‘Then he’d definitely know you have something to hide,’ said Ros. ‘How about we have a list of subjects that we feel are safe to discuss and agree exactly what we can and can’t say about them?’

Cameron swigged his beer. ‘Sounds like a bundle of fun.’

‘Sarcasm is not helpful,’ said Ros.

They were interrupted by a buzz on the entry system. Ros paused for a moment; she wasn’t expecting anyone. It buzzed again. ‘Shall I get that?’ asked Cameron. Already reaching for the phone. ‘Hallo,’ he said.

Ros strode across the room but Cameron stood up, making it difficult for her to grab it off him. ‘Barry! We were just talking about you,’ said Cameron. Then completely unnecessarily he mouthed to Ros that it was her dad. ‘Come on up,’ he said into the receiver as he pressed the entry button.

‘Buggeration,’ said Ros. ‘Hide the flip chart. I’ll stall him.’

‘On it,’ said Cameron.

Ros was sweating. She did not need this level of stress. There was a tap on her door. She took a deep breath and checked over her shoulder. The flip chart was gone and so was Cameron. Ros opened the door and was immediately assaulted by Gazza who was over the moon to find Ros on the other side of the door. He yelped his excitement as his claws trashed her tights in one easy move.

‘Dad, hello. This is a nice surprise,’ she said, kissing him on the cheek.

‘I’m not interrupting anything, am I?’ asked Barry.

‘Of course not,’ said Ros, shutting the door and turning around to find Cameron walking in whilst pulling his T-shirt over his head as if he was getting dressed. She felt like she was intruding as she was suddenly presented with his bare torso but she couldn’t look away. Horror was keeping her fixed in position. What on earth would her dad think? This was a nightmare.

‘No worries, Barry,’ said Cameron, checking his flies were done up. ‘It’s great to see you again.’ He put his hand out to shake and belatedly Barry shook it. ‘Hey, buddy, how are you?’ said Cameron, addressing Gazza.

‘What’s wrong?’ asked Ros, now realising that this was an unplanned visit and Barry had brought the dog.

‘Nothing’s wrong. I just need a favour as something has come up last minute.’

‘What is it?’ asked Ros.

‘Did you want a beer?’ asked Cameron, picking up his bottle.

‘Er no thanks. I wasn’t going to stop. The hospital want me to pop in first thing tomorrow and stay overnight. I know it’s short notice but I wondered if you could have Gazza?’

‘Of course,’ said Cameron before Ros had had a chance to process the information. ‘We’d love to have him.’

‘Why do you need to go to hospital all day and overnight?’ asked Ros, instantly concerned by what appeared to be an unplanned appointment.

‘It’s routine. They’re just double-checking and moni-toring a few things. Absolutely nothing to worry about. Well, nothing more to worry about,’ said Barry with a weak smile. He glanced at Cameron. ‘I take it he knows.’

‘He does,’ said Ros.

‘And I was very sorry to hear about your condition,’ said Cameron, snaking an arm around Ros’s waist and making her freeze. ‘And I’m here to support both of you in any way I can.’

‘Thanks,’ said Barry. ‘That means a lot.’ He turned his attention back to Ros. ‘So is it okay to leave Gazza with you until Saturday?’

Ros knew she’d failed to stop the alarm showing on her face. ‘Er, well, he’ll need food and bowls and—’

Barry held up a carrier bag. ‘I brought all he needs. His blanket is in here. He’ll sleep on that wherever you put it. And I put a toy in but not a ball.’

Gazza spun around to stare at Barry. ‘Great,’ said Cameron, taking the lead and bag from Barry. ‘He’ll be fine with us,. You’ve nothing to worry about.’

‘Shall I pick him up sometime on Saturday?’ asked Barry.

‘Let me know when you’re home and settled and I’ll bring him back then. You might be tired if the hospital have been poking and prodding you.’

‘Don’t worry. I’ll be fine,’ said Barry, giving her a hug. ‘Thanks, I really appreciate it.’ He patted Gazza. ‘You be a good boy, won’t you?’

‘He’ll be just fine,’ said Cameron. ‘You leave it to us.’

Ros got herself a glass of water while she counted in her head how long she thought it would take for her dad to leave the building. She’d not felt this out of control since her mother left. Ros wasn’t good at trusting people or letting them take the lead. She’d found it hard to make friends at school. She was always the serious and slightly sad little girl who questioned others’ motives. The truth was she couldn’t understand why anyone would want to be friends with her if even her own mother couldn’t be bothered to stick around long enough to build a relationship. And now here she was, thrown into one that had to look on the surface like it was perfect and she had no yardstick to measure that by.

‘What the hell was that, Cameron? You can’t just improvise.’

He seemed wrong-footed. ‘Surely you weren’t going to say no to having the dog?’

‘What? Of course I wasn’t. Although . . .’ She watched as the little dog jumped across her expensive sofa and skidded on her highly polished wooden floor. ‘No, of course not. I meant the stripper routine.’

Cameron grinned. ‘You see now, that made it believable.’

‘Believable. Now he thinks we’re having sex.’ Ros was mortified and feared her dad would be feeling the same way.

‘Yeah. That would be kind of normal if we’d been dating for over two months.’

‘Would it? I suppose so. But still.’ She shuddered. ‘Eeew!’ she said with feeling.

‘Jeez, thanks. You know how to massage a guy’s ego.’

‘Oh, no offence. It’s the idea of my dad thinking about us . . .’ There was the shudder again. ‘Not the thought of sex with you. Not that I have thought about sex with you because I obviously haven’t. But I’m sure it’s very nice.’

‘Nice?’ Cameron tipped his head.

‘Are you after a greater compliment than nice for imagined sex?’

‘Er yes, I am.’

‘Really, this is silly,’ said Ros.

Cameron folded his arms.

Ros could feel her cheeks heating up as an image of Cameron’s torso flashed into her mind. ‘I’m sure you’re stupendous.’

Cameron stuck out his lip and nodded. ‘Stupendous I will accept.’ His phone beeped. ‘Arse,’ he said. ‘Sorry, that’s a reminder about some uni work I need to do. It’s a group thing and I’ve not chased the others. I’d better shoot.’ He downed his beer.

‘Hang on,’ said Ros. ‘You’re not leaving me with him.’ She pointed at Gazza who groaned and trotted after Cameron as if repeating Ros’s sentiments.

‘Were you expecting me to stay the night? Because I don’t think we’ve covered that on the flip charts.’

‘Stop being silly. I just thought you’d maybe entertain him for a bit.’