13. Cora

Ialways found Monday morning meetings with the department heads at the law firm were unbearably boring...

...Until this morning, when Griffin told me to wear a pencil skirt instead of slacks before leaving for work.

Since the meeting started, his hands have been roaming all over my thighs beneath the massive stone table.

He tilts his head, looking like he is the picture of innocence, as he pays attention to the profit and loss statement the CFO is presenting.

Griffin's expression is neutral as his big hand grabs the top of my thigh. I try to clamp my thighs together, but his fingers are already creeping up the slit in the side.

I swallow hard and completely freeze. He keeps moving higher, even as I try to shift my body away from him without drawing too much attention to us.

I breathe deeply, trying to concentrate on the meeting, but it isn't long before my body betrays me. I can feel my nipples becoming hard and my pussy getting wet.

And he's not even near my pussy.

His neutral fa?ade fades for a moment, a smirk taking its place.

Kaleigh looks at me from across the table, her eyebrow arching.

Oh my god.

I sit straight in my seat, tapping the end of my pen on the desk.

Right now, I don't need her—or anyone for that matter—to suspect something is going on between me and Griffin.

This is all too risky.

We only had our first date a couple of days ago, and I don't know where this will lead.

Although, if he keeps trying to finger me underneath the table, I'm sure tonight is going to end with me bent over his bed.

Griffin looks at Jones as he presents the case numbers for the prior month. Griffin's hand continues to climb up my thigh, sending a shiver through my spine.

I dare not swat his hands away as Jones finishes presenting.

Questions fly around the room as I'm busy jotting them down, knowing that Griffin will want to look over the meeting notes later.

By the time the last department heads filter out of the conference room, my hands are cramped from writing pages and pages of notes.

Griffin leads the way into his office, abandoning his tie the moment he's through the door.

I quickly grab the tie and hang it in the small closet before shutting the door behind us. He takes a seat on one of the couches, waiting for me to come over.

Sitting across from him, I place my phone and the notes on the table.

Griffin turns to me, stretching his legs out in the space between us. "I don't know why you insist on taking notes with a pen and paper when we have perfectly good laptops you could use."

I hand him the notes that—despite the distractions—are immaculate, each page filled with neatly written points and key takeaways. "And miss using all those shorthand classes I took? Plus, I'm a firm believer that writing notes by hand helps retain information and focus."

He arches an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Alright, now what's the real reason for torturing yourself during meetings?"

"Optics. They don't ask me questions if they think I'm too busy taking your notes." I grin and cross one leg over the other.

The screen of my phone lights up from where it sits on the table. I lean forward to check the caller ID, my heart coming to a screeching halt.

A bitter taste fills my mouth as Victor's picture lights up again.

Griffin looks down at the phone. "Is there a problem?"

"Mm." I grab the phone and slide my thumb across the screen, ignoring the call. "It's my ex. I haven't heard from him in a long time. Don't know why he would bother calling me now."

Griffin leans back against the cushions and drapes one arm over the back of the seat. "Mm-hmm. So, about the meeting today, our case numbers are low. When you have time, I want a report on who takes on the most cases, who settles the most, and how long it's taken to complete each case over the last twelve months."

"Are you looking to downsize?" I grab my phone and make a note of his request. "Are there any specifics you want highlighted in the report?"

"I think it's time to examine all the firm members to see who is not performing well. I have a couple of names on my list already, but if some are performing better than others, it may be wrong to let them go."

I nod as my phone starts vibrating again.

With a sigh, I ignore the call again and put the phone down in my lap.

Griffin glances at the phone before looking up at me. "You know, if you need to take that call, you can."

"Nothing good ever comes of taking his calls." I run my hand through my hair before sliding the hair tie off my wrist and wrangling my hair into a loose bun at the nape of my neck. "Victor is nothing but a problem, and if I had seen that earlier in life, I would have been spared a lot of drama."

Griffin's gaze cuts to the phone as it starts vibrating again. "Take the call, Cora. See what he wants. It's got to be important if he keeps calling you."

My chest tightens as I grab the phone and get up, pacing to the other side of the room as my thumb slides across the screen. "What is it, Victor?"

Victor scoffs. "Is that any way to answer the phone? You know, being bitter is going to turn you ugly, Cora."

"I don't care. Why do you keep calling me?" I pace back and forth in front of Griffin's desk, trying to ease some of the restlessness that plagues me whenever Victor calls.

