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“I’m down for that,” Paige said, hauling the bag onto her shoulder and checking to make sure they hadn’t left anything buried in the sand. “Have something in mind?”
Olivia anchored a hand on her hip and gave Paige a hard look. “Do you even know me, Paige?”
Paige chuckled. “Sorry, sorry. Of course, you want pizza, right?”
Olivia’s expression melted into a grin. “Let’s head back to the cottage and see if there are any pizza restaurants in town.”
Once they were back at Breezehome, they searched up places to eat in Whiterock and decided on a small Italian restaurant in town. Paige decided to stay in her dress, and Olivia disappeared into the bedroom to get changed into something else.
When she emerged, she was wearing her black sunflower dress, her hair styled in loose beachy waves. She’d paired the look with some smoky black eyeliner that looked stunning on her.
“You look… wow,” Paige said, the words getting caught in her throat as Olivia smoothed the creases out of the black satin material.
“Thank you,” Olivia said, looking down at her feet as a blush crept along her cheeks. Paige was used to seeing her take everything in her stride, never once losing her composure, and the blush seemed almost out of place.
Paige looked down at her own dress, covered with cat hair, her hair tousled with wind and sand, and wondered how she could ever compare. How could Olivia ever see her as anything more than a friend?
“Shall we get going?” Olivia said, and Paige hesitated.
“Um, maybe I should do something with my hair first,” she said, tugging self-consciously at her short curls.
Olivia pouted. “If you want,” she said softly. “But you look lovely just as you are.”
Paige looked down, biting back a smile. “I can at least get some of this cat hair off me,” she finally said.
After combing over her dress with the lint roller Olivia had brought, they left the beach cottage and caught the bus into town. It was just after six o’clock, and the sea glittered beneath the blushing sky.
The Italian restaurant was tucked away in a small cobbled side street near the fish market, the outside illuminated by flickering orange fairy lights. “This looks cute,” Olivia said as she held the door open for Paige, and they shuffled into the narrow entryway.
“Table for two?” a young woman said as she came to greet them, dressed in a white blouse and form-fitting black slacks. Grabbing a couple of menus, she led them deeper into the dimly-lit restaurant, to a table at the back.
“I’m glad we got in without a reservation,” Olivia said as she shrugged off her jacket and draped it over the chair, leaning her bare arms against the table.
Paige’s stomach rumbled, and she bit her lip. “Guess I’m hungry.”
“Good,” Olivia said, nodding. “Because you didn’t expect me to share a pizza, did you?”
“Definitely not.”
“What are you getting to drink?”
Paige tapped her fingers against the menu. “I feel like I’ve had too many carbonated drinks recently. Maybe I should stick with water.”
Olivia rolled her eyes. “We’re on vacation. Which means you can drink and eat whatever you want.” She threw a glance down the menu. “How about the sparkling apple?”
Paige nodded. “That sounds good.”
“Now, the main event… what type of pizza shall I get?”
It was Paige’s turn to roll her eyes. “Oh please, don’t pretend like you hadn’t already made your decision this morning.”
“I didn’t know we’d be coming here this morning.”
“I don’t believe you’re not always thinking about pizza,” Paige teased, and Olivia laughed.
“You got me there. I knew from the start I’d be getting the Fungi,” she said, licking her lips. “What about you?”
“I was thinking of having pasta, but now you’ve got pizza on my mind,” Paige said.
