The Dog Sitter: The new feel-good romantic comedy of 2021 from the bestselling author of The Wedding Date!

by Zara Stoneley

  There’s no answering bark, or bundle of black fluff hurtling out of the house.

  ‘Strange.’ Bella always comes the moment he calls.

  He frowns. ‘She’s not been outside with us at all, now I come to think of it.’

  ‘I’ve not actually seen her since she hid under the table.’ I’ve not seen her since he yelled at Georgina. Bella doesn’t like conflict, upset. She’s sensitive.

  ‘I’ll check she’s not locked in the kitchen or something.’

  ‘I’ll check upstairs, she might have gone to bed.’ I’m running up the stairs as I speak, trying to be as quiet as I can so I don’t disturb Georgina. I couldn’t stand another outburst.

  I’m slightly worried, but sure she’ll be curled up on the pillow with one of her toys as a comfort blanket. Or hiding curled up in a corner.

  She isn’t. I check everywhere, and as Georgie’s bedroom door is ajar I even risk peering round it as I hold my breath.

  I scramble down the stairs just as Ash comes in through the back door. ‘Ash.’ I grab his arm, can feel my heart pounding in my chest and that creeping feeling of panic. ‘Georgina isn’t in her room!’

  His lips are pursed in a smile that is the opposite of funny. ‘Her car’s gone.’ He strides past me, to the bowl where we throw our keys. ‘She’s gone.’

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  I can’t believe it. I’ve spent the last few weeks guarding Bella against a dog-napping from Ash, and now that we’ve finally sorted things out – Georgina has taken her! This is like some madcap movie where you don’t realise you’ve mistaken the bad guy (or girl) for the good one all along.

  ‘What are we going to do, Ash?’ I’m all fidgety and can’t stand still. He looks at me blankly for a moment, it’s his thinking face. Then he focuses back on me.

  ‘She’s mad.’

  ‘You’re telling me!’

  ‘She’s drunk. She was totally wasted, and she’s gone off in her car.’ He rubs his eyes with the heels of his hands. ‘I can’t believe even Georgie would be that stupid, I mean there’s winning and there’s being fucking stupid. She’ll kill herself, or somebody else.’

  ‘You think we should go after her? But we don’t know how long—’

  ‘I’ll try calling her.’ He fishes his phone out of his pocket. ‘She’ll answer, just so she can gloat.’ He starts to press keys, when the mobile springs into life. ‘Georgie! What the hell do you think you’re playing at?’

  There’s a strangled wailing sound, that stops him short. Then sobs.

  They carry clearly.

  ‘Ash, Ash come and help me.’ He holds the phone away from his ear, so I can hear. Though it’s hard not to, the way she’s yelling and blubbing. ‘I couldn’t stay there, I just couldn’t, I… you… I ran into the hedge.’

  ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘My fucking car’s all scratched, I just got it washed.’ The sobs seem to be mixed with hiccups.

  ‘Well, at least she’s alright,’ I stage-whisper.

  ‘I’m not alright!’ she wails. ‘I just got this frigging car valeted! What will Romeo’s people think if I turn up with a scratched, muddy car? What will they fucking think of me? I’m some sort of, sort of…’ Her voice is getting louder, and this time Ash holds it even further away from his ear to save his hearing – not for my benefit. ‘They might not let me have him!’

  ‘Georgina, listen to me. Just listen to me.’ His voice is so calm and even, I want to listen to him even if she doesn’t. It’s soothing. ‘It will all be okay, we can get the car pulled out of the ditch and washed, okay?’

  ‘By lunchtime?’ There’s a smaller sob.

  ‘By lunchtime.’

  There are a few sniffles. ‘Will you come Ash?’ It’s a plaintive little-girl voice.

  ‘You aren’t hurt?’

  ‘No.’ A bigger sniff. ‘I snapped a nail though and I only just got them done.’

  He shakes his head. ‘Oh Georgie, what were you thinking driving off like that? Where were you going?’

  ‘To a hotel. I needed to get away.’ She snuffles.

  ‘Right, tell me exactly where you are, and I’ll get you a taxi.’

  She mentions a junction with a lane a couple of miles away. ‘I want you.’ There’s a simper and a lot of feeling sorry for herself in her voice. ‘Pwease Ashley.’ Oh God, baby talk.

