Seducing the Boss (The Pulse Series) Read online

  He’d never felt lonely in his own house before.

  He spotted the note on the kitchen counter as soon as he entered the room. She’d propped the notepad up against the coffeepot, clearly aware that was one of the first places he’d venture upon waking. The rich scent of the freshly brewed coffee told him she’d made a pot before leaving. It was a thoughtful, kind gesture, which didn’t help his current state of mind.

  Her note was short and to the point. It simply said she’d called a cab to take her back to her car and thanked him for a wonderful weekend.

  While Kellan had insisted the weekend was merely about sex, there was something about her impersonal farewell that pissed him off and, well, quite frankly, hurt his feelings. Rubbing his hand over his jaw, he took a deep breath and tried to calm down. Tried to make some sense of why his gut ached.

  It was sex. Had to be. He was going to find her when he arrived at work, drag her into his office and show her exactly how he’d planned to say good-bye to her this morning.

  Turning on the shower, he tried to put Sara out of his mind. She hadn’t been wrong to leave like she had. After all, it was Monday. The time limit had expired. It was time to do as they’d said and move on. Life as normal.

  However, convincing himself that was the best thing was futile.

  He’d always heard friends refer to perfect Sundays, in which they described their ideal day. Before yesterday, Kellan thought he knew what his perfect Sunday was. It usually began with doing a bit of paperwork while drinking his coffee, spending a couple hours at the gym, meeting a few friends for drinks, then hitting the recliner to watch whatever sport was in season.

  Sara had blown that ideal out of the water. His new perfect Sunday included waking up to Sara riding his cock, followed by a huge breakfast of omelets and toast. The rest of the day would include skinny-dipping in the pool, reading the Sunday paper on the couch together, afternoon wine in the hot tub, pork chops on the grill, and the kinkiest game of strip poker ever. It would end with the two of them soaking in a bubble bath, fucking like bunnies, then falling asleep tangled up in each other’s arms.

  As he relived every moment of the previous day, he stroked his dick slowly. Then, as he recalled Sara’s face last night as she came, his grip tightened almost painfully as he jerked off harder. Closing his eyes, he imagined her lips wrapped around his erection, sucking him to completion. Within a dozen strokes, he was there.

  The water had just begun to go cool when he managed to pull himself together enough to finish washing. He stepped out of the shower, feeling unsettled and even angrier.

  Sara should have been in that shower with him.

  Unfortunately, he hit traffic on his way into work, the slow-moving snarl on the highway doing little to improve his sour mood. By the time he pulled into his parking spot, he was forty-five minutes late and ready to commit murder.

  His secretary’s smile faded fast when she saw his face.

  “Get me Sara Connelly,” he barked as he walked toward his office.

  Jenna gestured to the hallway behind her. “She’s in the conference room along with the rest of her department. You’re fifteen minutes late for the meeting with the ER staff.”

  Fuck.

  “Buzz in and tell them I’m on my way.”

  Kellan walked into his office, slamming his briefcase onto his desk loudly. He’d hoped to tie up the loose ends with Sara in regard to this weekend before venturing into this meeting. Given her heated response to his plans for refining emergency room procedures, he knew this was going to be an unpleasant confrontation.

  He grabbed the folder he’d assembled Friday afternoon from his briefcase. He had intended to go over the data this weekend so that he was better prepared, ready to fend off any arguments the staff might have, but Kellan hadn’t opened the damn thing once. Instead, he’d found Sara alone at Score, invited her home, and then let her distract him from doing his work. In all the most delicious ways.

  And in some unexpected ways, too. He’d never hung out with Sara, just the two of them alone, for so long. While he’d always enjoyed her company when they were among friends, he didn’t realize just how much they had in common. She was funny, patient, and damn easy to be with.

  The other women he’d dated—slept with—had always felt like hard work. He measured every comment and was careful to “play it cool.” He didn’t feel the need to do that with Sara. Instead, he let the real Kellan out.

