months.” She lifted her brows accusingly at Shelby, who never seemed to lack company of the male persuasion. “Maybe we should’ve moved to Houston, Mia. If things got too bad, at least we could count on leftovers.”
Shelby waved dismissively. “Oh, sweetie, you’re delusional if you think I’ve had any better luck there.”
Lindsey snorted. “Right.”
Mia eyed her friend. “Really, Shelby?”
“Really,” she answered defensively, and then shrugged. “I can’t remember the last time I went out a second or third time with the same guy and those are the dates that count.” She sniffed. “And no, it’s not because I’m too picky.”
“You have every reason to be damn picky. We all do,” Mia said and meant it, even though she was in the middle of a particularly long dry spell. It was mainly her fault. All those ungodly hours spent in the office hadn’t helped. And if she were totally honest with herself, she’d spent too much time hoping David would finally man up, ask her out, share one lousy dinner with her. Despite what she’d told Annabelle, despite what she’d told herself, she’d honestly thought he’d been attracted to her, at least in the beginning. Sadly, she’d clearly been fooling herself. No use thinking about him now.
“Amen.” Lindsey downed a healthy sip. “Still would be nice to have an assortment to be picky over.” She narrowed her eyes at Mia. “What ever happened to that guy you worked with? David, right?”
Mia nearly choked on her champagne. “There was never anything there.”
“Yeah, I remember him,” Shelby chimed in. “When you first started with the firm you thought he was hot.”
“He is hot. Unfortunately, he’s taken.”
“Married?” Lindsey observed sympathetically.
“To the job. His father and uncle founded the firm, and the guy still puts in more hours than anyone else.” Mia shook her head. “Anyway, there’s a rule about fraternization. God knows David Pearson would rather be strung up by his thumbs than step one toe over the line.”
Lindsey giggled a bit, which told Mia the bubbly was getting to her friend, then grabbed the champagne and topped up everyone’s glasses. “This is what I don’t get…when we were in school there were all kinds of guys around. If we didn’t have a date, it was because we didn’t want to go out.”
“I know, right?” Shelby frowned thoughtfully. “Even when we went out in groups, guys always outnumbered us. So what the hell happened to them? They can’t all be married and living in the burbs.”
“You have a point.” Mia sipped slowly, worried that the alcohol was getting to her, too. Usually she wasn’t such a lightweight, but she hadn’t eaten anything all day. “Even during spring break, I swear, there were two guys to every girl.”
“I’m the accountant,” Lindsey said. “I’d say more like three to one.”
“Junior year. Fort Lauderdale.” Shelby slumped back in her chair, her expression one of total bliss. “Oh, my God.”
“Are you kidding?” Mia stared at her in disbelief. “Come on. Senior year, Waikiki Beach, hands down winner.”
Shelby’s sigh said it all.
Lindsey smiled broadly. “Yep.”
Along with the other two, Mia lapsed into silence, enjoying the heady memories of that magical week. She sipped her champagne as a notion popped into her head. “Hey, guys,” she said, her pulse picking up speed as the thoughts tumbled. “I have an idea.”
“Oh, no.” The ever cautious Lindsey glanced dramatically at Shelby. “I don’t know if I can take another one.”
“No, this is good.” Mia grinned. “There’s no law that says spring break is just for college kids.”
“Okay.” Shelby drew out the word.
Lindsey just frowned.
“We’re going to be working our asses off until we get Anything Goes off the ground, right? If we want to take a vacation, this is the time. Probably the last time for years. Who knows, maybe we’ll even get laid.” Mia saw the interest mount in Shelby’s face.
Not Lindsey. Her frown deepened. “Hawaii?”
“Why not?” Mia noticed the empty champagne bottle and signaled the waiter.
“Because it’s too expensive, for one thing. Are you forgetting we’ve just signed our lives away?”
“I don’t know.” Mia sighed, not quite willing to give up the idea. “Maybe we can go on the cheap, pick up one of those last-minute deals. And none of us has officially put in our resignations. I’d be willing to work another two weeks at the firm if it meant enough money for Hawaii.”
“It wouldn’t hurt to see what’s available,” Shelby said.
“I suppose not.” Lindsey set down her glass, not looking at all convinced. In fact, she stared at Mia as if she were a traitor. “But we’d have to set a budget first. A firm budget.”
Mia nodded in agreement. The whole thing was ridiculous, and even if they did stay at their current jobs a bit longer, a Hawaiian vacation was pretty extravagant for three women who were about to give up their incomes and live on hope and dreams until they got their feet planted again. It shocked her that she’d even thought of it, let alone was actually considering such a crazy thing. She was normally far more sensible, for God’s sake.
But damn it, she’d worked hard for the past six years, first in law school and then at Pearson and Stern. She deserved the break, and right now, with the cold March air whipping around outside, Hawaii sounded like a slice of heaven.
“You know what would be really cool?” Shelby’s eyes lit up as she leaned forward. “Remember those three guys we met at that party on our last day on Waikiki beach?”
“Uh, yeah,” Mia said. “Smokin’ hot.”
Lindsey stiffened. “What about them?”
“What if we could get them to meet us?” Grinning, Shelby darted a mischievous look between them. “In Hawaii.”
“How would we do that? We don’t even know their last names.” Mia snorted. “Not to mention they’re probably married or in prison.”
Shelby gave Mia a look, then ignored her completely. “We know what university they went to, so we use Facebook.”
“Huh.” Mia thought for a moment. “We could send a message to the alumni group. It couldn’t hurt.”
“But they’ll have to have signed up as alumni to get the message.” Lindsey didn’t seem thrilled.
Shelby shrugged. “Lots of people do. I have, haven’t you?”
Mia shook her head. “Look, they answer, they don’t, so what? It’s Waikiki. We’re bound to meet some gorgeous surfers who’ll be ready to party,” she said, warming to the idea.
“I like it.” Shelby dug in her purse and produced a pen. “Anybody have a piece of paper or a dry napkin?”
Mia pulled her day planner out of her leather tote and tore off a used page. “Here.”
“Oh, my God, they still have those things around. Why don’t you use your BlackBerry?” Shelby found a clean spot on the table and started writing.
“I do both,” Mia said, and glanced at Lindsey, who understood about being careful. She did not look happy.
“Okay, how about something like this…” Shelby squinted as if she were having trouble reading her own writing, which was awful. No one could ever read it but her. “Here we go—‘Remember spring break? Mia, Lindsey and Shelby will be at the Seabreeze Hotel during the week of whatever.