Page 36 of Secret Marriage To My Bosshole

“Jake offered to handle everything, of course.” Cora’s voice is soft as she looks up at me. “He said he'd make all of it go away, and I’d be free to start over.”

“Why didn’t you take him up on that? He can more than afford to pay off the debt for you.”

She nods, biting her bottom lip. I put my thumb on her lip, pulling it out between her teeth. Cora looks out at the water as we head further from the marina.

“Jake is used to using money to solve his problems, but there’s always a price to pay when you never actually have to deal with anything. I decided that a couple of years of hard work would be better than taking the easy way out. It was my fault for trusting the man to begin with.”

It’s painful to watch her blame herself for a mess that wasn’t her fault.

I squeeze her hand. “It wouldn’t be taking the easy way out. You shouldn’t be the only one dealing with the bills.”

“Getting money from Victor is as hard as milking a rock. He isn’t going to give me any money to deal with any of it because he got the life he wanted. Not that he has any money to give me. I really doubt that he does.”

“You deserve better than that.”

She nods and finishes off her champagne. “I know. I wish I had realized that before he ruined my life. It is what it is, though. I’ll get out of this one way or another.”

I kiss her forehead. “If you didn’t have to deal with all the debt, what would you be doing right now?”

“I’d have my own media company. I’d be working with people all over the world and getting to travel. I want to own a vacation home in another country to escape whenever life here feels boring.”

She moves away from me and gets up to look over the railing. The wind ruffles her hair, sending strands streaming behind her back.

I get up and join her, wrapping one arm around her waist. We lean against the railing together, watching the waves break against the boat.

Cora turns and faces me. “If you weren’t a lawyer, what would you be doing with your life?”

“I never really gave much thought to that, honestly. My father made it clear from when I was young that I would go to law school and become a lawyer.”

“Your father sounds awful.” Cora blushes as the words slip out. Her nervous little laugh has me wrapping my arm tighter around her and pulling her until she is pressed between me and the railing.

“He is awful. I wouldn’t recommend him as a father.” I trail my fingers up and down her spine, enjoying the low cut of the back of her dress. “It’s why I spent so much time at your house as a child. He was a hard man to be around, and my mother was worse.”

Cora’s hands slip up my chest and over my shoulders. Her fingers sink into the hair at the nape of my neck. “Well, for what it’s worth, my parents think the sun rises and sets with you. You should’ve heard how excited they were when I told them I would be working with you.”

“I would be pretty excited to work with me, too,” I grin as she rolls her eyes, “You should be nicer to the man who gave you a job. If I were you, I would worship me.”

Cora smirks, that familiar shine of mischief in her eyes again as her hands slide back down my body. She pulls my shirt out of my slacks, releasing the bottom button.

Her fingers climb higher, flicking open one button and then another. My heart races as she gets higher.

I’m sure that she can feel my pulse as she gets to the top button and opens it.

The shirt flies open, and she glances down at my bare chest.

Before I know what’s happening, she pinches my nipples before ducking beneath my arm and taking off running across the deck.

Peels of laughter come from her as I hurry to button my shirt before chasing after her. She laughs and dodges me, diving to the ground and crawling beneath a table before popping up on the other side.

I lunge around the side of the table, laughing louder than I’ve laughed in a long time as I reach for her.

She hurries out of my reach, her smile wide. “Catch me if you can, Griff.”

Cora takes off, flying down the stairs while I take my socks off. I have no hope of catching her if I keep sliding around the polished decks.

And I do want to catch her.

I race down the stairs after her, only to find an empty deck waiting for me. The door to the lounge is open, and throw pillows have been moved from the couch to the ground.

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