Maybe, but she’d fully relaxed after he’d offered to take her home with him, not when he’d offered to go home with her.
“Let’s go to my place.”
Still relieved.Eager even.Her eyes were shining with her emotions.
“I do need to swing by my place, though, to pick up some things,” she said apologetically.
“Of course.I’ll go with you.I can drive you and bring you back here tomorrow morning.”
Immediately, she started shaking her head.
“Oh no, I can’t ask you to do that.I have to be here way too early.”
“You didn’t ask me to, I offered,” he reminded her.She looked like she wanted to say yes, but was struggling to for some reason.“That’s what we’re doing.I’ll drive you back and forth.I need to be at Black Fox early tomorrow, anyway.”
He didn’t, but it wouldn’t hurt anything, and it allowed her to nod her head in acceptance of his offer.
The only problem with it was the fact she had to get off his lap.Mason kept his arm around her as they went to the front again to see what was going on.The window was fully boarded up, and Claudia and David had their heads together, talking.The rest of the team had already left.
“Hey, how are you doing, Audrey?”Claudia asked sympathetically when she caught sight of them.Her sharp gaze also noted Mason’s arm around Audrey’s shoulder, but she didn’t say anything.
“Um, about as okay as I can be, I guess.”Audrey’s exhaustion was even clearer now, as was her sadness as her gaze drifted to the window.
“We’re going to find out who your parents hired and make sure tonight is the last of it,” Claudia said, while David nodded grimly.
“You’ll still need to call the insurance company tomorrow, but the police report has been filed.When we find the asshole who did this, he’ll be charged.No matter what our parents paid him, I’ll make sure it wasn’t enough.”David raked his hand through his hair, scowling.He glanced at Mason and Audrey.
“Audrey’s going to spend the night at my house tonight,” he said, and felt her wince as she averted her gaze from her brother’s scowl.Not that David was willing to say anything right now, especially in front of her.Mason expected to get an earful tomorrow.“I’m going to drive her.”
“Fine,” David said shortly.The look he gave Mason said that if any more bricks came Audrey’s way, he expected Mason to throw himself in front of them.As far as Mason was concerned, that went without saying.He was getting Audrey a panic button as soon as he could, just in case.
Claudia smirked at both of them, then winked at Audrey, who didn’t seem to be paying attention.
Coming forward, David opened his arms, and Audrey left the shelter of Mason’s to step into her brother’s for a hug.He gave Mason the big stink eye.Mason just let it glance off him.He didn’t need to rile David up any more than he already was, and he didn’t want to upset Audrey by having a conflict with her brother.
They’d work out any issues while they weren’t around her.
Claudia, on the other hand, had no such problem.
“Have a good night,” she called after Mason and Audrey as they headed for the back, her voice full of throaty innuendo.
David growled.
Mason tightened his arm around Audrey’s shoulder to keep her from turning back.
Tomorrow was going to be interesting.
ChapterThirty-Eight
Audrey
The boarded-up bakery window was a stark reminder of her parents’ betrayal every time she looked at it.Fortunately, it didn’t seem to have decreased business.If anything, they were busier than ever—according to Ashley, social media was now obsessed with figuring out what had happened to the window.
No one had been in the store, other than Cash, last night, so it was a total mystery.
The most popular theories had to do with the ‘big beefy soldier-looking guys’ going in and out of the bakery all day.
Ashley’s favorite conspiracy theory was the one where the mob had targeted Cupcakes and Crumbs, and now all the muscular men going in and out were security.They were sort of half right, except it was Audrey’s parents, not the mob.Though sometimes it seemed like they weren’t that far off from each other.
