How to Marry Your Frenemy - London Casey Page 0,40
then stay with me as his date walked by. She stopped and looked at him and didn’t say a word. I had to give him credit for that. It was a smooth move to make. I bought into it. But it was never serious.”
“Callie, this is kind of serious,” Misha said.
“What is?”
“Derrick.”
“Oh, who cares about Derrick?” I asked with a laugh.
“Um… you’re going to.”
“Why? You said he was looking for me, right?”
“Well… it’s a little more than that.”
“How so?”
Misha cringed again. “Derrick is here… in this office… right now.”
Chapter Nineteen
Jackson
“You know, brother, this better be good,” Liam said to me as he stepped off the elevators.
“Like you were working anyway,” I said.
“I’m swamped at the moment.”
“Sure you are.”
“I’m in the middle of reading through some pretty heavy contracts and you text me there’s an emergency… for this? So you can argue with me?”
“Follow me to my office,” I said. “Trust me, it’s worth it.”
I made sure to keep my left hand hidden.
Liam looked around and whistled. “Sometimes I forget just how much of an asshole Vince is. Look at this office. This is over the top. What a waste of money.”
I laughed. “You’re just jealous. I told you I can get you in here. You can help with the contracts. Learn how to cut deals. Make some real money.”
“If I showed you what I got paid, you’d never want to talk to me again,” Liam said.
I opened the main office door for him. “It’s that good?”
“Oh, yeah,” Liam said. “But we both know money can easily ruin friendships.”
“That’s only if you’re borrowing it.”
“Like you owing me fifty bucks from back in college?”
“I didn’t borrow that, Liam,” I said. “I asked for it.”
“To pay that girl’s tab so she’d go home with you.”
“And it worked.”
“Wasn’t she married?”
“Does that matter in the context of what we’re talking about?”
“No,” Liam said.
“I can’t believe you still bring that fifty bucks up,” I said.
We walked toward my office.
“Hey,” he said. “It was the dead of winter and I had no cash for a ride. I had to walk home alone in that weather. I thought I was going to freeze my ass off. Literally.”
“And to think… we all survived.”
I opened my office door and Liam stepped inside.
I shut the door and Liam put his hands to his sides and turned to face me.
“What’s the emergency?”
“You sure you’re ready for this?”
“No. I have no idea what’s going on.”
I lifted my left hand and showed him the wedding band.
“What the hell is that?”
“A ring.”
“I see that, Jackson. What… you think you’re a ring guy now? You think you can pull that shit off? Did Vince tell you to start wearing jewelry?”
“What? No. It’s a fucking wedding ring. I got married last night.”
Liam did a double take. Then he started to laugh. “Wait a second. I must have hit my head on something. I swear I just heard you say you got married last night.”
“I did.”
“What?” Liam yelled.
“I got married last night, Liam. I’m a married man. Right now. This is real.”
“What the fu… how?”
“I was at a strip club with Vince and-”
“Holy shit, Jackson,” Liam said. His faced turned really serious. “You got fucked up and married a stripper? Are you kidding me right now? You know, it’s one thing to sleep around and be… you… but how the hell do you let this happen?”
“Liam, I didn’t marry a stripper,” I said.
“Okay. Then who did you marry?”
I turned my head and looked across to Callie’s office.
The blinds had been closed for a while but were now back open.
Misha was in the office. That meant Misha knew the truth.
I nodded.
Liam looked. “Oh, hell no…”
“What?” I asked with a grin.
“You married Callie?”
“Yup.”
“Tell me you were drunk.”
“Dead drunk,” I said.
“How…”
I laughed and stepped toward Liam.
I grabbed his shoulder. “Get a drink, grab a seat… and buckle up for this bumpy ride of a story…”
“You two have been secretly together for a while now?” Liam asked. “I mean… you were just complaining about her moving into the building. That was a lie? I don’t get it. You really… hate her.”
I leaned against my desk, nodding. “So everything I just told you, you believe?”
“What? Why wouldn’t I?”
I smiled. “Everything I just told you was a lie.”
“What?” Liam asked. He stood up from the couch. “What the hell is this? Are you pranking me? Are you… wait. You’re not married. You’re just fucking around.”
“No, I’m really married. To Callie. That happened.”