She wasn’t sure what he was talking about.
He released her so fast that she nearly fell. She caught herself on the bed and when she stood upright, she couldn’t tell where he’d gone. The room was too dark.
Nicolette made it to the wall light switch and flipped it on, bathing the room in light. Wet, large boot prints were on the floor between the window and the bed but there was no sign of Garth. It was as if he’d vanished into thin air.
That, or he’d gone out the window, which was absurd.
Confused, she went towards her bathroom, thinking he might have gone in there. When she turned on the light, she found a small piece of paper wedged against the mirror. She pulled it down and read it, smiling as she did.
It was from Garth, informing her that he’d had to run into the office here in the city quickly, but would be back to take her to work, not to dare leave without him. He’d addressed it to Beauty.
She held it to her chest, and then paused. Why had he acted so strangely only moments before? Why didn’t he just tell her he was running into the office?
She stepped out of the bathroom and looked to the bed, noticing at once the framed picture wasn’t there. It wasn’t on the dresser either. Had he taken it with him?
Pfft. And he tells me I’m the odd one.
She took a deep breath and nearly got sick at the overpowering smell of cloves, cinnamon, and vanilla. It smelled as if he’d bathed in it. She wrinkled her nose and decided to leave the window open in spite of the rain, to air the room out. She then started the shower; the need to wash the smell away from her was great. The step would save her time in a couple of hours when her alarm went off.
Chapter Twelve
Nicolette went downstairs, following the smell of something delicious that led her to the kitchen. Since Clara was gone on a business trip, good smells were not something that should be coming from that room. As she heard Garth singing along to the under-the-cabinet satellite radio, she found it impossible to keep from smiling ear to ear. While the man was certainly hard to understand when he was speaking, his English while singing was quite clear and deep, like his voice.
It was only half past six in the morning and he was rocking out to Billy Idol’s “White Wedding.” The man did not shy away from the loud parts. She had to admit it was impressive. She stopped in the doorway of the kitchen and bit her lower lip to keep from giggling at the sight of the giant of a man moving his head back and forth along with his shoulders, as he danced in place in front of the stove.
He held a kitchen towel that Nicolette had purchased for Clara as a gag gift. It said “Kitchen Bitch”—something Clara often called herself because she was the one always left cooking for them.
Garth’s hair was down again, with the smallest of braids sprinkled throughout, as it had been when they’d collided. He was in a darker pair of jeans than he’d been in, and was now wearing a green short-sleeved shirt that matched his eyes and fit him snugly, showing off his amazing body. She could have sworn he’d been in a gray shirt when she’d woken last night.
She inhaled but didn’t catch the smell of cloves, cinnamon, or vanilla. She just smelled whatever he was cooking, and him. Both smelled fantastic. Her body heated at the sight of him there in her kitchen, pulling a cast-iron skillet from the oven.
He glanced over at her and paused, holding the skillet in midair, the burner still lit. He reached out and shut off the radio. A slow smile touched his lips. “You look beautiful.”
She blushed. The man had seen her naked and a simple compliment made her blush.
He set the skillet on a different burner. He then wiped his hands on a towel from the counter before carrying over two plates full of food and setting them on the two-person table. “I wasn’t sure if you like frittatas. I hope so.”
She did laugh at the way he pronounced “frittatas.” It sounded like he was the spokesman for a bra-burning campaign with the sole goal of freeing all ta-tas.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing,” she managed without laughing outright. It was hard. She took a seat at the kitchen table and beamed at the sight before her. “It looks amazing. I’m jealous of your culinary skills. I’m limited to blender things only.”
“I found some sort of gray sludge in the refrigerator. Was that your handiwork?” he asked with a teasing grin.
She nodded. “It is. Well, I can’t take all the credit. My uncle helped me develop it. Normally, I wake up craving a glass. But not this morning. Weird. Did you try any?”
His eyes widened. “No. It smells like paste.”
