How to Marry Your Frenemy (How To Rom Com Series Book 1)

by London Casey

  The place had been empty for about a month.

  I figured someone must have snagged the place, which was good.

  A new neighbor…

  I fucking hoped it was a beautiful woman with a sexual appetite like mine.

  I walked into my office and Eddie sat on a two-seater leather couch that was there for show.

  In fact, Eddie was the only one who ever sat there.

  Wearing his normal brown suit that looked in dire need of a cleaning. Or maybe just toss the thing out and get a new one.

  He took off his big glasses and wiped them with his tie.

  Eddie had been around forever.

  As long as I could remember.

  He was the only remaining guy in the company from when my father was alive.

  Even as a kid, I knew Eddie was weird.

  He was a dork.

  It was the only way to put.

  The guy had a ton of money too.

  Years of working and earning, no wife or kids, living modest…

  I never understood it.

  We were meant to live, weren’t we?

  There were things that needed to be done responsibly, but every now and again you needed to have a drink, flirt with a pretty woman, get your dick sucked, motorboat between that pretty woman’s legs, and maybe buy yourself something for the hell of it.

  That wasn’t Eddie though.

  I walked behind my desk and looked down at the folders I had all ready for the meeting.

  “Eddie,” I said.

  He quickly stood up. “Just wanted to wish you good luck today.”

  “I don’t need luck,” I said.

  Eddie laughed. His mouth opened and slapped shut like a ventriloquist’s doll. And he literally laughed by calling out ha-ha-ha.

  It always went through me like nails on a chalkboard.

  “I thought about some of the figures,” Eddie said. “They need to avoid debt at all costs. I mean, none at all. Make sure those books are squeaky clean too. Any kind of debt is going to make their balance sheet look like shit.”

  “I know that,” I said. “I know what I’m doing.”

  “Of course you do, Jackson,” Eddie said.

  “Hey. Did you see Callie yet?”

  “Yeah,” Eddie said. “She was here when I got here.”

  I gritted my teeth.

  Eddie was the guy who showed up extra early to water all the flowers in the office. He made sure everything looked perfect before the day began. That was something passed on from my father.

  Eddie approached my desk. “I’m proud of you, Jackson. This company wouldn’t be what it is without you. Keep your focus right. Don’t get lost in the trees or the clouds.”

  “But I can get lost between a nice set of tits, right?”

  Eddie exhaled with an ooohhh sound.

  For a second, I thought he was going to blush.

  I looked past Eddie and I saw Callie’s office.

  A second later, she appeared going into her office.

  Wearing a fierce looking dark red dress. Her hair pulled back with some giant clip looking thing.

  She meant business.

  So did I.

  Callie moved behind her desk and looked right at me.

  The two of us each behind our own desk, staring at each other.

  Waiting for the other person to break first and nod.

  That didn’t happen.

  Eddie was rambling on about some story he read about breast implants poisoning women.

  I just stared at Callie.

  When I fired her, I was going to hire a woman to be my assistant and give her Callie’s office.

  So I had someone to look at.

  And someone to fuck.

  Chapter Six

  Callie

  The stare down could have lasted all day.

  I wasn’t going to budge.

  My hands rested flat against my desk.

  From across my office, across the hallway, and across Jackson’s office I could see the stubble on his face. He didn’t even take time to shave. And his hair was left a disheveled mess too.

  Like he was reading my mind, Jackson reached up and ran a hand through his hair.

  Just like that, his hair was perfect.

  It took me an hour to do my hair and get ready this morning. More than an hour.

  But whatever.

  I looked the part. I was going to kill it.

  And Jackson was going to have to stand there and watch it all happen.

  He and Eddie were talking.

  Eddie took to Jackson only because he knew Jackson’s father.

  I wasn’t privy to the entire family history, but I knew enough to navigate around the company. That’s why I was one step away from becoming Jackson’s boss.

  The stare down finally came to an end thanks to Misha.

  She walked into my office and said, “Ready to move?”

  I broke eye contact with Jackson and hated myself for it.

  Those chocolate brown eyes of his were like dark chocolate… nobody wanted that crap. We all wanted regular chocolate. Milk chocolate. Real chocolate. The kind with lots of sugar.

  Right?

  “Morning, Misha,” I said.

  “I know you have the meeting soon,” she said, “but I wanted to keep all the good vibes going…”

  “Good vibes?” I asked. “Now you sound like my mother.”

  “Hey, it’s not a bad thing.”

  “If you put some kind of magic rock on my desk and tell me it’s going to give me powers, I’m going to ask you to leave.”

  “No rocks,” Misha said. “But I have the lease to your new apartment.”

  I smiled and let out a groan of relief.

  “I’m finally free,” I said.

  “Yes, you are,” Misha said.

  It cost me a little bit to get out of my old place, but it was worth it.

  I was finally going to have my own apartment.

  I had worked hard enough for this.

  It was time.

  Things were going to be a little bit tight, but with the promotion and a healthy raise, I would be just fine.

