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“What are you reading right now?” I’d hoped when I’d seen her at the library that she was a person who read as a hobby.

She pulled up her current book on her phone. “I like e-books because I don’t have a lot of room for books, so I can have thousands anytime I want them,” she said. The cover of the book was a psychological thriller. Not really my cup of tea, but I bet Natalie would like it. She was into all kinds of murder stuff. We’d all encouraged her to start a podcast, but she didn’t want to. It was a shame because she’d be so good at it.

“What else do you read?” I asked, and she showed me the other titles on her TBR, and there was a wide range, except she was seriously lacking in the romance department.

“Okay, I am going to recommend you some, just based on what else you like to read,” I said, mentally going through my bookshelves. If she liked thrillers, she might like darker romance, and I had a few of those that I’d read and liked, so I pulled those first, and then threw in some random romcoms that were just pure fun.

“Give them a try, and let me know what you think,” I said. I could feel myself getting excited that Alivia was a reader, and we could talk books together.

The day wound down, and we were all beached out. Natalie was going over to Em’s for dinner, and I was going to be by myself.

“Do you want to have dinner with me?” I assumed she would be by herself for the meal as well.

“I should get back to the inn,” she said.

“Come on,” I said, “You’ve been gone all day. If the place was on fire, you’d know.”

“Thanks, that’s not very comforting,” she said, giving me a look.

“You have insurance, right?” I asked.

“I mean, yes.”

“Then there’s nothing to worry about,” I said as I packed up my bag. “I might not be a baker, but I can cook.” Linley and Paige were the ones with the real advanced skills, but I could hold my own. Plus, I had a meal kit waiting in my fridge, and those were next to impossible to mess up.

I could tell Alivia was waffling.

“Please?” I said, hating how much I was begging, but not caring enough to stop doing it.

Alivia sighed. “Okay. I’ll come to dinner.”

“I’ll drive you back to the inn later. No running,” I said.

“I got my swim in, so I’m good on running today,” she said. I wanted to hear more about her workout schedule. I found this information fascinating.

Natalie drove us back to the apartment, and I tried not to get too much sand in her car, but it was kind of a lost cause.

“Have fun,” she said, giving me a look when Alivia had her back turned.

“Bye, Natalie,” I said, shutting the door as she laughed and drove off.

Shit. Maybe I wasn’t appearing as platonic with Alivia as I thought I was.

“So, this is it,” I said, opening the door and letting Alivia into the apartment. I was grateful I’d done some tidying last night after I’d come back from seeing her at the bar.

“It’s really nice,” she said, looking around.

“I mean, I have to share it, but Natalie is gone so much with Em that I feel like it’s all mine most of the time. Do you want something to drink?”

I poured her a glass of water with ice and then started working on dinner.

“You can go sit down while I do this,” I said.

“Why would I do that when I can stay here and watch you?” she said, leaning against the counter as I looked at the recipe card for the meal.

“No, you can’t say stuff like that. Flirting is off-limits. Remember?”

She sighed. “It’s really hard not to flirt with you, Pinky. It’s a reflex.”