  Now, he was forced to return to the role of big bad boss. It was a familiar mask, and it was one Sara had seen numerous times in the past. However, today the idea of letting her see the cold-blooded administrator bothered him. He had liked showing her the good parts of himself, and it gave him no pleasure to bring out the dark side once more.

  “Might as well get this over with,” he muttered as he straightened his tie and jacket and headed toward the conference room.

  Dr. Carson Reynolds and Dr. Madison Raine, ER physicians, as well as Sara, who served as charge nurse in the department, were seated around the conference table. Carson looked leery as Kellan walked in, but Madison and Sara were clearly prepared to do battle. Great. As if his morning hadn’t sucked enough.

  He took his place at the head of the table and opened the folder. Sara’s hair was back in its usual ponytail. He shoved aside the desire to walk around the table, yank out that hair tie and run his fingers through the thick red mass.

  Kellan glanced down at his data. If he stood a snowball’s chance in hell of making it through this meeting, he needed to avoid eye contact with Sara. His gaze drifted to her scrubs. The teal cotton hung so loosely, she appeared shapeless. He knew better, knew exactly how many curves she was hiding underneath that uniform.

  Okay, so he couldn’t look at Sara at all.

  He focused his gaze on Carson and began. “Hampton General Hospital has seen a very pointed increase in wait times in the emergency room in the past six months. Staff turn over is high, while our efficiency rating is far too low. We need to stop the bleeding.”

  Carson leaned forward. “The number of patients coming through our emergency room is out of control. It’s doubled in the last year. And it’s not like it’s just first come, first served. We have to prioritize them. Obviously someone with a head cold or a cut finger isn’t going to be seen as quickly as someone in critical need. You keep asking us to get ’em in and get ’em out, but it doesn’t work that way.”

  “You’re right. We have had this discussion before. And not only did things not get better, they got worse.” Kellan tried to remain professional, but this conversation—like the previous ones—was traveling the same path. “What we need to find are answers. Solutions.”

  Carson persisted. “I’ve mentioned before our need for more doctors and nurses.”

  Kellan sighed. The board wanted him to cut costs. Throwing more money at the problem wasn’t an answer. “That’s not going to happen. Our budget doesn’t support more staff.”

  Carson leaned back, clearly annoyed. The man crossed his arms, but refrained from speaking what was really on his mind. Kellan got the “fuck you” message just the same.

  Sara hadn’t said a word. Of course, she’d given him an earful Saturday night after dinner. His comments right now probably insinuated he hadn’t listened to her, or cared what she had to say. That wasn’t the truth. Regardless, Kellan refused to look in Sara’s direction. He didn’t want to see anger or hurt in her eyes. Either or both emotions from her would gut him.

  He’d planned to do this whole meeting better. Between Sara’s defection from his house this morning, and the traffic jam, he would have been smarter to reschedule.

  “Here’s the deal,” he said as calmly as he could manage. It was time to cut his losses and run. “We need to make the ER more efficient with the resources and staff we currently have. Can the three of you take that information back to your department and brainstorm ways we can make that happen?”

  Carson nodded, though the response was g
rudging at best. Madison rose slowly as she said, “Sure.” Her tone suggested she’d like to shove any answers they came up with straight up his ass, but he was used to that when it came to the medical staff. They viewed him as the enemy. That hadn’t really bothered him before, but he didn’t like Sara seeing him as such a villain. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make her understand they were both working to achieve the same goal. It was his job to keep the hospital fiscally stable so they could continue to operate.

  “I’ll have my secretary schedule a follow-up meeting for next week. We don’t have the luxury of time on this. I need to present a plan of improvement to the board of directors by the end of the month.”

  Carson, Madison, and Sara headed toward the door. Kellan was under no illusions that his name wasn’t going to be synonymous for Satan once they reported back to the rest of their department.

