man. I’ll stand up there and joke about not having the rings when I’ve had them all along. I’ll stand up and give a toast and tell everyone the story of how you bought pills to make your dick bigger and they turned out to be nothing but vitamins.”
“Fuck, man, don’t you dare…”
I laughed. “But first, you have to find someone to marry.”
“Jackson. I’m engaged.”
I waved my right hand. “The first one doesn’t count.”
“Just because you-”
“Hey,” I said. “You’re my best friend. There are few things I’ve had to cope with over the years with you. Some decisions that have been questionable. But this one…”
“Don’t say one bad thing about Miranda,” Liam said. “You’ve never given her a chance.”
“I can read people, Liam,” I said.
“No. You judge. That’s not fair.”
“I didn’t tell you not to marry her,” I said. “I didn’t tell you not to throw that ring on her finger. That’s your call.”
“So, what, you’re not going to be at the wedding?”
“You’ve been engaged longer than you’ve had hair on your balls, brother,” I said.
“Fuck you, I have not,” Liam said. “You live in fear, Jackson. Everything you do is fear based. And you know it.”
“So we came out for drinks to do this?” I asked. “Bickering like an old couple?”
Liam looked back at the beauty that was still eye fucking me.
“I know why you came,” he said. “I should have known.”
“I had a long day today,” I said. “Big meeting soon. Getting things in order.”
“Getting things in order by drinking and picking up a woman?” Liam asked.
“It helps to… cleanse the palate.”
“I don’t think you know what that means,” Liam said.
“Oh well,” I said. I grabbed his shoulder again. “Hey, listen. Who am I to give relationship advice, right? Long term for me is sticking around until nine the next morning. I’m sorry I didn’t hear what you were bitching about. I’m sure it had something to do with Miranda. You know my take on things. I love you like a brother. But I’ll never keep my mouth shut.”
“Do you ever think maybe that’s why you’re single? Why you never… you know… the way things worked out?”
I could have punched Liam in the mouth.
He would have hit me back.
We would have been tossed out of the bar.
Miranda would get pissed at him and hate me even more.
So I let the comment slide.
“You can pay for my drinks,” I said. “I have business to tend to.”
Liam shook his head as I walked away from the bar.
I approached the blonde beauty with the birthmark and she turned to look at me.
“Do you have a birthmark I need to kiss?” I asked without hesitation.
“What? That’s kind of personal, isn’t it?”
I inched closer to the bar and smiled at her.
“Then let’s get personal, sweetie.”
Chapter Two
Callie
The salad on my desk looked like a patch of grass that needed to be cut. All I knew about salads was that iceberg lettuce tasted better than romaine but maybe wasn’t as healthy. Oh, and that spinach had a weird taste. This salad had other leaves in it that I swore were things you were told not to eat if you were outside. Greens that tasted bitter and had sharp edges and hooks. A freaking rabbit would look at this salad and wiggle its nose, looking for a burger.
And fries.
With a creamy chocolate milkshake.
I shut my eyes and put my head back and let out a long groan.
That’s right… take me into your mouth, you whore…
Damn, I needed a chocolate milkshake stat.
“Um, Callie?”
I whipped my head around and Misha stood at the doorway to my office.
“Misha,” I said. “What are you still doing here?”
“I’m not leaving without you,” she said. “You’ll stay all night. And that’s crap.”
“It’s called working for what you want.”
“Jackson doesn’t have to do that.”
“Forget him,” I said. “I have to work harder than him.”
“Because you’re a woman.”
“That, and because his uncle owns the company.” I pointed to Misha. “But don’t get me wrong, Misha. I know what I’m up against. I don’t back down from a challenge. Everyone around here always said I got this job as a favor. Right? Because Jackson and I were kind of maybe friends. No. It wasn’t that at all. I walked into Vince’s office and handed him a multi-million dollar deal during my interview. He told me if I made it happen, I’d have a job. This was all made for me, by me. Got that?”