by London Casey
Jackson laughed. “Let’s talk about which parts of what you said are true.”
Jackson put the coffee cup on the counter.
I grabbed it and started to drink it. Black.
After a few sips, I put it down and prepared it the way I liked it.
“Cream and sugar,” I said to him. “More sugar than cream.”
“What?”
“That’s how I like my coffee.”
“Why do I care?”
“You’re not going to make me coffee each morning?” I asked.
My mind shifted into self-preservation mode.
I had to get my power back again.
“No,” Jackson said.
“What about breakfast?” I asked, nodding to the griddle.
“This is my breakfast,” he said.
“What?”
“Did you think I woke up before you to cook for you?”
He started to laugh again.
“You’re kidding me, right?”
“Hey, if you want to do the wife thing for real, then you can cook for me,” Jackson said. “Got it?”
“Well, fuck you then,” I said. I stood up. “You can’t even give me a plate of food? After last night?”
“You wanted to get married to me,” he said.
“I don’t care about that. I’m talking about the sex. You can’t spare a pancake after a night of fucking me?”
Jackson put his hands to the counter and leaned forward. “We didn’t have sex last night, Callie.”
My face burned hot. “What?”
“Not even close.”
“Why not?”
“Well, for starters, you were drunk,” he said.
“We both were,” I said.
“I knew where I was and what I was doing. You didn’t.”
I clenched my teeth tight.
I obviously overdid last night.
The idea that I couldn’t drink like the men made me want to lock myself in my apartment and drink whiskey until my liver was stone and I could drink myself sober.
“Now, since you seem so bothered that we didn’t have sex, let me carry you to the bedroom and properly make you my wife,” Jackson said.
The way he looked right then… leaning against the counter. The muscles. The messy bed head. The smell of bacon and coffee.
“No,” I said. “You missed out on your chance. Sucks to be you.”
“Does it though?” he asked. “You weren’t wearing those clothes when you woke up, were you?”
“You asshole,” I said. “So what did you do? Strip me down? Enjoy the view? Then what? Run in the bathroom and jerk off into the sink?”
“You are something else, Callie,” Jackson said. He grabbed a plate off the counter and shoveled two pancakes, some eggs, and three strips of bacon onto it. He put the plate in front of me. “One-time thing. Don’t get used to it.”
“I’ll never cook for you,” I said. “If that’s what you want out of a wife, then you better divorce me.”
“Not until I receive my bonus,” he said. “Do you remember that part?”
“Of course I do. I wouldn’t be so dumb to marry you for any other reason.”
I grabbed a fork and stabbed the fluffy eggs.
They were delicious.
Hot. Muscular. Can cook…
… is my husband…
I looked at the ring on my finger again and cringed.
“For the record,” Jackson said, “I didn’t want my wife to spend her first night as a married woman alone. That’s why I brought you here. You were complaining about not having pajamas so I told you to sleep naked. You laughed and said don’t tempt me. So I did. We were this close to fucking…” Jackson held up thumb and pointer almost touching. “I took my shirt off and gave it to you. I left the bedroom to get you a glass of water because I didn’t want you puking all over my bed. When I came back, you were in my t-shirt and already asleep.”
“Where did you sleep?” I asked.
“My bed.”
“You slept next to me?”
“It’s my bed, Callie.”
“You don’t care who is in it, do you?”
“Nope,” he said. “Now, you can have breakfast. But not here.”
“What?”
“You’re allowed to stay if you’ve felt me inside you. That’s a rule.”
I moved away from the counter.
I felt like spitting on the food to ruin it.
But I was hungry.
I decided on something else.
I grabbed the plate and coffee cup and made my way to the door.
Then I had to balance the coffee cup on the plate to open the door.
I managed that just fine.
As I was leaving, I looked back.
“Thanks for the breakfast, hubby,” I said.
I walked out into the hallway and I felt Jackson following me.
I stood at my door and groaned.
My phone and keys were in the back pocket of my jeans.
I felt the keys digging into my ass.
Before I could do anything, Jackson’s hand slipped into the back pocket of my jeans.
“Are you serious right now?” I asked.
“Just helping the old ball and chain out,” he said.
His hands did more than just feel around for my keys.
My inner thighs trembled with desire, sending screaming pulses through the rest of my body to do it.
He’s your husband! Fuck him!
Jackson took the keys from my pocket and stuck them into the door and unlocked it for me. He reached around me with his other hand and then opened the door and guided me inside. He took the keys from the lock and slipped them back into my back pocket.
“See you at work,” he said.
I stood in my apartment holding a plate of food and a coffee cup that belonged to Jackson.
Between my legs, I was… you know… which also belonged to Jackson.
I sipped the coffee.
I shook my head.
I was totally fucking screwed.