  He considered letting Sara escape with the others. After all, he’d just proven he was not in the right state of mind to handle anything effectively at the moment. Unfortunately, his dick spoke up before he could shut it down.

  “Sara.”

  She turned and he forced himself to look at her.

  “I need to speak to you. Please stay.”

  Sara glanced at Carson and Madison, both of whom offered sympathetic smiles. The idea that they felt sorry for Sara being forced to spend time with him rubbed against the grain. If they’d seen the way she came apart for him this weekend, screaming out his name as he pounded into her over and over, they’d understand just how much their pity was wasted.

  Sara stood in the open doorway. Her expression and stiff posture told him exactly what he needed to know. She was furious.

  “Close the door,” he said, assuming the same commanding tone he’d used since Friday night.

  She did as he requested, with enough force to let him know where he stood with her.

  “Lock it.”

  She flipped the lock, her anger becoming more palpable by the second.

  “You didn’t listen to a damn word I said this weekend, did you?” she accused hotly.

  “I heard everything you said. That still doesn’t change the fact that I’ve been hired to run this hospital. I can’t get trapped in all this feel good shit.”

  She sucked in a loud breath. “Feel good shit? Are you serious? It’s a hospital. That’s all this place should be about.”

  He couldn’t argue. But he also couldn’t help but notice she wasn’t seeing his side of things, either. She expected him to listen, but she wasn’t giving him the same courtesy.

  Kellan pushed that hurt aside. He hadn’t asked her to remain behind so they could start the same fight again. “It’s clear we’re not going to see eye to eye on this any time soon.”

  “You’re right. We’re not.” Sara reached for the doorknob, but he stopped her.

  “You left without saying good-bye this morning.”

  She faced him once more, frowning. “I left you a note. By the coffeepot.”

  He nodded. “I got it.”

  She waited for him to say more.

  “I told you I would drive you back to your car. You didn’t have to call a cab.”

  She shrugged. “There was no reason for both of us to get up at the crack of dawn. The weekend was over. No point dragging it out.”

  Kellan wasn’t sure how to reply. Sara was holding him to the letter of their original agreement. One weekend, no strings. He should be grateful she wasn’t making a fuss or clinging to him. Instead, he was annoyed as hell. And not ready to let her go. He didn’t have a clue what that meant, but he wasn’t finished. Not by a long shot.

  “I want more time.” Somehow Kellan managed to keep his face impassive as the words he hadn’t meant to say, words he hadn’t even thought until that second, flew out of his mouth.

  She snorted. The sound was unladylike and sort of adorable. Only Sara could pull off something like that. “Yeah, right.”

  Her refusal triggered that part of him he wasn’t proud of. The part that couldn’t resist a challenge, even if the prize was something he didn’t want. More time with her was dangerous. It didn’t matter. He was going to claim it.

  He left the head of the table, circling it to get closer to her. He’d thought keeping a proper distance between them was wise. The fact he didn’t stop until he was right in front of her proved he’d never be accused of being too intelligent.

  Kellan reached for her hand and pulled her toward him.

  “What are you doing?” she asked when he wrapped his arm around her waist.

  “I told you.”

  She shook her head. “No. One weekend, Kellan. That was it. And it’s over.”

  “Another week.”

  “You can’t pull this shit on me at work.”

  He knew that, understood it, but he’d never been particularly good at denying himself. He and Sara had been good together. Really good.

  So much so, he was struggling to figure out why they needed to stop. Why couldn’t they just keep going a little longer?

  “I’m just asking you to consider extending the affair.”

  “Affair? Is that what we’re calling it now? I thought it was a hookup, plain and simple.”

  Nothing about this was simple.

  “Sara—”

  “No. Call me Scrubs, Kellan. It’s time to get things back on track. We had a deal, and I need you to honor it.”

  Until that moment, he worried perhaps the weekend had been enough for her. That she wasn’t feeling the pull, the aching need that hadn’t been sated no matter how many times he’d taken her.

