Free Seducing the Boss (The Pulse Series) by Mari Carr Page B

he had never looked sexier. Damn him.
    Meanwhile, she’d tumbled out of his bed, tossed on the same oversize T-shirt she’d been attempting to keep on all weekend. She’d run her fingers through her hair, calling it good enough, and she hadn’t put makeup on since getting ready for her date on Friday. With the exception of some lipstick in her purse, the rest of her cosmetics were in her bathroom at home.
    She was fairly sure her au naturel didn’t look anywhere near as hot as Kellan’s.
    Once they’d cleaned up the dishes, they opened a second bottle of wine and each claimed a lounger by the pool.
    She felt almost lethargic as she sipped her wine, and Kellan looked equally relaxed in the chair next to her. The sun had begun to set, evening ready to make an appearance.
    “I may have to look into investing in a grill. Those steaks were great.”
    “I’m surprised you don’t already have one, considering how much you love to cook.”
    She lifted one shoulder casually. “I have zero grilling experience. I’ve always assumed I’d just burn everything to a crisp.”
    “Speaking of burns…” He reached out to run a finger over her shoulder. “You got a bit of color today. I have some aloe inside if you want it.”
    She looked at her arms. They were slightly pink, but she wasn’t sunburned. “No. It’s okay. Besides, let’s face it. I have two colors, milk white and lobster red. I’d love to be able to get a nice dark tan like yours, but my skin doesn’t play that way.”
    “That’s not true. You get a light tan, along with those freckles, every summer. It’s cute.”
    He notices my freckles?
    “And the rest of the year, you’re porcelain. Like a China doll. It suits you.”
    Kellan didn’t seem able to refrain from paying her compliments. Given the teasing nature of their friendship, it was hard to get used to.
    It was messing with her head. And her heart.
    “Probably the reason why I never took any job that required me to be outdoors. There’s not a lot of sun in the ER.”
    “I could give you a better paying indoor job if you’d apply for the Chief Nursing Officer position.”
    “Don’t start that again. I’ve told you a million times. I’m very happy where I am.”
    “Come to the dark side with me, Sara. You’d make an amazing administrator.”
    “I have a happy buzz going thanks to this wine. Don’t screw it up for me.”
    He chuckled. “You knew a conversation about work was bound to come up at some point this weekend.”
    She took a sip of her wine, sighing heavily. “Yeah. I think we’re both more tied to our jobs than is healthy.”
    Kellan liked to play it cool when it came to his role as a hospital administrator, but she saw the long hours he put in. Unfortunately, his job as CEO often put him in the enemy camp. She wasn’t sure how he could know so many of the medical personnel saw him as the bad guy and not let it affect his willingness to work his ass off for them.
    “Put me out of my misery, Scrubs. Take the damn job. Nobody else is as qualified as you.”
    “Nope. Besides, whether you realize it or not, you need me in the emergency room. We’ve lost some great nurses lately. Turnovers are high. I don’t want to contribute to that.”
    “Yeah. I know. But I struggle to see what it is about the ER that keeps you there. Seems like pretty thankless work. I’m offering you a substantial raise here.”
    She sat up, deciding now might be the perfect opportunity for her to present her case about the emergency room. After all, they were pleasantly full, sexually sated, and sufficiently tipsy. They’d had numerous arguments in the past about her department and what he perceived as a lack of efficiency. Maybe tonight he’d really listen to her side.
    “I’m a nurse, Kellan. Helping people is never a thankless job. But I’m not going to lie, that job is made a million times harder by a bunch of bullshit bureaucracy.”
    “Say that five times real fast,” he joked.