Page 35 of Secret Marriage To My Bosshole

Cora’s mouth drops open as she looks between me and the boat. “Griff, this is a lot,” she says.

“I know.”

I park the car and get out, going around to her side to open the door. She puts her hand in mine before stepping out, her eyes still wide as she looks up.

The salt air ruffles her hair as it blows across the ocean. Cora beams with a smile as we head toward the yacht and get on.

She takes off her heels, setting them in the small basket on deck. I toss my own in the same basket before leading her to the top deck.

Cora sits on one of the cushions at the stern, stretching her legs out in front of her. “So, is this yours?”

“Nope.” I sit beside her and lean against the cushions as the crew works to get the boat off the dock. “Just something I wanted to do for you for the night. I can’t imagine owning a boat right now. It seems like a lot of upkeep that I don’t have time for.”

She nods and tilts her head back, looking up at the pink and orange streaks radiating from the setting sun. “You really didn’t have to do this. It’s a lot.”

“I wanted to.” I lean over and take a bottle of champagne from the bucket on the side table. I pour two glasses before handing one to her. “So, tell me what’s been going on in your life over the last years. It’s been a long time since I was really involved in it.”

She sips the champagne and shrugs. “Not a lot. I graduated from university with a degree in business and thought about opening a media agency with the man I was with. I thought we would get married and run a business together.”

“Obviously, that didn’t go as planned.”

She barks out a short laugh. “No, it didn’t.”

“Does he have anything to do with all the trouble you’re in?”

I don’t know this man she was engaged to, but I fucking hate him to the core. If he was stupid enough to let Cora go, he clearly didn’t realize her actual value.

Cora takes a large gulp of her drink. “Yeah. We were engaged for a long time. Most of our engagement was during our time in college at the university. My name went on all his student loans and my own. Then we got a house and started a business; my name was all over those, too.”

A pit opens in the bottom of my stomach. Though I don’t know the whole story yet, I get an awful sense of understanding of where this is going.

She sighs and squeezes her eyes shut before glancing at me with a crooked smile. “One day, I caught him cheating on me with his colleague who was married at his other work. He needed that job because our business was still new and not making anything. Obviously, he didn’t care if he got fired for dating a married woman. So, I left him, and he started defaulting on all the debt payments. Because my name was on them, it became my responsibility to deal with them.”

I shake my head, my free hand balling into a fist. “Cora, we could take this guy to court. You shouldn’t be saddled with everything.”

Cora crosses one leg over the other. “I haven’t told you the best part. Now, he’s living with the woman he cheated on me with while I attempt to clean up the remnants of the life we once shared.”

I take a moment to gather my thoughts. I don’t want to say the wrong thing and make her think I’m judging her for this mess.

She was young, and she didn’t know better. She got involved with a man she thought she would marry, only for him to deceive her.

He used her good intentions to improve his own life before throwing her to the wolves.

If I ever meet him, I’m going to wring his neck.

I put my glass to the side and take her hand, lacing our fingers together. Her hand fits in mine like it was made for me to hold. “Cora, how much money are we talking about?”

“Tens of thousands of dollars left.” She sighs and leans her head on my shoulder. It’s alright, though. With what I’m making working for you, I should have them paid off in a couple of years, and then I can move on with my life.”

Cora certainly wouldn’t be the first woman to try and use me for my money if she did…

But why would she agree to go on a date with me?

She wouldn't have agreed to a date if this was all about getting money from me. It’d be easier to push for a divorce, try to claim alimony or something.

That’s not who Cora is, though. She’s not the kind of person who would use someone else to get what she wants. She’s too good for that.

Hell, she came to work for me just to handle the debt.

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