New Beginnings (Forever and Always #15)

by E. L. Todd

  I assumed Zander hadn’t gone to college. At least I had another point over his head.

  “Where do you work?” her father asked.

  “Linguistics Software,” I answered.

  “That big building next to Beer and Bark?” Dean asked.

  “The very one,” I said.

  “What do you do there?” he asked.

  This was tricky… “I handle all the investments.” I couldn’t think of anything better to say.

  “Is that how you two met?” Jenny asked with a smile.

  “Yep,” I said. “I asked her for some invoices, and she gave them to me. The rest was history.”

  “How sweet,” she said. “It’s been a while, huh?”

  “About six months,” she said. “We’re getting serious.”

  Getting serious? I was about to put a ring on her damn finger and she was carrying my baby.

  “That’s wonderful,” her mother said. “I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot more of Mike.”

  “You will,” Cassandra said firmly.

  The waiter took our order and her father ordered a bottle of wine for the table. I hoped that wouldn’t be a problem. I didn’t want to spill the beans this early into the meal.

  Her father uncorked the bottle and poured us all a glass. “I’m a bit of a wine aficionado.”

  I wanted to tell him my father owned a few vineyards in Napa, but I remembered I couldn’t. Too bad. It would have been a good conversation starter.

  Her brother was quiet, keeping to himself a lot of the time. He didn’t speak often, and his parents didn’t include him in the conversation. It didn’t even seem like Cassandra was close with him.

  “You haven’t tried your wine, Cassandra,” her father said. “You love red wine.”

  I finished my glass already. I should have traded glasses when no one was looking.

  “I like to drink when I have some food in my stomach.”

  Good excuse.

  Her father seemed to buy it. He talked to me about stock investments. He seemed interested in wine and money, nothing else. He didn’t mention sports or politics. But I didn’t like talking about politics anyway.

  Her mother was a private seamstress. She worked at a dry cleaner in Manhattan. Both of her parents seemed perfectly nice, but I didn’t click with them. I was just glad they didn’t hate me—yet. This place was a little fancy so I planned on paying for dinner but I didn’t want to insult her father at the same time. This was complicated.

  The food was brought and we dug in. I discreetly switched our glasses so it would look like she drank it.

  “Mike must have loved the wine if he’s trying to steal Cassandra’s,” Dean noted.

  Damn. “I love red wine.” I couldn’t think of something better to say.

  “Try it, Cassandra,” he pressured. “The bottle was fifty dollars so you better drink it.”

  Honestly, the wine was cheap and bitter. I could tell her dad didn’t know enough about wine even though he acted like he did. And fifty bucks meant the wine was pretty much piss. I didn’t know how Cassandra was going to get out of this one.

  “I’m not drinking alcohol at the moment,” she said gracefully.

  Joey chuckled. “Yeah right.”

  “I’m not,” she said calmly.

  “Since when?” her mother asked. “Are you trying to lose weight?”

  “No,” Cassandra said.

  “Maybe she’s an alcoholic,” Dean teased.

  “No. I’m not drinking alcohol because I’m pregnant.” She said it simply, like the information wasn’t new or interesting. She held her posture and remained calm. I prepared for the attack. I knew they wouldn’t be pissed at her. The blame would be put on me, the guy who came inside her.

  Her entire family flinched at the words.

  “Your pregnant?” her mother asked. She still held her fork in her hand.

  “Yes.” Cassandra gave me a fond look. “And we’re very excited about it.” She squeezed my thigh.

  “You knocked up my daughter?” Dean asked, his face red.

  I didn’t respond verbally, but I met his gaze like a man.

  “How far along are you?” Jenny asked.

  “Almost six weeks,” Cassandra said happily.

  “We only got seven and a half more months to go.” I wanted to show my excitement.

  “So, you knock up my daughter then expect me to take you to dinner?” Dean asked. “This is a really great first impression.”

  “I insist on paying for the meal,” I said politely. “And I’m not going to hide what happened between your daughter and I. I love her and I’m very excited about the baby. It’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me.”

  Jenny’s eyes softened. “How sweet…”

  “If you don’t marry my daughter, I’ll kill you,” he threatened.

  “Dad, calm down,” Cassandra barked. “We’ll get married because we want to get married.”

  “Which I do,” I added. “I was hoping to get your permission to ask tonight.”

  “Why should I give you permission?” he asked. “You clearly don’t care for it.”

  This was not going well.

  “Dad, knock it off,” Cassandra hissed.

  “It’s okay, baby,” I said gently.

