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

twice, but one look at Ellie’s face and she had kept her thoughts to herself.
    Now it was Friday and all Ellie could think about was her speech at the awards dinner tomorrow night in Sydney. She had obsessively checked her notes several times already and had even practised her talk in front of the mirror. Everything had to be perfect.
    She had to admit, though, that the speech wasn’t the only thing on her mind. Every so often, when she wasn’t guarded enough, Ellie’s thoughts would stray to Dan and she would feel a hollow ache in her heart. Memories of their time together flashed in her mind—laughing on the beach with Dan… swimming in the surf with his strong arms around her… learning Australian slang over breakfast at the café… sharing a bag of hot French fries while watching the sunset blaze across the horizon… She had even gone down to the wildlife sanctuary one day during the week to see Baz the Emu. Just to stroke those shaggy, brown feathers again and remember the way Dan’s grey eyes had filled with warmth and laughter as he had looked at her that day.
    Ellie sat up and gave herself a mental shake, ruthlessly pushing the images away. She had to stop this. She had to get over Dan. It was fun while it lasted and she had been lulled into thinking she could be someone different, live a different life… but it was all just a fantasy. Dan had been wrong. That was the fantasy—this was her reality.
    She shuffled some papers on her desk and her eyes fell on a leaflet which someone had put into her in-tray. It was a flyer for the Paws ’n’ Surf Beach Races. Ellie’s stomach sank as she suddenly remembered Will’s plea for her to attend. She glanced at her watch. It was three forty. If she left now, she could still just make it. In fact, several of her colleagues with kids taking part in the races had left the office already. No one would remark on it if she decided to leave early too.
    On the other hand… Leaving work early—that was something the old Ellie would never do. And look at the disaster that had happened the last time she had decided to ignore her old habits and adopt a more casual attitude. Even now, Ellie still couldn’t think of what had happened in the meeting on Monday without wanting to cringe.
    But I can’t let Will down , she thought miserably. He would be waiting for her, wouldn’t he? Or was she reading too much into his plea? Would Will really miss her? She knew that sometimes kids could exaggerate things. Surely he couldn’t really have “nobody” come to watch him. What would he have done if she hadn’t come to Summer Beach? Will was Australian. He must have other friends and family here. She was sure they would be there to cheer him on.
    Besides, she had decided that she needed to start distancing herself from Will and Milo too. It wasn’t good that the boy was becoming so attached to her. It would only end in heartache when she left Summer Beach…
    “Ellie?”
    Ellie turned to see her boss standing in the office doorway, a sheaf of papers in one hand.
    “I’ve just had the new reports for the tourism board campaign come in. I’d like to discuss them with you—I think you could include some of this in your talk for the awards dinner tomorrow night. I’ve just got to take an overseas conference call first though… do you mind staying on a bit?” He gave an apologetic smile. “I wouldn’t normally ask this late on a Friday, but I know you usually work late anyway, so I thought it wouldn’t matter too much. You weren’t planning to leave early, were you?”
    Ellie hesitated. Her eyes flicked to the Paws ’n’ Surf Beach Races flyer, then back up to her boss. After his kindness to her on Monday, she really wanted to show him that she deserved his faith in her.  She stood up and gave him a smile. “Sure, of course. I’d be happy to go over them with you. I can stay as late as you like.”
     
     
    “She’s not coming, is she?”
    Dan looked down at the