Playing to Win (Summer Beach Vets 2) - sweet contemporary romance (5 page)

BOOK: Playing to Win (Summer Beach Vets 2) - sweet contemporary romance
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CHAPTER 8

 

 

 

Ellie dressed with extra care on Monday morning. She told herself it was because of the meeting with the foreign investors and not because a certain hunky vet was coming to the resort that afternoon. She discarded so many outfits that her bedroom began to look like a garage sale. Finally she settled on a simple dove-grey suit with a short cropped jacket and an A-line skirt that flattered her full hips. She paired it with a crisp black shirt and a pair of black kitten heels.

Looking at herself in the bathroom mirror, Ellie hesitated over her hair. She had thick brown hair which fell in glossy waves to halfway down her back. She always wore it in a sleek bun at work, with not a hair out of place. She thought that it projected the right professional image. But now, for the first time, she was tempted to leave her hair loose around her shoulders. Somehow it softened her features and made her brown eyes brighter. Would Dan notice? she wondered. Would he prefer her with her hair down?

Ellie blinked, aghast at the direction her thoughts were heading in. Since when did she care so much about what a man thought of her appearance? She had always been proud of herself for not being one of those girls who spent all their time obsessing over their looks just to attract guys… and here she was behaving exactly like them!

She snatched up her brush and hurriedly scraped her hair back into a severe bun, which she secured with bobby pins. Then she quickly applied some make-up and went into the kitchen to have her breakfast. By the time she was leaving the house twenty minutes later, Ellie had managed to convince herself that this was just like any other normal workday. She breathed a sigh of relief as her car started on the first try—the mechanic had managed to work a miracle and resurrected the engine. With the window rolled down to let in the morning breeze, Ellie pulled out into the road and headed towards the resort.

 

 

Dan swung his ute into the parking space in front of the Summer Beach Resort & Spa and got out of the car. He looked around with appreciation. The resort grounds were really coming along. The grand opening was not until early next year, but the place already looked like it could grace any brochure for a luxury beach resort.

He made his way through the spacious lobby and out through the courtyard gardens to the bush park section of the resort. A large area had been carefully landscaped and planted to resemble the native Australian bush. Boutique bungalows were scattered throughout the eucalyptus and acacia trees so that the guests who eventually stayed there could have a taste of what it was like sleeping in the Australian outback, but do it in the comfort of five-star luxury. In the far corner of the bush park section was the resort’s wildlife sanctuary. Here, they kept a small menagerie of Australian animals—many who had been rescued or hand-raised when they were orphaned as babies.

They were probably going to be one of the star attractions of the resort
, mused Dan as he neared the enclosure. People were always fascinated by Australia’s unique wildlife, especially overseas visitors. As someone who had grown up with kangaroos and koalas around him, he couldn’t understand the excitement that tourists had for the creatures, but he enjoyed seeing their faces light up when they met their first furry Aussie native.

He wondered if Ellie had been to visit the menagerie yet and what she thought of the animals. He smiled again as he thought of the beautiful American. He had enjoyed their encounter at the beach on Saturday—after he had made sure that Ellie and Will were no longer in danger. It had given him a glimpse into a different side of Ellie and he was finding her more and more fascinating. She was warm, caring, brave, infuriating, and so incredibly sexy, even though she didn’t seem to realise it. He wanted to know more about her, what she enjoyed doing, what she cared about, what she was interested in. Most of all, he wanted to know how that generous mouth felt in a kiss, how that soft, curvy body fitted into his arms.

Dan hurriedly banished his wayward thoughts as he entered the enclosure and made his way towards the crowd of people beside the giant blue gum tree. He could see the photographer’s tripods and various other equipment, some props to be used in the photo shoot, and a small crowd of resort staff. For a moment, he felt a pang of disappointment that Ellie wasn’t there, then he heard a ripple of laughter and the crowd parted to reveal Ellie standing in the middle, eye to eye with a large emu.

“Dan! We were just about to get started. Good timing, mate.” The animal keeper at the resort held his hand out for a hearty handshake. He indicated Ellie with a chuckle. “Ellie, our PR manager, is getting acquainted with Baz the Emu.”

Dan grinned as Ellie glanced up and met his eyes. She was looking smart and professional in a pale grey suit that skimmed her voluptuous figure—very different from the woman he had rescued on the beach over the weekend. Her hair had been pulled severely back into a bun and, again, Dan wondered what it would look like loose around her shoulders. His fingers itched to pull the pins out. 

