Free Lola's House (Lola Series) by Suzie Groers

scream and grab hold of the table to stop me hitting the floor.
    ‘What the hell...’  I shout , as the dog leaps up me with its big tongue lolling out of its mouth and its tail wagging furiously at the other end.
    ‘Harley, come back here.’  Robert, my new lodger, appear s in the doorway, filling it with his presence.  He bounds over, nearly as fast as his dog.  ‘I’m so sorry.  I thought the door was closed.’
    He grab s his dog and I detach myself from the wall, trying to compose myself.  ‘I thought you were moving in alone, why is there a dog here?’
    He ben ds down and scratches the dog’s belly, which is now lying on its back with its paws in the air, laughing like only a dog can do.  ‘Yeah, sorry about that, I was hoping a friend would look after him for a few weeks, but they haven’t got back to me yet.’  He looks up at me from his dog tickling.  ‘You’re not scared of dogs are you?’
    ‘Only when they knock me flying in my own hallway,’ I say, running a hand through my hair in an attempt to look unflustered. 
    He is still concentrating on tickling the dog’s tummy.  ‘He won’t hurt you, he was just excited to see you.  I’ll make sure he’s gone by tomorrow.’
    I look down at Robert’s dark tousled hair and notice he still ha sn’t had it trimmed.  He’s absorbed with tickling Harley, who clearly loves it and I feel myself start to cave in and soften quite a bit.  ‘Okay, he can stay, but he’d better be a bloody good guard dog.’
    Robert stands up to his full height and I feel miniature next to him.  I spot a pile of cardboard boxes sitting on the floor in the corner of the hallway behind him.  ‘I’m guessing you have moved in?’  I raise my eyebrows in enquiry. 
    ‘Oh yeah, I wasn’t sure whether I’d be able to move this morning , I did call you a couple of times to let you know, but you never answered so I left you a message.’
    ‘I ne ver got any calls or messages,’ I say, digging around in my bottomless handbag for my phone.  I can hear ringing coming from the kitchen and I look up at Robert who is holding his own phone in his hand.  He presses the end call button and the ringing in the kitchen stops also.  He grins to himself which irritates me just a little.  ‘Okay, so I forgot my phone this morning.’
    ‘So I see ,’ he says, his eyes crinkle up at the sides with amusement.
    We look at each other, and the moments tick away awkwardly. I haven’t been a landlady before so I’m not sure what the protocol is, but I can’t stand there staring at him all day, I need to break the deadlock. ‘Well, I’ve had a really busy day so I’m going to run a bath.  I’ll leave you to get on with it shall I?’
    ‘No problem, come in and have a look at the rooms later, see what I’ve done to the place.’
    ‘Thanks, I’ll catch you later then,’ I say, as I walk up the stairs. I get to my bedroom and shut the door firmly behind me.  I knew I’d have to make a few adjustments having a stranger living in my house but all I feel at the moment is irritation.  He’s taken up residence in my parking space, moved his dog in and caught me out with inept mobile phone ownership.  I’ve read so many books where the heroine falls in love with her lodger and then they live happily ever after, but at the moment I just feel narked.  Like I want to slap him.  And that definitely isn’t a good start.
     
    After lying in the bath for well over an hour, I drag myself from the cooling water and wrap a towel around me.  My stomach is now rumbling so loud I decide I had better go and find it some food.  After towelling off I wrap myself in my biggest bathrobe, ensuring I’m well covered, and make my way downstairs.  I have a quick look around to see if Robert or his maniac dog are still lurking at the bottom of the stairs, but there is no sign of either and his door is closed.  I can hear the tv coming from his room so I sneak down the hallway to