Free Playing to Win (Summer Beach Vets 2) - sweet contemporary romance by H.Y. Hanna Page A

familiar everything feels. You know, after travelling for a whole day on a plane and coming to the other side of the world… I mean, you guys are in a different hemisphere here! I just expected it to feel a bit more… well, different .” She shrugged. “Australia’s sort of like a slightly cleaner, safer version of the U.S.”
    Dan laughed. “A lot of that could be down to the number of people. Australia is the same land size as the United States, but we’ve got less than a tenth of the population and only about eight major cities. We have become pretty Americanised, though.”
    “There’re still differences, of course,” said Ellie quickly. “Mostly little everyday things.”
    “You mean, aside from the water going down the drain in the opposite direction?” Dan gave an ironic smile.
    Ellie laughed. “I always thought that was a myth but yes, it’s true! The water does go down the drain the opposite way here. And your light switches are all wrong. Back home, the switch is up when the light is on and down when the light is off. You’ve got it completely upside down here.”
    “Oh no, you Yanks are the ones who’ve got that wrong,” said Dan with mock horror. “Just like your awful coffee.”
    “We don’t make awful coffee!” said Ellie indignantly. She stopped and gave a grudging laugh. “Okay, well, maybe coffee is better here. I know there are some really good cafés in the big cities in the States, if you know where to look, but I had such bad experiences with the typical weak, watery stuff that I stopped drinking coffee there. I don’t know… coffee seems to be a lot stronger here overall. Maybe it’s because a lot of places in the States tend to just make a big pot of filter coffee and pour from that? Whereas here, you usually get fresh cups made on an espresso machine when you order it. I’ve become a total coffee convert since moving over. And you guys always add chocolate sprinkles to your cappuccinos!” Ellie shook her head, chuckling. “Anywhere that automatically adds chocolate sprinkles gets my vote.”
    “I’ll remember that.”
    Ellie glanced at him. Again, it was hard to read the expression in Dan’s eyes. A pregnant silence followed.
    She cleared her throat and hurriedly said, “One thing I haven’t gotten used to is the Australian attitude to work… you’re all so relaxed!” Ellie shook her head. “If someone leaves work early so they can go surfing or play some sports or spend time with family, everyone cheers them on here. Back in the States, you’re always trying to compete with your colleagues to see who works the hardest and stays the latest. It was like something to be proud of—whereas here, nobody is impressed if you’re a workaholic. Australians care about home and leisure time a lot more.”
    “Life’s not a race.” Dan shrugged. “If you go too fast, you miss the view.”
    “You see? That’s what I’m talking about!” said Ellie. “That’s the Australian attitude. But a lot of people in the U.S. wouldn’t think like that—they’re all too busy trying to change the world or become a billionaire or something.” She laughed.
    “Well, maybe the Aussie attitude is too relaxed sometimes,” admitted Dan. “Probably good to have a bit of American drive and hunger to succeed. Although… it doesn’t apply to sports. Aussies take their sports very seriously!”
    “Yeah, I noticed,” said Ellie dryly. “I don’t think I could ever root for my team hard enough to be Australian.”
    Dan started laughing uncontrollably.
    “What?” said Ellie, puzzled. “What did I say?”
    Dan clutched his stomach, his shoulders shaking. He was laughing so hard that he almost had tears coming out of his eyes. “Ellie…” He gasped for a breath. “Ellie, don’t ever say that in Australia.”
    “Say what?” Ellie asked. “Root for my team?”
    Dan dissolved into mirth again. Finally, he was able to get a bit of control. “Yeah… uh… ‘root’ has a