She’d never heard it described that way before. “It’s not bad.”
He stepped away from the table and came back with two cups of coffee. “Are you sure you can’t call in sick today?”
She touched his forearm. “I couldn’t do that to my kids. We’re having our celebration this morning.” As she thought about the smashed cupcakes, she frowned. “I’m hoping they aren’t too disappointed when I tell them there’s no special treat.”
Garth winked and then tapped her plate. “Eat up. I know what you spent the night doing and how many calories that burned. Get to eating, beauty.”
She put some food on her fork and glanced at him. “Why do you call me that?”
“What? Beauty?”
She nodded.
“You’ve looked in a mirror before, right?” he asked as if that explained everything.
Nicolette ate a bit of the frittata and flavor exploded in her mouth. She’d always thought Clara’s cooking was amazing. This made Garth look like a world-renowned chef. She covered her mouth partially as she spoke. “Ohmygod, this is the best thing ever. I’m so keeping you.”
He grinned. “Funny. I was just thinking about how I plan to keep you.”
She stilled. As much as she wanted to keep the man, she suspected it wouldn’t be that easy. “You never said where it is you live. I’m guessing it’s not here in Savannah.”
“No,” he said before sipping his coffee. “I’m about eight hours away.”
Her good mood deflated. “That far?”
He nodded. “Finish eating, and I’ll take you to work.”
“You don’t have a car here,” she said.
“I couldn’t sleep, so I handled a few things last night,” he confessed before eating more of his food.
She did the same, wondering where it was the man had been all her life. She also wondered what in the world was wrong with him. Men as good as him weren’t free agents for long. Smart women snatched them up. A sinking thought came over her. “Garth, are you seeing anyone? Like a girlfriend or a wife?”
He sat back fast in his seat. “No! Are you?”
It was hard to avoid laughing at the horrified expression on his face. “No. There’s no one else.”
“Just me?” he questioned, relaxing slightly.
“I don’t know. Am I seeing you now? I have to be honest. I thought last night was a one-and-done kind of thing.”
Garth’s green gaze eased over her, heating her in intimate places. “If we’re being honest, so did I. And then, at about the three-minute mark after running into you, I think I knew deep down I was wrong.”
“The three-minute mark? Hmm. I just figured it out this morning.” She reached out and touched his arm lightly, while smiling.
He feigned shock.
She laughed and then finished eating. “Seriously, this was awesome. I’d keep you around just for this even if you weren’t fantastic in bed.”
Garth’s deep laugh rolled over her. He stood and took her plate to the sink. He set about cleaning up as if he lived there and did that kind of thing all the time.
“I can get this,” said Nicolette as she followed him to the sink.
He twisted and planted a chaste kiss on her lips. “No. You’re going to finish getting ready for work and then I’m taking you there. Oh, there’s a box for you on the dining room table.”
She stared up at him. “A box? For me? So
meone used the dining room?”
It was a room she and Clara never made use of. Confused as to how a package had arrived for her so early, Nicolette headed to the dining room. As she entered, she spotted a bakery box on the table. Not just any bakery—the very one she’d had make the specialty cupcakes for her. This box wasn’t annihilated. It looked brand-new.
She approached it and found it full of cupcakes, just like the ones that had been ruined.
“What the…?”
Strong arms wrapped around her waist. “Mmm, they’re made of nothing cupcake-y. Just the way you like them.”
I’m not going to be overly girly and cry.
I’m not going to cry.
Crap. I’m going to cry.
She teared up and fanned her face as if that might stop the tears. It didn’t. She wiped at her eyes, trying to hide the evidence of her emotions from Garth.
His body conformed to hers from behind. “You’re upset with me.”
“No,” she managed, her hands moving over his. She leaned back against him. “How did you manage this? The bakery was about to close when I got these last night. It doesn’t even open until ten today.”
Garth smiled against her ear. “I’m full of surprises.”
He was.
