Page 64 of Secret Marriage To My Bosshole

Cora squeezes my hand. “I’m sorry I pressed you to have dinner with them. I didn’t think that it would go this awful.”

I chuckle and spin her around before pulling her back to me. “Are you kidding? Watching someone tear into my parents was great. I’m proud of you for holding your own in there, but I’m sorry that I put you through that in the first place.”

Cora reaches up and brushes stray strands of my hair from my face. “You are so much more than they think you are. I hope you know that.”

I kiss her quickly before leading her back down the hall. “Let’s go say goodbye to Mrs. Cecilia before we leave. She would be upset if I left without saying anything to her.”

Cora grins and nods. “I like her. You should lure her away from your parents.”

“As much as I love Mrs. Cecilia, having her work for me would be weird, and she would never let me live down the fact that she used to change my diapers.”

I push open the door to the kitchen as Mrs. Cecilia is about to walk out of it with another bottle of wine.

She smiles and pats my chest. “You’re right about that. I love you, my boy, but there is no way I'd ever work for you.”

Cora laughs and hugs Mrs. Cecilia. “It was nice to meet you.”

Mrs. Cecilia glances down the hall toward the dining room. “I thought you would be running out of here a lot sooner. They must’ve been behaving themselves today.”

I chuckle and dip past her to grab the plate of stuffed chicken set to the side. “I take it this is for us?”

Mrs. Cecilia nods. “There are some glazed carrots as well. Oh, and your cheesecake in the fridge.”

I hand Cora the plate of chicken before rummaging around in the fridge for the carrots and the cheesecake. “You’re the best, Mrs. Cecilia. Next time they’re both out of town, I’ll come and visit you again.”

Mrs. Cecilia pats my chest before making her way down the hall. She pushes open the doors to the dining room while I wink at Cora.

Cora looks down at the chicken before looking back at me. “She made you plates of food to take with you?”

“I can’t remember the last time I made it past the appetizer course with my parents.” I smile and lead the way through the house.

Cora follows behind me, a thin line between her brows. “Your relationship with them is worse than I thought… Which is understandable. They seem difficult to please.”

I laugh and head down the front steps to the car, putting the food in the back before opening Cora’s door for her. “I had Mrs. Cecilia and your parents growing up. It was enough to keep me from turning into one of them.”

Cora gives me a sad smile as she gets in the car. “I wish we had gotten along when we were younger.”

I lean in the car to kiss her, my entire body warming as a tear slips down her cheek. I brush it away with my thumb and kiss her again. “You don’t need to be sad for me, Cora.”

She scowls at the house behind me. “I’m angry for you. Everybody should have parents who actually care.”

"Well, if we ever have kids, we'll make sure they do." I close the door and round the front of the car, getting in beside her.

Cora rolls her bottom lip into her mouth as the car rumbles to life. "Do you want children? I guess we've never talked about any of the important things."

I pull away from my parents' house. "I've thought about what it would be like to have kids, and until now, I was sure that they wouldn't fit into my life. But then I fell in love with you, and now the most logical thing to do is build our family one day."

Cora beams as she kicks off her heels and stretches out her legs. "I'm glad. I want a big family. I want a house where all the other kids hang out because it feels like a second home."

I place my hand on her thigh. “Don’t worry about what my parents said to you.”

Cora rolls her eyes. “I’m going to do nothing but worry about it, and we both know that. They said some horrible things today.”

“You’re right, but their opinions don’t matter. We’re living our own lives, and everything will be fine. We’re going to be happy.”

Except I know the words don’t sound entirely true. I can hear it in my tone.

It’s as if I’m seeking their validation and approval, even though I’ll never receive it. As much as I want my parents’ opinions not to matter, they do…

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