“I can’t believe you won,” Olivia muttered as Will walked away.
I smirked. It appeared Olivia had a competitive streak as well.
My eyes dropped to the platter and my smirk vanished. Will had provided us with generous servings of eight different cheeses, including some very pungent soft ones. Bile rose in my throat.
“Are you okay?” Olivia asked. “You’re looking very pale. And a little clammy.”
“I’m not sure if I can eat the cheese either. The smell, from the milk, it’s all over me, and it’s making me feel…” I gripped my stomach.
“Okay, okay,” Olivia said, letting out a dramatic sigh. “I guess I’ll just have to take one for the team and eat all of this delicious cheese myself.”
Within minutes, Olivia had almost demolished the platter.
“Are you sure you don’t want to try this one?” She pointed to a creamy, off-white cheese in a small bowl.
I shook my head. “Definitely not. What is it?”
“It’s quark.” Olivia spread the cheese on a piece of bread. Despite my newfound dislike of dairy, I couldn’t help watching as she placed it into her mouth, leaving a smear on her upper lip. I wanted to reach out and gently wipe it off with my thumb. I resisted.
Olivia let out a guttural moan as she swallowed the bread and my stomach clenched. I frowned.It must be because you’ve gone off cheese. There’s no other plausible explanation.
Olivia fixed me with her gaze, and I froze.Shit. Did she catch me staring at her?
“Can I ask you something?” She dabbed her lip with a napkin.
“You can ask. Whether I’ll answer is another matter,” I said, feeling slightly more inclined toward Olivia after she’d helped me out by eating all the dairy.
“Why did your mom think we were dating?”
Heat swept up my cheeks. “Oh.” I took a sip of water. “She’d been pressuring me to date so to stop her, I said I’d met someone at Pryde. She asked me what their name was, and I… I said yours. I never thought our paths would cross again.”
Olivia nodded slowly. “I see. That makes sense.”
I cleared my throat. “Thank you for, uh, drinking all my milk. And eating my cheese.” Two sentences I never thought I’d say.
Olivia laughed, a warm peal that did something strange to my insides.It’s just the milk. Then why did it feel sort of… good?
“That’s okay,” she said. “How are we doing on time?” She pulled out her phone, her face brightening. “Oh great! My sister-in-law, who’s an event planner, said there’s a real lack of larger venues in the area—between two hundred fifty or three hundred—but there’s definitely demand for it. She’s just emailed me exactly how many people her company has had to turn away because of space constraints. If you decide on having a bigger space to corner that end of the market, I thought the numbers might be helpful for your business plan to Fred. I’ll forward it on to you.”
“Thank you. That does sound helpful. And please thank Jenny as well.” I cautiously took a sip of water. I’d have to look into the costs of building a larger venue. “So, does this mean you told your friends about our, er, arrangement?”
“Yeah.” Olivia tucked a stray curl behind her ear.
I raised an eyebrow. “What did they say?”
“They think we’re crazy.”
“I don’t blame them,” I replied.
“I know.” Olivia grimaced. “Are you ready to head off now? If you want to stay and sample some more of Will’s dairy delicacies, I completely understand.” Her eyes twinkled and again my stomach whirled. It didn’t feel like nausea, despite the churning dairy.
“Ha ha. No, I’m all good.” I stood, ready to escape into the fresh air, and grabbed my backpack from the floor.
We thanked Will again and walked back to the bikes. Olivia placed the large container of quark she’d purchased into a cooler bag in her basket.
“So, what’s next on the itinerary?” I asked as I threw my leg over my bike. “Please tell me it doesn’t involve any dairy.”
Olivia laughed as she started to pedal. “Nope! Next stop, Terry’s Apple Orchards and then Rosedale Estate Winery.”
