Say It’s Forever (Fate #1)

Chapter 14

14

WINTER

“ I ’m no longer a snow angel, I’m now a snowball.” I laugh. “I’m not wearing this coat, it's wearing me.”

“Still sexy as hell.” To prove his point, Garrett lays a long, hard, possessive kiss on me.

“That’s one way to keep me warm,” I say breathlessly.

“I’m trying to put clothes on you, Snowball, not take them off, so stop tempting me.” He pulls a knitted hat over my head. The coat he gave me put mine to shame.

“This coat is a lot warmer than mine.”

“We’ll go to the city and get you your own winter gear.” He puts it so simply. As though it’s no big deal to buy me new things or for me to actually go to the city to purchase them at the store.

“Like the city city?”

“Yeah, town has a few places that sell winter gear, but I want better quality.”

“I’ve never been to the city.” I have seen it from a distance while inside a car, but that’s as close as I have ever gotten.

"If you're interested, we can stay for the weekend. Probably a good idea. We’ll need to get you a lot of things.”

“You can’t just buy me everything.” This man is so damn kind.

I never knew there were people like him in the world. My parents and the church taught us to fear everyone that wasn’t in our group. That they were all evil and corrupted by the devil, and they’d do the same to you if you got too close to them.

“I can, and I will.”

“But—”

“Are you my girl, Snow?”

“Your girl?” I’m confused by his question.

“Do I belong to you and you belong to me?”

“Like married people?”

“We don’t have to be married to belong to each other, but we can be if you want.” He puts gloves on me next. I stand there, slightly shocked by what he's saying. “It’s up to you, Snowball.” He taps the end of my nose.

“I’m your girl.” I love the way it sounds.

“And I’m your man.”

A smile breaks out across my face. “And you are my man,” I repeat. Before Garrett, I had no desire to have one of my own. I would never share him, but he already told me he’d never make me do that.

"Damn straight." He winks at me. "These might be hard to walk in, but you'll be standing outside more than moving around." Garrett drops to his knees in front of me. I brace my hands on his shoulders to step into the boots.

"So that thing flies?" I glance at the box he's opened and placed on the bed.

"Yes, you can see everything on this screen." He hands the thin pad to me.

"This is going to be so cool. How did you learn to use these?"

"When I was in the military. I can maneuver them better than the average person. It wasn't my specialty, but it's good to know how to use everything in case shit goes sideways. My brother is damn good with them, but I’m a better shot than him."

“Like a gun?” They always scared me, or maybe it was the men that carried them around the compound that were scary. Women weren't allowed to touch them.

“Yeah, I’ll train you on them.”

“I’m not sure I want to.” I worry my bottom lip between my teeth. Garrett uses his thumb to pull it free.

“I don’t want to make you do anything you don’t want to, Snow, but I have guns around the cabin, and it would be good to give you some safety lessons. You don’t ever have to point and fire it, but you should know how they work and how to handle them safely.”

He makes it sound so different and more about protecting me than using them to intimidate. “Okay.” I nod my head in agreement.

“That’s my girl.” He lifts the drone out of the box. “Ready?”

“Yep!” Excitement bubbles up inside me. Garrett leads me out onto the front porch. The second I step out, I have the urge to run back in. Until Garrett takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. Bear follows us out but stays by my side.

“No one will take you from me, Snow. I’m not trying to be cocky, but those men are no match for me. I can handle myself.” There's honestly no doubt in my mind that he can.

“What is cocky?” My eyes drop to his crotch, making him chuckle.

“It means to have an ego. To boast too much.”

“Oh.” Then I know a lot of cocky men. “But don’t you have a reason to be?” He only shrugs.

I could imagine what would happen if one of the men from the compound had Garrett's size and the same skill set. They’d be terrorists.

Not Garrett, though. When he told me about his mom this morning, I could see his soft spot for women. She might be gone, but Garrett still holds respect for her. He wouldn’t do anything that would let her down, even if she’d never know about it. Men from my life don't respect women at all. You'd think maybe their moms or wives, but no. We're merely property to them.

I wish I could thank his mom for giving me this man. It would have been nice to grow up with a mom like her. She sounded wonderful. Life had dealt her some crap, but she always pushed on for her kids. When my mother had a rough day, she took it out on us. I grew up living in fear of her instead of being loved by her.

Garrett steps off the porch and places the drone on the ground. The snow is still coming down heavily, but not as much as last night. He comes back over to me, takes the pad to turn it on, then pulls out a controller.

“You hold the screen for us.” I take it back from him as the drone starts to rise from off the ground. I watch it in awe. Garrett flies it around for a bit, then lets me give it a try.

“This is so cool.” I didn’t even know things like this existed. I’m not sure how long we’re outside, but Garrett brings the drone back down before leading us back inside.

"We can have more fun with it later. I think you’ll enjoy it more when there isn’t a storm out. You can see a lot more.”

“You’re really good at it. Not sure how someone could be better.” Garrett sets everything down on the table in front of the fireplace.

“We can fly them inside buildings and through tight spaces all while taking out targets at the same time.”

“It can take people out?” Garrett starts to pull at my gloves to take them off for me. I love how he’s always trying to take care of me. I’ve never had someone besides Libby do that for me.

“Not this one, but yeah, some can fire shots.”

“You really have lived a wild life.”

“Wild?” He barks a laugh. “Never thought of it that way.”

“You have only given me small pieces, and it sounds wild to me. I can't fathom what you haven't shared with me." Garrett helps me out of my boots then starts to shed his own gear.

I really want him to open up to me. I want him to understand that I will not pass judgment on him. The same way he didn’t when I told him my story. I have faith that whatever Garrett has done, he did it on the side of what was right. He’s that kind of man.

“I suppose that life is really all I know. I joined up when I was eighteen. My brother and I moved fast up the ranks. We worked damn good together. He and I don’t even need to speak and we’re on the same page. It got us on a special unit.”

“A special unit?” I’m not exactly sure what that means.

“Top secret,” Garrett explains as he toes off his boots. "We carried out missions that were hidden from public knowledge. Direct orders from the president.”

“Holy crap.” Garret’s eyes search my face. “Not a bad holy crap, actually kind of cool.”

“It wasn’t always cool. It could get messy, and there were a couple of times when we were pretty sure we weren't coming back. If not for how well Ace and I were together, we wouldn’t have.”

I step closer to him. “So, you’re like some war hero?”

He gives me one of those shrugs of his. “You won’t see our names on any lists for medals or missions. We were ghosts.” I don’t think that bothers Garrett. He doesn’t have an ego that needs stroking. Pretty sure he knows who he is and what he is capable of. I wonder if he knows how much it draws me to him. He has a strong force around him. It’s alluring.

“But you don’t do those things anymore?” Gosh, it would be hard to watch him walk out the door and not be sure he’d ever come back. The thought alone has my stomach sinking.

“No, Ace and I both retired. We did private work for a bit, but when one job went sideways, I left that behind too. My brother still takes jobs. He occasionally tries to talk me into coming.”

“Have you ever thought about going back?” I place my hands on his chest.

“I won't go back now.” His hand cups the back of my neck. The way he always does when he’s about to pull me in closer for a kiss. "I have something at home that I don't want to leave behind," Garrett says before he kisses me.

I slide my hands up and around his neck, deepening the kiss. Garrett groans into my mouth, his hands going to my butt to pick me up. I wrap my legs around him.

“Take me to bed,” I mutter against his mouth. My words are thick with desire for him.

I want to be his somebody at home.

I want to be his girl.

I want to be his everything.