“I also figured out who Ernie was. You are right. He does obey well.”
She laughed.
“Thank you,” she said, twisting enough to kiss his lips.
He growled against her mouth. “Beauty, if you keep doing that and keep smelling and looking so good, you’re going to find yourself getting bent over the table and fucked hard.”
She smiled. The idea had merit.
Chapter Thirteen
Garth followed behind Nicolette down the sidewalk, in the direction of the preschool she worked at. Already there were cars pulling up in front of the building to drop children off, even though Nicolette assured him they weren’t late. He held the box of cupcakes as they walked.
The fake baked goods had taken some doing, but he’d finally tracked down the personal number of the woman who owned the specialty bakery. He’d texted her in the middle of the night, explaining what had happened and that he’d be willing to make it worth her while, but he’d told her that Nicolette was his fiancée, not a woman he’d only just met. He still wasn’t totally sure why he’d given her the label. It had just sort of happened, and he didn’t regret it.
In fact, he’d spent the rest of the night bouncing the idea around his head of her actually being the woman he was going to marry.
At the thought of forever with her, he tensed. He was immortal. She wasn’t. Setting aside the fact she was human, and therefore could not be his mate, she’d age. She’d die. He’d go on like he always did.
Alone.
He clutched the box of cupcakes tighter, needing it to keep from swaying at the very idea of losing Nicolette. He hadn’t planned on her, on how he’d feel for her, but he wouldn’t change it for anything.
Though he’d have made her a supernatural if possible, and mate material.
He’d always thought the notion of settling down was insane. The idea of being with just one woman the rest of his life was something that had horrified him. Now, he wanted nothing more than the skies to open and Odin to descend and alert him that Nicolette was truly his mate. His chosen one. And that for the remainder of his days, Garth could have her with him. That they could start a family even.
A family.
“Ingersson?”
Garth paused at the sound of his surname.
A tall man with shoulder-length wavy hair that ran the gamut from light brown underneath to white-blond on the top was near the entrance of the facility, looking in Garth’s direction. The man’s blue gaze was wide.
“Livingston?” asked Garth as he balanced the box of cupcakes.
Cody Livingston was dressed like he was about to head to the beach and hang out for the day. The T-shirt he was in had a graphic of a shark taking a bite out of a surfboard on it, and was faded. He had on shorts and sandals as well. Everything about the guy screamed surfer bum. That was ironic, since the government had used him as a test dummy while attempting to make the Immortal Ops.
Cody was what the government liked to term an Outcast. Garth didn’t care for the name. He also didn’t like the fact the government had tried to dispose of their supposed failures decades ago, causing nearly all of the men who had been part of the program to go to ground. They’d had a resurgence in the last few months, and one by one they were starting to show themselves again.
It had been decades since Garth had seen Cody. It was no surprise the man hadn’t aged a day. He was now immortal, after all, thanks to the government testing. Garth smiled even though he was confused as to what Cody was doing at a preschool, of all places—especially the very one Nicolette worked at.
Nicolette stopped walking and faced Garth and Cody. “You two know each other?”
Cody drew closer and, to Garth’s shock and horror, the man he’d always thought of as a friend reached out, slipped an arm around Nicolette, drew her against him, and then had the audacity to kiss her cheek.
Did Cody have a death wish?
Garth’s wolf came alive and a vicious snarl broke free from him. It was the same sound an alpha-male shifter made when he wanted other males to stay away from his mate. That didn’t even freak Garth out. His wolf wanted the other male shifter to back the fuck up and stop touching Nicolette.
Cody eased his body in front of Nicolette’s in a protective manner, as if he thought Garth was going to harm her. Garth stiffened and began to squeeze the box of cupcakes.
Nicolette gasped and shot around Cody, taking the box from Garth. “Easy there, big guy, or you’ll be the death of these, too. And I’m guessing you went to a lot of trouble to make these a reality. No turning them into pulp—again. Ernie has got to be sick of making them by now.”