He moved over to her side and said, with a laugh in his voice, “Having fun?”

She scowled at him. “No one told me there were velociraptors in Australia.” She shuffled a few steps back as the emu extended its neck and peered at her. Dan had to admit that it did look a bit like a prehistoric beast. It stood over six feet tall, with long, reptilian legs ending in three-toed feet and sharp claws. Its body was covered with shaggy brown feathers but its long neck was mostly bare, the pale blue skin showing through a few sparse black hairs. The head resembled an ostrich although the pointed beak looked more menacing. The only things that seemed incongruous were its big, black eyes fringed by beautiful, thick lashes.

“What’s he doing?” hissed Ellie, leaning away from the bird.

“He’s just curious,” said Dan. “You’re new and interesting—and you’re acting in a weird way. Just relax and act normal.”

“Relax!” squealed Ellie. “How am I supposed to relax when I’ve got some giant turkey eyeballing me?”

Dan laughed. “They’re not dangerous. They can get a bit pushy sometimes, especially if you have food, but emus aren’t generally aggressive.”

Ellie didn’t look convinced. She edged away from the bird again, the movement bringing her suddenly up against Dan. He caught a hint of her faint perfume—sweet and floral—and felt everything in his body react to her closeness. She looked up, startled, and their eyes met again. But this time, a current of electric awareness passed between them. Dan saw her lips part in surprise and it took all his willpower not to pull her to him and kiss her, hard. He reminded himself where they were and took a slight step back, putting some distance between them.

“Sorry,” said Ellie, colour tinging her cheeks.

“No worries,” said Dan with a casual indifference he didn’t quite feel. In fact, his pulse was still reacting to Ellie’s presence and he found it hard to tear his gaze away from her mouth. He cleared his throat and bent his head, taking some equipment out of his case. The emus had recently suffered a small outbreak of
Fasciola hepatica
infection and he had decided that he might as well administer their last dose of anti-parasitic since he was coming to the resort anyway.

Dan made his way over to the small mob of emus on the other side of the enclosure, with Ellie and Baz following him. They watched as he worked, soothing the animals as he quickly and expertly administered the drug. Baz was last and submitted to the procedure with good grace, then the emu followed Ellie adoringly again as they walked back to join the others.

“Have you been down to the sanctuary before?” Dan asked as he removed his gloves.

Ellie shook her head. “No… well, to be honest, after everything I’d heard about Australia’s wildlife, I wasn’t sure if it was safe!”

Dan smirked. “What have you heard?”

“Oh, you know, how everything in Australia is out to kill you.”

He laughed. “Yeah, well, that’s sort of true. We do have some of the deadliest animals in the world.”


Some
?” Ellie cried. “Death adders, box jellyfish, saltwater crocodiles, funnel web spiders, blue-ringed octopus, stonefish, giant centipede, a million other snakes and spiders… oh, and not to forget all the sharks, of course.”

“Well, I can assure you that we don’t have any of those here,” said Dan, waving his arm around the enclosure. “Aside from Baz and his emu mates, we’ve got a few wallabies, a grey kangaroo, a couple of skinks, a few galahs, and sulphur-crested cockatoos… oh, and a colony of flying foxes.” He pointed at one of the nearby trees where several furry lumps were hanging upside down by their feet from the upper branches, their leathery wings wrapped around their bodies.

Ellie peered upwards. “Oh my God, I never even noticed them there!” She tilted her head to get a better look. “They’re not how I imagined giant bats to look at all… they’re kinda cute.”

“Yes, and they only eat fruit—so none of that blood-sucking thing that most people think of. Hollywood’s given bats a bad rep.”

“Can’t they still bite you and give you rabies or something?”

“Sure, they can bite if you scare them, but you won’t get rabies. There’s no rabies in Australia,” Dan reminded her. “One of the reasons Customs is so strict about border control and quarantine. We’re basically a giant island—very isolated from the rest of the world, without many of the pests and diseases seen in other places. We’d like to keep it that way.”

Ellie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I got in trouble when I arrived because I’d brought some grapes in a bag and didn’t think of declaring it. But they were nice about it and let me off.” She looked over at the photographer. “Looks like they’re setting up the first shot now. That’s good, because I can’t stay for long—I’ve got a conference call to take.” She glanced down at her watch.

“How did your meeting go? The one that was postponed from last week. It was this morning, wasn’t it?”

