Playing for Love (Summer Beach Vets 1) - Escape Down Under by H.Y. Hanna Page A

shadow and she couldn’t read his expression. “Me too,” he said.
    He was silent for a moment, then leaned suddenly across the car seat and kissed her, hot and hard. Sara felt everything in her respond to the touch of his lips. She wanted to throw her arms around him and lose herself to the kiss. But a part of her mind was still remembering the scene in front of the Opera House and a voice in her head was warning her not to get in too deep. With an effort of will, she broke the kiss and forced herself to open the door.
    Sara slammed the door behind her and stepped onto the sidewalk, watching as the Jeep did a U-turn, then sped back down the street. Soon its tail lights were nothing more than red blurs in the distance.
    She stood in the dark, staring after it. She raised a hand and touched her lips. They felt swollen and slightly bruised, but also tingling with life. And they mirrored the way her heart felt. She caught her breath as the realisation hit her. She hadn’t been looking for it, hadn’t meant it to happen, had been telling herself over and over again why she couldn’t let it happen. But it was too late.
    She was falling in love with Dr Craig Murray.

CHAPTER 13
     
     
     
    Sara had spent a lazy day in Ellie’s garden, reading a book, enjoying the sunshine and daydreaming intermittently about Craig, reliving their wonderful trip to Sydney yesterday. She wondered if he would call later. Her pulse gave a little jump as she thought of hearing his voice, with its sexy Australian drawl, and she gave shake of her head. You’ve got it bad , she thought with a wry smile.
    Still, she had long since given up fighting her feelings. She knew she only had another week and a half in Summer Beach, but she just focused on the time she could spend with Craig while she was here. She refused to think beyond that, although a part of her mind did start treacherously wondering how quickly she could find a new job here and how difficult it would be to bring Coco over…
    The sound of the front door opening and shutting interrupted her thoughts. It must be Ellie, home from work. She was early, Sara thought in surprise. She stood up from the sun lounger and stretched. It was time she went indoors anyway. The afternoon sun was weakening in the sky and the mosquitoes were starting to get a little too aggressive for comfort.
    Sara went into the house to find Ellie standing in the kitchen. She was about to make some teasing comment about the early return when she noticed her cousin’s face.
    “Ellie? What’s wrong?”
    In answer, her cousin pointed to a magazine she had just thrown down on the kitchen counter. Her eyes were distressed. “I’m sorry, Sara.”
    Sara stepped forwards to look. It was an Australian gossip magazine called G’day! and on the front cover was a photograph of her and Craig. They looked like they were embracing passionately in front of the Sydney Opera House. A bold headline across the picture read: Aussie Beach Vet’s hot Yankee romance!
    Sara snatched up the magazine and flipped to the article inside. There were more pictures of her and Craig—his arm around her, holding her close, her face buried in his chest—taken from various angles. She realised what it was: they were pictures taken at the moment she had slipped on those steps and Craig had caught her. They must have been captured by some secret paparazzi lens and the way some of the pictures had been taken made it look like they were indulging in a serious PDA session. Underneath the photos was a block of text which read:
     
    Our very own Dr Craig Murray, star of Aussie Beach Vet , was seen showing a sexy visitor around Sydney’s famous Opera House. But she wasn’t just any American tourist—turns out that the beautiful blonde is Sara Monroe, ex-girlfriend of American actor Jeff Kingston, who shot to stardom with the hit TV series Rogue Protector . Kingston is due to star in several Hollywood blockbusters this year, but it’s his relationship