Talking to him is like being at the top of a rollercoaster right before it plummets back to earth.

There is the need to hold onto the edge of my seat and hope that the cars stay on the tracks.

And then there is always the concern that I'm going to crash into the ground and my life is going to become an inferno.

Victor clears his throat as a woman shouts something to him in the background. "We haven't spoken in a long time. I was just thinking about you."

"Cut the shit. You and I were over the moment you started fucking around with Crista. Now, tell me what you want so I can end this call and get back to work."

"You always did have a way with words." He chuckles, and the sound makes me feel sick to my stomach. It's the same condescending chuckle he used to use when we were building our business together.

I'm not the same woman I was back then. I know better than to take his shit now.

"Victor, enough. I'm at work, and you are cutting into my time. Tell me what you want, and never call me again."

Victor sighs. "I thought that there was going to be a day that you would come to your senses and come back to me. You know that you're never going to amount to much without me."

I want to throw the phone across the room and scream.

I wish I had a time machine so I could go back before I ever met Victor. I would talk to my younger self about what kind of man to avoid at all costs.

My shoulders stiffen as I lean against Griffin's desk. "I'm going to hang up on you."

"Don't you dare," Victor's tone turns icy. "You owe me for all the shit that you put me through when you left. Now, the apartment is flooding. I need the insurance information."

My jaw drops. I don't know where the man found the audacity to call me about the home we used to share, but he did.

I shouldn't really be surprised; he had the audacity to make me liable for every dollar of debt he ever took out, and look where that got me.

I clench my jaw and take a deep breath. "Victor, I canceled the insurance policy when I left you. If you didn't get insurance on the house, that's your problem."

Victor is fuming on the other end of the call. His heavy breathing indicates that he is barely holding back from exploding. "You what? You canceled the insurance policy?"

"It was in my name for a home that wasn't mine. Of course, I canceled it. Did you expect me to blindly finance your lifestyle in case something happened to the house? Get your head out of your ass, Victor. Once I came to my senses, I canceled everything."

I hang up before he can start yelling. There is nowhere else for the conversation to go, anyway. He is stuck with a flooded house, and I don't have another bill in his name added to my debt.

I exhale slowly and squeeze my eyes shut. When I open them, Griffin is watching me.

After taking another moment for myself, I walk back to the couches and sit down. I put my phone on silent and place it facedown on the table.

Griffin leans forward. "Are you okay?"

"Annoyed and hating myself for spending years of my life with that asshole, but I'm okay." I give him a tight smile and grab my notes, looking through them.

"We can talk about it if you want to. I know he screwed you over once. Was this more of the same?"

I skim through the notes, needing another couple of seconds to get my head on straight. "Victor is nothing but a jerk, and that's all he's ever been. I just wish that I'd seen that sooner."

"Was that call about the debt?" Griffin stands and moves to sit beside me. He slings his arm over the back of the couch, his fingers brushing against my shoulder. "Because if it was, I can take care of it."

I shake my head, putting down the notes. "I don't need you to get in the middle of my problems. Everything is going to be fine. The house we bought has flooded, and he wanted the insurance information."

"And you had canceled the policy?"

"It was only in my name, and I no longer have a house." The corner of my mouth twitches, just thinking about Victor"s current situation. "I didn't see a need to continue the policy when he had already taken everything else from me."

Griffin grins as I lean closer to him, putting my head on his shoulder. "Good. You don't need more of his shit in your life. He can figure out something for himself for once."

I close my eyes, focusing on counting Griffin's heartbeats to calm down my mind. "I thought he was everything I wanted at one point in my life. It's hard to believe that I was so wrong."

"He portrayed himself to be a different person than who he actually is. You can't blame yourself for that."

"I do, though." I swallow hard, looking up at Griffin. It was something I hadn't said out loud to many people before.

Blaming myself for everything that happens seems wrong, but there is a part of me that thinks I am just as much to blame for my relationship falling.

If I had just done more or paid a little more attention, maybe everything wouldn't have gone to hell.

Griffin rubbed his hand up and down my arm. "No. You can't blame yourself for that at all. Even if you both did some things wrong in the relationship, he is still the one who screwed you over."

"I know. I'm normally good until he calls, and then I start spiraling about my mistakes again. I keep thinking that I've fully moved on with my life, and then a call or two from him is enough to send me back to the woman I used to be."

