Sun-kissed (The Au Pairs 3)

Dearest Anna, I think I made a mistake. Please forgive me. I'm lost without you. You're as beautiful as you were when I first saw you in my office and we snuck off to the Regency Hotel. Remember those days? You were my secret and now you are my future. I still love you. Your own, Kevinbear. PS: My ear is healing nicely.

"Kevinbear?" Jacqui gagged.

"I saw it in some old e-mails." Shannon snickered. Like all the staff in the Perry household, Shannon was caught up in the history of her employers' marriage and knew that Anna was

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the secretary with whom Kevin had been having an affair before she became his wife.

They checked Anna's account. Kevin's e-mail appeared in the new-mail folder.

"Do you think it'll work?" Shannon asked.

Jacqui nodded. "Pretty sure it will on Anna's side, at least. All she needs is a couple of groveling e-mails from him and she'll start sending love notes on her own. The only problem is Kevin. What if he doesn't want to get back together and sends e-mails saying so?"

"Well, I fixed it so that I get a text message whenever Anna gets a new mail from his account so that I can delete his real e-mails if they're nasty," Shannon explained. "I'm sure he'll come around in time and send mushy notes of his own. You said yourself that he still loves her. In the meantime, we'll just write them for him."

Jacqui looked at Shannon in awe. "You're a genius!"

"I know," Shannon said modestly. "Just call me Kevinbear."

That did it. They started laughing hysterically. Faking a romance between their two warring employers was just too much--Jacqui felt tears coming to her eyes, and Shannon laughed so hard her shoulders shook and she almost dropped Anna's laptop. Their mirth was interrupted when Madison suddenly appeared in the doorway. Jacqui had forgotten to lock the door when she entered.

Madison explained that she couldn't sleep and was looking to

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see if Shannon was still up and interested in watching a movie in the screening room.

"What's so funny?" Madison asked. She looked from Jacqui to Madison expectantly. "Tell me!"

Jacqui stopped laughing immediately and Shannon suddenly looked really guilty. To them, it was a bit of entertainment, but these were Madison's parents they were talking about.

"Nothing--there's, uh, a really funny video on Dorm- Debauchery.com ," Shannon said, quickly covering up.

"Let me see," Madison urged.

Shannon quickly closed all the windows and brought up the boys' web site.

"That's it?" Madison asked, unimpressed, when Shannon clicked on a video of a guy falling off his skateboard. She looked quizzically at the two of them. Shannon quickly looked away and didn't meet her friend's eyes.

Jacqui shrugged. "Mad, it's past my bedtime, but if you and Shannon want to see Titanic again on the big screen, go ahead."

"I think I'll just go to bed," Madison said coldly.

"I feel bad," Shannon said when Madison had left. "We should tell her."

"I know," Jacqui agreed. "But she'll tell the other kids, and then Anna will freak. Besides, once our plan works, she'll never have to find out anything. They'll be going off on a second honeymoon in no time. We're giving them what they want most from each other--an apology."

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"Right." Shannon nodded.

The two girls felt very pleased with the fake e-mail love letters. Operation Parent Trap would soon be a mission accomplished.

Shannon stowed the laptop away and said good night, turning out the lights. Jacqui climbed up on the top bunk, and for a moment, the room was quiet as the two girls drifted off to sleep. Until Shannon whispered, "Snugglepuss," and that set them off once again.

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