Garth dipped his head and caught Nicolette’s chin lightly, directing her gaze upwards. He captured her mouth with his and gave her a scorching kiss. It was as much out of desire as it was to still his restless wolf. The beast liked knowing the other shifter could see it staking its claim.
When Garth was done kissing her, he eased back slightly. “Look at that. The cupcake-y things managed to survive me after all.”
She smiled and turned slightly. “How do you two know one another?”
“Uh, work,” said Cody, staring hard at Garth. “You’ll want to get those inside and out of the humidity, Nicolette.”
“Good thinking,” said Nicolette. She smiled up at Garth. “Thanks for the ride to work. Will I see you later?”
“Why is he here?” demanded Garth, looking at Cody but speaking to Nicolette. He wasn’t about to stand around and let Cody take her.
Cody flashed a pearly white smile. “I’m giving a water-safety presentation to the three-year-old classes today. It’s never too early to stress the need for life jackets. And I’m perfect to teach them about the dangers of open water. Nicolette asked me to do it a while back. Since I did it last year, I agreed.”
The irony of a shark-shifter giving water-safety lessons was not lost on Garth. Neither was the fact that Cody had eased close to Nicolette again. Friend or not, Garth would kill the man if he touched his woman again.
My woman?
Why in the hell did he keep thinking in terms of “his”? When he’d called James in the middle of the night from the local Paranormal Regulator’s office, telling him he thought his drug concoction was total shit, he’d forgotten to mention the burning-need-to-claim-a-human side effect. He should have probably led with that. James had ended the conversation by telling Garth he couldn’t wait any longer, that he had to at least try it with Gram.
It was best everyone knew that if the serum was a success on Gram, the guy would wake up and want to claim the first human he spotted.
“I’m glad you remembered,” said Nicolette to Cody. “I haven’t talked to you in weeks. How long have you be
en back in town? And is there a reason you didn’t call me?”
It was then Garth put together that Cody was the same Cody who had slept on the pull-out sofa at Nicolette’s. The friend who had left clothing at Nicolette’s home. Another growl came from Garth at the thought. A sinking feeling came over him. Had Cody bedded Nicolette?
Garth would tear the man limb from limb. Fuck the fact Cody was a fellow shifter and a man he’d once called friend.
Suddenly, Garth’s eyes burned, and he knew they were shifting colors. It normally never hurt and the fact that it did now should have helped him to snap out of the rage. It didn’t. Thoughts of Cody knowing what Nicolette looked like beneath her dress sent Garth tumbling into the abyss.
Cody sucked in a large breath, wrapped an arm around Nicolette, and shooed her in the direction of the school. “Hurry. The cupcakes are looking like they might melt. Why do they smell funny? Never mind. Go on in. I’ll stop by your class before I leave today.”
Like hell!
Garth growled more.
“But I have to say good-bye to Garth,” protested Nicolette.
“I’ll bring him to see you here in a second,” said Cody, a certain note of desperation clinging to his every word.
Nicolette accepted the response and hurried into the school with her fake cupcakes in hand.
Cody pointed in the direction of the side of the building, and Garth followed as they walked quickly. Cody twisted and shoved Garth into a small alleyway and out of view of the public. “What the hell, Viking? You’re about to do a full shift out in the open.”
Garth advanced on the man, thrusting him back and against the wall of a building. “Keep your hands off my woman, shark!”
“Your woman?” asked Cody, punching Garth back from him and straightening his T-shirt. “Nicolette is not…oh shit…is she your woman?”
Coming to his senses, Garth backed away slightly and looked down at his hands. It was then he saw they had started to shift forms. “W-what?”
“Dude, what’s up? You’ve always been weird, but even for you this is out of the norm. Tell me you’re not armed to the teeth. Your love of weapons is beyond weird,” said Cody, shaking his head. “Why are you with Nicolette?”
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