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

by London Casey

  I laughed. “Insecure? Me? Have you met me? You’re the one wearing an adult diaper because you’re pissing yourself that I’m going to run this place and leave you in the dust. Where you belong.”

  Callie put her hands on my desk. “Words, words, words, Jackson. I’m not some bimbo at a bar that you can sneak up on and smooth talk. You think you have a gift? You don’t. The gift is the alcohol that makes a woman think she wants you.”

  “You’ve never let me try my gift on you, sweetie,” I said.

  I slowly stood up.

  Callie folded her arms.

  Under her tits.

  Fuck me…

  I never despised someone so attractive before. It made my brain and cock battle each other like the Roman Empire fighting some foreign country.

  I stepped toward my own desk.

  Callie was still behind it.

  Studying those wild, greenish eyes of hers.

  I loved her eyes.

  Because…

  “You think your body is out of proportion,” I said.

  Callie clapped her hands together. “Me and every woman in the world. Nice try, Jackson.”

  She walked from behind my desk.

  I side stepped.

  “This means everything to you,” I said. “This office. This company. The promotion. You think it does. But it will never fill the void you have. That will be there no matter the money or success. That’s built in. That’s why you show off but never show up.”

  “I don’t show up?” Callie asked.

  “In the bedroom, sweetie,” I said. “It’s not a secret that there are cobwebs in the corners of the room… if you get what I’m saying.”

  Callie curled her lip.

  I had touched on a nerve for sure.

  “You know what, Jackson? You wanted to have a drink, right?”

  “That’s right,” I said, snapping my fingers.

  I walked to the opposite side of my office. There was a built-in bar area with some top-shelf single malt scotch. I poured two small glasses and handed one to Callie.

  Before I could even offer her a quick cheers, she downed the glass and handed it back to me.

  Her eyes filled with tears as the scotch worked its way down her throat into her belly.

  I just smiled.

  I sipped my scotch. “Congrats on today, Callie. You almost got through an entire meeting without needing me.”

  “You were only in that meeting because Vince said so.”

  “Because he knows how boring you are,” I said. “That’s okay. I guess we did it. Right? Together. You and me.”

  “Sure,” Callie said.

  I tapped the two glasses together and took another sip of my drink.

  “It’s cute watching you drink like that, Jackson,” Callie said. “Like some innocent woman who has no idea how to throw back a drink the right way.”

  “You know, this job is going to look good on your resume,” I said.

  Callie laughed. “Enjoy the rest of your drink and your day, Jackson. If you don’t mind, I have stuff to pack up.”

  “Oh, are you quitting?” I asked.

  “Hardly,” she said. “I’m moving. Time to upgrade. Treat myself a little, you know? I’ve earned it. And for the record, Jackson, I’m coming for this promotion. For you, your job, everything. It’s always fun when we get to catch up like this. We do make a hell of a team together. You’re an okay friend.”

  I gritted my teeth as Callie winked and exited my office.

  She walked right across to hers and I stood and watched her.

  I downed the rest of my drink and went to get another.

  Callie was vicious, that was for sure.

  Pretty, and vicious.

  But I was ruthless.

  I knew when to cut the cord between reality and feelings.

  When to make the hard choices and follow through.

  It wasn’t always easy to leave a beautiful woman naked in her bed as the sunrise crept through the window and caressed her sweet skin.

  But I knew staying would only lead to awkwardness.

  I shut my eyes and shook my head.

  That was the wrong comparison to make.

  Last thing I needed was to think about fucking or coming on Callie.

  Chapter Eight

  Callie

  The apartment was mine. Officially.

  And the good thing about hating where I had been living, it was mutual between Sheila and I. All it took was a quick text letting her know I was done. Our original arrangement had been for me to pay rent there for three months.

  Those three months turned into another three, then another… and you can paint your own picture from there.

  Everything in my life was work.

  The job consumed me in a way that did not shock me at all.

  I could still remember the day Vince hired me. He was a smooth talking, gambling kind of guy.

  He considered me a risk.

  A risk to his business because I was a woman.

  Asshole.

  A risk to his business because of the clothes I was going to wear.

  Bigger asshole.

  A risk to his heart because - with all due respect - a woman’s ass was a thing of beauty and a work of art that should be appreciated… and enjoyed…

  Ultimate asshole.

  But that was Vince.

  I could have walked out of the office that day and told him to go fuck himself. I had a better idea. Ignore him and end up running his company. That was the best revenge in my books. Living well. Doing well. And bringing these asshole guys to their knees.

  Vince loved money more than women, so as long as I flaunted that in front of him, he kept himself cool around me.

  It worked.

  I was indispensable to the company and one promotion away from being as high as I could go without taking Vince’s spot.

  It was time to keep things moving forward.

  I stared at the pictures of the apartment on my phone.

  A text message popped up from Sheila.

  A thumbs up emoji.

  I hit the screen and put a middle finger emoji but didn’t send it.

  “Knock, knock,” Misha said as she walked into my office.

