Page 24 of Bossy Wicked Prince

When I leave my bedroom, I find Cat kneeling by the front door, tying on a pair of sneakers. Instantly, I’m reminded of my shower fantasy of her kneeling for a very different purpose.

So much for getting my fantasies out of my system.

“Oh, good morning!” She smiles brightly. Too brightly for the early hour. “I was just about to head out to the shelter. There’s coffee in the pot for you, by the way.”

I can’t remember the last time I used my coffee maker, since my assistants usually bring me coffee at my desk. I suppose Ameera must keep the cabinets stocked with basics. The mugs aren’t in the first cabinet I open, but they’re in the second.

“Did you hear back from your landlord yet?” I ask.

She finishes tying her shoes and grabs her purse. “Not yet, but the shelter’s really close to my place. I’ll probably check in while I’m in the neighborhood. Hopefully, the door was fixed at least. I promise, I’ll get out of your hair as soon as I can.”

“It’s fine. I was about to head up to the office myself.”

Her eyebrows raise. “On a Sunday?”

I shrug. “I told you I’m never here.”

“Well in that case, you should really use one of these.” Cat opens a cabinet, pulling out a travel coffee mug with the UPS logo on the side. How has she been in my apartment for less than twelve hours, but she already knows my kitchen better than I do?

Without asking, she fills the mug for me. Even with her apartment in shambles and her life interrupted, she’s still looking to help other people out. I’ve never met anyone so effortlesslygood.Which reminds me…

“What about the money you lost? Are you going to be okay on rent?”

Cat’s bright smile freezes into something brittle and unnatural. “I’ll be fine. I’ll figure something out.”

She clearly has no way to get her rent together. Part of me wants to just offer her the money, straight out, but the boundaries between us are murky enough as it is. Even if I do offer, I know she’d refuse on principle. Still, there has to besomethingI can do.

“You know, if Beau isn’t paying you enough, I can always have a little chat with him.”

“I think I’ve had enough of you talking to him on my behalf, thanks,” she says drily. “Getting Harry fired was enough. And Beau pays me just fine, thanks.”

“Youcouldcut back on volunteering to take more shifts—I’m sure Beau would give them to you if I ask.”

She’s already shaking her head. “The shelter’s already struggling with funding. The permanent staff is a skeleton crew, and they need every volunteer hour they can get. I’ve been looking for a second job, but decent jobs are hard to come by, especially one that’ll work around volunteering and my Steakhouse schedule.”

Then, it hits me. I know a decent employer who’s hiring.

Me.

And right now, I’m scrambling for any reason not to let her slip away from me.

“I’m actually looking for a new assistant. Would you be interested?”

Her eyes widen. “In…working for you?”

“Yes. The job’s yours if you want it. I’d rather have someone I know working for me than some new graduate I’ve never met.”

That’s all true.

That doesn’t mean that hiring Cat is anything close to a good idea. For whatever reason, I act erratically around her—and nothing about me haseverbeen fucking erratic. Not to mention, I’m attracted to her. Fuck, I came the hardest I have in months jacking off to her in the shower this morning.

Cat looks down, clearly feeling as conflicted as I do. “I don’t know, Nate. I don’t really have experience with that kind of work.”

“We have a really great training program. It’d teach you everything you need to know.”

“What about my job at the Steakhouse?”

“You work nights and weekends mostly, I assume—that wouldn’t conflict with our normal business hours. If something comes up, you can shift your schedule. As long as the work’s getting done, I don’t care when it happens.”