That Was Then: A Second Chance Romance (Fated Loves Book 2)

by Zee Irwin

I circled this day on my calendar with a red pen, it was Valentine’s Day after all. But as things ended up, it was also our moving day. Once Cassidy and I reunited, I didn’t waste any time, and I asked her to move in with me.

  Maddie told Cassidy about a new building Daniel had acquired featuring large open-air loft-style condos. We met up with them for dinner one night and toured the primo penthouse loft. It pleased Cassidy so therefore it pleased me. I’d plunk down whatever cash was necessary to make her happy and it was perfect for us right now. Things progressed faster after that.

  Our friends and family helped us move in, even my mother and Kelly made an appearance dropping by with a new set of china as a gift. They talked with Cassidy over coffee, which pleased me to see they were getting along. Kelly sweetened up when Cass offered to have my nieces and nephews over often.

  Finally, after a long day of moving, we waved goodbye to everyone at our new front door. The moment had arrived with Cassidy all to myself in a place all our own.

  “Well, we did it, Slugger. Welcome home.” She put her arms around my neck, and the feeling of her body against mine in the new privacy we shared made me want to strip her down and do nasty things to her on the spot.

  “Yes, we did. And now that we’re alone . . . I’d like to celebrate by making love right here in the entryway.” I dipped my head to her creamy neck and placed tiny nibbles on a random path there.

  She giggled. “In the entryway?”

  My hands on her hips backed her up about five feet. “Or I could take you right here in the living room.” My lips moved to her earlobe. The sound of her sucking in a breath told me I knew the perfect spot to suck on.

  “Hold that thought, Slugger. I have a gift for you. It is Valentine’s, after all.” She brought out a box from her bag, beautifully wrapped and ribboned in pink and red.

  “Okay, let’s see.” I teased at first, taking my time carefully pulling off the ribbons, but then I tore the paper off. I flipped the lid open. “Mm, sexy. But I don’t think it’s my size.” I held up the red lace corset and panty set to my torso and already imagined stripping it off of her with my teeth.

  “Haha, you’re hilarious. If you keep it up, you might have to beg me to model it for you.”

  “Hm. Well, maybe my gift will make it up to you?”

  Her eyes bulged when I brought out a present I’d been hiding in my suitcase. I presented her with a box wrapped in silver and pink. She didn’t hesitate and tore the paper off. When she opened the box, she gasped. Lifting out the sterling silver frame that held the torn-up Babe Ruth card from our past, she read aloud the engraving around the edge.

  “Cassidy: When pieces of your heart are on the floor, all you need is hope, love, and a lot of tape. I love you, forever, Bronson.”

  Her voice caught in her throat, and her hand covered her mouth. “Oh, Slugger. It’s beautiful.”

  Tears, hugs, and kisses ensued. Yeah, I’d say the second time around on our first Valentine’s Day was a home run. I slammed this one out of the park.

  “Now, when did you say I get to see you in the red lace thing?”

  Her hands ran up my chest and around my neck. “Well, there’s one problem. I have to get naked first,” she teased me, nipping at my bottom lip with her teeth.

  “I don’t see that as a problem.”

  She wriggled out of my arms, running ten feet over to the nearest dining room chair. I followed and caught up to her, but she pushed me down in the chair then straddled me.

  “Mm. I’ll take you in the dining room.” I stripped off her old BU Baseball t-shirt and made simple work of removing her bra. The most inviting spot between her breasts cried Lick me, so I plunged my lips in there, too. It wasn’t long before my tongue sucked and pleased her nipples to hard nubs, eliciting little catches of her breath.

  “Maybe you’d prefer the kitchen?” She broke away. I followed, and she made me stop by the stove to watch a mini striptease. Slowly her jeans inched down her thighs until they hit the floor. Kicking them off to the side, she bit her lip, gazing at the bulge in my jeans, foreshadowing what was to come. Bare before me in her white thong, my eyes took in each square inch of her.

