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.