“Oh, it went great, thanks.” Ellie smiled up at him, her eyes shining. “One of the board members came up to me afterwards and said how impressed he was with my presentation. He’s asked me to give a talk at the Annual Luxury Resorts Awards Dinner down in Sydney in a couple of weeks. It’s a huge honour to be asked, especially as I’m so new on the job. The event will be a fantastic chance to network as well—meet all the important people in the industry.” She laughed. “I guess it was a good thing my car died last week, after all, because at least it’s fixed now and I won’t have to worry about driving down to Sydney. It would have been awful if I had problems then. I can’t miss this event for anything!”

Dan smiled. “Well, you can always borrow my ute if you ever need it. Just let me know.”

Ellie looked surprised. “Thanks.” She raised her eyebrows teasingly. “You haven’t seen me drive yet though. You might not want to take the risk with your precious car.”

Dan looked at her luminous brown eyes and felt his pulse quicken. He was beginning to think that the real risk was not to his car but to his heart.

CHAPTER 9

 

 

 

The photo shoot seemed to be going well. The photographer was almost finished with the first shot—a picture of the wallabies beside an old tree stump. Ellie watched as the resort staff helped to position the friendly marsupials and hold their attention using food treats. The camera shutter clicked away. Then they moved on to getting a portrait of a galah—a beautiful native cockatoo with bright, sorbet-pink feathers—perched on a branch, followed by a funny shot of the kangaroo scratching his rump, a close-up of a skink peeking out from under a rock, another shot of the wallabies in action, and then finally it was time for Baz’s close-up.

But the emu would not leave Ellie’s side. The big bird seemed fascinated by her, constantly sidling close to her and curving his long neck around her shoulder while she edged nervously away. She could see Dan struggling not to laugh.

“Looks like you’ve made a big impression,” he said.

She pulled a face. “Great. My first ‘Aussie’ conquest. A giant emu.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say he’s your first,” murmured Dan with a smile.

Ellie’s glanced at him quickly but his grey eyes were unreadable. What did he mean by that?

“Will and Milo seem pretty smitten by you as well,” he said.

Ellie felt a faint stab of disappointment. “Oh… oh yes.” She smiled. “The feeling is mutual there.”

Dan made a face of mock surprise. “What, even Milo?”

Ellie laughed. “He’s growing on me. I don’t know—there’s just something about that dog that makes you smile. When he’s not headbutting you and smashing your nose in, that is,” she added wryly.

Dan roared with laughter. Ellie caught her breath, looking at him—at the way the sunlight played across the tanned muscles of his arms and the strong column of his throat as he threw his head back and laughed. She wondered what it would feel like to have those arms around her, to hear that easy laughter every day and see those grey eyes warm with tender affection…

“Ellie?”

She started guiltily. The photographer was beckoning to her.

“Can you come over here to the tree stump? That way maybe Baz will follow you too,” he suggested.

Ellie went over and the huge emu followed, still staring at her adoringly.

“Good… good… now, just stand there… like that… yes, and see if you can get him to turn towards the camera?”

Ellie complied and was surprised when the emu followed her direction. She was feeling less scared of him now and even ventured to reach out and touch his plumage gently. The feathers were soft, but not like the way bird feathers usually felt. Instead, they felt almost like the bristles of an old paintbrush, soft and worn. The emu lowered his head and closed his eyes, obviously enjoying the touch. Ellie stroked him more confidently, even gently touching his head. Baz fluttered his eyelashes and curved his long neck, laying his chin on her shoulder. Ellie felt a rush of pleasure at the animal’s trust in her. Now that her fear of him was gone, she found him intriguing. It’s not every day that you meet a bird towering over you that looked a bit like a dinosaur yet was as gentle as a lamb!

“Looks like Baz is living up to his name,” one of the resort staff said with a laugh.

“What do you mean?” asked Ellie. “Does Baz stand for something?”

“Baz is short for Barry,” explained the animal keeper. “He’s named after Barry White, because of his way with the ladies.”

“You’re kidding me,” said Ellie. She looked towards the group of emus on the other side of the enclosure. “Is that like his harem then?”

Dan chuckled. “No, actually, they’re a polyandrous species. The female emus are the ones who court and fight for males, and it’s the males who brood the eggs. He won’t leave the nest and doesn’t eat or drink for the whole time until the eggs hatch. Then he looks after the chicks for the next eighteen months until they’re grown. The female just lays the eggs and walks off to mate with other males—they have nothing more to do with their babies. The males take care of all that.”

