Page 25 of Suddenly Dating
“Uh-huh. And how’d that happen?” he asked suspiciously.
“How should I know?” she lied. She hadn’t meant to bump into it. “Have a great day in your freshly ironed shirt.” And with that, she put herself in that car, practically giggling.
“Who was that?” Mallory asked, her gaze on her phone.
“The pool guy,” Lola said. She waved at Harry, who was still standing in the same spot as the car pulled around. Lola really didn’t know him at all, but she could not be more delighted that the smug bastard was on hand to see her being picked up in a private car.
After that morning, Lola didn’t see Harry for a few days. But she heard from him. Oh boy, did she hear from him. He began to leave her notes.The spray of oatmeal on the stove should be cleaned up before it cements there for all eternity.
Lola responded with,Did you leave the towels on the top of the washing machine because you need them washed? You must have me confused with your mother.
He shot back,When the trash starts to pile over onto the floor, it’s probably time to take it out.
To which Lola responded with,Perhapsyour sense of smell has been compromised by all the dirt you seem to roll in, but your boots stink. Please leave them outside.
That was met with aYou left the TV on. I like Jimmy Fallon, too, but I don’t need to be blasted by him when I come through the door.
To which Lola wrote,Are you deliberately revving your truck in the morning? Because if not, you might need to get that looked at.
In addition to receiving his notes, Lola also heard Harry. Generally late at night, when his heavy boots would crunch that gravel like a military parade. She heard the water pipes banging to life when he got up before dawn to shower. She saw neatly stacked mail on the entry console, or a plate and cup washed and left in the drainboard to dry.
But she didn’t see him. Not that she wanted to see Hardhearted Harry, or cared what he was doing. Nope, she was too busy hanging out with her new friend Mallory.
Lola loved this woman. Theirs was a friendship made in heaven as far as she was concerned. They had so much in common—failed relationships, a love of reality television, the desire to do something new and different with their lives, an unhealthy obsession with shoes. And best of all, they had so muchfuntogether. Mallory introduced Lola to her friends. Her two closest friends were Natalie Baker, a forty-something real estate agent, and Nolan Tipton, a slender, doe-eyed blond man who wore loafers without socks, sleek dress slacks, and a shirt opened at the collar. He was a bartender at a swank little supper club. He was obviously a man who preferred the company of other men, but he seemed genuinely interested in Lola. He wanted to hear about her book. He said she had pretty eyes and he loved her smile. Compliments from a gay man, but Lola would happily take them.
She liked him so much that she invited him out to the lake house for a swim one afternoon when Mallory was busy. Nolan showed up with wine coolers, two pink straw hats, and a Speedo.
They spent the afternoon floating around the pool and sipping the drinks he’d brought. Maybe one too many, because when Harry unexpectedly appeared on the terrace, his weight on one hip, his hands on his waist, Lola was feeling a little tipsy.
“Well, hello,” Nolan said, and swam to the side of the pool so that he could smile up at Harry. “What’s your name?”
Harry looked from Nolan to Lola. “Lola? Could I speak to you a moment?”
“Sure,” she said.
Harry looked at Nolan again. “Inside,” he said, and turned around and walked back into the house.
“Whoisthat?” Nolan hissed.
“No one,” Lola whispered, and paddled with one arm to the side, then sort of half-climbed and half-rolled out of the pool with a little push from Nolan.
She grabbed a towel and walked inside. Harry was standing at the kitchen bar, his arms crossed across his chest. “You’re dripping,” he said immediately, and abruptly took her by the arm and pulled her into the utility room.
The utility room was small, however, and Lola was between the washer and dryer and him, suddenly standing so close that she could smell his musky, manly-man scent. It had been so long since Lola had been this close to a man that she’d forgotten how arousing that scent could be.
“Why are your eyes closed?” he demanded.
“Hmm?” She opened her eyes.
“Who is that?” he asked, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.
“Nolan.”
Harry’s eyes narrowed. “Do you really think it’s a good idea?”
“What, having friends? You should try it.”
“Bringing him here,” Harry said, obviously irritated. He looked like he was about to give her a tongue-lashing, but something behind her caught his attention, and he squinted.
