Page 21 of Secret Marriage To My Bosshole

Cora strides past me to her desk, sipping from her cup of coffee without sparing me even a glance.

She sits at her desk like every other day this week, determined to ignore me for the rest of the day.

The odd time she has had to speak to me, she’s only given me short answers.

She’s been completely ignoring me again since I told her about our marriage, and I’m tired of dealing with it. Today that ends.

Cora hums as she powers on her computer and looks through the stack of files I left on her desk.

She drums her red-painted nails on the oak as she reads through the schedule for next week.

“What do I have going on this coming week?” I stand at the corner of her desk with my hands tucked in the pockets of my slacks.

Cora looks at me over her shoulder before pointing at the computer screen with the end of her pen. “This. I’ll forward it today after I get off a few more calls. There should be a couple more contracts added.”

Her tone is clipped, and she doesn’t look me in the eyes.

I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose, taking a deep breath. “Why are you acting like doing your job is the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do?”

Cora’s eyes narrow, and her full lips press into a thin line.

If looks could kill, I would be buried six feet under by now.

She reaches for her coffee and takes another sip before sighing. “I have a lot going on in my life right now, which you already know. I’ve been nothing but civil, and I have done my job well in the last week despite those problems.”

I cross my arms. “You may have been doing your job fine, but you’ve been unpleasant most of the week.”

The corner of her mouth twitches upward. “And you have been unpleasant most of my life, so I guess this would make us even.”

I lean over, my mouth hovering close to her ear. “I thought we were moving past that, Cora.”

She stiffens and turns her attention to her work. “And we are.”

“This doesn’t feel like moving forward. This feels like you are holding a grudge against me for some stupid shit I said to hurt you when we were young.”

“The two situations have nothing to do with each other.”

When the phone on the corner of her desk starts ringing, she looks relieved. Her shoulders sag forward as she reaches for the receiver. I let out a sigh and head into my office.

I know the marriage certificate came as a shock to her as it did to me, but I never guessed it would strip her down to just a shell of herself.

It’s so much worse than before, and I don’t like our new situation one bit. She doesn’t even smile as she speaks with whoever is on the other end of the call.

The only smile I see from her is when Kaleigh comes over to Cora’s desk to talk.

I get up from my desk and head over to the bookshelf near my door. I’m hidden from their line of sight, but I’ll be able to see them and hear what they’re saying.

If I’m being honest, I still don’t fully trust Cora not to tell anyone about our marriage. She might slip her tongue at any point.

Kaleigh grins and perches herself on the edge of the desk. “I got your message. I can’t believe you have a date on Friday. Who with?”

Cora smirks and pulls out her phone, bringing something up to show Kaleigh. “Theo Rhodes. And it’s not a date, just to clarify. He’s just an old friend from university. He plays the bass in a local band that just signed a record deal, so he invited me for a drink.”

Cora has a date. She says he’s a friend, but who knows what he wants?

She has a date with a man who is only going to ruin her life.

Like, I’m going to allow that to happen. With a musician, too—they’re nothing but trouble, especially when they start making it big.

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