The au pairs skinny-dipping Read Online Free PDF Page A

girls hadn't seen each other since Palm Beach, where they'd shopped on Worth Avenue and hung
    32
    out at the Four Seasons pool with all the kids in tow. There'd been an insane Christmas ball at the Colony Club and a lavish New Year's party at the Breakers. Everything had been perfect-- except for the fact that Mara hadn't joined them. Jacqui couldn't wait for all three of them to be back together again soon, but first she wanted to make sure Eliza had come clean about what exactly had happened when Mara wasn't around.
    "I'm good." Eliza nodded, and told Jacqui about her plans for world (or at least Hamptons) domination that summer. She was going to be working at the coolest club and hanging out with the hottest people--in her mind, it wasn't even a job, it was more like ... a title, a position. She would be representing what Seventh Circle was all about. Her old crew would come around, and soon she'd be calling the shots again. She had nothing to be embarrassed about this summer, and she was counting on her connection with Kartik and Alan to facilitate her return to the high life.
    "Have you seen Ryan yet?" Jacqui asked, steering the conversation back to where she wanted it to go.
    "No, but we've e-mailed, and I spoke to him on the phone the other night. I don't think it'll be awkward." Eliza had tried to push the memory out of her mind, but the fact that she'd hooked up with Ryan Perry--the love of her best friend's life--in Palm Beach was not easily forgotten. Especially when she had yet to tell that best friend. "I mean, it was just a stupid drunken thing, and we've been friends for, like, ever."
    After Sugar and Poppy Perry's New Year's party at the
    33
    Breakers, Eliza and Ryan had gone back to the hotel so that Eliza could pick up some flip-flops, since her Louboutins were killing her. They were both completely smashed from the champagne, and for the first time on vacation they were both happy. Ryan had been sad because Mara had broken up with him and backed out of Palm Beach, and Eliza was depressed because Jeremy had told her they should take a break until next summer, since being away from each other was so hard. Ryan found The Godfather on pay-per-view and they snuggled next to each other on the bed, just like when they were kids and had memorized all the lines.
    "Leave the gun, take the cannoli," they said at the same time, and they both laughed. Then, all of a sudden, he was kissing her ... or she was kissing him ... and then they were totally fooling around. They hadn't meant it to happen, and it didn't mean anything, she swore.
    "I'm going to tell Mara as soon as I see her," Eliza said emphatically, clenching the steering wheel so hard her knuckles turned white. "I can't wait to get it off my chest, you know? I thought it would be too hard if I told her on the phone, or in an e-mail. I don't want her to think it's more than it is."
    "Definitely," Jacqui agreed. She was relieved Eliza was finally going to come clean. Eliza had been adamant about keeping the Big Palm Beach Secret a secret, so Jacqui had reluctantly promised not to tell Mara, and as a result Jacqui hadn't talked to Mara since before New Year's. Jacqui didn't want to lie to her, and with the studying and the time difference, it hadn't been that hard to fall out of touch.
    34
    "Anyway, tell me more about this new job of yours," Jacqui said, changing the subject since Eliza looked so uncomfortable. "Are you really going to get to meet all those stars?"
    Eliza happily obliged, and the two forgot all about Palm Beach as they gossiped and chatted all the way to the East Hampton airport. The airport was a remote field off the dirt roads, and when they arrived, they found Mara in the middle of a crowd, kissing several well-heeled people good-bye. Eliza recognized a few of the socialites gathered around her and was impressed. But then, after Mara had merited not one but three glowing profiles in the Hamptons media last summer, Eliza hadn't expected anything