  But her voice cracked slightly on the word “honor.” She still wanted him. He could see it in her eyes.

  “The weekend wasn’t enough for either one of us.”

  Her brows furrowed. “It has to be.”

  He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. The morning had sucked on every level. He needed time to think, to consider what he was saying. For all he knew, this offer could be based on residual lust that would dissipate by lunchtime. He owed it to her to give her some space, to give both of them an opportunity to come down from the high.

  “It was great, and I don’t regret a second of it. But I can’t go back for more. I hope you understand.” Mercifully, as always, Sara was the voice of reason. The queen of common sense.

  “You’re right. I’m sorry. Haven’t had enough coffee this morning.”

  She smiled, though the expression seemed to require some effort. “You’ll see, Kell. Calling a halt here is for the best.”

  He nodded, but didn’t reply as she left the room. Silently he prayed that time would prove her right.

  …

  However, by five thirty that afternoon, Kellan didn’t have a doubt that Sara was wrong. Dead wrong. He’d fucked up no fewer than twenty things today, while his thoughts were consumed with her.

  To make matters worse, he’d stupidly agreed to lunch with Josh, during which he’d spent the better part of an hour listening to his friend alternate between “I told you so” and laughing his ass off at Kellan’s grumpiness over having his offer refused. The meal ended with Josh muttering something about it being time Kellan met his match.

  He wanted to be pissed off about Josh’s assessment, but it was impossible to deny Sara had proven to be a perfect match, sexually. Kellan relived every second of the weekend until he thought he’d go out of his mind with longing. Somehow, he needed to convince her to give him more time.

  He buzzed his secretary. “Can you call the ER and see if Sara Connelly is still here? If so, I need to see her in my office immediately.”

  If she’d left for the day, he’d text her to see if she would be willing to meet for dinner at Score.

  He’d rearranged everything on his large oak desk three times before he finally just cleared the damn thing off completely. Then, mercifully, he heard a knock on his door ten minutes later.

  “Come in.”

  Sara had her jacket on, her purse over her arm.
“Hey. I was just about to take off. What’s up?”

  He raised one finger as he walked by her, stopping in the doorway. His secretary, like Sara, was packing up for the day. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Jenna.”

  They said their goodbyes, and then he watched his secretary leave before closing the door and locking it.

  Sara’s eyes narrowed at his actions. “What do you want, Kellan?”

  “You.”

  She rolled her eyes, just like she had a million times in their past. What was new, however, was his body’s response to her annoyance. It hit him hard. Below the belt. His cock went stiff in an instant.

  “Listen—”

  He stepped in front of her, taking her coat and purse from her, dropping them into a nearby chair. “I want to kiss you.”

  Sara shook her head. “No. Hell no.”

  “One more time, Sara. Just let me kiss you one more time. If you still want to leave afterward, I won’t stand in your way.”

  Blowing out an exasperated breath, Sara lifted her face toward him. “Fine. One kiss. And then maybe you’ll see why—”

  Kellan cut off whatever else it was she planned to say. His lips landed on hers, and he kissed her as if his life depended on it. God. For some insane reason, it felt like it did.

  Even if she had been annoyed with his request, Sara responded to his kiss like a starving woman. He tightened his grip on her and their tongues met. Nothing mattered in this moment but her, them, and all the things he still wanted to do with her.

  Twisting her, Kellan kept his lips on hers, not giving her a chance to say no to what he wanted so badly. He couldn’t resist her, what she’d offered him this weekend and how much it had meant to him. Right now, all his desires were wrapped up in her, and though it went against everything he’d ever believed in, Kellan wasn’t going to let her go. Not yet. He just couldn’t.

  Walking her backward, he didn’t stop until they reached the desk.

  Sara turned her face away, gasping for air. “Kellan, wait.”

  “No. I’ve been waiting since I woke up this morning in an empty bed.”