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A moment of silence.

“Both of you?”

I chuckle. “Yeah.”

“Okay. Let me know if you need a hand.”

I roll my eyes, still smiling. “Thank you, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got this.” I look at Ella and whisper in a silly voice, “We’ll have to teach him that girls rule and boys drool, won’t we, Ella?”

And with that, she laughs at the perfect moment, causing all the bad shit that’s happened over the past four days to magically disappear from my mind as I laugh right along with her.

I finish bathing Ella and blow a few raspberries on her cute little tummy, and decide she looks even cuter with her skin pink from the warm water and with her fine blond hair wet and curly.

As I stare down it her, it suddenly hits me. Damn. With her in here with me, there’s no way to wash myself, and no good way to get her out and dry her off without a second set of hands.

“Um, Alexei?” I call out.

“Yeah?” His voice is much closer than I expected, like he was waiting outside the bathroom door to come to our rescue if needed.

“Any chance you could come in here and help me get her out without looking?”

He lets out a deep chuckle. “Sure, but I wouldn’t want to drool over anyone while I’m in there, being a boy and all.”

Okay, I totally deserved that, but he had to know I was just joking with him. But was he trying to flirt with me with that comment? Nah . . . he was just mocking my comeback to him. That has to be it, right?

“Oh, so you heard the little heart-to-heart that I was having with Ella, huh?”

As I’m talking to him through the door, I frown down at myself. The bubbles have evaporated from our bathwater, and it’s just miles of bare skin as far as the eye can see. More my skin than Ella’s, of course. I sink my shoulders deeper in the water, like that will somehow magically cover my breasts from his view. I remind myself that he’s seen these same breasts only hours earlier today.

“Come on in,” I say in a resigned voice.

The door opens, and Alexei steps inside.

As he navigates around the pile of clothing I stripped out of, including a lacy black G-string, I swear I see a faint blush to his cheeks. Though it’s dangerous even to fantasize about, I can’t help but wonder if he likes what he sees when he looks at me.

When his eyes meet mine, I scold him. “I told you not to look!” Ella does little to shield my body from him. Traitor.

He smirks, looking even more handsome, if that’s possible. “Nothing I haven’t seen before.”

Damn, why’d he have to bring that up when I’m already mortified? I tried to purposefully block that from my memory. I was just so mad he’d showed up at my place of work, barging in and acting like a possessive boyfriend when he doesn’t really know me at all. If he did, he’d know how much I value my independence, how important it is for me to take care of myself. Ever since my parents passed, it’s like I have a huge chip on my shoulder, and I need to prove to everyone how much I’ve got it together . . . even when I’m falling apart.

Alexei grabs a fluffy white towel from the cabinet and reaches for Ella as I hold her up. He wraps her securely so only her tiny face is peeking out, like he’s done this exact thing a million times before.

My goodness, I don’t know what’s more adorable . . . Ella all bundled up in that warm towel with only her eyes showing, or the huge masculine man who’s holding her and saying silly things to her as he tries to get her dried off. And I thought that smirk was sexy. A gorgeous man holding and caring for a baby is about the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.

“I didn’t think about the fact that I couldn’t wash myself while I was holding her,” I say, shifting beneath the water.

He nods, still grinning at me. God, that grin is lethal. It makes my belly tighten and flip, and my insides feel like mush.

“I figured. And she probably peed on you as soon as she hit the bathwater, maybe even a time or two.”

“Ew. Gross. Okay, I’m definitely showering.” I pull the drain on the tub with my big toe as Alexei turns his back, finally giving me some privacy.

“Take your time. I’ve got her.”

I think those are the best six words I’ve ever heard. I also think if he were to say them to me again, I would melt in a puddle and flow right down the drain, along with the bathwater.

He leaves me alone to take a shower, and I find myself repeating those words in my head over and over.