Free The au pairs skinny-dipping by Melissa de La Cruz Page B

seemed a lot sexier.
    "Yeah, it is. They work me like a dog, though. I'm there until three, four A.M. every night. I didn't think I could get away this weekend, but thankfully we closed on the RFP," he said, talking in financial jargon.
    Eliza smiled admiringly at him. This was so not the Jeremy from last summer, who had worked as a gardener on the Perry estate. Last year all Jeremy had cared about were dwarf Japanese elm trees and American Beauty roses.
    "Where are you staying?" she asked.
    "My parents' place, but I'm in the city all week, staying at an apartment the firm rents for us."
    "So," Eliza said, taking Jeremy's hand.
    "So," replied Jeremy, rubbing his thumb over her Sheer-Bliss-manicured nails.
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    They stared at each other, feeling suddenly shy to be so near one other again. Eliza hadn't realized she was inching toward him, until she was standing so close that she could feel his breath on her cheek and they were hugging. She had never experienced anything like this before. She and Jeremy belonged together. Even though the year apart had been hard--she'd tried not to ask if he was dating anyone in the many e-mails she sent him, and he'd never mentioned any other girls in the e-mails he sent her--it was just like the first time they'd met, when they couldn't keep their hands off each other.
    Before Eliza knew it, he was kissing her, and it was just as sweet as she remembered. "It's been too long," he murmured into her hair. "I thought about you all the time."
    "Me too," she said, liking how her head fit snugly under his chin. "My parents are in Westhampton this summer. We got a house," she said, a little proudly. "Do you maybe want to have dinner with us next week?" Eliza wouldn't have invited Jeremy to meet her parents in the past, fearing they would suss out his working-class background immediately and their disapproval would come between her and Jeremy. But looking at him in his suit and hearing him talk about his internship, she couldn't imagine how her parents wouldn't approve of him.
    "If I can get out of work. We have a big presentation next week. But I'll try."
    Her headset buzzed. "Eliza! Ondine just walked into the VIP room! There are no tables! And she's about to spot Chauncey and Daryl!"
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    "I've got to go," she said reluctantly pulling away from his embrace.
    "Right. I'm beat anyway. It's been a long week."
    "I'll call you," she said, fading back inside the club.
    "Not if I call you first." He smiled.
    Eliza ordered a table brought out from the back kitchen and set up in the far corner of the VIP room for Ondine, so that the happy newlyweds could drink their free cocktails in peace.
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    jacqui catches a wave, but the boy slips through her fingers
    "LEAVE HER," PHILIPPE ADVISED, AS JACQUI TRIED UN SUC CESSFULLY to rouse Mara from the bed. They had to be in Montauk for the kids' first surfing lesson by nine, and they wouldn't be able to make it if they waited for Little Miss Hangover to wake up.
    Jacqui gave Mara one last shake and was rewarded with a bleary groan. "Mffpphhh," Mara said, turning to her side and burying her head under the pillows.
    Mara had stumbled in near dawn, laughing hysterically when she'd climbed into the nearest bed and landed on Philippe. Jacqui and Philippe had helped her into the bottom bunk, Jacqui taking care to cover her friend with a blanket before unzipping her out of her dress. They had tucked her in like one of the kids, and the next morning they looked down at her like bemused parents.
    "She's a partier, huh?" Philippe asked a few minutes later, as he and Jacqui collected the kids and all their aquatic equipment, piling the latter into the back of the Range Rover.
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    "Not usually," Jacqui said, defending her friend as she strapped Cody into his car seat and grabbed Zoe's doll out of William's hands and returned it to the whimpering little girl.
    Jacqui was a little annoyed with Philippe. She was bummed to have missed Eliza's opening night at the club. She still had