  She looked at me with a big smile.

  So big it pushed her glasses up on her face.

  I nodded and smiled back.

  She shut the door and did a little dance.

  I laughed. “You’re adorable, Misha.”

  “I’m so happy for you, Callie,” she said. “A new place to live. Closing that deal. Even if you had to work alongside Jackson.”

  “Hey, if I’m being fair, he and I make a good team,” I said.

  “Callie. Nobody is around us right now.”

  “True. He’s a douchebag. He almost blew the thing up. But it’s done. It’s a really big one too. Vince looked ready to wet himself when he came rushing into the conference room.”

  “You should celebrate,” Misha said.

  “I will.”

  “No. Not by working more or thinking about working more. Go out. Have some drinks. Get laid, Callie. Please… go get laid.”

  I put my hands to my hips. “Misha. How often… no. Never mind.”

  “What? Do you want to know about my sex life?”

  “I regret saying anything.”

  “I know I look the part of some dorky girl or whatever, but I know what I like, want, and need.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. Go get a drink. Or just download an app on your phone. It’s like instant cock.”

  “Instant cock?” I asked.

  Misha waved her phone in her hand. “A few touches on my screen and I could be bent over the bathroom sink on the seventh floor. You know, those are the best bathrooms around here.”

  “Don’t tell me that,” I said. “I don’t want to hear that.”

  “Maybe you do,” she said. “What is it with you and sex? I know you hate men…”

  �
�I don’t hate men,” I said.

  “Yes, you do. Any suggestion of power and you freak out.”

  “Okay. True.”

  “You can find someone who will listen to you. Set your rules, then bend him over the bathroom sink.”

  I laughed. “How does that work?”

  Misha shrugged her shoulders. “All I know is that fingers and toys can only take a woman so far. Sure, you can pedal a bicycle across the country and get there, but why not jump on a plane and get there faster?”

  “Isn’t it better to go slow and steady?” I asked.

  “I’m not looking for romance,” Misha said. “Orgasm and done. Boy, bye.”

  I took a deep breath. “This conversation was something. You’re my assistant. My Misha. And you’re…”

  “What?” she asked. “Horny? We all are, Callie. And if you’re not careful, you’ll get swept up in something like Jackson.”

  “What?” I asked. “No.”

  “Be careful. That sneaks up on you. Then again…” Misha looked across to Jackson’s office. “That wouldn’t be so bad. You know what you’re getting. You can fuck right here in the office. That’s your dream. You can work while fucking.”

  “Misha,” I said.

  “Yeah?” she asked, looking at me, adjusting her glasses.

  “Please leave,” I said. “Make sure my stuff is getting moved to the new apartment. It’s not much. The new place is furnished, right?”

  “Correct,” Misha said. “Seriously, Callie. You just closed a huge deal. Take the rest of the day off. Go to the new apartment. Have fun. Break the place in, you know what I mean?”

  For good measure, Misha stuck her pointer finger into a circle she made with the pointer finger and thumb of her other hand.

  I tilted my head to one side.

  I never thought Misha would…

  I shook my head.

  No use in thinking about Misha being bent over the bathroom sink, enjoying herself.

  If I was bent over a bathroom sink it was to wash the mascara off my face.

  I groaned and looked forward only to catch eyes with Jackson.

  For a split second I pictured myself looking into the reflection of my new bathroom mirror and see him behind me…

  I quickly looked down.

  Now, I was blushing.

  “Hey, Mom,” I said as I walked out of the office.

  At my normal time. No breaks. No stopping. Always onto the next deal.

  “Callie!” my mother cried into the phone. “You sound happy. Energetic. You’re radiating through the phone!”

  “You can sense energy through the phone?”

  “Of course. Only with family. We’re bonded, Callie. Same blood. Body. Our genes and spiritual makeup is made from the same tree.”

  I shut my eyes for a second. “Good to know, Mom.”

  “I know you don’t buy into that,” she said. “I wanted to hear about your big news.”

  “What?”

  “I had a vision last night,” she said. “Something big was happening to you. For you. So I called in the girls and we all channeled energy for you. Gave some of ourselves for you for today.”

  I paused walking on the busy sidewalk.

  I loved east coast weather as much as I loved the city.

  The air still had a very small nip to it, thanks to the buildings blocking the sun. That nip would be chased away for good soon enough to let the warm, summer rush in and overtake the city.

  Days like today though were simply perfect.

  See, I wasn’t all about being stuck in a temperature controlled, fluorescent-lighted office.

  I could appreciate the outdoors.

  “Callie?”

  “I’m here,” I said. “I wasn’t sure what to say.”

  “Tell me what happened.”

  “Okay. I had a big meeting today.”

  “I knew it.”

  “I always have big meetings, Mom,” I said.

  “But this one was special to you. How did it go?”

  “It went great,” I said, unable to fight off a smile.

  “See?!” Mom yelled. “I knew it! I need to call Sunny, Lake, and Joni. Tell them we did it.”

