In Bed With Her Shithead Boss (By Ellie Wynters) novel Chapter 157

She pushed the bedroom door open and marched straight to the partly opened bathroom door.

"Alexei!" She pounded on it with her fist. "I need to talk to you. Now!" She wasn’t going to look around the door… seeing Alexei hadn’t been part of her plan.

"Keira?" His voice sounded genuinely surprised from the other side of the door. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? What are YOU doing here? Sending me fifteen messages on my day off!"

The water shut off. She heard movement from her side of the door. She forced herself not to think about him being naked.

"Give me a minute," he called.

"No! I'm not giving you another minute of my Saturday!" Her tone was clearly upset. "You've had plenty already!"

The door swung all the way open, releasing even more steam.

And there stood Prince Alexei, dripping wet with only a white towel wrapped low around his hips.

Keira's words died in her throat. Oh shit.

She'd seen the photos, of course. The tabloids had made sure the whole world had seen parts of Prince Alexei. But this… this was different. This was real and right in front of her, up close and in her face. Water droplets trailed down his broad chest, over defined abs, disappearing beneath the towel. His dark hair was slicked back, water beading on his shoulders. Oh my god. She could feel the heat raise in her own body and she just stopped herself from reaching out and touching his rock-hard chest.

He looked like a goddamn cologne advertisement.

"You were saying?" He quirked that infuriating eyebrow, noticing her sudden silence.

Keira snapped her gaze back to his face, fury reigniting. "Put some clothes on."

"You're the one who barged into my bathroom demanding immediate attention." His lips curved into that one-dimpled smirk. "Didn't give me much choice in the wardrobe department."

"I didn't—" She crossed her arms. "Fine. Go put something on, and then we're talking."

"As you wish." He moved past her, close enough that she caught the scent of his soap, it made her brain short-circuit for half a second. "Although most women don't want me putting clothes on…"

"I don't want to know Alexei."

He moved over to the bed before turning to look at her. “Are you going to stay in here while I dress?”

The humor she could hear in his voice made her angry. Keira retreated to the living room, pacing like a caged animal. She refused to let his half-naked appearance derail her. She was here to set boundaries, not ogle her boss's abs, impressive as they might be. But she had always known that. You couldn't hide how fit he was under his suits, but seeing him all but naked—nope. Not going there.

A few minutes later, Alexei emerged in low-slung sweatpants and a black t-shirt that clung to his still-damp skin. His hair was towel-dried but messy, making him look younger.

"So," he said, leaning against the back of the lounge with arms crossed, "to what do I owe this home invasion?"

"Boundaries," Keira said firmly, squaring her shoulders. "We need to talk about boundaries."

"Boundaries." He repeated the word slowly, testing it. "The ones you just crossed by barging into my bathroom?"

"The ones you've been crossing by bombarding me with fifteen text messages during my lunch with my sisters." Keira crossed her arms. "This has to stop, Alexei. All of it. The constant demands, the late-night texts, the expectation that I'll drop everything whenever something pops into your head. Messaging me at 1 a.m. because you’re bored at some event."

Something shifted in his expression, like it had never occurred to him she had a life outside work.

"You're my assistant," he said simply.

Was that in her contract? Was he joking?

"I'm your assistant Monday through Friday, nine-to-five." She took a step closer. "And of course when really, really needed. Not every weekend, not after midnight, and definitely not when I'm trying to have a life outside of this job."

His eyebrow arched as he hadn't thought about her having a life. "Is that in your contract?"

"It's in basic human decency." She was getting fired up now, the words tumbling out faster. "You treat me like I'm an extension of your phone… available twenty-four seven, expected to respond instantly, no matter what I'm doing or who I'm with."

"I pay you well," he countered.

"Not well enough for this," she snapped. "Not well enough to compensate for the fact that I haven't had a proper date in over a year because I'm too busy putting out your fires. Why can't you take notes and give them to me during work hours?"

His lips twitched. "You could date."

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