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

by London Casey

  He was too busy staring down at Callie’s chest, picturing all the things he wanted to do to her tits.

  When he saw me, I swear on my life, he pushed Callie out of the way and let out a scream that sounded like a monkey having wild sex.

  He waved his arms and bent his knees and looked to be in the worst kind of karate stance I’d ever seen in my life.

  “Holy…”

  “You want the pain, asshole?” Derrick growled. “I’ll bring the pain, motherfucker.”

  “Derrick,” Callie said.

  “Go in the bedroom,” Derrick said. “Call the police.”

  “She’s not calling the cops on her husband,” I said.

  Derrick squinted and again it took him another three seconds to realize who I was.

  “Jackson,” he said. “You’re the neighbor.”

  “The husband,” I said.

  “I’m confused,” Derrick said.

  “Jackson, what the fuck are you doing in my apartment?” Callie asked.

  “I was waiting up for you, sweetie,” I said.

  I walked toward her and Derrick made the bold move to try and cut me off.

  “Wait a second, man,” he said. “This doesn’t make sense.”

  Derrick and I were then facing off.

  “What doesn’t make sense? How to spell your name? Because of the two r’s?”

  “Don’t be a dick to me,” Derrick said. “I will fight you.”

  “With your karate moves there?”

  “I’ll chop your neck and you’ll pass out,” he said.

  I laughed. “You got it, my man. Hey, listen, thanks for bringing my wife home safe and sound. Means a lot.”

  “I’m not fucking leaving,” Derrick said. “Callie promised me sex.”

  “Derrick!” Callie yelled.

  “She promised you sex?” I asked.

  “Yeah she did,” Derrick said. “That a problem?”

  “Well, considering we’re married, it’s a big problem,” I said.

  “Both of you leave now,” Callie said.

  “What about our marriage?” I asked.

  “What about the sex?” Derrick asked.

  I had had enough of him for one night.

  I grabbed the front of his shirt and walked him back against a wall.

  He hit with a thud and his eyes went wide.

  “Jackson! Stop!” Callie yelled.

  “If I ever hear you talk about fucking my wife again, I’m going to rip your dick off and shove it in your ear.”

  “My dick is too big to fit in my ear,” he said.

  “You’re a fucking moron,” I said. “Get the fuck out of here.”

  I threw Derrick toward the door.

  He spun around and made the same karate motion he did before.

  I lunged at him and he screamed again and jumped out of the apartment.

  He fell to the floor and looked up at me.

  “Seriously though,” I said. “Thanks for getting her home safe.”

  “Fuck you!” Derrick yelled as I slammed the door.

  I turned and started to smile.

  Callie was right there, slapping me across the face.

  I grabbed her face - gently - and I kissed her.

  She put her hands to my chest and pushed me away.

  “What is wrong with you?” she yelled.

  “Me? You brought a guy home to fuck. What’s wrong with you?”

  “It was your idea,” Callie said. “Remember?”

  “I didn’t realize we shook on the deal,” I said.

  “Just get out of here, Jackson. This night has been…”

  “What?” I asked. “What did you think it was going to be? That guy had every intention of fucking you all night long. You cock teased him. And then you said you were going to fuck him?”

  “Those words never left my mouth,” Callie said.

  “What was said then?” I asked.

  “Wait. Where’s your date?”

  “Why does that matter?”

  “You fucked her, didn’t you?” Callie asked.

  “Not yet,” I said. “I was waiting for you to come home first.”

  “So you could shove Derrick out?”

  “He’s a loser.”

  “Your date is a bimbo.”

  “She’s actually really smart.”

  “Fuck you, Jackson,” Callie said.

  I put my hands to her hips and pulled her against me.

  I lowered my mouth to her ear.

  “Want me to finish what I started in that bathroom stall?” I offered.

  Callie pushed me away again. “First off, asshole, I started it myself. I didn’t need you. Then or now. So go home, Jackson. The night is over.”

  “For you,” I said.

  “What does that mean?”

  “What do you think it means?” I asked.

  Callie curled her lip. “She’s in your bed, isn’t she?”

  “Maybe.”

  “You left that bimbo whore in your bed to come over here and mess with me.”

  “You’re my wife,” I said. “You take precedence.”

  “I’m going to go over there and do to her what you did to Derrick,” Callie said.

  I opened the apartment door and nodded.

  “Go for it,” I said.

  Callie grabbed her dress and ran out of the apartment.

  I followed her to my apartment.

  I guess the night really wasn’t over yet.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Callie

  There was no talking common sense into me as I barged into Jackson’s apartment.

  It was pretty simple.

  If he was going to be a dick to Derrick and throw him out and chase him away, I was going to do the same to his date.

  To Maggie.

  The whore, Maggie.

  For all I knew she could have built villages for starving children across the globe, but being in my husband’s bed… you were a whore.

  Jackson was behind me but didn’t try to stop me.