  Yeah. You did it. With your rocks and beads and candles. With your thing that looks like a giant marijuana joint. It has nothing to do with me working, studying, putting in the time, effort…

  “I got a new apartment,” I said.

  “Didn’t you just move?”

  “No. That was a long time ago.”

  “I thought you liked having a roommate,” Mom said.

  “Not this one.”

  Mom laughed. “Not this one, huh?”

  “What?”

  “Oh, Callie. You never got along with other girls. You were never a girl to be friends with.”

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  “I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. You were just always… overpowering. You wanted to control everything. Everyone. Again, not saying it’s a bad thing. You were made for what you do. Kick the asses of men who think they have it made.”

  I appreciated the words, in a sense.

  But my deepest fire that raged was survival.

  When my mother was looking for a feather or a stone as a sign that we were going to survive, I was trying to sell lemonade or come up with some other business plan to help.

  “Callie?”

  “I’m still here, sorry. Just thinking. Um… yeah. It’s good though. Today went well. I closed a big deal. I’m actually going over to my new apartment right now. I finally have my own place. I need it.”

  “Sure you do,” Mom said. “Just don’t isolate yourself. Don’t make your work the only thing you talk to. We’re humans, Callie. We’re meant to be social. We’re meant to talk, laugh, cry, flirt… have sex…”

  She whispered those last two words.

  I rolled my eyes.

  My mother trying to tell me to have sex did nothing to help my sex life.

  “Mom,” I said.

  “Right,” she said. “You’re young, making money, a bad ass businesswoman… but I can hear it in your voice. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

  “Mom,” I said again.

  “Callie,” she teased.

  “Why did you call?”

  She let out a small groan. “I realized something. About the car.”

  “What about the car?”

  I swallowed hard, waiting for it to come…

  “I must have messed up my months, Callie. I’ve been busy at the shop. Reorganizing inventory. Helping customers. We’re really making progress…”

  All those rocks and feathers and signs I had mentioned? My mother opened a small shop to sell all of that. To some, it was a strange knick-knack shop. To my mother, her friends, and the few customers she had, they believed in it quite a bit. The only problem was that it was just a few customers. Which meant money was not exactly their friend.

  “How many months did you mess up?” I asked.

  “Callie, don’t say it like that. I didn’t do this on purpose.”

  “I know that, Mom. But just please…”

  “Three,” she said.

  “Three months of cars payments,” I said.

  “I don’t want you to pay those,” she said. “No, no, no. Maybe you can call and talk to them? You’re a business person. You can negotiate.”

  You took out a loan for a car you can’t really afford. For someone who doesn’t believe in material things… but anyway… you have to pay it back. That’s how a loan works.

  “I’ll handle it,” I said. “You focus on the shop. I’ll call.”

  “Let me give you the number and the information,” she said.

  “I have it,” I said.

  “Oh. Right.”

  It wasn’t the first time I had to make this call.

  “Well, this is good,” Mom said. “I’m proud of you, Callie. I do wish you’d come by the shop. Hang out a little. Let us help you. Not that you need help, bu
t you know what I meant. We can show you ways to organize your energy.”

  “Let me get settled into my new apartment first,” I said.

  “Deal. And, hey, maybe I’ll stop by and see it. Text me the address.”

  “Will do, Mom. Love you.”

  “Love you right back,” she said.

  I ended her call and placed another call.

  To the financing company for her car.

  I wasn’t going to negotiate payments.

  I was just going to pay the loan up to date… like I always did.

  I shoved all those familiar feelings of anger, annoyance, feeling let down… even guilt for some reason…

  I shoved them all down into the pit of stomach so they could burn away.

  The car came to a stop and I thanked the driver and got out.

  My eyes looked at the building and I smiled.

  It was such a vintage looking building too.

  Made up of really big looking stones. It was smooth yet choppy. It looked old but it had a newness to it. The front doors were tall and wide. The lobby had the smell of old paper and new cleaning products.

  I looked at all the mailboxes and knew one of them was mine.

  I hurried to the steps and ran up them in a hurry.

  When I decided to move out on my own, I shared a flat with three other women. One was a singer. One was a cosmetologist. The other was happy writing poetry, living off a trust fund from her grandfather. She kind of kept the place going financially when the rest of us couldn’t pay.

  I waited tables.

  I dog sat.

  I worked my ass off to get through college and took any job I could get.

  I was the one who used to get the big bosses their coffees.

  And nothing more.

  When I got promoted, it was to enter data into a computer.

  Not once had I complained. At least not out loud.

  I just worked and plotted.

  Now I finally had my own place again.

  My first apartment on my own was a dump. It was noisy, the walls shook when a vehicle with a big engine cruised by, and it felt dangerous.

  I caught myself bouncing around, Mom begging me to come back to live with her, but I ended up bumping into Sheila at a cafe then I lived with her.

  But this… this was real.

  This was all the hard work I put in with Amado Investments. I deserved a bonus for putting up with Jackson’s bullshit, but that was coming.