  He rolls his eyes, but his voice is still soft. ‘I’ve been drinking Georgie, I can’t drive.’ There’s a long pause. ‘Is Bella okay as well?’

  ‘How do I know if Bella is okay? All you care about is that—’

  He puts his phone down on the table, and lets her rant on, then when she runs out of steam, he very gently presses the end-call button.

  ‘I’ll call her a taxi, then I’ll go and get Sam. He’ll find Bella.’ He meets my gaze. ‘I think all the upset and shouting must have scared her, she might be a bit of a hooligan at times, but she’s sensitive.’

  I nod. Feeling empty and sad.

  ‘Dogs are a hell of a lot easier to get on with than people though, aren’t they?’ He’s got a funny, quirked smile. He’s a bit sad as well.

  ‘That’s what I decided, it’s why I came here to house- and pet-sit. It was Bella I was after!’

  ‘And you walked into this.’ He shrugs. ‘Sorry.’

  It is time for me to go home. I’ll go on one last walk with Ash in the morning, like I promised. Then I need to sort out what to do next.

  Coming here wasn’t a mistake. I met Ash and it was lovely while it lasted, and he made me believe I can do this. And I met lovely little Bella. And I realised that there is no wrong path, just different routes. And I’ve finally mapped a new one out for myself. A new adventure.

  It will be horrible without them at first, but I will survive. And maybe I can even survive at my parents’ house until my own place is empty again.

  Maybe not. I need to get back on my house-sitting site. Or borrow Ash’s camper van.

  ‘Come on then, boots on!’

  ‘What?’ I blink at him.

  ‘You are coming with me, aren’t you?’ He holds out his hand and I just gawp, then slip my own in.

  His is warm, big, safe.

  ‘We’ll find her. Promise.’ I nod, blinking away the tears. ‘We will.’ He hugs me then. I’ll tell him later that I’m not crying sad tears because I think we’ve lost Bella (though that would be horrendous), I’m crying happy tears because he said he wanted me to go with him. That he doesn’t want to do everything on his own.

  ‘Hang on.’

  I’m locking the door when Ash holds his hand up.

  ‘Shh.’

  I freeze, as though moving a single muscle will make a noise.

  ‘Come on.’ He strides off, and I scurry after him.

  ‘Where?’ I pant out, this man can move fast when he wants to.

  ‘I heard a noise, it could be squirrels, or rats, but—’

  ‘Rats!’ I grind to a halt, trying to grab his arm to stop him doing whatever he intends to. ‘You can count me out if this involves rats!’

  He chuckles and I grin, despite the threat of rats. Then he throws the shed door open, and a black bullet bolts out and nearly knocks me off my feet.

  ‘Bella!’ She belts around the garden at top speed, narrowly missing plant pots and us, then leaps – all four paws off the ground – at Ash, leaving sooty pawprints, and is off again before he can catch hold of her.

  He grins, his dimples back. Oh boy, I’ll miss those dimples. ‘It’s the coal shed.’ He chuckles. ‘The silly bugger must have somehow got in, and the door shut behind her! She used to do stuff like that all the time. Oh Bella, you loony!’

  The loony is still racing around.

  I didn’t think it was possible for a black dog to be any blacker, but this one is.

  The white patch on her chest is smeared with dirt and you can practically see the dust in her coat as she shakes, and then throws herself on the grass. Her once pink tummy is grey as she wr
iggles around rubbing her back into the soft green carpet.

  I can’t help it. I start to laugh. Ash joins in. We both sink to the ground and Bella leaps up and pounces on us.

  Rubbing her grimy coat on our faces and hands.

  Making me laugh even more.

  So much that my ribs hurt.

  I finally run out of giggles and we stare at each other. Bella has collapsed across Ash’s knee, her tongue lolling out.

  ‘I think we might need to go for a soak in the tub.’ There’s a naughty glimmer in Ash’s eye.

  He reaches out, strokes the back of his hand over my cheek and sets a tingle of want to the bits of my body that thought the party was over.

  ‘Do you want me to stay?’

  ‘That is the daftest question you have ever asked me.’ My voice has a wobble, nothing to do with upset or tiredness, everything to do with lust and want.

