Read Online Wellies and Westies by Cressida McLaughlin - Free Book Online Page B

breezy smile on her face. ‘I have to go and pick up the Westies.’
    ‘Do you ever think about things that aren’t dog related?’
    ‘Of course,’ Cat said, ‘lots of the time, but this is—’
    ‘What about right now?’ He raised an eyebrow, and Cat found herself looking at his lips. The half-smile, the jawline. She was thinking about his lips, and what they would feel like pressed against hers.
    ‘I’m thinking about…’
    ‘What?’
    Her mind had stopped cooperating.
    ‘Those big brown eyes are like saucers,’ he said. ‘You’re panicking.’
    ‘I’m not.’
    ‘You really can’t think of anything else, can you?’ He looked satisfied, as if he’d proved his point.
    Cat folded her arms. ‘I wasn’t thinking about dogs, actually.’
    He leaned towards her and whispered in her ear. ‘I know.’
    Cat gawped and Mark looked away as a car started further up the terrace. When he turned towards her again, his smirk was firmly back in place. ‘So it’s going well, the dog walking?’
    She knew he’d thrown her a lifeline, but she was too flustered to do anything but take it. She was on much safer ground with dogs.
    ‘It is. It – it’s better. Disco’s getting bigger, she’s lots of fun still, but not quite so haywire, and I’ve been working out schedules, planning the walks around size, number and type of dogs. Squirrelgate was a one-off.’ It was true. She’d sat down with Polly and drawn up a rota – there weren’t enough dogs to fill it yet, but Cat could do three walks a day, two at weekends when the demand was less, and shouldn’t run into any more problems if she spread out her clients efficiently.

    ‘Glad to hear it. Although I’m not too disappointed you were having a bad day when I found you.’
    ‘Do you take pleasure from other people’s misfortunes, then?’
    ‘Only if it means I can rescue them.’
    ‘Are you a secret, wannabe Superman?’ Cat knew where this was going, and was trying to work out if she liked it or not. She was kidding herself – of course she liked it, but should she like it? She had never been a cheater, and if Mark and Jessica were together…
    ‘I think Superman was less picky about who he rescued. He was an all-round, genuine superhero.’
    ‘And you?’ Her mouth was drying out.
    ‘I’m not as squeaky clean as Clark Kent. I only rescue people I want to get to know better. Sod the rest of them.’
    ‘OK.’ She swallowed.
    ‘That was a hint. Quite a big one, I thought.’
    ‘T-that would be lovely,’ she rushed. Why did he have the ability to turn her into a stuttering schoolgirl? Could what he had in mind be described as “lovely”? And she was going to be late for Jessica. God, Jessica. She couldn’t do it. ‘Look, sorry, I really need to get going.’
    Mark nodded and smiled, unperturbed by her sudden change of direction. ‘Of course. Good to see you, Cat.’
    ‘You too.’
    ‘I’m already looking forward to the next time.’
    She gave him a quick smile and hurried away, pulling her jacket tightly around her. She realized that he had neatly avoided answering her question about Jessica.
    ‘Oh, gorgeous Cat –’ Jessica flung open the door, the dogs at her feet – ‘come in for a moment. I’ve lost Dior’s lead, and he won’t wear the black one.’

    Cat hadn’t been invited in before, and stepped tentatively over the threshold, wondering how clean her boots were – they were dog-walking wellies, not suited to polished wooden floors. Jessica’s wide hall was magnificent, with walls covered in a cream and pale green floral-print, and a vase of fresh daffodils and a vintage telephone on a cream dresser. Pistachio-coloured rugs on the floor picked out the detail of the wallpaper.
    Cat couldn’t imagine how a house with three dogs could cope with pale green rugs but, like everything else, they looked pristine. A wooden staircase curved elegantly towards the upper reaches of the house, where skylights let in lots of sunshine.