The Dance

Chapter 166 Diamond in the Rough

"Dinner tonight?" Red asked as Bear woofed down the breakfast she had prepared for him. She loved a man with a healthy appetite and he loved a girl who could cook.

"Sounds good. 7pm okay for you?" Bear leaned over the counter grabbing her apron strings and pulling her to him.

He kissed her thanking her for breakfast. He whispered in her ear. "I'll bring dessert tonight."

"Oh, I'm couting on it. Don't be late."

Bear bounded out the door to the sawmill with a song in his heart and one hot bakery girl on his mind.

Lucy sauntered up behind Red smacking her upside the head. "Snap out of it, babe. We have bear claws to make."

Red smiled slyly. "Yes, yes we do."

Lucy shook her head. "Wow, one date and he has you mesmerized."

"Not mesmerized, Lucy. Just intrigued."

The day was particularly long for Bear and he watched the clock seemingly making the day slower. Matt noticed he was distracted and called him into the office to speak with him.

"Bro, you seem a little distracted today?" Matt asked hoping to get an answer as to why Bear seemed so distant.

"I have another date with Rose."

"Rose? Who's Rose?"

"That's Red's given name." Bear fiddled with the pen on Matt's desk. "How did you know?" He asked Matt.
"How did you know Jill was the one?"

"The one what?" Matt purposefully teased Bear. He was an easy target.

"You know, your forever girl." Bear replied.

"That's hard to say. It's different for everyone. I guess for us it was the reunion on the beach. It took a lot of courage on her part to come back to me."

"Bear, you got something you want to tell me?" Matt leaned in looking at his fidgety brother.

"Nope. I'm good." Bear got up and walked out. Matt threw a balled up piece of paper at him. "Don't rush it, bro. It'll happen if it's meant to. Just ask Jill or Lila."

The pathway to love was not an easy one and Bear had watched the delicate dance his brothers had with their wives. Their first date seemed more than a first date, maybe because he had pursued Red for the past six months relentlessly. He had fallen for her prior to him ever kissing her for the first time and now that he had, he wanted more of her in a forever kind of way.

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After the shop closed, Red headed home to start dinner. She didn't really know what Bear liked to eat besides pizza so she opted to put her baking skills in order and decided on homemade calzones stuffed with sausage, pepperoni, heaping mounds of cheese and homemade tomato sauce.

For dessert, she whipped up a tasty tiramisu to compliment her Italian menu as she surmised Bear wasn't bringing dessert in the edible sense. Wicked thoughts raced through her mind before she realized that she needed to make herself presentable as well.

She slipped in the shower washing the smells and stains of the bakery off of her and the flour out of her hair. She carefully shaved her legs, just in case, things went a little further, and spent the remainder of her time debating what to wear. She finally made a selection and finished it off with cutoffs, a concert tee and her signature cuff bracelets. She still wasn't comfortable with Bear seeing her scars even if he had already learned how she earned them.

Bear arrived on time and bearing a gift of sparkling grape cider. "We don't drink so I brought the next best thing." He handed her the bottle.

"Perfect!" We're having Italian tonight. "Starving are we?"

"Only for time with you." Bear slipped his hand to the back of her neck and pulled her closer to him for a kiss. Red broke from his kiss and scooted into the kitchen to check on their dinner.

"I'm sorry. Did I just make you uncomfortable?" Bear was sincere in his ask.

"No, no. It's me. I need to do things on my comfort level. I'm just a control freak now."

Okay, that's good to know that my girlfriend's a freak." Bear tried to make light of the situation never wanting Red to ever feel uncomfortable with him. They both laughed.

"Did you just refer to me as your girlfriend?"

"Uh, yeah...too much, too soon?"

"No, I kinda like the sound of that." He smiled again. He found her to be beautifully flawed like a not so perfect diamond. He knew she had flaws but when he looked at the whole diamond, she was perfect but then beauty has always been in the eye of the beholder.

DIAMONDS by Rihanna