Page 82 of Suddenly Dating
“About Birta, Lola. She is asking you to be her assistant, or whatever, because of me.”
Lola blinked. And then she laughed. “Okay, Harry. You’re a good-looking guy, but you don’t honestly believe that.”
“Yes, I do—”
Lola laughed again. “Stop!” she playfully protested, pushing against him.
“Listen to me—”
“I meanstop,” she said, and her smile faded. “I’m not blind. But just because she is hot to trot for you doesn’t mean I don’t need her help. If she will look at my book and give me some feedback, it’s totally worth it. Seize the moment, right?”
“Even if she is using you?” he asked.
“My eyes are open,” she said, and smiled. “Just think about what a great opportunity it is!”
Harry didn’t think it was a true opportunity at all, but there was a sudden flurry of activity at the door, and he and Lola turned with everyone else to see who had come in.
“Well it’s bloody well time, Andy,” Birta said, sailing across the living room to the door to greet a man. He was tall and lean, like a swimmer. “You know how I feel about tardiness.”
“I know, and I’m sorry,” the man said. “The traffic from the city is horrible.”
“Everyone, this is the Andy Carson, the man who handles my publicity,” Birta said. “And this lovely young woman will be taking over for him this fall. Melissa Fulton.”
Shocked, Harry stared at the brunette with the long dark hair and the skin-tight gold dress. Her gaze met his, and widened with surprise.
“Melissa!” Lola said.
Before Harry realized what was happening, Lola was walking forward. “Small world, huh?”
“Oh! Hi, Lola,” Melissa said, and glanced nervously at Harry.
Harry was staggered—LolaknewMelissa? How was that even possible? For a moment he couldn’t move, he couldn’t speak. The shock of seeing Melissa so unexpectedly—and with Lola—was like a bucket of ice to his brain.
“Fabulous, we are all here,” Birta said, clapping her hands. “Now we can dine. Places, everyone! You’ll find your names at your seat. Andy, Melissa, you can meet everyone at the table.”
They began to move toward the dining room, but Melissa paused before Harry. She looked nervous. Insecure. “Hi,” she said.
“Hi.”
“Fancy meeting you here,” she said.
“What?” Birta asked. “You two know each other?”
“We know each other, all right,” Melissa said. “We were almost married.”
Harry heard Lola’s sharp intake of breath... but it was nothing compared to the roar in his head.
Twenty-one
Everyone in the room went quiet for a few seconds, their gazes going from Harry to Melissa. “Well,” said Birta stiffly, breaking the awkward silence. “This should make for a very interesting evening.”
Interesting was not the word that Lola would have used. Disastrous, maybe. Terrifying. She was still trying to wrap her head around it all.Melissa. Lissa. How could the Melissa she’d met—and liked—be Harry’s Lissa? How was she here,now? Had she known Harry would be here? Did she know he was at the Cantrells’ last weekend?
There was no time to make sense of it, or to ask Harry what the hell was happening, because Birta was instructing everyone to take their seats, and he was escorting her to the table. He held her elbow as they began to move toward the table. “Lola—”
“Harry, you’re here,” Birta said, putting herself in their path and directing Harry to a seat at one end of the table. Apparently, she’d made up place cards, and Lola was sitting at the opposite end of the table from Harry. Harry glanced at Lola as Birta pushed him toward the other end of the table.
Lola was seated between Birta’s doctor, Mr.Rosenthal, and Mia Lassiter. At the other end, Harry was between Everett Alden and Melissa. Talk about adding insult to injury—not only did Harry get the woman he wanted to marry, he got the rock star.
