Paige smiled. “Noah was good for you, hmm?”
Without a doubt in her mind, Olivia nodded. “So good for me. Heck, I feel like I’m me again.” That’s when Olivia knew the advice that her father had given her was right. Moments made up a life. Some good. Some bad. But in the end, it was the combination of the two that made a person who they were.
Somewhere she’d lost sight of the choices she had in her life. Not anymore. There was so much she wanted. A home of her ow
n again. A job she loved. A man who lifted her up like Noah had, instead of taking away her shine.
“All right, so now that you’ve quit, you wild woman, what’s next?” Paige asked.
Olivia shrugged. “Good question. I haven’t really thought it through. All I know is I couldn’t stand working with Isaac another second, doing a job that I kinda, sorta liked. Life should be about more than that, don’t you think?”
Paige gave a firm nod. “Yes, I most definitely do think.”
“Besides,” Oliva added. “I contacted the real estate agent and accepted the offer on the house today. The closing is in two weeks.”
“Wow,” said Paige. “That’s fast.”
Olivia nodded. “Well, it was an all-cash bid where there are no stipulations.”
“Lucky you.”
“I know,” Olivia said with a smile. “I’ve got enough savings to get me through for a little while. And once the sale goes through, and once I give Cameron what he’s due, I’m good. I’m sick of going with the flow. I need…more. And staying with Isaac won’t help me do that.”
“I think all of that is perfection.” Paige smiled. “You seem good.”
Olivia returned the smile. “I feel good.”
Paige went quiet for a moment then laughed softly. “Isn’t it amazing that all this started with a totally insane idea of signing up for SiR?”
“Yes.” Olivia nodded. “Totally insane. And yet amazing too. Because now I see that maybe life shouldn’t be so planned. And even that doing perfectly inappropriate things is where life begins.”
Paige chuckled. “No truer statement has ever been uttered.”
They turned down another road and entered Times Square on their way to their favorite sushi restaurant. “Okay,” Paige said. “And where in all this do things sit with Noah?”
Her heart leapt up into her throat, but she covered it up with an easy shrug. “I’m grateful for his patience, his hot as hell touch, and his strength, and that’s about it, I think.”
Paige gave a pouty lip. “So it’s over?”
“I need to think of me for a little while,” Olivia explained, knowing full well all she did was think of Noah.
“Well, that might be a little hard,” Paige said, gesturing forward.
Olivia followed her gaze, and her breath caught at Noah’s gorgeous face displayed on a huge television screen hanging over the sidewalk. After a quick look, she could tell he wasn’t standing at a podium giving a statement to reporters. He appeared to be in an interview in his penthouse.
“Do you have remorse over your involvement in the altercation?” the reporter asked him.
Noah paused. He averted his gaze for a quick moment. When he looked at the camera again, it was like he looked right at her. No one else but her. “No remorse at all. I heard Mr. Kline say something demeaning and cruel to a woman I care for deeply.” His eyes turned hard and flinty. “I stand behind my reaction. And I would do it again if put in the same situation.”
“Holy shit,” Paige breathed. “That statement is certainly going to cause some ripples.”
Olivia nodded agreement, unable to look away from the television screen. A woman I care for deeply began to repeat in her mind. “I can’t imagine his team coming up with that answer.”
“Ya think?” Paige barked a loud laugh.
The reporter glanced down at the papers in her hand, obviously also taken by surprise. Once composed, she lifted her head. “What do you make of Mr. Kline not pressing changes against you?”
“I make nothing of it,” Noah answered firmly.