Page 19 of Secret Marriage To My Bosshole

This time, it’s not going to work. I’m over the childish games we play. He can spit it out if he has something to say to me.

Griffin leans forward, his forearms resting on the desk and his hands linked. “We have to talk about something,” he says.

“Are you about to fire me?” My heart pounds in my chest. I can’t afford to lose this job now, but maybe Sophie is right. Maybe firing me would be an easy way to keep our kiss from becoming public knowledge.

His eyebrows raise, and he shakes his head. Griffin rolls his bottom lip into his mouth for a second before releasing it.

It’s the same gesture I’ve seen thousands of times over the years.

He’s nervous about something.

Griffin gets up from his chair and paces to the windows and back again. “We have to talk about what happened on the retreat.”

My spine stiffens as he does another lap of his office. “What do you mean? We already said all there was to say about it.”

Griffin comes to a stop behind his desk. He opens the top drawer and pulls out a piece of paper, leaving it face down. “There are some other things that happened on the trip—complications, if you will.”

“What complications, and how does this involve me? I spent most of the retreat in my room.”

“Which is a problem in itself, but you’ve always been antisocial with people you deem beneath you.”

I glance at the heavy-duty stapler on the corner of his desk. I’m not a violent person, but I bet throwing the stapler at his head would feel pretty good right now.

In less than five minutes, he’s managed to piss me off and insult me twice.

I slide to the edge of my seat, reaching for the paper. He puts his hand down on it, pulling it back to him.

“Griffin, please don’t be ridiculous. We both have work to do and the longer you keep me here, the longer this is going to take.”

He sighs and rakes a hand through his dark locks. “Listen, I want you to know that I knew nothing about this until a courier showed up on my doorstep yesterday. I promise. I didn’t know anything. I thought that it was just a kiss. If I had known about this, I would have dealt with it sooner.”

Blood rushes in my ears as butterflies erupt in my stomach. “What are you talking about? You’re starting to scare me.”

His shoulders slump as he pushes the paper toward me. “It’s easier to explain if you just look at it.”

I take the thick paper and flip it over. My hands tremble as I read the words scrawled across the paper and see my signature at the bottom beside Griffin’s.

The marriage certificate has my world coming to a screeching halt around me.

A marriage certificate…?

It’s a fucking marriage certificate.

Of Cora Walsh. Married to Griffin Blake.

I have to blink a few times to make sure I’m reading the words correctly.

No fucking way.

I would have remembered a complete mental breakdown that would have led to us walking into a chapel together.

“This… this has to be fake,” I run my fingers over the embossed seal. I don’t know what kind of sick joke this is, but you need to get rid of it right now. This isn’t funny, Griffin.”

“It’s not a joke.” He swallows hard and rounds the desk to take the seat beside me. “I wouldn’t lie to you about this, Cora. I promise it’s not a joke.”

“No. This has to be a joke. I would have to be out of my mind to marry you. There is no way that I would have ever let that happen. We don’t even like each other. Why would we walk into a chapel and get married?”

He throws his hands up in the air. “I don’t know why we would have done it, but apparently, we did, and we’re married now. This isn’t a joke. Why would I joke about something like this?”

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