Page 91 of Some Kinda Romance

I chuckled, waving at her as she left. After making the call I’d promised to the Montrellis, I spent the afternoon combing through all the plans for that wedding and getting caught up on the things that still had to be done.

The afternoon flew past in a blur of new details, but by the time I left the office to get changed for La Vida, I felt like I had a good grasp on the Montrelli wedding. I arrived at the Italian restaurant before Julie, ordering a bottle of prosecco while I waited for my friend.

The waiter had barely filled my glass when she arrived and I was thankful because my mind had already started drifting to Dash again. She rolled her eyes as she sat down. “That’s it. We need to get that boy off your mind. Do you want to know what I’ve been thinking about recently?”

“Uh, okay?”

“A girls’ trip,” she said, grinning like a Cheshire Cat. “That’s another reason why I wanted to come to this specific restaurant tonight. I’m trying to get you in the mood for Italy.”

“Is there such a thing as not being in the mood for Italy?” I joked, doing my best not to think about the fact that Dash and I weren’t going to get to take that trip we’d been planning together after his mom’s wedding.

Julie laughed. “That’s the spirit, and you’re right. There’s no such thing as not being in the mood for Italy, so tell me how you feel about the Amalfi Coast.”

“I feel like we should’ve taken this trip years ago. Why haven’t we?”

She shrugged. “You were married to an asshole and then dating another one?”

I sighed. “Fair enough. Okay, so the Amalfi Coast, huh? When do we leave?”

“Well, that’s up to you, but I think we’re going to need to take at least a week off for it, so we’re going to have to look at our calendars and then block out the time well in advance.”

I groaned. “How’s three years from now sound?”

She giggled. “Not a chance, girl. I know you’re slammed right now, but we’re going on this trip soon. Before the end of the year. We’re going to get even busier after Diana’s wedding because it’s going to be perfect and it’s going to make you an even more sought-after wedding planner than that dude we’re not talking about.”

While we were talking, we ordered our food and ate it as we started planning what we wanted to see while we were in Italy. I didn’t quite know how she’d managed it, but Julie somehow kept my mind off both work and Dash for the rest of our meal and it was amazing.

I didn’t know when we’d actually be able to take our trip, but the knowledge that we could plan it for real got me all excited. There was no Ethan holding me back now. I had the money. Julie and I could both take the time off as long as we did it between big events.

There really was no reason for this to be just talk, and it was the most incredibly freeing realization I’d had since I’d seen the court order for the divorce. Bubbly but not drunk, we went to the salsa nightclub once our meal was done.

“How did you find this place?” I asked breathlessly as we walked in. “I’ve heard about places like this, but I’ve never been to one.”

She shrugged, bumping her hip into mine. “That’s one advantage of going on so many dates with random guys. Some of them have some original ideas.”

“Does that mean you already know how to salsa?”

“Nope.” She wrinkled her nose before she flashed me a smile. “The guy I came here with hit on the bartender just after we arrived, so I took off but I’ve always wanted to come back.”

As we made our way into the brightly colored club with the warm lighting and the music that filled my soul with bubbles of excited joy, Julie flagged down a guy wearing a suit. I watched curiously as she leaned in to talk to him over the music. Then she grinned when she turned back to me.

“He’s going to teach us.”

“They have instructors here?”

“Nope, he’s a waiter, but he’s game!”

I laughed, not arguing because this had actually been a great plan. Peter, our waiter/dance instructor came back a few minutes later, showing us some basic moves before he had to get back to work. We drank a little bit, but mostly, we just focused on the dancing and having a good time.

Between the food and the exercise, I wasn’t even tipsy when I decided to call it a night. My phone buzzed with the notification that our car had arrived and I waved the device at my friend. “Time to go.”

She complained a little bit but followed me out, still doing some salsa moves as we left. “Man, we were awful at that, but just wait. I’m going to find us some classes, and when we come back, we’re going to win.”

“What are we winning?” I asked, laughing with her at how awful we’d been, though. There was no doubt that we’d been the worst dancers in there. “I wasn’t aware that it’s a competition.”

She waved me off as we climbed into the car. “It doesn’t have to be a competition in order for us to win. We’re just going to be winning at life and salsa dancing.”

I giggled, but that didn’t sound bad at all, so I rolled with it. The driver took Julie home first, but before she climbed out of the car, I threw my arms around her neck.