Page 9 of A Beary Nice View
“It’s gonna take a lot more than that,” he says with a soft, shy smile. “Now that I’m here, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
The comment warms my insides, spreading through my entire body. It feels like there’s a string to my heart that’s wrapped itself around Dell’s wrist. All he needs to do is give it a tug and I’d come running.
We start off in the bakery. I can’t help myself, grabbing a container of freshly made honey glazed donuts. I’m not sure if it’s the fact that my inner bear stereotypically likes honey or if it’s me but either way, I love these things.
Dell looks over at the glazed croissants. He stares at them for a long moment, like he’s debating whether to get them or not before he shakes his head and moves on. With his back turned, I put them into the cart for him.
Our next spot is the deli. I order some cheeses and cuts of meat from the counter and wait for them to get cut and packaged for me. While we wait, Dell crosses his arms over his chest, looking up at me. Gods, I can’t get over how absolutely adorable this man is. His full lips are perfect and I can’t stop thinking about how good they’d feel for me to bite. His lashes are so long and pretty, his jaw beautifully cut with a layer of blond beard across his cheeks and jaw. He’s tall and broad yet has this air to him that I can’t seem to get enough of. He’s capable all on his own but fuck, I want to take care of him.
“I was wondering, what is it that you do, Alaric?”
“I own my own construction company.”
Dell puts a hand on his forehead, looking down at the ground. “Right. Of course. It’s so obvious once you say it.”
“What makes it obvious?”
“Your truck literally has your company across the side of it and you have that trailer parked next to your garage.”
I chuckle. “Okay, yeah. I guess that’s pretty good marketing on my part.” I grab the food from the person working in the deli, telling them thank you before tossing it into my cart and moving over to the produce.
“Do you like it?”
“Iloveit. I find working with my hands incredibly gratifying,” I say, not even meaning that in a sensual way and yet, I’ll admit it comes out suggestive. Dell’s cheeks flush and he looks away. “I’ve always loved helping people make what’s in their head a reality. We mostly do renovations. Like the restaurant we just ate at, my crew helped redesign it from a diner into the place you saw today.”
“Wait, really? That’s so incredible, Alaric. I couldn’t stop thinking about the design as we ate, it was beautiful.”
“Thank you,” I say, unused to people complimenting me like this. Normally, I can just say thanks and move on, but there’s something about Dell’s excitement that adds to it. I feel warm all over.
Every time Dell looks at something, I add it to the cart. I also toss in a bunch of fruit I can snack on during the week and all the fixings for my sandwiches.
“You mentioned you were supposed to be on vacation right now,” Dell says, picking up a bag of grapes and looking at them before setting them back down. I pick them up and add them to the cart. “What happened with that?”
I let out a long sigh as we move into a new aisle. “I was planning on going on a cruise up in Alaska with my family.”
“Your whole family?”
“Yeah. My mom, dad, my siblings, and my brother’s girlfriend. We were all looking forward to it and to be honest, I can’t evenremember the last time I had an actual break from work like this.”
Dell nods along as I pick things up. “What happened?”
“There was some freak accident with the cruise ship. Apparently it drifted out into open water on its own. The whole thing was cancelled and they’ve already refunded all the passengers.”
“Oh my gods,” Dell says with wide eyes. “That doesn’t even sound real! Holy cannoli!”
“I thought it was a scam at first but then I checked my account and yep, the money was back in my account.”
We swing over to the dairy area so I can grab some milk, eggs, and sour cream. As we pass the frozen section, I can’t help but grab some ice cream. Maybe I can convince Dell to stay a little longer and share some with me.
“That must have been such a disappointment. I’m so sorry, Alaric.”
I turn towards Dell, giving him a soft smile. “As much as I was looking forward to this cruise, I can’t help but feel like there’s a reason it was cancelled. Being able to spend today with you has been amazing and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
“Not even an Alaskan cruise?”
“Not anything.”
Dell smiles down at his feet, something he does a lot when I compliment him. It’s adorable, the way he’s so flustered.