  “You’re fucking beautiful, Cassidy. Come here.” Apart from her for too long, I corrected my mistake, bringing her back to me. She pressed her ass into my groin. I swear I could hear moans from her throat every day for the rest of my life.

  My head crashed down into her neck where my nibbles turned to sucking along her collarbone, and I didn’t care that there might be red marks in the morning. Let the world see evidence of my love.

  My hand, with a mind of its own, slid down into her panties, feeling for her wetness, soaking my fingers, and dragging them to moisten her clit. It was my turn to groan as I pleased her clit with sensitive strokes.

  “Tell me how I’m making you feel, baby.”

  She sucked in a breath. “Loved. So good. But I want to make you feel good too.” She squirmed out of my grasp again, and I chased her into the bathroom. “I’ve been waiting to see you shirtless all day.”

  I gave her that wish and pulled off my Metallica t-shirt, dropping it to the floor. Her fingers trailed along each of my abs where she long ago staked a claim of ownership. When her hands reached my jeans, she rubbed the outline of my length up and down, kissing a trail down my chest.

  Her hands undid my jeans buttons, and I felt the immediate expansion with room to move.

  She snickered.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Extra large. Definitely.” She dipped her hands into my Calvin Klein boxers and stroked my length, assuring me she was pleased.

  “I’m so fucking happy to be here with you,” I growled.

  I crushed my lips against hers. A million kisses later, I allowed her to speak again.

  “Make love to me,” her words cooed out. “Are you ready to take me to bed, Slugger?”

  Our foreheads met. She kissed the tip of my nose.

  “Definitely.” I picked her up and carried her into the bedroom, kicking the door closed with my foot.

  I laid her down on the bed and covered her with my body. Connecting and moaning, entering her inch by inch, staring into her baby blues. It was almost too much for my heart. I loved her before, then I lost her, and she was mine again. I don’t know how I survived years without her, lost, but now letting her take full control, wrapping her legs around me, I was found.

  She rocked her hips up to me. Our lips devoured each other, mouth to mouth, mouth to skin, nipping and kissing, leaving no part untouched. I was all the way here with her, but I was also heading in the clouds thinking about our future.

  “Just so we’re clear, I want more, much, much more,” I hissed, my thrusts quickening into her.

  She snorted, reaching her hands down to my ass to guide the pace of my strokes into her. “You have my heart, my soul, my body—what more do you want?”

  “Ten kids,” I joked, sort of.

  Her legs clenched, almost impeding my movements. “What?”

  I plunged deep back into her. “Okay, maybe five, as soon as possible.”

  She laughed. “I think you skipped some things. Like an engagement, a wedding.”

  “Don’t you worry. I have our future all mapped out. I want to negotiate the number of kids, that’s all.”

  Her laughter spurred me on. “Okay, Slugger. Let’s start with one and see how it goes.”

  I picked up the pace, grinding into her hard because her hands pressing on my ass told me she wanted it deeper. “Give me four.”

  She thought about it for two more thrusts. “Okay, deal. With Kelly’s kids, that’d be eight kids, an even split for your little baseball teams in the backyard. Until my sisters have kids, then the teams get bigger.”

  She knew me so well. “Fuck yeah, baby. I want it all with you. It’s only been you, Cassidy, since the beginning.”

  “Mm, Slugger, give it to me harder.”

  I did as I was told. I didn’t slow m
y rhythm, our pacing so in sync, even our breathing united as if we breathed the same air, one lung shared between us. And I drove the muscles in my body harder to please her.

  Her orgasm building, my pressure mounting. It wouldn’t be long before this round finished. And I still had a red corset to preview on her tonight. It was the perfect Valentine’s, a night in with my girl, sex and more sex, ordering dinner in. The only thing better . . . Who was I kidding? There was nothing better than this.

  I reached down to rub her clit, slowing my pace a little, but she was already right there with me. It didn’t take long before we both moaned out each other’s names and lost it together.

  I wanted her. Us. All of this, twenty-four-seven daily for the rest of my life. She didn’t know it yet, but I had big plans for our engagement, and a huge rock made for her, the best my money would buy. As long as Fate was on my side, I was wasting no more time getting exactly what I wanted in life.

