Page 60 of Suddenly Dating
“First of all, I didn’t cut Lissa loose. She dumped me. And second, it hasn’t been that long. I can go a couple of months before I start climbing the walls.”
“Well that’s justgreat,” she said, and tugged at her earlobe before folding her arms across her body.
They stared at each other. Harry’s gaze inadvertently drifted to her mouth. Those were lush lips, and he was reminded of that surprisingly sexy little kiss in the kitchen of the lake house. “You know,” he said, lifting his gaze to hers, “we could consider—”
“Don’t even say it,” she interjected, pointing at him.
“What?”
She gave him a withering look. “I know exactly where you are going with this. You are going to suggest we become friends with benefits.”
That was absolutely what Harry had been about to suggest, but he wouldn’t admit it now. “I was going to say maybe we could consider putting you on Tinder for real. I could help you find the right guy. But if you’d rather just jump straight to friends with benefits, I’m okay with that, too.”
“I didn’t say that! Seriously, isn’t it time to go?” she asked, looking around.
Harry caught her hand, pulling her toward him.
“Leave me alone, Harry Westbrook,” she said, but she didn’t resist him pulling her into his embrace once more. He caught her face between his hands and touched his lips to hers. Gently. Sweetly. It was amazing how such a small and simple kiss could set him on fire, but it did—another conflagration, courtesy of Lola Dunne. Maybe because he felt her soften into him. Maybe because she tasted sweet. Maybe because he really liked this girl with her strange novel and messy cooking.
He lifted his head and murmured, “Just think about it.”
Lola didn’t move; her gaze, crystal clear, locked on his. Harry didn’t move, either. He felt a different kind of spark as she peered into his eyes, as if she were trying to read him. He had that feeling there actually might be something there to read, something that had sprung up out of nowhere. Not two months ago, he was devastated that he’d lost the woman he thought he would marry. How could he be feeling the kernel of desire and affection take root in him now?
Harry tried unsuccessfully to figure out what was happening in him until he began to worry that she would read how horny he was. So he kissed her again.
Only not as gently.
This time, he kissed her like he meant it. At first, Lola stood stiffly, and he thought he was the only one feeling this thing between them. He was about to let her go, to stop teasing her, but Lola abruptly relented. Her body sagged into his and he had to slip an arm around her to keep her from sliding to the dock. She reached for his hand that cupped her face, curling her fingers around his wrist as she opened her mouth to his.
Whoa.Lola was suddenly kissing him on turbo mode, like a woman who hadn’t been with a man in a year, and it was stoking a rush of desire and affection in Harry that surprised and confused him. He had not felt this electric, this charged—
Lola suddenly jerked back.“Dammit,”she said with a shake of her head. “I swore to myself I would not make that mistake again.”
“That was not a mistake,” he said, buzzing from the charge in that kiss.
“Well hands off, Hardhat Harry,” she said, batting his hands away from her.
“Lola,” he said, reaching for her, but she batted at him again. “Fine,” he said, and lifted his hands in surrender. “Whatever you say.”
“Hey!You’rethe one who came up with the ground rules, remember?”
“What’s going on with you two?”
Mallory had reappeared.
“Nothing!” Lola said too quickly and too loudly.
Some of the wine in Mallory’s goblet sloshed onto the dock, but she didn’t notice. “Is this a great party orwhat?” she shouted, swaying forward like one of those car dealership air dancers. “Hey, a bunch of us are going for a moonlight boat ride. Want to come?”
“Yes,” Lola said.
Harry did not want to let go of Lola just yet.
“Follow me,” Mallory said, and began to sway and slosh her way down to the boat.
Lola and Harry fell in behind her. Harry unthinkingly took Lola’s hand. “Are you holding my hand?” she asked, as if she were unfamiliar with the experience.
Harry looked down. “I guess so.”
