Page 50 of Act of Brotherhood
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?