  28

  Later That Year . . .

  Bronson

  One actor, dressed as a potato fry, sat next to the actress, dressed as a chicken patty in a bun. They snuggled on a red velvet couch lined with golden-carved wood, and a dark paneled wall appeared behind them. They grasped hands, lacing their fingers together.

  “The moment I saw him I knew, it was love at first sight,” the Chicken character started.

  “Yeah, it was like a beam of light illuminated behind her golden crispy halo,” the potato character reacted with a love-sick goofy grin. “Then once we added a little spice into the mix—” he said, bouncing his eyebrows up and down.

  “And a little ketchup . . .” the chicken quipped.

  “We knew we were a match made in Heaven,” they both finished with grins of admiration, adoring each other.

  The audience clapped, and the lights came back up in the theatre. I heard a few whistles. The host of the Annual Boston Advertising Awards made the winning announcement.

  “And the award for best TV campaign goes to . . .” The host ripped open the envelope, and I grasped Cassidy's hand. We exchanged nervous smiles.

  I leaned over and whispered into her ear. “No matter what, I’m the winner here tonight because you’re exquisite.” She squeezed my hand tighter. Earlier tonight, when she walked out of the bedroom wearing a figure revealing sleeveless, red velvet gown with a slight train in the back, reminiscent of Jessica Rabbit, my heart dropped out of my skin onto the floor. I almost couldn’t let her out of the apartment looking that hot. I was all smiles all night, keeping her on my arm and not losing sight of her.

  The announcement was made. “Chick In Bun and Tater Spud for The Love Match advertisement.”

  The attendees of the award show erupted in applause. We jumped out of our seats and hugged and kissed. My smile split my face, and I knew Cassidy was thrilled but nervous. She told me all day how her high heels were too high, and she was afraid to walk in them. I picked her up, letting her blonde hair fall in waves behind her. She laughed, as did the audience, while I carried her up the steps onto the stage and over to the podium where we accepted the award trophy. As we agreed earlier, I gave the speech. Only, it wasn’t the speech she heard me practice.

  With Cassidy standing next to me, I launched into the most important speech of my life.

  “Thank you all. This award means the world to us. And if you don’t mind, I’d like to take a moment to thank the woman to my right, Cassidy, for not only creating the concept behind The Tater Spud Love Match campaign, but also for capturing my heart for all eternity. And Cassidy, I’d like to ask if you wouldn’t mind if I captured yours.” Gasps and oohs and ahs and camera clicks from the audience came at us from all directions as I knelt down before the woman who I hoped would marry me and give me children. I held up a blue velvet ring box.

  “Will you marry me?” I sweated balls by then, and the floor was hard on my knee, but I waited for her answer . . .

  By the next morning, the proposal video and her acceptance blew up Instagram, skyrocketing her followers to one million people and counting. Up until then, she’d kept my face off her posts, but when the video and photos leaked with me in full view, it went viral. Oh well. If the world saw my face then they saw a man completed, absolutely fulfilled by the woman he loved.

  The End

  Bronson’s Baby

  Bonus Scene

  Bronson

  With the advertising award to her credit, and her Instagram business making a profit, I supported Cassidy’s decision to leave Chick In Bun and work from home as a social media consultant.

  It wasn’t long until our wedding planning took over many of her posts and stories, pushing up her number of followers again.

  Of course our wedding was perfect, and the honeymoon in Belize was sexy as hell. After that, photos of the house we were building replaced wedding planning. It seemed like her followers stayed true to her, remaining right there along with her on each step of our journey through life.

  Of course, I kept up with her daily posts. Each morning when my assistant brought me my triple espresso, I’d take a moment to sip and view what my beautiful wife was up to for the day. Some days she’d be touting her latest line of couch pillows, in collaboration with a furniture retailer. Other days it’d be a makeup tutorial or a marketing lesson. Occasionally her posts would be about some event we went to.

