Why You Should Never Kiss Your Boss

WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER KISS YOUR BOSS WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER… ERIN NICHOLAS Why You Should Never Kiss Your Boss Copyright 2023 by Erin Nicholas Text previously published as Just Right, by Erin Nicholas Copyright 2009 All Rights Reserved. No part of this book, with the exception of brief quotations for book reviews or critical articles, may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. ISBN: 978-1-952280-60-3 Editors: Lindsey Faber Cover artist: Najla Qamber, Qamber Designs Cover Photo: Wander Aguiar THE SERIES Why You Should Never… Kiss Your Boss (Ben & Jessica) Kiss Your Blind Date (Sam & Dani) Kiss A Grump (Mac & Sara) Kiss Your Fake Boyfriend (Dooley & Morgan) Kiss Your Ex-Husband (Kevin & Eve) Kiss Your Brother’s Best Friend (Ryan & Amanda) Kiss Your Ex (Shane & Isabelle) Kiss Your Enemy (Nate & Emma) Kiss Your Best Friend (Cody & Olivia) Kiss Your Roommate (Conner & Gabby) ABOUT THE BOOK… You really should never kiss your boss…probably… Ben Torres is a better-than-a-Boy-Scout, trauma surgeon extraordinaire. Who just punched a patient in the face. Jessica Bradford is the director of the ER. His boss. And the one who put him up on a pedestal. She’s also the person most freaked out by his insistence that he’s quit for good. She’s determined to do whatever it takes to bring him back. First order of business is prying his perfect ass off the bar stool… and keeping her huge crush on him under control. Except he refuses to move until she agrees to—and then loses—a bet for 48 hours of her undivided attention. Okay, she can handle this. How much trouble could they possibly get into in two days? And how much could she possibly enjoy that trouble? She’s not the type to actually fall in love with a charming playboy who’s only out for a good time. Or so she thought. CONTENTS Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Why You Should Never… the series More from Erin About Erin Nicholas CHAPTER ONE * * * It was not a good day to go low-carb. Not that any day was a good day to go low-carb. But as she struggled to hold down the bloody, pissed-off drunk on the trauma room table, Jessica Bradford really missed the double-chocolate jumbo muffin that was a part of her usual Wednesday morning routine. “Get off me! Let me go! Get off me, you bitch!” It was going to be a long day. As the first nurse into the room as the gurney rolled in, Jessica got the questionable privilege of getting to hold the guy’s hand. Kind of. She somehow wrestled the man’s arm down again. Dan, another of the ER nurses, got a firm grip on his wrist. “Okay, Linda,” Dan said through gritted teeth. “Get that IV in now.” Linda’s hands were admirably steady as she inserted the needle to deliver a potent sedative. “Ow! You bitch!” The man attempted to bring his hand up. His arm didn’t move as Jessica and Dan held strong, but Jessica’s arms burned with the effort, and she knew she couldn’t hold him much longer. Amazing. The man looked like he’d been in a minor scuffle—and had come out the winner—instead of a head-on collision on the expressway. Not to mention he had been acting like a pain in the ass since he’d been brought in. That had to use up some energy. Fortunately, only one arm was thrashing. His other arm was broken in at least three places, and he was unable to use it to do more damage to himself or the staff working to help him. The same was not true of his right foot, however. He kicked over the table near the foot of the bed a moment later. The crash of metal against the hard tile floor was earsplitting as the tray and the array of instruments hit and scattered. Of course, he’d been aiming for the nurse who was cutting open the leg of his blue jeans. “Get off of me!” the man bellowed. “Goddamn it!” Jessica had to put all one hundred and twenty pounds of her body weight against the man’s arm to keep him from yanking the IV out before the sedative could work. “Turn the drip up,” Jessica muttered. The man tried to thrash his other arm, but instead moaned loudly. Of course, the alcohol content of his blood likely dulled the intensity of the pain somewhat. Including the pain from the gash on the top of his head that was bleeding, even as the ER physician labored to stitch it shut. The man’s head jerked from side to side, and he continued to swear at everyone who came into his line of vision. Nearly three minutes later, he finally began wearing out, or the medication was kicking in, or both, because he started to calm. Jessica slowly released her hold on him, then carefully stepped away from the table, rolling her head and rubbing the back of her arm. She let out a long sigh just as the exam room doors banged open. And Ben Torres walked in. Jessica froze mid-knead. Ben’s presence always made her pause for a moment. He took up space in a confident, graceful, solid way that made Jessica think about things she hadn’t thought about in years. Things like large hands and proportionate other body parts. And other thoughts entirely inappropriate in a place where things truly were life and death. It wasn’t