Chapter Seventeen
Jackson
My wife.
I laughed at the thought of it.
I was going to have to get used to it for a little while.
That bonus money was as good as mine.
No way in hell I was going to pass up that kind of money.
Married? To Callie? For a little while?
Not a problem.
The real problem was Callie herself.
The way she acted the night before. Drunk and eager. Her eyes half shut as she started to take her clothes off, wanting to go to bed. Then waking up next to her as she wore my t-shirt. The smell of her hair that I didn’t mean to actually smell. It was just that she threw her fucking hair all over the pillows.
She was a bed hog too.
That wasn’t going to fly.
It was good this marriage bullshit was only viable when people could see us.
Although, seeing her shuffling through my apartment in the morning was quite the sight.
I wished she would have left the t-shirt on. And nothing else.
Just to see her perky nipples pressing through the soft, expensive cloth…
I made a fist and gnawed on it like a dog to a rawhide bone.
I got my phone and checked my email again.
Nothing was happening.
I hated how quiet it was.
Usually a quiet morning was something to cherish.
Not this morning.
The name of the game was distraction.
“You okay back there, my friend?” the driver asked.
“Yeah, I’m good,” I said.
“You look uncomfortable.”
“I had a two days old breakfast burrito this morning,” I lied. “And that fucking thing is chatting back at me something wild. My advice is to speed the fuck up or else I’m going to be painting the backseat a color you don’t want.”
The driver’s eyes went wide and
he didn’t say a word to me for the rest of the ride to the office.
When we got there, I got out of the car without so much as a thanks to the driver.
It was a dick move, but I had other things to focus on.
I rushed to my office and found Eddie waiting for me.
“Not today, man,” I said as I waved my hand and hurried to my desk.
“What’s wrong? I was coming to celebrate a little with you. Some great stuff happening here.”
“Eddie, just not today,” I said.
“What happened last night? Heard you and Vince tore up a strip club. Rough night?”
I shook my head. “You heard wrong. Did Vince tell you that?”
“Yeah,” Eddie said. “He said it was a special occasion and had nothing to do with the deal…”
I quickly slid my left hand into my pocket.
I didn’t want Eddie to see the goddamn wedding ring on my finger just yet.
“Let me get settled here, Eddie,” I said. “Then we can talk.”
“Sounds good. Sorry to bother you. Wanted to let you know I flipped the Parson account.”
“Flipped…”
“Money, baby,” Eddie said. “I told you it was smart to hold on to that one.”
“Yeah you did,” I said. “Good return?”
“Vince is going to need to change his pants. They were holding out for an IPO but I talked them into a buyout. Better for everyone. They were going to end up killing each other over there. It’s a mostly cash deal, a little equity to go around. Including some for us.”
“Son of a bitch, Eddie,” I said with a smile. “That’s smooth.”
“It’s what we do,” he said. “I’ve got a few other bites on some startups. I wanted to throw them your way first. I know if I go to Vince, he’ll want them all.”
“That’s smart,” I said. “Always come to me. Get everything togeth…”
My voice trailed off as my eyes watched Callie enter her office.
She was in a red dress and black heels.
Dressed like the devil…
She got behind her desk, looked right at me, and lifted her left hand, flashing off her wedding ring.
“Jackson?” Eddie asked.
“I’ll catch up with you about it later,” I said.
Eddie looked back and when he saw Callie he let out a whistle.
“Good lord,” he whispered. “I would lose my mind working across from that every day.”
“Careful, Eddie,” I said. “Time to go.”
“Yeah it is,” he said. “She’s coming this way, Jackson.”
Eddie left and Callie entered.
She shut the door.
“Miss me already?” I asked.
“No,” she said. “What were you and Eddie talking about?”
“How perfect your ass looks in that dress.”
“What?”
I laughed. “The world doesn’t revolve around you, Callie. And if you think it does… well, maybe try not wearing something so provocative.”
“Fuck off, Jackson,” she snapped at me.
“Is this our first married fight?”
“Sure,” she said. “I can’t believe you want to argue over what I wear.”
“Maybe I’m the jealous type,” I said. “You don’t need to prance around looking like that now. You’re a wife now. Get some sweatpants and a hoodie. Find recipes online and make decent dinners. Got it?”
Callie laughed. “I’m going to bury you alive if you keep talking like that.”
“Then you’ll lose your bonus.”
“Actually, I won’t,” Callie said. She leaned forward on my desk. Her cleavage was too good to not look at. “If you die, then we’re still married. I still get my bonus.”
“So you found a loophole.”
“Yup.”
“I better watch my back then,” I said.
“I would. Stop staring at my ass and look at your own.”
I turned and stuck my ass out. “How’s mine look?”
“Eh,” she said.
I spun back around. “Okay, chit chat time is over. We have work to do here.”