  I enjoyed watching her work, and so did millions of fans. She had this natural way of being in front of the camera, coming across with this trustworthy, natural, and girl-next-door quality that attracted people to her. Since I didn’t see her around the Chick In Bun offices anymore, watching her on social media was my way to still have her with me each day.

  This morning, when my assistant brought the coffee, her smile seemed different.

  “Be sure to check Instagram today, sir,” she said. Like there was a day where I wouldn’t? Why point it out today?

  I pulled out my phone, and there was my Cassidy in a baby store holding up little baby clothes and gushing over tiny little booties. This was new, and she’d never been in a store like that before. What was she trying to promote? I didn’t see the connection between the baby store and most of her followers who were newlyweds and buying first homes. It took me a few minutes of watching her stories to finish my coffee, and by that point, she had pointed out a lot of baby paraphernalia, adored the teddy bear motif printed crib sheets, eyed a mobile of dancing teddy bears for over a crib, and then sat down in a rocking chair and started reading a baby book while cradling a baby doll in her lap.

  And then I realized exactly the message she was sending me. I didn’t know whether to jump for joy that my sperm worked wonders or to cower in fear under my desk. I was going to be a father. It’s what I wanted. We were going to be parents. It was finally happening. The more I considered what the new label of parenthood meant for us, I had no doubts that we would be wonderful parents together. And a whole new chapter in our love story was about to begin.

  Read the entire Fated Loves Series by visiting the series page on Amazon.

  Time Stood Still

  Prequel: Cassidy & Bronson

  Would you like to go back to the beginning and find out how Cassidy met Bronson the first time around in college?

  Click here, join my newsletter, and I’ll send updates when the free ebook prequel Time Stood Still becomes available (Summer 2021). https://www.zeeirwinauthor.com/newsletter-signup

  Keep reading for preview chapters of:

  This Is Fate, Fated Loves: Book One (Maddie’s story)

  All This Time, Fated Loves: Book Three (Lily’s story).

  ==>

  Read the entire Fated Loves Series by visiting the series page on Amazon.

  This Is Fate, Fated Loves: Book One

  Preview: Chapter 2

  Maddie McComber

  There was one rule I lived by since I started tending bar at the new O’Brien’s Irish Pub. It was a rule I devised to protect myself from assholes who liked to hit on me, as if
serving them drinks with a smile made me the easiest target for their pleasure. My rule was firm: I would not, under any circumstances, sleep with the regulars.

  Messing around with the regular customers was messy, believe me, because what happened when it was over? Drama. I’d been there, and didn’t need that.

  Sean O’Brien appeared by my side with the schedule. “Maddie, you got a minute? I want to check your availability for the rest of the spring semester.”

  I followed him into the tiny pub office, where I set my gaze on the sweetest photo of him and his wife, Brigid, and their adorable twin babies, each one sporting sprouts of signature dark Irish hair. They were the best reason for this pub to succeed, and I witnessed Sean working hard every day for it.

  I thanked Brigid for giving me a bartending job after I’d advised her on legal and credit matters. Not long after, she and Sean found the funding through a private investor. They opened the pub of their dreams, and it thrilled me when they called with the news.

  “How do you like working here so far?” Sean took the pencil from behind his ear and readied the point of it on the schedule next to my name.

  “It’s fine, each day is different, but the juggle is real. Between my classes and working, there’s little time for anything else.”

  He scratched at his beard and scowled over the schedule. “Do you have any more flexibility? I could use you on Tuesdays so I could spend a night at home with the babies. Brigid is complaining I spend too much time here as it is. She wants to take this ceramic class, or maybe it was jewelry making. Shit, I don’t recall. Ah, no need worrying you about my marital troubles. I’ll ask Barry if he can work another shift.”

  I chewed my cheek. My plan for becoming a corporate lawyer meant dual enrollment to complete both a law degree and an MBA. At this point, sleeping seven hours a night or working more hours were luxuries I couldn’t afford. And, looking at the photo of his babies, I also had a hard time saying no.