  ‘You’re not too tired?’ The corner of his mouth quirks up. ‘Or drunk?’

  I’m not tired. I want to kiss his dimples, lick the cleft in his chin, smells his skin.

  He pulls me to my feet and we slowly saunter inside. I can’t help myself; I keep sneaking glances his way and feel all awkward and bashful when I catch him doing the same.

  I want to rush, not saunter. It is excruciatingly tantalising.

  He pushes open the door.

  Bella pushes past me.

  The trail of footprints is startlingly black and smudgy against the floor, and there’s a smear of black on the wall at dog height.

  We can ignore it, can’t we? Please, can’t we?

  She wags her tail and it’s like the final brush strokes on a Turner seascape in the smog. A pollution special.

  We can’t leave her. She will paint the house black. Literally.

  Ash twists his mouth in apology. ‘I’ll have to bath Bella first.’

  I nod.

  ‘And I need to pop back and get the bits from the camper so we can get off on our walk first thing tomorrow. Before you go?’

  There’s a question in his voice.

  I don’t want this conversation now. But I just can’t afford to stay, I haven’t got any money, I can’t just rent somewhere in the village, or camp in the woods – I need space, light, internet… food. To stay and work.

  ‘Talk about it later?’ I try not to sound pleading.

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘I’ll bath Bella, while you go and get your bits?’

  He chuckles. ‘From that comment, I take it you’ve never tried to bath this dog? Believe me, you need help.’

  ‘How bad can it be?’

  Very bad, it turns out. Bella loves water if it’s in a stream, a beck, a river, a lake, even coming out of the flaming hosepipe – but not if it’s in a bath or coming out of a showerhead.

  Uh-huh. No way José.

  I never knew a dog could wriggle so much or would be prepared to make a lunge over a person’s shoulder or shake their coat vigorously so many times.

  We are drenched by the time the water is running clear, no black dust in it.

  ‘Maybe we just call it a day and I go to the camper first thing for the stuff?’

  I think my eyes are shining. ‘Yes!’

  ‘Oh hell, just remembered, I’ve got Sam for the night.’

  ‘You go and get him. I’ll get ready!’ I think I have a slightly dirty (and not in a coal way) smile on my face.

  ‘Sure.’ He grins back and kisses the tip of my nose. ‘I’ll be as quick as I can! Don’t forget to wash behind your ears.’

  ‘It’s not my ears I’m thinking about.’

  I cannot believe it. Totally CANNOT. For the second time in my all-too-brief stay here I have passed out before I have a chance to have sex with Ash.

  It must have been the lovely warm water in the bath. Or the fact I’d polished off a lot of wine with Georgina. Or that I was far more tired and stressed by the day than I’d realised. But the moment I reclined back on the bed, perfecting my sexy pose in preparation, my eyes started to prickle. I reckoned I could rest them for five minutes then I’d be raring to go – bouncier than ever.

  Didn’t happen.

  Ash somehow managed to get back, undress, climb into bed, check that Georgie was safe in an hotel, have a snog with Bella and wrap his arm round me without me even breaking out of my snore (according to him – but I don’t snore, so I don’t know if I believe all the rest).

  I mean, how? Why? It shouldn’t be possible to just fall asleep when you feel that randy. Should it?

  ‘Come on, lazy bones, I’ve made coffee, we need to get going!’

  Oh yes, and he got up and made coffee.

  ‘But I want sex!’

  ‘Later. Come on or I’ll unleash the hounds!’

  I prop myself up on my elbows and look at where he’s motioned, towards the foot of the bed.

  Bella and Sam are sat side by side, bolt upright, wagging their tails in anticipation.

  ‘Oh God, you are kidding me?’ I sink back on the pillows. ‘You wouldn’t dare.’

  I swear all he does is raise an eyebrow, but they both launch themselves up and are on top of me. Bella lands fair and square on my stomach, Sam on my boobs.

  ‘You sod!’ It is a mistake opening my mouth to talk, Bella’s tongue is straight in there. Or it would have been if I hadn’t shut up quick.

  He chuckles, reminding me of what I missed out on last night. ‘I know you love me really!’

