Alice and Hayden eat breakfast-for-dinner at Old Mo’s Sugar House, where their banter over biscuits, pink food coloring, and the "giddy part of a sunrise" underscores growing attraction. Neither wants to end the night, so Alice leads Hayden to the beach near the Grande Lucia to stay public and avoid crossing personal boundaries.

On the dune walkway, a snake startles Hayden, who admits he hates snakes. He picks Alice up and carries her past the spot, an accidental intimate moment as his arm brushes under her skirt. Both feel the charged contact and steer themselves toward the shoreline to diffuse it.

They sit by the ocean and talk about their lives outside this assignment. Hayden describes being busy in New York, his small-town upbringing, and ambivalence about city pace; Alice shares her love of Los Angeles, her early obsession with Hollywood and magazines, and writing as a response to Audrey’s situation. They discuss travel to each other’s cities and drift into a near-kiss tension before Alice changes the subject.

Alice asks about Hayden’s last serious relationship. He explains his breakup with Piper from Chicago: they competed for the same promotion he suggested they both seek; he got it, their relationship deteriorated, he left to help her advance, but the company promoted someone else, worsening everything. He says he has not had a serious relationship since and rarely dates casually.

They lie back close together, seeking nonsexual touch and comfort. The closeness escalates: they spoon, Hayden guides Alice’s hand over her body, and he touches her intimately while avoiding kissing. He voices desire—“We’d be so good together”—but insists they not have sex now, suggesting they find a crowded, brightly lit place for a future date.

Alice declines the date for the next night because she is visiting her mother, which momentarily cools Hayden, but she quickly clarifies and invites him to come along as a guest, not to meet her mother formally as a partner. After brief hesitation and reassurance that the invitation is genuine, Hayden accepts. They end the night with a gentle cheek kiss and a joking reference to snakes as they head back.