‘You were calling Jack so desperately there I thought you must be Rose.’
Lisa glared. She didn’t know what he was referring to.
‘Jack, Rose…Titanic… the film. You must have seen it.’
Finally the penny dropped.Cheeky sod. This was no time to make jokes. Though Lisa conceded her lungs felt so constricted from the run she might as well have been drowning on the bloodyTitanic.
‘You’ve got my dog.’ She blurted the words more curtly than she intended.
The man raised his eyebrows and placeda protective hand on Jack. ‘Funny that, he seems to want to be with me and he has no collar. Are you sure he’s yours?’
Lisa looked at the smirk tugging at his lips and his way-too-cheeky-for-the-situation eyes. She was in no mood for games, she had left her patience somewhere back in the forest. ‘Look, this is his collar. He’s called Jack. Now, please, can I just have him?’
Jackwiggled back between the man’s legs.Judas!Lisa looked at his little cross-eyed face,the picture of innocence, and let out an exasperated squeal.
‘Here…’ The man’s expression softened as he smiled, and gestured to take the collar and lead. Lisa reluctantly handed it over, watching as he slipped the collar round Jack’s neck and pulled it a little tighter to ensure it stayed in place.As the man checked the clip on the lead he paused to read Jack’s identity tag before unleashing a full-on smile at Lisa and standing up. ‘Then you must be Winifred Adams. Nice to meet you, Winifred.’
Lisa looked at his outstretched hand.Oh for goodness’ sake!‘No… I’m—’
With a puzzled expression he withdrew his hand. ‘But you said—’
‘I’m… I’m Jack’s pet sitter,’ Lisamuttered, embarrassed at how unprofessional she appeared.
‘His what?’ The man shot back, not bothering to stifle his giggle.
‘Pet sitter, dog walker, you know.’ Lisa pointed at the words across her T-shirt and blushed even more at the fact she was pointing at her still heaving chest. Moving her hand she added, ‘I’m Lisa Blake.’
‘“The purrfect pet sitter” indeed,’ he saidwith a laugh as he passed over Jack’s lead.
Lisa wanted the ground to open up and swallow her into oblivion. ‘Honestly, I don’t normally lose my clients’ pets. I really am generallyveryvigilant,’ she assured, blinking away an image of the back end of Rusty the snappy little Jack Russell disappearing down the beach the previous week.Thank goodness he didn’t want to cross that patch ofseaweed!Without that she knew she never would have caught him.
‘I’m sure you are,’ the man offered, his voice a little too teasing. ‘I bet plenty of dogs slip their collars every day!’
‘Not on my watch,’ Lisa shot back and cringed regretting her hasty response on at least four counts that instantly sprung to mind:
1) All evidence pointed to the contrary.
2) Hiswords had actually absolved her of all blame in the situation – now it seemed she protested too much.
3) It just wasn’t true.
4) And, perhaps the point she regretted most, she had pointed to her eyes, then at him and winked for added emphasis as she spoke.
‘I’m sure.’ He chuckled, apparently finding her predicament as the worst pet sitter in the south amusing. Tapping hisnose in mock similarity to her gesture, he added, ‘This had better be our little secret then, hadn’t it?’
Lisa giggled despite her best efforts not to.
No longer the centre of attention, Jack barked, reminding them of his presence. Lisa jumped, realising any moment now might be a good time to look like a pet sitter who actually gave her charges her full attention. She bent downoffering Jack lots of fuss, tickling him around his ears and under his soft, wobbly jowls. Only then did she notice she was still holding the blue poo bag, now a mushy mess from her run. And worse, she was actually flapping it around in Jack’s face.Fail!Quickly tucking the bag behind her back, her cheeks reddened and she suddenly felt the need to be gone; away from the awkward situation, awayfrom the leather-clad dog-napper and away from further scrutiny. ‘OK… so, thank you.’ Lisa turned to leave, dragging a reluctant Jack with her.
‘But wait, I… don’t go… I didn’t even introduce myself. I’m D—’
But it was no use, Lisa was striding back to her van, reminding herself that returning Jack to Winnie, maybe even on time if she drove quickly enough, was her only priority.
Realising she had no intention of turning back, the leather-clad man shouted, ‘It was a pleasure… see you around, Rose!’
Lisa groaned and picked up her pace.