  He just kind of lingered there, probably enjoying it.

  In his mind, he was fantasizing about me grabbing Maggie and throwing her out of the bed. Knowing him, he hoped that a tit would pop out. Or we’d end up in our panties, smacking each other with pillows. Or better yet - we’d somehow end up kissing and invite Jackson to join us.

  The thoughts were so real that I stopped at his bedroom door and looked back at him.

  “You are one sick asshole,” I said.

  “Me? What did I do?”

  “You know what you did,” I said. “What you’re thinking. Sicko.”

  Jackson laughed.

  That made it worse.

  He loved it. He played into it.

  Nothing bothered him about it.

  I opened the bedroom door and hurried inside.

  “Okay you fucking whore…”

  I looked around the bedroom.

  It was empty.

  The bed was perfectly made.

  Not a wrinkle on the comforter. Not a pillow out of place.

  I took a deep breath and smelled the air.

  It didn’t have that sex smell.

  Which meant…

  “Gotcha,” Jackson whispered right into my ear.

  His hands touched my hips.

  He had set me up.

  And I’d fallen for it.

  I stepped out of his grasp and spun around. “That’s the best you’ve got?”

  “Who’s jealous now?” he asked.

  “Oh, this wasn’t jealousy. This was about fairness.”

  “Fairness?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “If I’m not getting laid, neither are you.”

  “I sent Maggie packing,” Jackson said. “We didn’t even get a ride home together. I got her a car and she was gone.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah,” Jackson said, taking a step toward me. “What about you? You’re the one who brought someone home to fuck. You were going to
ruin this whole thing.”

  “I wasn’t going to fuck Derrick,” I said. I wasn’t sure if that was a lie or not. “I was just trying to mess with you. And it worked.”

  “That guy is a loser.”

  “And you care why?”

  “Because if my wife fucks a loser behind my back, that makes me a loser.”

  I laughed. “Oh, so you have a standard of man I get to cheat with?”

  “Yeah. I do.”

  “What are the standards?”

  “Not Derrick,” Jackson said.

  “Looks like you’re the jealous one again,” I said. “Is it the money? Or the fact that he’s so dumb yet he never has to worry about it ever in his life?”

  “Maybe it’s the way he stares at your chest,” Jackson said. He curled his lip. “That’s all he cares about. He doesn’t know how to take care of a woman and her body.”

  “And you can?” I asked.

  Jackson stroked his finger to my chest. “You have no idea what I’m capable of.”

  “That’s a good thing,” I said. “That’s part of this. You and I… can’t happen.”

  “Says who?” Jackson asked.

  “Are you really going down that road?”

  “Maybe I’m already there,” he said.

  “This is so typical.”

  “What is?”

  “You only want me because you can’t have me. And because someone else wants me. I was just some useless woman to you, but now you know I have a sex life. You’ve seen someone that I like to sleep with. It has you rattled. You’re flustered, Jackson. You’re-”

  Jackson grabbed me by the hips and picked me up.

  I grabbed his arms and gasped.

  He moved in for a kiss…

  … and tossed me to the bed instead.

  I stayed there and watched him hover over me.

  “Tell me the truth, wife,” he said. “Were you going to sleep with Derrick tonight?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “That’s the truth.”

  “You wanted to see what I was doing first, right?”

  “Yeah,” I said as I propped myself up on my elbows. “That a problem?”

  “You wanted to use me to get what you wanted. Waiting for me to fuck up so you could too. Then you could blame me.”

  “You’ve really thought about this, Jackson.”

  “I had some time to kill in your apartment,” he said with a grin.

  “What did you do in there?” I asked.

  “I touched everything. Snooped. You have bras everywhere…”

  I sat up. “You’re an asshole. That’s my private…”

  “We’re married,” he said. “There is no privacy.”

  “Should I go through your stuff?” I asked.

  Jackson backed away. “Have at it. I have nothing to hide.”

  I stood up from the bed.

  Disappointment went through me. I thought for sure Jackson was going to end up on top of me. And inside me.

  I blushed a little and looked around his room.

  “You know what? It’s not worth it. I’m not going to fall into your trap.”

  “I don’t do traps, sweetie,” Jackson said.

  “This is all one big trap,” I said. “You think you’re going to control me. Get the bonus. Kick me out of the company. I swear you forget who I am.”

  “And who are you?” he asked.

  An idea came to me.

  I walked to the door and stood in the doorway.

  I swallowed hard and reached back and undid the dress.

  Gently, I slid it down my arms, exposing my back to him.

  From my point of view, I was topless.

  I looked down at my breasts.

  My nipples were like tiny fingers giving me the thumbs up.

  Calm your tits… literally…

  I moved the dress down to the small of my back and stopped.

  “You’re quiet,” I said.

  “I’m observing,” he said.

  “You’re not touching or kissing?” I teased.

