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Olivia laughed, taking a sip of her ice-cold lemonade and sighing contentedly.
Paige dragged her gaze away long enough to look at Olivia, her expression strangely sober. “Thank you, Olivia, for arranging this.”
Olivia shuffled on her chair, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Don’t thank me. It’s completely worth it just to see you happy.”
Paige’s cheeks went pink. “Yeah.” She reached for one of the cakes—a bite-sized éclair—and took a bite.
Soot wasted no time in jumping up onto her lap and trying to lick the cream from her fingers, rubbing his cheek against her wrist. “You’re not getting any,” she teased, shoving the rest of the cake into her mouth and scratching Soot’s chin. “Sorry.”
Soot jumped off again, sulking, and Lola took his place, curling into a ball on Paige’s lap.
Paige gave her immediate heart-eyes. “I’m in heaven right now.”
“I’m glad you’re enjoying it,” Olivia said, nibbling on a piece of Battenberg. “Even though I’m not the biggest fan of cat hair.”
Paige pouted. “Thank you for your sacrifice.”
Olivia stuck out her tongue at Paige’s teasing tone.
“So, what are we doing once our hour’s up? Not that I want it to end,” Paige added with a soft sigh, stroking her fingers through Lola’s fur.
“I hadn’t thought that far, to be honest. I suppose we could spend some more time on the beach.”
“I think I’d like that.”
“We’ll get you tanned yet,” Olivia said with a sly wink.
Paige glanced down at her pale, freckled arms and stuck up her nose. “There is a fine line between getting tanned and getting burnt,” she reminded Olivia, making her laugh.
“Yeah, yeah, so you keep telling me.”
“I figured we’d probably have a chill day, regardless of what we do, since we’re driving home tomorrow.”
The reminder sent Paige’s chest clenching. “I don’t want to go back,” she said softly.
“Neither do I,” Olivia said, looking down into her lap. “It’s been nice to just spend time together like this. Like we used to.”
“It has. We should… try and do things like this more often,” Paige said, almost tentatively.
Olivia looked up, meeting Paige’s gaze with a surprising fierceness. “Definitely. I adore spending time with you, Paige.”
Her words made Paige’s stomach flutter. Before she could figure out how to respond, the cat in her lap woke up, stretching out her paws and licking them with a satisfied purr.
“I think you have a new best friend from the looks of it.”
Paige nuzzled her hand against Lola’s belly. "Yeah, I think I do."
After leaving the cat cafe, they had a slow meander along the beach and back up to the cottage. The tide had moved further out now, and the sand was covered in strips of slimy seaweed and driftwood.
“Thank you, again, for arranging that,” Paige said, peering down at the sand churning beneath her shoes. She held her hands against her thighs to stop her dress from riding up in the wind.
“You don’t have to keep thanking me,” Olivia said, rolling her eyes playfully. “I’m just glad you had a good time.”
Paige gave her a dreamy smile. “I’m such a sucker for kitties and their tiny adorable fluffy little paws.”
Olivia laughed. “I figured.”
“So, shall we go grab some towels and set up on the beach?” Paige said, her head tilting to face Olivia.
