Page 27 of Bear

Two weeks ago when she’d had to pretend Bear wasn’t the man she loved with all her heart during the toy run, she’d decided they needed to let everyone know about them. Then she’d overheard a conversation about War proposing to Remi at Christmas. She’d decided she’d talk to Bear when they exchanged gifts about going public with their relationship.

Tonight was such a big night for him and she wanted to be sharing in his happiness, not that her man was grinning. His lip would quirk up a little when he was happy but he was still her Bear.

She loved what he’d done with the diner and the look on Regina’s face when he’d unveiled the sign for Regina’s Roadside Refuge. Seeing Regina pull Bear close and give him a mother’s love, which his incubator hadn’t ever given him, brought tears to Winnie’s eyes.

Winnie had it on her list to sit down with her sisters and discuss his incubator as soon as everyone knew she and Bear were together. Bear had shared late one night how he was worried his biological mom would return and screw things up. When Winnie found out his bio-mom had been extorting money from Bear to stay out of his life for years, she’d been furious.

Bear was one of the strongest, most compassionate protectors she knew but when he talked about his incubator, Winnie could hear the pain in his voice. It made her want to hunt down his incubator and have a little chat. Well, the chat might involve Winnie kicking her ass but it would get Winnie’s point across. The diner and him accepting the manager position was a huge step for Bear along with becoming the Vice President of the MC. War had offered the S.A.A. to Cannon and he had accepted. He was putting down roots. With her by his side, they’d figure out what to do if bio-mom threatened Bear or tried to extort money ever again.

Even though the gym had reopened, they’d kept the fight nights to a minimum until after Christmas. The diner remodel and all their other jobs had them stretched thin.

She had an out-of-town security job next week. She was partnered with Scoop and they’d be in Topeka for three days. They’d been partnered for security for a party for some company. It didn’t sound like her favorite job but she’d do her part.

Sarah sat down beside her and offered her some of her plate of treats she’d grabbed. “Better grab one if you want the veggie pizza bites, although when they don’t have cheese I don’t know why they’re calling it pizza.”

Winnie loved them no matter what they were called and took two pieces of the six before they disappeared. The puff pastry cooked then covered with a mixture of cream cheese, sour cream and ranch seasoning then topped with pieces of carrots, broccoli, tomato and cucumber was a favorite of hers. Bear had asked if she would mind if he used her recipe at the diner and had made her a pan last week. She’d eaten half of it. She would have eaten it all but thought it would be impolite to not share with the man who made it.

The first bite had the flavors bursting on her tongue and her humming in pleasure. He’d used her recipe but it tasted better. Maybe it was because she hadn’t done all the work making it.

“Could you keep the sex noises down a little over here? It’s just food.”

Winnie was taken aback because Sarah usually went out of her way to not say anything that could even be construed as mean.

“Sorry. You know this is my favorite. Everything okay?”

Winnie consumed her two pieces while waiting on Sarah to elaborate. Sarah wiped her mouth and shook her head.

“Yeah. Sorry I’m not my usual self. I just keep thinking that everything was tied up too neatly with the problems we were having. I have that little place on the back of my neck that is itching. It’s screaming something is still off.”

“I think if you have that feeling then you need to follow it. Mom and Dad both taught us to always follow our hunches. I guess I wanted to believe everything was perfect afterwards. Anything specific you want to talk about or are you still in the processing phase?”

“I appreciate the offer. I don’t have enough to start bouncing ideas off anyone yet. I could use a workout, though.”

Winnie rubbed her hands together, cackling evilly. “Oh, yes, my pretty—I can make sure your muscles are screaming until you forgot your troubles.”

Beth sat down at the table. “Oh no, I recognize that laugh. Who is she going to torture next?”

“I told her I needed a workout. I’ve spent too much time behind the desk and with the weather, I haven’t been running or walking.”

Jesse slid in and grabbed a piece of the veggie pizza, finishing it in two bites.

“Hello, sister, did you want to ask before you took my food next time?”

“Whoa, I think someone needs to get laid. You are strung too tight if me grabbing a snack off your plate has you wanting to rip my head off. I know you’re not on your period because we’re not due until next week.”

Sarah rolled her eyes. “You know, some days I love all of you and sometimes I wish I was an only child for just a little while—a week or two.”

Winnie decided to be the peacemaker because her sisters were heading toward a knock-down fight, which they hadn’t had in forever. It darn well wasn’t going to be at her man’s new business opening.

“Let’s take it down a notch. It’s been a busy and wild couple of months. If everyone needs to blow off steam, we can head to the gym after this or you all can calm down and enjoy the evening here.”

Beth reached over and palmed the next to last piece of fudge from Sarah’s plate. She popped it in her mouth and slowly chewed. Her youngest sister definitely knew how to push Sarah’s last nerve.

“Be nice or I’m going to reprogram everything in your house and none of your shows will be available,” Sarah threatened.

Winnie decided she wasn’t going to play referee anymore tonight. She stood and walked away, dropping her trash, then headed to check out the upstairs. She was curious how he was utilizing the space.

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