Page 85 of Bossy Wicked Prince

“Ryan wasn’t so bad. The stuffing he made on the other hand…”

She gasps. “No. Tell me you didn’t eat his cooking.”

I cringe. “I almost did but James dumped it in the trash before I could.”

“See, I told you Nate wasn’t looking out for you! If he really cared about you, he wouldn’t have let you within a mile of anything Ryan made.”

Even though she’s joking, it still makes my chest twinge. I know I did the right thing breaking up with Nate, but it still hurts to think about.

“You don’t have to worry. I already cut things off with him,” I say.

Her brow furrows in confusion. “Wait, what? You were just spending the holidays with him, and now it’s over?”

“I had to. A reporter caught wind of something happening with us, and if people found out, Nate could lose his job. I’m his assistant—it looks like an abuse of power.”

She takes a sip of wine. “Is that what Nate said?”

“No, but when I broke up with him, I think he was relieved. He didn’t argue with me, anyway.” I can still see his face when I walked into his office. There was no warmth in it, just cool calculation.

“That asshole,” Pippa says fiercely.

Part of me agrees. Yet, I find myself defending him. “You don’t know how much his business means to him. He grew up knowing he would do this job. His whole life was spent preparing for it. He spends so much time in his office, he doesn’t even know where everything is in his own apartment.”

“He sounds like a workaholic to me.” She snorts.

“No argument there. But…I kind of like that about him. He cares so much about protecting people. It’s not just about the money for him. He wants to make people’s lives better. You should have seen him when my apartment got broken into. He was dying to fix everything so I could feel safe.”

She tilts her head. “That doesn’t sound like it’s about work. That sounds like he was worried about you.”

I lower my eyes. I like the idea of Nate worrying about me too much, because it lets me imagine that maybe he still cares.

No.Fantasizing isn’t going to make me move on any faster. I have to face reality.

“The point is UPS is everything to Nate. I don’t want to be part of a scandal that puts his company in danger. I’m his assistant, he’s my boss. That’s all we have room to be.”

“You could still quit,” she points out. “Then you’re not his employee anymore.”

“We still have that history. If someone wrote about it, it’d make him look bad. It’s best.”

“I’m sorry, Cat. Ugh, and you didn’t even get to find out what it was like to sleep with him.” Pippa sighs. My face heats, and I know I’m blushing tomato red. Her mouth drops open. “No. Youdidsleep with him?”

I nod. “On Thanksgiving night.”

“You bad girl! I hope he lived up to expectations.”

“More than that.” I sigh. “I mean, the sex was unbelievable, but he just made me feel…adored. Does that make sense?”

My phone dings, and Pippa gasps when she sees Nate’s name on the caller ID.

“See? He’s obsessed with you!”

I swipe the text open and show it to her.

Nate

I can’t track down the Edmonton fourth quarter projections. Can you resend them?

“See? He’s my boss,” I say dryly.