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

as hard as she could. She could feel the chocolate coating around the biscuit melting under her fingers as the coffee worked its way up through the malted chocolate biscuit. Quickly, Sara pulled the biscuit up, flipped it around, and crammed it into her mouth. There was a burst of rich, chocolaty flavour in her mouth—hot, sweet, and melting—unlike anything she had tasted before. She swallowed it all, laughing and licking her fingers.
    “Wow. That was… an experience,” she said, giggling.
    “You’ve still got a bit of chocolate on your chin,” said Craig. He reached across the table and gently brushed the corner of her mouth.
    Sara froze as she felt the slightly callused pad of his thumb touch the edge of her lips. A shiver of anticipation ran through her body. She stopped breathing. She felt his thumb caress her skin as he gently moved it in a wiping motion. There was something incredibly sexy and yet tender about the gesture. Without thinking, she parted her lips, touching his thumb with the tip of her tongue, and she saw his eyes darken as his gaze dropped to her mouth.
    She didn’t know if he moved first or if she did, but suddenly they were both leaning across the table towards each other. Closer… and closer… and closer… Craig tilted his head slightly, his lips hovering mere inches from hers. Sara could feel her heart hammering in her chest, the blood rushing in her ears. It was as if her whole being had shrunk to a pinpoint of longing. All she wanted was to feel the touch of this man’s lips on hers, to know what it was like to be kissed by him…
    Rrrrrrrring!
    They sprang apart. Sara found herself breathing quickly. She eased back in her chair, trying to calm the racing of her heart as Craig pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and answered it. She watched his face change as he listened.
    “Fine. Start him on a saline infusion. I’ll be right there.”
    He looked at her apologetically as he slid the phone back into his pocket. “I’m sorry. It’s that puppy…”
    “Go,” said Sara immediately. “I’ll be fine. It’s only a short walk back to Ellie’s.”
    He looked torn. “I could walk you back quickly—”
    “No,” said Sara. “You can’t waste any time. Don’t worry about me. Honestly, I live in L.A. I can handle walking through Summer Beach on a nice warm evening.” She gave him an ironic smile.
    They both stood up from the table and faced each other.
    “I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said. He hesitated and, for a moment, Sara thought he was going to lean towards her, but then he gave her a quick smile and headed towards the restaurant cashier.
    Sara sank slowly back into her seat. She took her time drinking her coffee after Craig had gone, savouring the view of the beach from the terrace. The sky was inky black now, except for a pale moon hovering low on the horizon. Its silvery light was reflected on the surface of the sea, which looked deceptively calm from a distance.
    Sara drew a deep breath, then released it in a sigh. She couldn’t remember the last time she had enjoyed herself so much. The whole evening had a dreamlike quality.
    “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
    Would he? How many men had used that clichéd line carelessly with no intention of ever following up? No , thought Sara. Craig was different . There was a solid integrity to him that she had never felt with any of the men she had dated back in L.A. Certainly not with Jeff!
    She smiled to herself as she looked out towards the ocean again. She couldn’t wait for tomorrow.

CHAPTER 9
     
     
     
    “So how did dinner go with Craig last night?” Ellie asked as Sara shuffled into the kitchen the next morning.
    Sara felt her cheeks reddening and cursed herself. If she was going to start blushing every time his name was mentioned, the whole town—no, the whole state of New South Wales—was going to know about her crush on the handsome vet soon.
    “It went great,” she said as non-commitally as she could. “The