Griffin kisses my temple, his lips lingering for a moment. "You are not that woman. And really, he took advantage of you. He knew what he was doing from the start. You didn't stand a chance."

My eyes well with tears and I blink them back. "I know that. I just hate feeling like a failure."

Griffin stands up and holds out his hand. "Come on. We're going home early for the day."

"You don't think that's going to look suspicious?"

"No, because as far as the office knows, I have meetings all day and will need my assistant there to take notes." Griffin reaches down and takes my hand, pulling me to my feet before letting it go.

"We're going back to my place, I'm going to fuck your brains out, and then you can eat all the pizza you can handle. The basil pesto one from Mangia is still your favorite, right?"

My mouth hangs open, and my heart skips a beat. My cheeks flush, but I can't tell if it's from the anticipation of sex with Griffin or the indulgence of having my favorite pizza in the middle of a workday.

I can't remember the last time I got pizza with Griffin, and the fact that he remembers my favorite one is even more surprising.

I didn't think he paid that much attention to me when we were younger.

As we leave the office together, I try to focus on nothing but the pizza we're going to get instead of how my life feels like it's hanging on by a single thread.

Griffin hauls me out of the car and tosses me over his shoulder, carrying me into the house after dinner. I laugh and smack his butt, wriggling around and trying to get free.

"If you keep doing that, I'm not going to make it into the house." He grabs my ass, squeezing hard. "I'll have to fuck you on the porch where the neighbors can see."

"You really want to give that old man across the street a show?"

Griffin pins my thighs in place with one arm while reaching for the keys with his free hand. He unlocks the door and carries me inside.

The moment the door is shut behind us, he puts me down and pins me against the wall.

Desire courses through me as he cups the back of my head and pulls me into the kiss. I moan as his tongue swipes across his bottom lip while my fingers sink into his hair.

Griffin nips at my bottom lip, his hands skating down my body to the hem of the skirt.

With a swift motion, Griffin pulls my skirt down to my feet and tosses it to the side, stepping back to rake his gaze down my body.

"You are stunning," he says.

"And cold," I reply with a mischievous smile.

He smirks and yanks his shirt over his head. "I've heard that body heat is a good way to warm up."

I laugh and lean back against the wall, kicking off my heels and reaching for the front clasp of my bra. "That's so cheesy."

But Griffin doesn't smile again. He steps into me, the hard outline of his cock pressing against my lower stomach.

He slips his hand between my legs, his fingers sliding along my wet pussy before diving straight inside.

"You're soaked." His voice is a low growl as he crooks his fingers against the spot that drives me wild.

"I want you." I reach down, flicking open the button of his pants.

I shove the rest of his clothing away, my legs shaking as an orgasm starts to build.

Griffin moves his lips to my neck, sucking on the sensitive spot just below my ear.

I grind into his hand as my orgasm rocks through me.

"Make me come, Griff, please."

Griffin groans as I wrap my hand around his cock. I squeeze it hard as I come, sliding my hand up and down until he is rolling his hips into me.

"Fuck, Cora, I love how wet you get for me." He grabs my ass and picks me up, pinning me between the wall and his body.

The head of his cock presses against my pussy. Griffin's lips press against mine, coaxing my mouth open as he slides his cock into me.

My pussy clenches around him as my back arches off the wall. I lock my ankles behind his back, holding onto his shoulders as he slams into me.

I dig my nails into his shoulders, holding on as he kisses his way down my chest. Griffin moans, grinding into me with every thrust.

He pulls one of my nipples into his mouth, taking it between his teeth until I'm writhing against him.

"Yes." I roll my hips in time with his thrusts, needing more.

Lust rolls through my body in waves as Griffin's cock throbs inside me.

"Fuck, come for me, Cora." Griffin's voice is raspy. He grazes my earlobe with his teeth, driving himself into me deeper.

I come hard and fast, holding onto him as he keeps thrusting. His thrusts slow, and he stiffens, his orgasm following mine.

My chest heaves as he pulls out and sets me on the ground with a wicked smile. "Well, we made it off the porch."

"Barely." I grin and take his hand, already tugging him toward the bathroom. "We should get cleaned up."

Griffin laughs and pulls me back into him, his cock hardening again against the small of my back. "I can't promise I won't fuck you again in the shower."

As we get into the steaming shower, I know I won't be leaving his bed for the rest of the day.