New Beginnings (14 page)

“You know what I mean.”

“It’ll be fine.”

“What am I supposed to say I do for a living?” I asked. “Make something up?”

“Say you work for the company, but don’t tell them you own it.”

I growled. “I really hate lying.
They might recognize my last name, and being caught in a lie by my future in-laws would be horrific.”

“They would understand your desire for privacy.”

“Just let me tell them,” I said. “I want them to know I’m going to take care of you.”

Cassandra sighed then gave me a hard look. “Do you really want them to like you because you’re rich? Do you really want to be accepted because of that? Or would you like to be liked because of you?”

She had a point. I looked down and thought quietly.

“So don’t tell them, but don’t lie either.”

“That sounds complicated.”

“Tell them what you do at work but drop the CEO
part.”

I sighed. “Fine.”

“Thank you.” She gave me a hot kiss then pulled away. She wore a black dress that showed her baby bump. She didn’t even try to hide it.

“Maybe you should cover it up so you don’t give your dad a heart attack as soon as you walk in the restaurant.”

“No. I’m not hiding it from anyone. They can deal with it.”

My baby could be such a hard-ass sometimes. “Alright. Let’s get this shit over with.”

“I’ll give you the best sex of your life when we get home.”

That caught my attention. “What for? Just for meeting your parents?”

“No. For making them fall in love with you.”

I drove to the restaurant then found a parking spot a block away.

“How did that bid go for the house?” she asked. “Have you heard anything?”

This was the one time I was going to lie. And I had a damn good reason to. “Baby, we didn’t get it. I’m sorry.” I held her hand and rubbed the top of her knuckles.

“Oh.” She tried to hide her disappointment by looking out the window. “Well, I’m sure we’ll find another one.”

“We will,” I said. “A better one.”

She still seemed sad and I hate
d the look. “Don’t worry, okay? We’ll find the perfect house.”

She smiled slightly. “I know it’s stupid, but I fell in love with that house. But it’s just a house. It really doesn’t matter. We’ll make a beautiful life together no matter where we live, even if it’s in a shack on an island.”

“I wouldn’t mind that, actually.” I leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss. “We could make love all day, and all the kids would work in the garden and hunt.”

“How big is this island?” she asked with a laugh.

“A big ass island.”

“Apparently.”

I was glad I cheered her up. “Now let’s eat. I’m starving.”

We left the car and entered the restaurant.

“They are sitting by the window,” she said.

I took her hand then took a deep breath. “Alright.”

“You’ll be fine.” She gave me a gentle squeeze.

“Okay.”

We approached the table and her parents stood up. Her mom greeted her first and gave her a hug. She had golden hair just like Cassandra. Now I understood where she got it from. Both of her parents were lean and limber. I could see where she got her natural fitness from.

“You look beautiful, honey,” her mother said while she cupped her cheeks.

‘Thanks, Mama. I know it’s been a while.”

Her father kissed her cheek. “Hey, honey.”

“Hi, Dad.”

Neither one noticed her distended belly.

Her dad looked me up and down. “This is the boyfriend you told us about?”

She linked her arm through mine. “Yes.”

He smiled. “Going on a job interview?” he teased.

I played along. “Just trying to make a good impression.”

“You look sharp.” He extended his hand and shook mine. “I’m Mr. Riley, but call me Dean.”

“I’m Mr. Preston, but call me Mike.”

He chuckled. “I like your wit.”

His wife extended her hand. “I’m Jenny. It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too,” I said politely. “Now I know where Cassandra gets her beautiful hair from.”

She blushed. “Thank you.
It’s one of the things I’m a bit vain about.”

“As you should be.”

Another man emerged from behind them with dirty blonde hair and green eyes. “I’m Joey. Nice to meet you.”

Her brother. “The pleasure is mine.” I shook his ha
nd. He was the same height as me, towering over his dad. I’m not sure how that happened.

“Let’s sit down,” Dean said.

I waited for Cassandra sit in the booth first before I sat beside her. I didn’t touch her because I didn’t think it was appropriate, but Cassandra rested her hand on my thigh, dangerously close to my crotch.

“Now for the interview,” Dean said. “Tell me about yourself.”

“I’m in love with your daughter. That’s all you need to know,” I said.

“
Awe,” Jenny said. “How cute.”

“Good to know,” Dean said. “But what else?”

“I like golfing with my dad, spending time with my family, hitting the gym with Cassandra, watching television with her, and various other things.”

“
Did you go to college?”

Cassandra didn’t say I had
to hide that fact. “Yes. I got my degree in business finance and a masters in economics.”

“My man is smart.” Cassandra was affectionate with me like her parents weren’t across from us. I think she was trying to calm me down. But it
wasn’t working. It was just distracting. I wanted to have a hot make out session with her.

“Impressive,” he sa
id. “Where did you go to school?”

I knew I’d earn points with this. “Yale.”

Jenny’s eyes widened. “Wow. That is impressive.”

Her brother stared at me but didn’t say anything.

“I’m glad you found a college boy,” Dean said.

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 want
ed 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 glass
es 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.”