Free Playing for Love (Summer Beach Vets 1) - sweet vacation romance by H.Y. Hanna Page B

stroke over the pouting curves of her mouth. If she did that again, he was going to grab her and kiss her, chivalry be damned!
    “It’s not you,” she said at last in a low voice. “I mean, it is… sort of.” She gave a nervous laugh. “It’s more about what you do.”
    He raised an eyebrow. “As a vet?”
    “As a celebrity TV vet,” she said.
    “Ah.” Craig gave her a puzzled look. “But that’s such a small part of my life. Anyway, I don’t understand why—”
    “I was dating a TV celebrity. Back in L.A.” Sara ducked her head. “I found the media attention a real challenge. And then I found…” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I found that he was cheating on me. That he was only using our relationship as a way to boost his image and ratings.”
    Craig felt a flicker of anger. “And you think that I would do the same—”
    “No, no,” Sara said quickly. “I just… I don’t know… and anyway, I’m going back to the States in two weeks. I’m not really the type to have a vacation fling. I thought it would be better if things didn’t get too serious, you know?”
    Craig said nothing. All he was conscious of was that he wanted to get serious— very serious—with Sara. He looked at the pain in her soft blue eyes and knew that there was more to the story than she was telling. His hands curled into fists as he thought of her ex-boyfriend. If he ever met the bastard…
    “Sometimes you have to take risks in life, you know,” he said softly. “Sometimes the thing that you think you shouldn’t do is the very thing you should do.”
    “I—” Sara licked her lips again.
    Craig drew a sharp breath. He didn’t quite grab her, but he reached for her and she didn’t resist. He pulled her into his arms and claimed her lips—those soft, pouting lips that had been tormenting him ever since he first laid eyes on her. Sara froze for an instant, then melted against him. She kissed him back, tentatively at first, then more passionately as she sighed and slid her arms up around his neck. Craig pulled her closer, loving the way her womanly curves fitted into the hard planes of his body. He deepened the kiss, wanting to taste more of her. Dimly, he was aware that anybody could walk into the hospital ward at any moment and find them like this, but somehow he couldn’t make his body listen to his mind. It was the sound of a sharp bark near them that finally made him raise his head.
    It was the Beagle. He was standing up in his crate and barking at them. A minute later, they heard footsteps approaching. Quickly, Craig let Sara go. By the time Megan popped her head around the door, Sara was back beside the Beagle’s crate, several feet away from him.
    Craig looked at the dog thoughtfully. First that time by the crate when the Beagle’s sudden head movement had caused Sara’s hand to brush his, and now the barking which had provided them with a timely warning. You could almost imagine that the dog was playing matchmaker and guardian angel!
    He smiled inwardly at the fanciful thought and pushed it aside. He nodded absently at what Megan was telling him and, when she had left, he turned back to Sara.
    “I’m going to Sydney tomorrow. I need to see my agent—but I can stay the whole day; I don’t need to get back until evening. Why not come with me? You haven’t seen any of the big sights in Sydney yet, have you? It would be a shame to come to Australia and not visit the Opera House or any of the other famous landmarks.”
    Sara hesitated, then gave him a shy smile. “I’d love that.”
    “Great. Then I’ll come by Ellie’s place tomorrow morning and pick you up. Say eight o’clock… is that too early? It’ll take us a couple of hours to drive down.”
    “No, eight is fine. I’ll be ready.”
    “Beauty. See you then.”

CHAPTER 11
     
     
     
    Sara watched nervously as a silver Jeep Wrangler pulled up in front of Ellie’s house. She took a deep breath. She hoped she wasn’t making a