  It was a risk to get a new place before the promotion, but whatever.

  I needed it. I deserved it.

  Without hesitation, I grabbed a pen and signed my name on the lease.

  I flipped back to the pictures of the apartment and smiled.

  It was a total luxury kind of place, but had some old fashioned charm to it.

  My favorite parts were the hardwood floors and the lighting.

  Everything was fake, but it had that rustic vibe that I wanted.

  I handed the lease back to Misha.

  “When can I move in?” I asked.

  “As soon as I hand this in,” she said with a smile.

  “Perfect. And, hey, it had nothing to do with good vibes, okay? It was about work. And having someone like you around.”

  “You really don’t like that stuff, do you?” Misha asked.

  “No,” I said. “I’m not going to stand out in the rain with a rock in my left hand thinking the universe is going to drop a bag of money from the sky.”

  Misha just nodded.

  She appreciated my rants. And withstood them.

  In the back of my mind, I realized how I must have sounded.

  I closed my mouth mid-sentence.

  “I’m done,” I whispered.

  “I’m going to get this lease handed in,” Misha said. “I’ll get you the keys. I already have a moving company on standby.”

  “You’re the best,” I said. “This is all working out, Misha. And when I get a promotion, so do you. Okay? This is for us. You’ve worked your ass off too.”

  “I’m happy right where I am,” she said.

  She slipped out of the office and I shook my head.

  Misha was awesome. She was so pretty and geeky and just… awesome.

  But she settled.

  All the time.

  You coul
d be happy with what you had in life, but you needed fire to keep going.

  “Always want more,” I whispered.

  That was the only way I could keep going forward.

  I looked down at my desk and took a deep breath.

  One hour and fifteen minutes until the big meeting.

  Dicky and Michael sat with their hands folded as we talked strategy.

  In all reality, we were the ones in control of the meeting. We could leave the room without a deal and it wouldn’t hurt the company. In fact, sometimes walking away was the best decision.

  But again, Vince liked risks. He liked to gamble. He liked to live on the edge.

  Just like his goddamn nephew.

  Jackson sat down and rested his hand to his face and stared at me as I talked.

  “Looking at the marketing plans, it’s obvious this is going to be a very fast attack plan,” I said.

  “Correct,” Dicky said.

  He had messy blond hair and blue eyes. He was chubby with a big smile.

  Definitely a salesman.

  Michael sat across from him, in a much nicer suit than Dicky.

  It was obvious who was the free thinker and the logical one in the company.

  I glanced at Michael. “Your thoughts?”

  “I handle the software,” Michael said. “Software and security.”

  “And financials,” Jackson said.

  “Those too,” Michael said.

  “Look, Michael is my right hand,” Dicky said.

  I looked at Jackson in a hurry, fearing him making some comment about Dicky masturbating using Michael’s hand.

  Jackson kept his mouth shut and I hated myself that I was actually thinking as though I were Jackson.

  “The numbers are all there,” Michael said.

  “The product too,” Dicky said. “We’ve got plenty of others to talk to. I don’t want too many hands in this. You know?”

  “I agree,” Jackson said. He finally popped up out of his chair. “So let’s just finish this right now. All of us. We need that extra equity stake in the company. You know it’s only fair.”

  “We’ve had other meetings-” Dicky tried to speak.

  “Fuck your other meetings,” Jackson said.

  “Jackson!” I yelled.

  I punched him in the arm.

  Talk about unprofessional.

  I shut my eyes and cringed.

  By the time I opened my eyes, Michael was standing.

  “Why don’t we all take a breather?” I asked. “We’re losing sight of things here. This is about your company. Your dream. What you’ve created. And time is against us.”

  “Tick tock,” Jackson said.

  I cringed again.

  He was like a child sometimes.

  “We want more money,” Michael said.

  “For what?” I asked. “We had agreed upon-”

  “Equity and money,” Michael said.

  “Okay, listen,” Dicky said. “This company is going to pop. And we’re going to sell it. No use in hiding that.”

  “What the hell are you doing, Dicky?” Michael asked. “We never agreed upon that.”

  Jackson looked at me and grinned.

  “Guys,” Jackson said. “You think we don’t know that? Look, it’s simple. We want the extra equity so our value in you is even higher when the time comes. We can even split a deal here. Why not? We’ll sell our equity when the company is bought out. Then, Michael, we’ll make sure you’re taken care of. Whatever you decide to do. Nothing wrong with cashing out and becoming rich and traveling the world, right? You might stumble across your next big idea. I’ll be there for it. But looking to now. Right now. Right here. Just fucking end this. Right now.”

  Both Michael and Dicky looked at me.

  Then Jackson slowly did the same.

  I swallowed hard. “He’s right. This is the deal. You want a little more cash, Michael? Fine. We’ll meet in the middle. You have yourself overvalued. Because you can see the pop. That pop will come, the value will go up, and that’s when you can cash in. For right now, you need us.”

  “And truthfully, we have dozens of companies wanting to talk to us,” Jackson said. “We chose you.”

