A Dog's Life: Lucky Dog, #3

By Ava Summers

Don’t Judge a Dog by Its Breed

A sweet romance short story with dogs

Thirty-four-year-old Ashley Madison is a freelance web designer working part time at the local Italian restaurant. After breaking up with her unfaithful boyfriend Spencer, she lives a dull and unsatisfying life. She shares it with her female Irish Setter Violet and animals from the local animal shelter where Ashley volunteers.

Ashley’s life is turned upside down when her dog is almost ran over by Matt Hansen, a thirty-seven-year-old retired wealthy businessman who has just moved to the small town of Maple Hills.

Will Ashley be able to overcome her distrust of men, call off the dogs and let Matt enter her life?

A Dog’s Life is the third book in the "Lucky Dog" romance series, which feature dogs as main characters. Each book tells a different story and can be enjoyed without reading the other titles.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shining Sun Publishing
• Release date: May 27, 2015
• ISBN: 9781513079158

Book preview

Chapter 1

Ashley was glad she had a day off. She was tired of her grumpy manager, Courtney, who treated everyone like a stupid child needing her expert advice with everything. If you made a mistake, Courtney was always there to scold you. She would never miss the opportunity to make you feel bad. But the job paid Ashley’s bills. Well, at least some of them.

On her days off, Ashley looked for new freelance jobs online. Web design sucked, too, but at least there was no cranky boss above her. She could also work at her own pace. She sat at her laptop and recorded video applications for new gigs.

Smile, say a few words about yourself, tell the potential employer how professional you are and how much experience you have. Post your application and hope it will be noticed among thirty other people.

As much as she hated using her looks to get a job, there was no other way to stand out among East Asian workers willing to work for five bucks per hour. A video application featuring a beautiful ginger with long thick hair, full lips, hazel eyes and light freckles often did the trick, as long as her application was even read.

Her Irish Setter, Violet, nudged her. Ashley glanced at the wall clock. It was three o’clock, time for a walk with Violet. She turned her laptop off, leashed her dog and went outside.

Her walks with Violet were one of the highlights of her daily routine. She was glad she lived so close to the woods. As boring and quiet as the town was, she could never live in a concrete jungle. Maple Hills was, is, and would always be, her home.

She walked down the stone driveway of her house and turned right. Mrs. Smith was walking her beagle on the other side of the street. Ashley waved to her and kept walking down the sidewalk.

She could see pine trees about half a mile in front of her. They marked the entrance to the forest, one of the reasons she loved the town so much. You could enter the woods and keep walking for hours without meeting other people. Not that she hated other people. It was just nice to escape it all and spend some time with only her thoughts. Well, with Violet, too. You could trust dogs. Unlike people, as she learned from Spencer.

She passed the houses of her neighbors. Mr. Walker mowed the lawn, Mrs. Gomez read a newspaper on her porch. Just another lazy Sunday in the town.

The entrance to the forest was right across the street. Ashley let Violet loose. Nobody drove through this street on Sunday. Heck, nobody drove through this street on most days. Violet broke into a trot and hurried in front of her. Ashley was about to cross the street when she heard the sound of a loud engine coming from her left. A black Cadillac Escalade sped down the street.

Violet! she yelled.

Violet stood in the middle of the street, confused by a rare sighting of a car on the road that had been empty nearly any other time. There was little traffic in the town. Violet had never learned that cars could be dangerous.

Ashley ran out onto the street and waved to the driver to stop. He was either blind or drunk. Violet stood right in the middle of the street and he hadn’t already stopped.

Stop! Stop! Ashley shouted.

She tensed her muscles for the incoming hit. The car broke to a halt a feet away from Ashley and Violet.

What the hell was that? Ashley yelled to the driver.

A thirty-something blond man in an expensive gray suit jumped out of the car. A businessman type, probably a prick who thought he was the most important person in the world.

I’m so sorry, he said. His voice was shaken and his eyes were wide in shock.

You almost hit her, she said through gritted teeth. Without Violet, her world would fall to pieces.

I’m so terribly sorry. It was my fault.

It damn well was your fault. What the hell are you, blind?

My GPS stopped working. I took my eyes off the road for just a few seconds.

Said every driver after the crash. Why the hell are you even driving down this road? Nobody uses it.

My GPS got it all mixed up. I’m so terribly sorry. Do you want me to drive you to a vet, check if everything is okay with your dog?

You didn’t hit her, but you were damn close.

I’m really sorry. The driver almost begged her to forgive him. His hands were still shaking. At least he felt guilty.

Violet walked over to the guy and sniffed him. To Ashley’s surprise, she wagged her tail. The driver stroked her head.

It’s okay, she said. Violet hadn’t been hit, and that was the most important thing. Now Ashley just wanted to get rid of the guy.

If you need anything, I mean, anything, please call me. I’m terribly sorry for what happened. He handed her a business card. She glanced at it and put it in her pocket.

He walked back to his car and drove away.

Ashley crossed the street and entered the forest. She pulled the card from her pocket. Matt Hansen, it read. Blue Oak Technologies, CEO. She crumpled it in her fist and threw it into the trash can.