."

"Anyway, see you around, Eliza," Taylor said.

"Hey, aren't you working at Lunch these days?" Lindsay smirked.

Eliza ignored the question, turning to Jacqui instead. "Are you going back for the pre-frosh thing? You should go. They, like, give tours of the campus and talk about the classes and stuff. I'm sure Anna will give you the weekend off. Shannon can take care of the kids."

"Oh, me? I, uh, I don't know," Jacqui said weakly.

"You have to go," Eliza insisted. "You need to scope out the boys and stake out the best dorms. Otherwise, you might end up in social Siberia."

"Yeah, Jac, you know what? We should all go!" Mara piped up. A weekend in New York sounded like an excellent plan.

"Oh my God. What a great idea! Totally!" Eliza nodded. "The three of us haven't been in the city all at the same time--how awesome will that be?"

"Work has been crazy--I totally need a break from Sam Davis. Today she made me hunt down a milk chocolate Mounds bar. And after searching everywhere, I finally found out they only

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make them in dark chocolate. There is no such thing as a milk chocolate Mounds. But do you think she believed me? Plus, a bunch of people from Ryan's frat are coming in and staying with us next weekend. I think I'll avoid getting on that train." Mara shuddered. Ryan's friends from college were nice enough individually, but as a group, they devolved into meathead city. What was it about boys that reduced them to video-game-playing, beer-swilling, immature, testosterone-pumped adolescents when they were all together? "Anyway, maybe while I'm there, I can get a tour of Columbia as well. I still haven't heard from Dartmouth."

"It's settled, then: we're going. Jacqui can do the NYU thing, Mara can visit Columbia, and all of us can hang out and shop," Eliza decided.

They high-fived each other giddily. Jacqui's heart sank. How could she tell them she wasn't going to NYU? She couldn't. As for watching the kids, Shannon could hold down the fort at home as well as keep Operation Parent Trap going. The spa certificate had been Shannon's idea--not that it had done much good. Plus, a weekend in the city would be a much-needed break from Anna, who seemed to want Jacqui's social life for her own.

It would be yet another escape.

She downed her drink quickly and looked longingly at the crowd mingling by the jukebox. She tapped her foot impatiently, thinking it would be fun to join them. As if on cue, she spotted a familiar face by the bar and waved him over.

"Hello, ladies," Ben Defever said, looking adorably owlish

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behind his square-rimmed glasses. "Mind if I steal Jacqui away for a moment?"

Eliza and Mara traded knowing smiles. "Go ahead," Mara urged.

Jacqui practically leaped off her seat and followed Ben to the impromptu dance floor. She began shaking her hips wildly to an infectious Outkast hit, but Ben just stood aside, nursing his drink.