Page 90 of Suddenly Dating
“Well,” she said, wincing slightly, “I hit a bit of a snag. I’m mulling over Sherri’s fate. I can’t decide if I want her to get away with it or get caught. Guess what? Birta looked at my pages.”
“And?”
“And she liked it! She said they showed real promise. And then, of course, she wanted to know what Hunky Harry thought of them.” Lola playfully splashed him. “Harry Westbrook, the object of every woman’s desire.”
He smiled wryly. “Not every woman.”
“Who doesn’t drool when you walk by?” she asked cheerfully, and held up a hand. “Birta,” she said, folding a finger. “Mallory, Melissa—”
“You don’t.”
“Me?” She splashed him again. “You’ve clearly forgotten our arrangement.”
“I haven’t forgotten a moment of it,” he said. “But it seems you have. You’ve been a little distant this week, Lola.”
To her credit, Lola didn’t deny it. She sighed and said, “I guess I have.”
Her honesty was both surprising and slightly alarming. “Mind if I ask why?”
“Really?” she said, splashing him playfully again. “Maybe because your ex came waltzing back into your life. Don’t you get it? I’m trying to give you space to reconnect, Harry,” she said grandly, and swept her arm across the surface of the pool.
“Who said I’m reconnecting with my ex?”
“Aren’t you?”
“No.”
She gave him a skeptical look.
Harry groaned and dragged his hand over his hair. “I’m not.”
“Then you’re an idiot.”
“Thanks. Listen, Lola, I—”
“Don’t you dare say it, Harry,” she said quickly. “I knew what I was getting in to.”
“Say what?”
“We hooked up, that’s all,” she said flatly.
He did not care for the way that sounded. So... impersonal. So mechanical. So meaningless. “Is that really what we were doing? Is that really the way you feel about it?”
“Yes. Absolutely,” she said, nodding adamantly. “You and I sat on the terrace right there and you said it, no strings attached.”
“Yeah, I did,” he admitted. “But I really like you, Lola. A lot.”
“Great. Thank you,” she said pertly.
“Hey,”he said, his voice full of warning.
Lola sighed. She pinched her nose between her fingers, as if staving off a headache. “Here’s the thing, Harry. I really like you, too.” She dropped her hand. “But if Will had ever once said he wanted me back, I would have been ecstatic. No matter what had happened between us, all the hurts, all the betrayals... if he’d wanted me back, I would have gone back to him. So I get it. I understand. There is something about that big love you can never let go.”
“You’re kidding,” Harry said. “After what he did to you?”
“Well, of course, that all changed after the puppy. But Melissa didn’t bring you a puppy. She brought you herself. And I saw how you looked at her.”
Harry started to shake his head, but Lola kicked away from him. “I don’t hold it against you at all, you know. But you don’t need the complication of me in making that decision.”
