Looking Out for Love

Praise for Sophia Money-Coutts ‘Feel-good and enormous fun. It’s a delicious, warm, witty book’ Sophie Kinsella ‘With laugh-out-loud moments, you’ll love this romcom’ Prima ‘A laugh-out-loud book… the perfect summer escape’ Lindsey Kelk ‘Full-on funny from the first page, filled with Sophia’s trademark wit and warmth. A great tonic to the year we’ve all had’ Zoë Folbigg ‘Romcom writer extraordinaire’ OK ‘For fans of Jilly Cooper and Bridget Jones’ My Weekly ‘I laughed out loud throughout this – no mean feat! This is a sure-fire summer hit!’ Laura Jane Williams ‘Heartwarming and fun’ Bella ‘A joyful, big-hearted balm of a book from one of my favourite writers. A funny, life- and love-affirming special book’ Cressida McLaughlin ‘For fans of Jilly Cooper… warm-hearted, hilarious and romantic’ Best ‘It wouldn’t be summer without a new romcom from Sophia Money-Coutts’ Red ‘Sophia Money-Coutts’ writing is sharp and clever, and Did You Miss Me? is no exception. Super funny, super witty and so warm. I loved it’ Lia Louis ‘Howlingly funny’ Sunday Times ‘A laugh-a-minute page-turner, perfect for poolside reading’ HELLO! ‘Hilariously relatable. Did You Miss Me? feels like a nostalgic treat’ Sophie Cousens ‘A beach cocktail in book form’ Metro ‘Hilarious and uplifting’ Woman & Home ‘An entertaining page-turner… I couldn’t stop smiling as I raced through it’ Holly Miller ‘Perfect light summer reading’ Evening Standard ‘As fun and fizzy as a chilled glass of prosecco… this is the perfect read for your holiday’ Daily Express SOPHIA MONEY-COUTTS is a journalist and author who spent five years studying the British aristocracy while working as Features Director at Tatler. Prior to that she worked as a writer and an editor for the Evening Standard and the Daily Mail in London, and The National in Abu Dhabi. She’s a columnist for the Sunday Telegraph called ‘Modern Manners’ and often appears on radio and television channels, talking about important topics such as Prince Harry’s wedding and the etiquette of the threesome. Looking Out For Love is her fifth novel. Also by Sophia Money-Coutts The Plus One What Happens Now? The Wish List Did You Miss Me? Copyright An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk HarperCollinsPublishers Macken House, 39/40 Mayor Street Upper, Dublin 1, D01 C9W8, Ireland This edition 2023 1 First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2023 Copyright © Sophia Money-Coutts 2023 Sophia Money-Coutts asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Source ISBN: 9780008467074 Ebook Edition © February 2023 ISBN: 9780008467098 Version 2023-01-12 Note to Readers This ebook contains the following accessibility features which, if supported by your device, can be accessed via your ereader/accessibility settings: Change of font size and line height Change of background and font colours Change of font Change justification Text to speech Page numbers taken from the following print edition: ISBN 9780008467074 To our hospitals, and all who work in them. Contents Cover Praise About the Author Booklist Title Page Copyright Note to Readers Dedication Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Chapter 58 Chapter 59 Chapter 60 Chapter 61 Chapter 62 Chapter 63 Acknowledgements Extract About the Publisher Chapter 1 STELLA SHAKESPEARE LONGED FOR love. She longed for love so much that it felt like a dirty secret, something that she should hide lest her desperation put others off. She wanted all-consuming, can’t-think-about-anything-else, can’t-even-manage-to-eat kind of love. What she found beside her in bed that morning was definitely not love. She lifted her face from the pillow and frowned at the unfamiliar headboard. A studded leather headboard. She didn’t remember that from last night. To the side, she noticed a strange bedside table on which there was a glass of water – full – which would explain why her tongue felt like a boiled owl. At the sensation of someone stirring under the cover beside her, she looked right at a head of dishevelled black hair she didn’t recognise, and a pair of broad, male shoulders. The stranger made a waking-up groan and Stella looked back to the leather headboard. What sort of man had a leather headboard? Or maybe even pleather. Stella reached her fingers towards it. Yes, pleather. This definitely wasn’t love. ‘Morning,’ came a low drawl. Seconds later, Stella felt a hand slide along the back of her thigh and over her bottom. ‘What time is it?’ she asked, ignoring the hand as it snaked up her back. The audacity! He hadn’t even looked at her yet. The hand retracted itself and he raised his head to squint at his watch. His hair was obscuring his