  He’s heading back downstairs before I get a chance to answer. But as I shoo the dogs off the bed and clamber out, I know it was just a glib jokey comment, but it makes me smile. It makes me sing (badly) in the shower and makes me think that today is going to be okay.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  ‘Is this what being on top of the world means?’ I glance out of the corner of my eye at Ash. We are sitting on the rough grass, elbows on our knees, staring at the scenery that stretches out below us.

  ‘It does.’ He grins. ‘So, does Angletarn Pikes live up to your expectations? I know you were disappointed about not making it up here with Bella, and I wanted you to see it.’ He doesn’t add ‘before you go’. It hangs unspoken in the air between us.

  It is too good a moment to spoil with thoughts like that though.

  ‘It’s one of my favourite places, you can’t beat the view from up here.’ He scoots closer to me, drapes one arm over my shoulder, points out landmarks with his free hand. I try to pay attention, but I’m just enjoying the sound of his voice, the weight of his arm, the warmth of his body against mine.

  I want to smell him, feel him, make the most of what I’ve got before I lose it.

  Sam and Bella are stretched out in the sun side by side. Sam’s gold coat is lit up by the sun so that it gleams, Bella’s black coat as dark as the coal she rolled in yesterday – but highlighted by the streaks of light.

  We share the flask of coffee he’s got in his rucksack, as well as the silence, until the wind picks up a bit and my bum starts to go numb. He notices I’ve started to wriggle a bit.

  ‘Come on, I’ve got to show you Angle Tarn. The best bit! We can eat our picnic down there.’ He grabs my hand, hauls me to my feet and whistles the dogs so we can set off. This time it’s easier. Downhill, not up.

  I can’t believe it though as the ground levels out, and we get closer to the tarn.

  ‘There’s a tent!’ I point, slightly disappointed. ‘I thought we’d have the place to ourselves.’ After that bloody slog of a walk, I was certainly hoping we were actually ‘getting away from it’, I wasn’t expecting rambler company. I was expecting a romantic picnic for two. Why is life never quite as perfect as it is in the movies?

  He smiles, his eyes all twinkly and wrinkled at the corners. ‘It’s not just any tent!’

  ‘What?’

  He winks, takes my hand in his and draws me towards it.

  ‘You can’t just gate-crash somebody else’s tent, they might be, er, busy in there!’

  ‘I can gate-crash
my own tent. I was thinking maybe it was us that could get busy in there.’ His grin broadens. ‘Seeing as you went to sleep on me again! Bloody hell woman, you’re giving me a complex, all this fainting and sleeping stuff to avoid actually snogging me!’

  ‘Your tent?’ He nods. ‘You’ve lugged a flaming heavy tent all the way up here, just for a snog!’ Oh my God, there are some things this man does that make me love him more than I thought possible.

  ‘Well, I was hoping my manliness might earn more than just a snog.’ He looks boyishly endearing. ‘And I have to admit to having a bit of help from friends to get this kit up here.’

  ‘Chancer.’ I shake my head but can’t keep a straight face.

  The smile fades from his face. ‘I thought maybe we could stay the night here.’ He pulls the flap of the tent back.

  ‘Two dogs and a tiny tent.’ I shake my head and laugh. ‘You really do believe in testing things out, don’t you?’

  ‘The accommodation might be a bit crap, but I can promise you it will be amazing.’ He’s studying me intently. ‘Spectacular stars, a dawn you’ll never forget. Red deer and maybe the odd falcon, if you’re quiet.’

  ‘The being quiet bit might be a challenge.’

  We share a smile. ‘I wanted it to be different. Special. Like you.’

  I reach out, touch his face and he lifts his own hand up to cover mine. He kisses my knuckles. He turns my hand over, kisses the palm, the warmth of his mouth sending a shiver through my body.

  Then he puts his other hand on my waist and draws me close, pressing his body against mine.

  This time I understand what ‘making love’ means. This isn’t a quick shag, or mad passion. Or uncontainable lust.

  This is slow, languorous, so teasing and touching that it leaves me trembling with want – but I don’t want to urge him on faster because I want to savour every single second.

  His mouth is hot, but his lips soft and gentle as he kisses his way down my body, peeling my top over my head. He kisses my chest, between my breasts, leaving a trail down my stomach until he is kneeling in front of me, holding my waist, his thumbs rubbing tantalising circles that make me gasp.