“Hold on a second,” Callie said. “I didn’t come in here to do this.”
“Oh, okay,” I said. “Want to pull the blinds shut? You can sit on the desk and I’ll eat you for breakfast.”
“Not going to happen,” she said.
“You’re really skipping ahead here, Callie. I thought when you first got married the sex was wild. And then it tapered off.”
“This marriage isn’t normal. Remember?”
“This marriage isn’t real,” I said with a grin.
Callie smiled right back at me. “It’s time to talk about something important.”
I leaned closer to her. “Like what?”
“It’s time we talk about the rules of this thing.”
“Rules?” I asked.
Callie nodded. She pointed to my dick. “First rule, keep it in your pants, Jackson.”
“I think that was the first thing you said to me when we got married last night, sweetie,” I said.
“Funny,” she said. “I’m serious.”
“I’m a man, Callie. I have needs. Wild and dark needs.”
“You also have two hands.”
“I also have a neighbor that just happens to be my wife,” I said.
“Make a move like that and I’ll cut your dick off,” she said. “This is about money. Blow your load into a sock for a little bit. Okay?”
“Only if you buy me my first lap dance when this shit is over,” I said.
“Deal,” she said.
“Look at that. We can agree on something.”
Callie’s nostrils flared. “We need to make sure our story is straight and looks good. I assume you’re going to tell your friends about this? The truth?”
“Yeah,” I said. “They’ll sniff it out in a second.”
“Okay,” she said. “We need to keep that circle very small.”
“No shit.”
“Are you always going to be an asshole to me?”
“More than likely,” I said. “Unless you’re naked.”
Callie let out a hmph sound. “Typical man.”
“What other rules do you have in mind here, wife?” I asked.
“No cheating,” she said.
“I heard you the first time.”
“I’m just making sure of it.”
“The same goes for you,” I said. “You keep it in your pants too. Or out of your pants.”
“I’m fine,” she said. “Remember my special box?”
She winked.
She got me there.
Now I had images of her in her bed, touching herself with something battery operated.
“We have to fight nicely at the office,” she said. “We can still banter but not too hard. The whole thing about our love story was that we always had a thing for each other. It was just confusing. So we fought because we were in love.”
“Sounds good,” I said. “What else?”
“If we have to be seen outside of here, hold my hand. Hold the door. Be an actual man for once in your life.”
“And you’re going to be a woman?” I asked.
“Bring me a coffee. Bring me flowers. That kind of stuff, okay?”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“We have to make this work, Jackson. We should probably get a ride to and from the office together. I live in the building so it’s totally believable.”
“You really thought this out, huh?”
“Someone had to.”
“You really need money, don’t you? You’re broke.”
“I’m not broke, Jackson,” she said. “Far from it. I just know what’s mine. What I’ve earned. What I deserve. And I’m not going to let you get in the way of that. Understood?”
“Hey… happy wife, happy life… right?”
Callie reached out and touched my face. “You just might be useful after all, Jackson.
”
She puckered her lips and kissed the air.
As Callie moved toward the door, I gritted my teeth.
She wasn’t getting away that easily.
I ran to the door with speed and made sure I opened the door for her.
Just like she wanted me to do.
I smiled at her.
“Thanks for getting the do-”
I gave a sweet and soft kiss.
Lips to lips.
She quickly pulled away.
I moved my lips to her ear. “Everyone is watching us, sweetie. Better play the part… wife…”
I leaned back and saw red flush through her cheeks.
She wanted to hit me in a bad way.
Instead of hitting me, she grabbed the front of my shirt.
“How about a proper kiss goodbye?” she whispered.
Callie pulled herself to her toes and kissed me.
Not just any kiss… but a real kiss.
Her lips were soft against mine and that only gave way to her sweet tongue flirting to get into my mouth.
I had no problem opening my mouth, letting my tongue meet hers.
I thought for a second I had her, but then she turned her head and grabbed the back of my hair, digging her nails into my scalp.
She dug as hard as she could - her way of causing me pain.
We kissed like two teenagers in a dark movie theater.
Fighting each other for command and control of the kiss.
Our tongues sloppy and smacking together.
All in front of the office.
She broke the kiss and bit her bottom lip.
Her cheeks were as red as her lips.
“Can’t wait to see you again, hubby,” she said.
She patted my chest and tried to wipe the wrinkles away.
She strutted into her office and left me standing there.
Again, the entire office staring.
I slowly took a breath.
It might have been the first time in my life I felt like I was blushing.
Chapter Eighteen
Callie
I shut my office door and put my back against it.
I had the sudden feeling I was in a horror movie and the monster was about to smash against the door, wanting in.
There was nothing but silence, which was probably worse than a man - woman - eating monster coming to devour me in a second.
