Sun-kissed (The Au Pairs 3)

Duffy rocked on his heels and put a friendly arm around her shoulders. "Believe us, nothing will stop the Debauchery," he promised.

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They all hugged each other fondly, and Jacqui realized that even if she had lost her chance at love, she had at least come out of the summer with three very good friends. Breaking up with all three boys was the best decision she could have made.

The three of them had added up to one great boyfriend, but Jacqui was certain that one day she would meet the one boy who had all those qualities--Duffy's energy, Grant's magnetism, and Ben's sensitivity. In the meantime, their friendships would survive, and, by default, Jacqui had become the fourth amigo.

It looked like everything was settling in place. Except the clock was ticking--the anniversary party was tomorrow night. Madison had happily reported that Kevin had postponed his trip to the Caribbean to attend her tennis match and would be in East Hampton to support her as well as to check out the fictional encroachment on his property. He had been incensed when she told him that the Reynolds were building a three-story gazebo in their backyard that was going to look over the Perrys' pool and block their view of the ocean.

There was a new snag, however--Anna still wasn't back from her spa trip. She was supposed to return earlier that evening but had explained she was taking an early-morning flight instead, since she wanted one more night to "commune with the stars." Jacqui hoped her employer's newly rejuvenated self would be on that plane. Otherwise, there was one to Sao Paulo with her name written all over it.

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caught in the high beams

ELIZA CAME OUT TO TAKE HER BOWS AT THE END OF THE

show. She looked out at the applauding guests, several of whom cheered and wolf-whistled. They had loved it--but even better, she had never felt so satisfied in her life. The past two weeks, she had worked harder than she had ever done, and she was so proud of herself. Her collection was a success--even if no one ever ordered a single piece or no one ever wrote a single line about it, she was satisfied. She'd done it for herself.

Mara ran up and gave her a big bouquet of tulips. "This is from me and Jac," she said, kissing Eliza on the cheek. "We're so happy for you!"

A man wearing a natty bow tie approached her with his card and introduced himself as the dean at Parsons. "I'd love to talk to you about scholarship opportunities to our freshman class."

Parsons School of Design? The school that counted Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, and Calvin Klein as alumni? Eliza couldn't believe it. She'd never even thought of applying, because she'd been certain she wouldn't get in--and besides, there was the whole Princeton thing. She'd been working so hard to get into

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Princeton all her life. If she told her parents she wanted to go to design school, they would choke on their vichyssoise.

"Thank you," she said.

A slim girl with long dark hair and wearing the seasons best jeans joined the throng. "Hey, great collection. We should talk-- I'd love to order some for my store."

Eliza recognized her immediately. She'd been shopping at Scoop forever. It was Stefani Greenfield, the store's owner.

"Give my buyer a call," Stefani said.

"Definitely." Eliza grinned.

She looked around happily. Her "models" were mingling with the guests; the buyers were all talking to Todd, her new business partner; and several editors had congratulated her on their way to their cars. Slowly, one by one, the headlights that had lit the catwalk turned and disappeared up the road until the makeshift catwalk was dark again. It would have been the happiest moment of her life--if only . . .

Suddenly, she missed Jeremy with an ache so painful, it hurt to breathe. She had no one to share her success with, no one to rehash every little delicious detail with, no one who would tell her how well she had done. Of course she had her friends, and she smiled to notice Jacqui attempting to make peace with her three suitors and Ryan and Mara walking on the beach holding hands. If only . . .

Eliza sighed. Maybe that was the way life was--it just wasn't

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perfect. There would always be something missing. She gathered the rest of the clothes, packing them away carefully so that she could ship them to the Italian manufacturers later that week. If they did get as many orders as she thought, they would have to start production on the line as soon as possible.

She was lugging the rolling trunk over to her car when a familiar figure walked up from the shadows.

"Need help with that?" Jeremy asked quietly.

Eliza looked up. It was as if she had been wishing so hard for him to appear and now that her wish had come true, she wasn't quite sure if he was really there, standing in front of her. "I can handle it."

"I know you can," he said, walking over and taking the other end of the trunk. They lifted it into the car together.

"I'm really proud of you," he said. "I always knew you could do it. That was amazing. I don't know anything about fashion, but I think girls will really like it."