“Sounds like emu girls have the right idea,” one of the female resort staff quipped. “You human blokes have it way too easy!”

“Baz is the one that all the female emus fight over,” added the animal keeper “He’s like Australia’s Most Eligible Bird Bachelor. He builds a mean nest.” He winked at Ellie.

Everyone laughed and Ellie joined in. She was surprised to find that she was really enjoying herself. It was the first time at work that she wasn’t glued to her desk or presiding over a meeting in a conference room—and yet somehow she didn’t feel like she was wasting time or not achieving anything. In fact, looking into Baz’s trusting eyes, she felt a great sense of achievement that had nothing to do with sales figures and market statistics. She was sorry when the shoot was over and everyone began packing up the equipment.

She gave Baz a last pat and started to head out of the enclosure, but was stopped by Dan’s deep voice.

“Got any plans for this weekend?”

“No,” said Ellie, her heart thumping.

“Fancy meeting up for brunch at the Laughing Kookaburra?”

Was he asking her out on a date?
Ellie hoped her face didn’t show her agitation. “Yes, I… I’d love to.”

“You can bring your Excel spreadsheets along, if you like,” teased Dan.

She made a face of mock gravity. “I think I can manage to put off work for a few hours.”

“I’m honoured.” He grinned and came up close to her. “Can I ask a favour?”

“Hmm?” Ellie looked shyly up into his eyes.

He reached out and brushed her temples—a feather-light touch which nevertheless sent a shiver of awareness through Ellie’s body. “Leave your hair down. I’d like to see what it looks like.”

Ellie swallowed. “Okay,” she whispered.

His fingers lingered for a moment longer, then he dropped his hand and, with a smile, turned and left the enclosure.

 

 

Ellie found it hard to keep her mind on work for the rest of the week. She kept returning to that moment in the wildlife enclosure, the look in Dan’s grey eyes, the feel of his fingers brushing her skin. Every time she thought of it, she felt goosebumps shiver over her again. Her assistant noticed her distraction and commented on it—it was so unlike her usual brisk, efficient self—and Ellie felt slightly embarrassed.

Thankfully, things were a bit easier at home. Her cousin, Sara, had returned now from the long weekend away with Craig and, while there was no diamond ring on her finger, she seemed too blissfully in love to notice Ellie’s preoccupation. Until that Friday night when Ellie had to turn down Sara’s invitation to go shopping together the next morning and was forced to explain why.

“I’m going to brunch with Dan, actually,” she said as casually as she could.

Sara did a double take. “Dan? As in Dan O’Brien, vet at the animal hospital?”

“Yes,” said Ellie. She hoped she wasn’t blushing again. Unlike Sara, whose creamy skin constantly lit up like a beacon, Ellie didn’t usually have to worry about her feelings showing on her cheeks. At least not until recently, when she met Dan. Still, her cousin was too sharp. Sara looked at her slyly.

“I didn’t realise you even knew Dan!” said Sara. “You never go down to the vet clinic.”

“Well, I had to last week. This chocolate Labrador named Milo swallowed my flash drive and Dan helped me get it back… it’s a long story.” Ellie made a face.

“Oh, I know Milo.” Sara smiled. “Gorgeous dog. Belongs to a young boy, right? I’ve seen them around town.”

“Yes, the boy’s called Will. He’s really sweet. I spent last Saturday morning with him and Milo at the beach, actually.”

Sara stared. “
You
went to the beach with a dog?”

“I do like dogs,” said Ellie defensively.

“Yeah, but you’ve never wanted anything to do with them in the past. You always complained about how dirty and messy they are.”

“Well, they are, sort of, but… they’re sort of fun too,” said Ellie helplessly.

Sara was grinning. “I can see that I missed a lot last weekend. What else happened besides your newfound love of dogs? A newfound love of vets?”

This time Ellie felt her cheeks flaming. “I’m just going out to brunch, okay? It’s no big deal. It’s… it’s sort of like a networking thing. You know, he was at the resort on Monday, helping to supervise the photo shoot of the animals for the brochure. So we’ve got to work together and it’s my job to maintain good public relations.”

“Uh-huh.” Sara smirked. “Well, I hope you have a good time… uh…
networking
.”

BOOK: Playing to Win (Summer Beach Vets 2) - sweet contemporary romance
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