Page 29 of Secret Marriage To My Bosshole

Her cheeks flare a bright red as she dumps her purse on the counter. “I don’t know why the two of you think that you can run my life.”

I sigh and walk past her, going down the hall to where I assume her bedroom is. “Since I’m guessing you don’t want me to call your brother, I’ll help you pack.”

“Fine!” Cora brushes by me, giving me a sharp glare as she flicks on the lights and enters her bedroom. “One night. That’s it, and it’s just so you won’t rat me out to Jake.”

I lean in the doorway as she grabs a bag from her closet. “He worries about you because you’re so stubborn. I wouldn't have known anything if I hadn’t come here tonight. But now that I’ve seen where you live, I can’t let you stay here, Cora. Jake would be mad at me if he found out I knew where you were living and didn’t do anything about it.”

She whirls around, the duffle bag dangling from her hand. “You’ve been talking to my brother about me? Does he know that we’re married?”

“He said you’ve been acting weird lately. He’s worried about you.”

Cora’s entire body tenses as she yanks open her drawers and tosses clothing into her bags. “Great. You couldn’t stand me when we were younger, but now you think that you can have a say in what goes on in my life?”

I shrug as she slams the drawers shut. “It seems to me like you’ve hit the self-destruct button. I don’t know why you even have the problems you seem to when Jake could bail you out.”

Cora throws her bag at me—and I catch it—laughing as she storms to the other side of the room. “I don’t need my older brother to solve my problems.”

She’s always been feisty and independent, but this is another level. I know that whatever I say is not going to make her situation better, but I can’t help myself.

Getting her all wound up only turns me on.

Cora normally exudes confidence in every aspect of her life. She knows exactly what she wants and how to achieve her goals. It’s nice to see her let go every now and then.

I pull the bag over my shoulder. “You should take his help. You wouldn’t have to go through this trouble. You can live in a better area where you wouldn’t have to worry about safety.”

“I have many concerns beyond financial matters, thank you very much.” She swipes a book off her nightstand before pushing past me into the living room. “Let’s go. The sooner we go to your place, the sooner I can come back here and live the life I’m trying to build for myself.”

She snatches her purse off the counter and heads for the door.

I follow her out of the apartment and can’t help but smile at her back. “I have a hard time believing this is what you wanted to build for yourself.”

Cora scowls as she locks the door. “You don’t know everything that there is to know about me.”

“And that’s because you have this lovely habit of trying to hide away from the world as much as possible.”

She spins to face me, her finger ramming into my chest. “Listen, Griffin, I might be staying the night with you, but you’re not going to spend time trying to pick apart my brain.”

My smile drops as I loop an arm around her waist and guide her toward the staircase door.

Shouting comes from one of the units on the other side of the hall before we hear a heavy thud.

“Look, I won’t pick apart your brain, but if you make leaving here any harder than it already has been, I will toss you over my shoulder and carry you out of here.”

Cora’s jaw takes on a stubborn set as she crosses her arms. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Stubborn ass.” I drop the bag before grabbing her and slinging her over my shoulder. I stoop to pick up the bag while her fist collides with my ass.

“Griff! Let me down.”

“Nope. This is what you wanted. I warned you what would happen if you made this harder; it’s now happening.”

I keep one arm wrapped around the back of her thighs as I head downstairs. She jabs at me with her pointy finger, a leg swinging every now and then.

I put her down as I get to the bottom step. When she laughs, I know that she’s enjoying herself.

We get outside and toss her bag into the trunk of my car. “You know, sometimes I think you like being difficult just for the sake of being difficult.”

“Well, you might be right about that.” She tosses her purse and book in the trunk beside her bag. “If you want to act like a caveman, I’m not going to make it easy on you.”

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