Page 46 of Playing for Keeps

“I haven’t dated anyone who didn’t have a job,” Allie countered.

“DJ-ing isn’t a proper job, neither is professional poker player.”

“I have to go.” She grabbed her keys and opened the door. “I’ll call you back later.”

“Wait … where are you going? Who goes on a date at nine o’clock in the morning?”

“We’re going surfing.”

“You’re really settling into life at the beach. That’s cute. Can you surf though?”

“I’ve never tried, but I’m sure it’ll be fine.” She closed the door behind her and wandered along the path, which was strewn with a fine layer of sand. “Also, Hugh’s not the sort of guy I’d be embarrassed around if I’m not good at something. He’s sweet and down to earth. Not pretentious or anything like that.”

“Glad to hear it,” Bella said, a sudden seriousness in her tone. “But I wasn’t questioning your surf skills. I was thinking about your shoulder. Won’t surfing aggravate it?”

Allie stopped dead. Instinctively, she thought of returning for a painkiller before her brain clicked into gear.

“It doesn’t hurt,” she said, continuing on the path that led to the clifftops and then wound steeply down to the beach. She rolled her shoulder to test it, but didn’t even feel a twinge. That was fairly remarkable considering she hadn’t taken a painkiller the previous evening either. In fact, she’d gone days without.

“What do you mean, it doesn’t hurt?”

“I guess it’s finally getting better.” She tried to sound nonchalant but knew that she wouldn’t escape without some kind of “I told you so” from Bella.

“I knew it!” she said. “How many times have I told you that you need a holiday, that if you rest and give your body time to heal, it will?”

“I think it’s more a case of giving it time. It’s not as though I didn’t rest before.”

“I didn’t mean physical rest.”

“Here we go,” Allie muttered, watching her footing on the uneven path.

“Your problem was stress.”

“Fairly sure torn rotator cuffs aren’t generally considered to be caused by stress. Especially not when your job involves swinging a golf club all day, every day.”

“Obviously, it was also the golfing, but it was stress too. All that emotional weight on your shoulders. As soon as you let go of some of it, you got better. Surely you can see that.”

“What I can see is a guy waiting for me to surf with him.” At least she was fairly sure the figure down on the beach was Hugh. He was wearing a cap, which seemed out of character.

“You’re so lucky, spending your morning at the beach. Send me photos and make me jealous.”

“Will do.”

“Take a sneaky pic of Hugh. I want to see what he looks like.”

“I’ll try.”

“And call me back later to tell me all about it. I want to hear about the golf club there, too.”

Allie was grinning as she ended the call, not just from Bella’s infectious enthusiasm, but also because of her own positivity. It would be hard not to be cheerful, though. In front of her was a stunning golden beach and a beautiful stretch of bright blue sea.

Not to mention the sweet guy waiting for her.

CHAPTER 17

Damian’s eyebrows scrunched together as he stared at Hugh on the sand outside of the surf shack.

“I don’t get it,” he said. “The date went well, but you left without so much as a goodnight kiss?”

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