  “You chose us,” I said.

  I opened my mouth to say more but Jackson gently touched my hip.

  I inched away, not wanting his man whore hands anywhere near me.

  “Okay,” Dicky said.

  “Okay?” Michael asked.

  “Done,” Dicky said. “No more fucking around. I like it.”

  Jackson smacked the table and hurried to the door.

  He opened it and let out a whistle.

  Two seconds later, Vince came lumbering toward the conference room, a big smile on his face.

  Wearing a dark gray suit with his bright, white, million-dollar smile, he overtook the room like a storm.

  Vince was short and round and walked with a slight waddle.

  There was always sweat on his sideburns but he wore so much cologne, he always stunk like that instead of sweat.

  He grabbed Michael’s hand and squeezed it tight.

  He offered his classic Vince smile, which was to grit his teeth, and curl his lip to show half his teeth.

  Like an animal about to attack, but with a slight smile.

  Vince was powerful and intimidating.

  “What a great day for all of us,” Vince announced. “I told you these two were the best, right?”

  “They’re something together,” Dicky said.

  “We know how to get things done,” Jackson said.

  He put his hand to my back and I quickly elbowed it away.

  I didn’t need his validation.

  I could stand on my own and close a deal.

  Vince walked to the head of the table and made fists.

  He put them on the table.

  “Now that the hard part is done, how about we talk about how rich we’re going to be?”

  Vince winked and Dicky started to laugh.

  Jackson leaned toward me. “Why don’t we talk in my office, Callie? You know Vince is going to start telling his two-hour stories.”

  I turned my head and looked into Jackson’s eyes.

  Dark chocolate color… which nobody ever wanted…

  “Okay,” I said.

  “We’re going to wrap this up on our own,” Jackson announced. “Dicky, Michael, it’s been fun. Uncle Vince, do your thing.”

  “Pleasure to meet you both,” I said. “We’re going to have a great relationship here.”

  “Yes, we are!” Vince said.

  He let out a howling sound.

  Jackson opened the door for me and then blocked it at the last second.

  “My office,” he said.

  “You already said that.”

  “In case you forget, my office is the bigger one,” Jackson whispered.

  He winked and smiled.

  I curled my lip.

  Chapter Seven

  Jackson

  I waited like a proper gentleman for Callie to enter my office first.

  After all, why not let her see what a real, big office looked like?

  Also, it didn’t hurt that my eyes were begging for another look at her ass.

  I did a quick one-time scan.

  Then I rolled my eyes.

  Her dress from the bar was better.

  It hugged her ass and hips a hell of a lot better than this one.

  This was a professional dress for sure. Not the kind you’d wear to get what you wanted.

  She really took this shit seriously.

  Which was good.

  In a way, it was why we worked good together.

  She would keep the meetings on point, and when I spotted someone ready to yawn, I would stand up and do something crazy to boost the energy in the room.

  It was a damn shame though that her time was limited here.

  Trust me, the company would survive without Callie Moyer strutting down the hallways, talking shi
t behind my back, thinking she actually stood a chance at getting promoted higher up.

  Sometimes I had no idea what she was thinking.

  My last name was on the company header.

  This entire thing was going to be mine sooner or later.

  And Callie would be just fine.

  Somewhere else.

  I watched her standing at my desk.

  “Go ahead, Callie,” I said. “Walk around the desk and sit down. Put your feet up. Wait, maybe you shouldn’t. You did say you don’t wear panties, right?”

  She turned her head. “All the things I’ve told you and you’ve forgotten, but that’s what you remember?”

  “When have I ever forgotten something?” I asked as I took a seat on what was Eddie’s couch.

  Callie moved around my desk. “Do you remember the Garan deal?”

  I waved my hand. “Relax…”

  “You forgot their names,” Callie said. “You showed up half drunk from the night before.”

  “For a running gear company,” I said.

  “That netted the company how much? Seven figures?” Callie asked.

  “That was pure luck,” I said.

  “It was my work that did it,” she said. “Remember how I made a joke about you needing to work out and run?”

  I looked left to right at my broad shoulders. “I think I’m working out just fine.”

  “You’re such a bastard, Jackson. You really don’t care.”

  “You know what I care about? The fact that you ran around the office like a teenage bitch who got their heart broken, spreading rumors about me.”

  “Fuck you,” Callie said.

  “Oh, look at that tongue go.”

  Without a second to spare, Callie threw at me…

  “You have no idea what this tongue can do.”

  I leaned back and smiled, appreciating the banter between us. “Let’s find out. It can be my congrats gift from you.”

  “Congrats for what?”

  “For sealing that deal,” I said. “You had them bored. I thought Dicky was going to fall asleep. Christ, Callie, you need some pep in your step.”

  “Yeah? Like this?”

  She jumped up and down a few times, making her tits dance for me. Pressed so tight against the top of her dress. It was almost goddamn unfair.

  “You know, you’ve said a lot of shit about me around here too,” she said. “It’s not attractive to see a guy so insecure.”