Seducing The Boss (Pulse #2) - Mari Carr Page 0,3
not hooking up,” she interjected. “Big difference. Not that I’d expect you to understand that.”
It was a jab, and he felt the sting. He let her have it. She was angry and looking for an outlet.
“Oh, God. That was rude, especially when…” She stopped, leaving off whatever she was about it say, and started again. “You’re being nice, and I’m acting like a bitch.” Her gaze returned to Josh. “Thought you wanted the blonde.”
He shook his head. “Changed my mind.”
She reached for her purse. “I should go home. I’m not going to be very good company tonight.”
Kellan reached for her wrist, halting her escape. He wasn’t sure what prompted the action. Ordinarily, he would have just let her go. But there was something in her eyes, something so sad that he couldn’t let her walk away.
Sara Connelly was hands down the toughest chick he knew. She was a no-nonsense ballbuster with a heart the size of Texas. And for his entire life, she’d been his conscience, the disapproving little voice in the back of his head that kept him somewhat honest.
He’d seen her pissed off, touched, happy, frustrated, annoyed, and drunk. What he hadn’t seen was this—full of sadness and self-doubt. It bothered him. A lot.
“Stick around a little while. The night is still young.”
“Kellan,” she started to refuse, but he wasn’t letting her go home. Not like this.
He tightened his grip on her wrist. “You want to figure out how to meet people? You’ve come to the right place. I happen to be an expert.”
“It’s not going to happen tonight.”
“You’re right. The date isn’t going to happen, but you also said you wanted to meet eligible men. You want to figure out how to attract the attention of the opposite sex. I can help with that.”
Sara glanced at the chesty blonde woman still sitting at the end of the bar with Josh. He’d clearly just bought her a drink, and chances were very good the two of them were going to go home together. “I’m never going to look like that.”
Kellan studied the other woman, then Sara. “No one said you had to.”
“Let me clarify. I don’t want to pay a lot of money to look like that.”
He looked at the blonde and narrowed his eyes. “Wait. Are you saying those aren’t real?”
Sara laughed. “Seriously, Kellan? Given the amount of time you spend with those particular things, you would think you’d start to get a feel for real versus fake.”
He lifted one shoulder. “Not sure it makes that much of a difference. They’re fun either way.”
“Yeah, well, there’s no way I have enough money for boobs like that. Or even enough upper body strength to lug them around. So I guess I’m screwed.”
He snorted. “Upper body strength?”
“Those things aren’t exactly lightweight, you know.”
“Do I want to know how you know that?”
She grinned. “Guys aren’t the only ones who talk about boobs. I have plenty of well-endowed friends. One night, after a few glasses of wine, two girlfriends got into a contest to see whose weighed the most. I was the judge.”
“Do me a favor. Invite me the next time you go out with those women.”
Sara lightly punched him on the shoulder. “Perv.”
He shook his head, wondering how she always managed to distract him from what he intended to say. It wasn’t unusual for her to veer into these silly side conversations until he forgot what they were talking about. “My point is you look fine just the way you are. Hell, you look fucking hot tonight. With your hair down and”—he pointed at her breasts—“that dress, it’s a wonder every guy in the place hasn’t hit on you.”
Sara leaned back in her seat, glancing down at her own cleavage. “I can’t decide if that was an insult or a compliment.”
Kellan bit back his laughter. “I meant it as a compliment.”
“Yeah. I thought so. That’s why I’m letting it slide. But the hard truth is I’ve been sitting here alone in an outfit I had hoped would spark some sort of attraction between my date and me. Instead, he’s a no-show, and not one man has approached me in the last hour, not to chat or to buy me a drink or to make an indecent proposal.”
Kellan considered her comments and realized she’d lied to him. “You said you weren’t interested in a hookup. But it sounds like that’s exactly why you’re here.”
She shrugged. “The reason I’m here doesn’t matter. Apparently I’m not the kind of woman men want to