Page 20 of Hers to Love
He had to hand it to Sabrina: she was full of good ideas. If only he took Sabrina’s advice more often. Hiring Kori had been one of his better decisions over the course of his entire career.
Kori had been silent throughout the rest of the meal, but Marshall hadn’t felt uncomfortable. He had offered her a temporary job and made sure she would get paid as much for it as possible. It was all he could do. She didn’t ask how much, to her credit, but he had secured her a twenty-five percent bump in pay. He pushed it through Perry, who agreed that it would probably be money well spent for nothing to happen between the two of them. Marshall had only nodded, thinking the board’s fears unfounded and having no desire to fight them on that issue.
Yes, he found Kori charming, enticing, and as mouth-watering as thefiletto di manzohe had for dinner, but no indication from her that she felt the same.
There was their age gap.
Society would allow a handsome, well-educated, and highly successful man such as himself a partner who was…afewyears his junior, but she would be labeled a gold digger, a trophy, and someone trying to up her stock. Kori wasn’t that type of woman. Marshall would never understand why society would accept his pursuit of a younger woman but not the reverse.
Especially since he was worth it.
Maybe.
Perhaps not in the last year, but he’d been on an upturn as of late.
Anyway, it didn’t matter because he wasn’t pursuing her.
And she definitely didn’t want him.
“What do you want?” The question slipped from him as they walked along the river’s edge, taking the long way back to the hotel.
“Sir?”
“Do you think this position will help advance your career in some way? What do you want out of life now…after…”
Kori smiled sadly. “It’s a question I’ve asked myself since it all happened.”
“You don’t need to explain anything to me.”
She looked at him for a long moment. “No, I think I do. I think I owe you that much—for the raise.”
“I don’t need or want anything in return. I did it simply for a job well done.” That and he had wanted to help her. Offering her a life in Italy and then telling her it would only be for three months almost felt like a bait-and-switch. He’d felt bad for her, like he had let her down.
Sabrina tried to tell him that her mother’s actions weren’t his fault. He hadn’t let his ex down. It was the opposite. Marshall had struggled to believe that…until the way Kori’s eyes had shone at him during dinner. Like she trusted and respected him.
“Brigham was drunk—as usual—after a major party where he met some people he could do business with. The pitch was successful, and they toasted their future success well into the night.”
Brigham was drunk. Marshall inwardly cringed, remembering the first day Kori arrived. Admittedly, he had had too much to drink. Now he understood Kori’s disdain for alcohol.
“I was never allowed to leave the parties early. I had to be there as long as he wanted to stay, because I was his assistant. Maybe he would need help getting to the car…or for me to hold a bucket so he could puke in it.”
Marshall made a noise of disgust. “Okay, that’s taking your duties a little far.”
“Not for Brigham.”
“I suppose if he had long hair he’d want you to hold it back, too?”
Kori snorted. “Yup. I guarantee that’s what he would’ve expected from me.”
“Oh, Kori…I’m sorry you had to deal with that.”
She shivered. “Thank you,” she said softly, rubbing her arms.
Was she cold? Although the scorching temperature had cooled with the arrival of the moon, it was still quiet warm outside. Either way, he offered his jacket to her. Kori accepted.
“Anyway, he had sobered up some on the ride back to the hotel. We were in California at the time and, on the way back, he made a pass at me.”
Marshall watched the side of her jaw harden and her eyes fill with moisture.
