How to Marry Your Frenemy - London Casey Page 0,41
my story on you, to see if it worked. And it did. So now I’m good to go.”
“Good to go for what?” Liam asked.
“Vince offered Callie and I one million dollars to get married.”
“Fuck,” Liam said. He shut his eyes and sighed. “Jackson…”
“I know. I know. Vince is a piece of shit. That’s a whole other conversation to have. I know how he is. But I am not going to let Callie take this company over. I had no choice in the matter. She was all over it. Prancing around, laughing about it. There was no way I was going to back down from the offer.”
“Married for money,” Liam said. “I mean, in a way, I guess that’s the best marriage for you. You both have a common goal.”
“And we both have to keep the story alive,” I said. “Everyone in the office is going to think we’ve been fooling around secretly for a while. It makes sense. They see the banter between us. So instead of it being hate - which it really is - they can think it had been nothing but sexual tension all along. Done.”
Liam took a deep breath. “Yeah, sure. That works. I can’t… I don’t know what to say here. Congrats?”
“Say that when I get the money,” I said. “We have to figure some parts out. But this is what’s happening.”
“Married,” Liam said. He laughed. “And I’m the one standing here engaged. Maybe I should take Miranda to a strip club, huh? Get her a little tipsy and then whisk her off to wherever you did last night.”
“Miranda at a strip club?” I asked and laughed. “She’s such a tight ass, Liam. She would never. She wouldn’t even let you go to a strip club.”
“I can do whatever I want, Jackson.”
“Sure you can. How long have you been engaged now? Ten years? Twenty?”
“Don’t start that with me,” he said. “We’re taking our time. Making sure everything is perfect.”
“Because she’s high strung, Liam. She doesn’t want to marry you. She likes the idea of it. If she really did, you two would have been married by now. You know that, right?”
“Wait a second,” Liam said. “Are you comparing what you and Callie did to what Miranda and I are planning?”
“Hey, at least Callie stepped up,” I said.
“Oh, fuck you, brother,” Liam said. “You’re married twelve hours and you’re giving me marriage advice?”
“First off, you’re not married,” I said. “Second off, I’ve been married a little more than twelve hours.”
Liam sighed. “Yeah, this is a disaster. Typical Jackson, too. You always find a way to dig a hole and dive headfirst into it. And I already know I’ll be waiting there at the end of the day to pick your ass up and tell you that I was right.”
“That’s because you’re my best friend,” I said. “And, hey, if Miranda wasn’t such a tight ass, you could have been there last night too. You could have been my best man.”
“Not a chance in hell,” Liam said. “I want no part of this. You married a woman you can’t stand just to get some money?”
“One million dollars…”
“And how does it work?” Liam asked. “You have to play the part, right? So you have to act like you love her and care for her. You can’t go around sleeping with other women. How are you going to function?”
“How do you function being engaged to Miranda?” I asked.
“Don’t tempt me,” Liam said. “I will hit you in front of your wife?”
“Oh, I like that,” I said. “I like the way that sounds. Your wife.”
Liam shook his head. “Sometimes I don’t even know who you are, Jackson.”
“Bullshit. Yes you do. This is the exact kind of thing I would do.”
Liam looked away and sighed. “Yeah, I know.”
“I’m not looking for your opinion on this,” I said.
“I know that. You never want an opinion, unless it’s the one you have.”
“Is that such a bad thing?” I asked.
Liam stepped closer to me. He studied me for a few seconds. “You’re seriously married, Jackson?”
“Yes… I am married.”
“Come on, Liam,” I said as I put my feet up on my desk. “You can tell me anything.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say here,” he said. “I’m happy. I know what I want out of life.”
“What about what you could have had?” I asked.
“Listen, brother, if you’re going to keep chopping into me, I’m going to leave.”
“Right. Sorry. I used up my five minutes of time to explain how messed up your life