  “Turn around and find out,” he said.

  I knew I had him then.

  I slowly looked back. “You make a move, Jackson.”

  “If I make a move, Callie, this whole thing is going to get fucking intense.”

  “And do you think for a second intense scares me?”

  Jackson stepped toward me.

  Inching closer by the second.

  He reached out and touched my shoulders.

  All he had to do was look down to get a full view of my breasts.

  But he kept his eyes on mine.

  I wasn’t sure if he was being sweet and serious or devious and a dickhead.

  The moment I felt his grip slightly tighten on my shoulders, I walked forward.

  Out of his grip.

  Out of his room.

  Out of his reach.

  I picked my dress back up and reached back to secure it.

  That’s when I turned around.

  Full clothed again.

  I blew him a kiss and left him standing in the doorway to his bedroom.

  He looked pissed.

  And I mean pissed.

  All I could do was smile.

  I ran through my apartment after locking the door to get to the bathroom.

  I hovered over the sink, staring down into it like I was going to throw up.

  Did I have a few too many martinis?

  Yes.

  But I wasn’t going to puke from that.

  It was Jackson.

  The moments between us.

  They were getting hotter.

  More intense each time we crossed paths.

  I had done my best to relieve myself on my own. And I was sure he was doing the same.

  Nothing compared to the real thing though.

  We both knew that.

  Even still, it couldn’t happen.

  We had to stick to the plan.

  “Stick to the plan, Callie,” I said.

  I looked at myself in the mirror.

  I quickly turned on the cold water and filled my hands.

  I splashed the water on my face.

  Over and over, desperate to calm myself down.

  I dried my face and left the bathroom.

  I went to my bedroom and took off the dress, leaving it a heaping mess on the floor.

  Just like the rest of my room.

  Fine, I was messy, but whatever.

  I kept my shit in order when it came to real life and work.

  So what did it matter that I had a pile of clean clothes, dirty clothes, and a third pile of clothes that I wasn’t sure if they were clean or dirty?

  This was my bedroom in my apartment.

  It was my business.

  Not Jackson’s.

  I completely forgot to ask him how he got into the apartment too.

  The entire thing enraged me.

  I needed a drink.

  But if I had that one more drink I would end up getting sick.

  So I stuck to a glass of water and tucked myself in.

  When my phone buzzed with a text, I dove for the nightstand.

  My mind screamed It’s Jackson! He’s going to ask you to come back over! He’s going to fuck you! You can do it, Callie!

  It wasn’t Jackson.

  It was my mother.

  Hey Callie! I got something in the mail today. Looks official. Maybe serious. We need to talk about it tomorrow. Please. I need your help. Okay?

  I sighed.

  I put my phone down.

  I didn’t bother replying to her.

  She was in trouble with someone about something. And the something was always money.

  I shut my eyes and grabbed at the sheets.

  I wasn’t sure what was worse anymore.

  My real life or my fake one.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Jackson

  I stepped out of my apartment, dressed for a run, and saw Callie’s mother standing at her apa
rtment door.

  Running wasn’t usually my thing.

  I enjoyed weights.

  Lifting heavy kept me distracted.

  But running cleared my head.

  And I needed to clear my head.

  Big time.

  Last night had been a little bit too much. Callie had me so wound up I couldn’t even handle my personal business. I paced the apartment for a good hour, wondering if one million dollars was worth the effort. Realistically, I could just take care of a few more deals on my own, find a replacement for Callie, and then twist Vince’s arm to do the right thing. She’d be gone. I’d get the top spot in the company. Then one million dollars wouldn’t seem like such a large amount of money.

  And… there was money for me from my father.

  Through the company.

  That was another reason why I needed Vince to figure his shit out. If he was going to sit on top of the company and move in the direction he was, then I wanted to cash out. I wasn’t sure what that meant, but that was for lawyers to figure out.

  All of those thoughts bothered me from the night into the morning, which was why I needed to go for the run.

  Until I saw Callie’s mother…

  I grinned and wandered down the hallway.

  “Good morning,” I said.

  Callie’s mother turned and looked at me. “You.”

  “Me. The asshole with the nice eyes.”

  “I love a good sense of humor,” Callie’s mother said.

  “Your daughter doesn’t,” I said with a wink.

  She pointed at me and waved her finger. “You don’t know Callie very well then. Get to know her. She loves a good sense of humor.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” I said.

  I realized I was talking to my mother-in-law. And she didn’t even know that’s what she was to me. Or that I was her son-in-law.

  Talk about a juicy as fuck secret to have.

  “Say, where’s your crew at?”

  “My crew?”

  “Those beautiful women you were with the first time I met you,” I said.

  “Oh, you stop that talk right now,” Callie’s mother said.

  She grabbed my arm.

  Callie opened the door.

  “Hey Mo-”

  She froze and stared at me.

  I lifted my left hand and waved.

  Showing off my wedding band.