  “How’s this guy ever going to take care of you?” Dean snapped. “He works in investments? What does that even mean?”

  I held my tongue, not revealing my true identity.

  “I can take care of myself,” Cassandra spat. “I don’t need anyone to take care of me.”

  “I make plenty of money to support Cassandra,” I said. “She doesn’t have to work if she doesn’t want to.”

  “I’m sure,” he said sarcastically.

  This dinner was officially an epic failure. I was ready to leave. I did my best and tried to make a good impression, but her pregnancy threw all that out the window.

  “Why don’t you go back to Zander?” Dean snapped. “At least he knew the meaning of respect.”

  I clenched my fists under the table. I can’t believe Cassandra didn’t tell them the truth.

  Cassandra rested her hand on mine. “Don’t,” she whispered. “Let’s go.”

  I rose out of the booth and grabbed three hundred dollars out of my wallet. I slapped it on the table then put my business card on the surface, right under his nose. “I do a little more than just investments. My estimate worth is half a billion. Google it.” I knew I shouldn’t have done that but I didn’t care. I could fucking take care of my damn girl. I grabbed Cassandra by the hand and pulled her out of the restaurant, not looking back at her pathetic family.

  “You shouldn’t have done that,” Cassandra said when we walked into the apartment.

  I pulled my jacket off and tossed it on the back of the couch. “Well, I did,” I snapped.

  “My dad was just in shock about the whole thing. He would have calmed down in a couple of days and apologized.”

  “I snapped, okay? Nobody tells me I can’t take care of my girl.” I put my hands on my hips and breathed through the frustration. “In case you didn’t notice, the Prestons take that very seriously. There’s no worse offense.”

  “But you don’t need a billionaire to do that. Being a good father and husband has nothing to do with money.”

  “It has everything to do with it,” I snapped. “His purpose is to provide, and I will provide for you. I will give you the damn world. How dare he insult me like that?”

  She put her hands on my arms and rubbed the muscle gently. “Mike, calm down.”

  “That dinner was a fucking fiasco.”

  She shrugged. “We tried. We can’t beat ourselves up over it. But I do appreciate your effort.”

  I was still annoyed so I didn’t look at her.

  “Mike?”

  “What?”

  “I don’t care what my parents think. I love you and want you for the rest of my life.”

  Her light voice and tone sheathed
the anger and frustration I felt. It was hard to be upset when I had this beautiful woman looking at me with nothing but adoration. I was her whole world, her hero, her idol. And that gave me purpose.

  She kissed the corner of my mouth, making my breathing hitch. She could set me on fire no matter how pissed I was. Her hand gripped my tie and she pulled me toward the couch. She pushed me down then moved into my lap. The dress she wore moved up, exposing her upper thighs.

  My pants were unbuttoned, and they were yanked down along with my boxers. I knew what was about to happen and I was looking forward to it.

  “Thank you for trying,” she said as she moved to her knees.

  My hand fisted her hair, wanting to hold on before her lips sealed around me.

  Cassandra kissed the tip then licked her tongue across the surface, making me moan in desire. She gave me a playful look while she did it, driving me wild. I squeezed her hair, wanting to have some control.

  She slowly moved me to the back of her throat, taking me all like a pro. I leaned my head back and bit my lip because it felt so good. Cassandra gave the best head in the world. It was like she used to be a man at one point in time, understanding exactly what felt good.

  I looked down at her, seeing her sheath me over and over. I could let her do this to me forever, but I had the urge to hold her, to connect to her. When our bodies were combined, everything else faded away. Nothing could stop us from being together.

  I pulled her head back gently, removing my cock from her mouth. Then I grabbed her in my arms and carried her to the bedroom we shared. I lay her down then pulled her clothes away. My cock was still wet so I slipped in immediately.

  “You don’t like getting head?” she asked with a moan.

  “I love it. I just love making love to you more.” I cupped her face and kissed her, parting her lips slowly. Her long legs wrapped around me and pulled me close. I rocked into her gently, not in any hurry to finish. Her arms hooked around my neck, anchoring me to her.

  I never knew what making love was like until Cassandra came into my life, and it was so much better than fucking. All those lonely nights where I met some random girl in a bar and took her back to my place were depressing. I didn’t remember their names, and I didn’t even remember them most of the time. Now it felt like none of that ever happened. Cassandra was all I knew. It’d been her all along. And I couldn’t wait to spend the rest of my life with her—and only her.

  The Next Installment of the Forever and Always Series

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