She shrugged. “I’ve had a lot of short-term serious boyfriends.” And let’s face it, she’d been getting male attention since she was fifteen. She knew what it was that drew guys to her, and it wasn’t her business degree or her epic fashion sense. Not that she wasn’t on board, or was doing it only for their benefit. She liked sex just as much as they did and most of the time she was fine with however long it lasted. She was just starting to wonder why it never lasted.
“God,” Benji said. “Before Ronnie, I think it was a year for me.”
“I know.”
He reached for a fry and popped it in his mouth. “You’re blowing my mind right now.”
“So the point is, I hate starting something I can’t finish.”
“Okay, so think of it like going on a diet before a big trip, or staying off the internet so you don’t see spoilers for The Bachelor. It’s just a couple of months.”
Dani tugged his milkshake toward her and dipped a fry. “I’m on a diet right now,” she said. “See my self-control.”
“Well, love,” Benji said, his patience clearly winding away. “I’ve seen the results first hand. I guess you just have to decide what you want more, the D or the HEA.”
“The what?”
“Happily Ever After.”
Some unused cells in her brain started to flicker to life at the thought. For the first time she could remember, she thought she might actually want the H E… whatever he said.
Five
Dylan hadn’t had a two-day hangover since February 2010. He remembered it distinctly because Shawn and Minnie had just gotten married, and he was so sick that he had to book another night at the hotel and sleep it off before he could physically drive himself home. He’d paid an outrageous fee for not returning the tux on time, and when he’d made it out into the sunlight the next day, he’d barely recognized his own face. Anyway, the point was weddings were clearly bad for his health, and he was glad that with Josh and Cat finally wedded in matrimonial bliss, he could hang up his groomsman hat for the foreseeable future.
He found his car in the municipal parking garage and tossed his bag in the back before starting it up and letting the air conditioning blow some relief onto his face. He’d been off his game today. Three cold calls to developers and a bid drop off, and he didn’t feel great about any of them. On top of the specter of too much tequila he’d been carrying around, he was just in an all-around piss ass mood. Since sales was a good ninety-percent about being charming, it hadn’t been a great day.
Once the car had cooled down, he pulled out of the garage for the long drive back to the peninsula where he lived, which at the moment was an inconvenience of epic proportions. The late-day sun felt like an interrogation lamp. What’s your fucking problem, man? it screamed. Get it together.
He knew it wasn’t just the booze that was lingering from the weekend. He’d been pissy since Dani had run screaming from his hotel room. At first, he thought he just didn’t like the feeling of being blown off that way, but something else nagged behind his wounded ego. That fuck-up feeling he hadn’t had in a while, when one of his do-what-feels-good decisions came back to haunt him. He was always very clear in his relations with women, but occasionally they heard what they wanted to hear instead of what he said. It happened and it sucked. That wasn’t the case with Dani, though. It was the opposite; she was fine, eager to forget the whole thing. Yet he couldn’t shake the feeling he’d set something off-kilter.
Twenty minutes into the drive, he spotted a liquor store and steered his Audi into the parking lot. He turned off his engine and listened to the click, click, click of the car cooling. The temperature on the dash said ninety-four degrees even with the impending sunset. If Josh was in town, Dylan would have convinced him to head to the beach to catch a few waves to round out the workday. But Josh was in Hawaii, so some cold beer and central air conditioning would have to do.
He was halfway across the parking lot when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He swiped the ringing phone and held it to his ear. “Shawn. I’m just picking up some beer. I’ll be home in thirty.”
“Bad news, buddy,” Shawn said. “I can’t make it for the game.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Mattie’s got a fever and Min’s running late from work. I can’t ditch out on her tonight.”
“But you can ditch out on me?”
Shawn guffawed. “Bear me a kid and I’ll move you to the top of the line.”
“Josh would never do this to me.”
“Josh would absolutely do this to you.”
“You’re right,” Dylan said, scowling at his phone. “You both suck.”
“Sorry, Dylan. Next time, I promise.”
Well, that was just fucking great. He looked down at his watch. He was already in the city and dressed to impress if he did say so himself. He had no reason to go home now. He pulled up his contact list labeled “downtown” and swiped his thumb quickly up the screen, setting the numbers scrolling like the big prize wheel on The Price Is Right. It stopped somewhere in the “M” listings and he tapped the name most likely to be in his proximity.
The line rang and a smokey voice that had a few fun memories attached to it answered. “Dylan Peirce.”
“Mia. I knew you still had my number saved.”
“It’s been a while. Is this work or pleasure?”
“Always a pleasure with you. I’m in town. You up for a drink?” And maybe a little more to get me out of this mood.
Mia didn’t miss a beat. “Tell me where.”
And just like that, his night turned around.
On Monday nights, Dani met Cat after work at the little pub that was halfway between their offices. It was her favorite part of the week. They would drink margaritas and eat fried food and vent about work and family and—on the rare occasion when Josh wasn’t being an angel—men.
But this week, Cat was in Hawaii and Dani had a date. Nick Elway was the brother of a junior consultant at Root. Jean had been dying to set them up, and last week Dani had done a little social media stalking and decided Nick had a cute smile and looked damn fine wearing board shorts and no shirt on the back of his friend’s boat. Jean and Instagram had been a little vague on what it was Nick actually did for a living, but Dani was sure it was something… something.
“Thanks for meeting me,” Nick said, pulling out the chair for her at the table for two he’d booked at Arabella Steak House in the West End. The small high-top was in the center of a bay window looking out onto the busy downtown street. A single candle flickered from the center of the table, reflecting in the glass around them and keeping the space from being too dark.