Page 71 of The Baby Dragon Bakery
She acquiesced, standing. “Fine. But only because I love pizza.”
“Who doesn’t?” He put his hands on her shoulders, steering her toward the door. They headed out onto Main Street.
The sun hadn’t set yet, but it would soon. She couldn’t believe how much quicker the sun was setting these days; the days were getting so short, winter arriving soon. A pinprick of unease pierced her chest as she thought of her relationship deadline, though she had nothing to worry about, she told herself.
Things were good with Calahan, and they would stay that way as long . . . as Lavinia behaved herself.
They made it to the pizza place, entering the restaurant, where a few other patrons were seated at round wooden tables and dark red leather booths located along the walls. The restaurant had warm lighting, and there were additional fairy lights hanging across the roof, wound around wreaths andgreenery. Places were already getting festive for the upcoming holiday season; she smiled at the sight.
They sat down across from each other in a booth, and when the server came around, Theo ordered for them while Lavinia took out the notes from her bag.
“Stop.” Theo grabbed the papers from her hand.
“Give me!” she cried.
“Give your eyes some rest for ten minutes!” he said, putting the papers down beside him. “You can have them back after you eat.”
“Fiiine.” She blew out her cheeks, taking off her glasses. She folded them and set them aside. “How were the cafe files? Do you think the expansion project will work out?”
“I do,” he replied, as a waiter brought over their sodas. “It’ll take some finessing to ensure we’re optimizing the funds to execute the project while still generating profit and minimizing our costs.”
“I have no idea what any of that means, but love that for you,” Lavinia said with a laugh. Theo laughed, too.
He began to describe to her what he was thinking about for the project’s proposal, and in that time, their food came: garlic knots, and a gooey pizza, half of the pie covered with onions and spinach, while the other half was covered with jalapeños and pineapple. She had long since stopped being disgusted by Theo’s pizza order.
They ate, and the break—along with the delicious food—helped clear her mind. Theo wiped his hands on a napkin. “Come on,” he said, pulling up her notes. “I’ll quiz you.”
“Wait, I have flashcards,” she said, fishing them out of her tote bag. She passed the stack over to him. “The different colors are different sections.”
“Alright,” Theo said, sliding the plate of garlic knots his way. There were still eight left. “You get a garlic knot for every ten questions you answer correctly.”
She snorted. “You can’t bribe me with garlic knots!”
“Absolutely can. Now tell me, which of the following processes are . . .”
Turns out, garlic knots were a great incentive.
They stayed there for a while, even after the garlic knots were finished off between the two of them, and their sodas went lukewarm. At the table next to them, there was a group of six old ladies there for a post book-club meeting dinner. Lavinia smiled as the ladies all chatted and laughed, clearly getting tipsy after their many glasses of wine.
One of the old ladies got up, grabbing another’s hand, and they started dancing between their table and Lavinia’s. The other ladies joined in, and then one of the old ladies grabbed the server, who did not look a day older than sixteen. He was all gangly limbs and wide eyes.
“Hey, kid, can you play a song with a beat?” the lady asked.
“Uh . . .” The kid nodded, running off to the front counter.
A few seconds later, the speakers blasted with a quick song, and the old ladies cheered. They started dancing, turning the little pizza place into their personal club. Lavinia met Theo’s eyes. They burst out laughing.
“Come on,” he said, getting up. He offered her his hand, and she took it. They got up, walking two steps over to the crowd of women dancing.
“Ladies, mind if we join in?” Theo asked. One of the old ladies lowered her massive reading glasses, checking Theo out.
“Oh, honey, we don’t mind at all,” she said, winking. Laviniawas trying very hard not to die of laughter as Theo’s cheeks flushed pink.
Then, Theo leaned in close to her, and she inhaled his scent. He always smelled like dough and sugar, sweet and warm. She wanted to take a bite out of him.
He whispered in her ear, “I’ve still got it.”
She threw her head back and laughed, hitting his chest with her hand. He gave her a crooked grin then started dancing, and she joined in, dancing with these people she didn’t know, but it didn’t matter, not if she had Theo with her.
