Julia picked up a carrot stick and crunched down, not bothering to voice her opinion. A sex life was more trouble than anything. Every time sex entered her mind, she thought of Ryan, and she didn’t need a reminder of the rat, thank-you-very-much. The last failure in a lengthy line of sexy bad boys—man could she pick ’em.
“Julia?” Christina waved her hands to get her attention.
Julia’s head jerked and she blinked. “What?”
Maggie stabbed her cell phone with her forefinger. “The cab will be here in ten minutes. Drink lively, ladies.”
Julia found herself swept from Maggie’s apartment in a determined storm of friends. They piled into the cab, tipsy from margaritas and wine.
“Give the driver the address, Julia,” Christina said.
“Are we sure this is a clever idea?” Susan asked.
“Think of it this way, Susan,” Maggie said. “When you’re at theFarmer Seeks a Wifeinterviews, you’ll have something novel to discuss with your farmer.”
“I won’t get past the first round,” Susan said.
“Then I’m gonna beat your ass,” Christina announced, almost crowing. “Because I intend to go all the way, baby. I’m gonna score me a sexy-hot farmer husband.”
Susan opened and closed her mouth. “Dang, I’m slipping. I’m doing that negative, judgmental thing again.” She took a deep breath. “This will be a fun adventure. Does anyone have a notebook? I can take notes so we don’t forget anything.”
“How long since you stripped, Julia?” Maggie asked from the front seat.
“Not since I finished my secretarial courses.” She glared at the driver when his gaze met hers in the rearview mirror. “I didn’t need to work for my mother once I graduated and found a job.”
And she couldn’t wait to get away from the score ofuncleswho paraded through her mother’s bedroom. The touchy feely ones had scared her, but she was uncomfortably aware she’d inherited her mother’s appalling lack of judgment with men. Now it seemed her mother might move on to women.
Welcome to my crazy world.
Maggie twisted in the front seat to see her friends clearly. “Can you show me a routine or two? Connor would enjoy a private strip show.”
“You’re talking about sex again,” Christina accused.
Maggie giggled, and Julia’s heart twisted, a jagged sensation, almost like a sharp blow to the chest. It left her breathless, aching and so alone. While she was pleased for Maggie and Connor, it was painful to see their happiness when she and Ryan… She shook herself, cutting off the thought. Not. Going. There.
Thankfully, the cab pulled up in front of her mother’s club. Maggie took care of the fare while the rest of the group climbed out.
“Whoa.” Susan gaped at two women in full war paint. With exaggerated hip-swagger, they strutted past in their skimpy skirts and matching tops, their heelstap-tappingon the footpath. “I need to work on an attitude like that.”
Familiarity seized Julia, the sense of coming home, even though she’d hated living here. The faint throb of a rock ballad seeped through the windows of a flat above a shop farther down the street. Her gaze took in the laughing people waiting for entrance to the new club—another one in opposition to her mother’s. The line snaked along the edge of the building and halfway down the next block.
“Watch out,” Maggie said, flinging out her arm to stop Julia’s progress.
Julia looked down and grimaced. Someone had lost their dinner. She stepped around the smelly pile of vomit. “Do you still want to do this?”
Susan linked her arm with Julia’s and grinned. It was a trifle ragged on the edges, but it qualified as a grin. “Yes. Maggie and Christina aren’t going to change their minds. I need an adventure to jerk me out of my rut, so you’re stuck with us on this mission.”
Julia hoped her friends didn’t regret their enthusiasm. She steeled herself and headed for the front door of her mother’s club—The Last Frontier. Not a single person jostled for entry.
“Ladies.” An aging security guard stood to attention when he saw them. His white shirt strained over his belly, but he looked sharp with crisply pressed black trousers and black shoes that glistened even in the sparse foyer lighting.
“Hi, Stan,” Julia said. “How are you? How are the kids?”
Stan peered at her for an instant and broke into a delighted grin. “Julia, I didn’t recognize you. You’re so grown up now. Long time no see.” He wrapped her in a tight embrace. The scents of tobacco, laundry powder and a hint of Old Spice wafted to her and brought a second flash from the past. Aware of another bout of tears threatening, she pulled away. “Stan, these are my friends Maggie, Christina and Susan. Stan used to supervise me after school when Mum was busy with the club. He made sure I did my homework and was strict about it too. I never got away with anything.”
“Not true,” Stan said with a fond grin. “She used to wind me around her little finger.”
“Ah,” Christina said. “So that’s your fault. She’s still managing the males around her.”
