Giving him another squeeze as cover to give her a moment to get herself together, Audrey released him and stepped back.She tilted her head back to smile up at him, her brain frantically reaching for the first thing she could think of to say.Baklava.David had passed on the message that Mason had particularly requested baklava at the bakery because it was his favorite.
“I didn’t know I was going to be seeing you here, or I would have brought your baklava—I made three different kinds, so you can tell me which one you like the best.”Oh crap, she was babbling.Of course, she hadn’t known she was going to see him here.No one was supposed to be here right now.She and David had been just stopping by so he could pick up something.
She must sound like a complete idiot.
Also, admitting she’d made three types of baklava made her sound way too eager to please.That’s what her mom would have said.She was trying too hard.As usual.Maybe it was good to tell him now, though.She’d made them before she’d met him, so he couldn’t misinterpret it as her meeting him, then trying to impress him because she was attracted to him or something.
Even though she was.
Wildly.
But she didn’t want to look pathetic.Or desperate.
Because she wasn’t.
“Thank you.”Mason smiled at her, and Audrey did her best not to melt.Good grief.Did he know how lethal that smile was?
Of course, he did.Guys like him always did.But he probably didn’t mean to use it on her that way.She was just… needy and pathetic.
Get out of my head, Cash.
“Sorry.”She wrinkled her nose, stepping back.Her hand drifted up to the end of her ponytail, giving it a little tug, hard enough to sting a little.“I know I come on kind of strong.I’m trying to get better about it.”
“I like how you come on.I didn’t mind.”The smile still seemed genuine, not as if he was trying to placate her.Audrey relaxed a little.
Mason was nice.Of course he was.
She wasn’t back home with her parents and their friends and their expectations.If she’d reacted this way to one of their friends’ sons, they would have been horrified and embarrassed.Audrey wouldn’t have had the chance to apologize because her parents would have been pulling her back and apologizing for her brashness.And then she would have been scolded about improper behavior and minding her manners and not making such a show of herself.
But she wasn’t in Philly anymore; she was in Pittsburgh, and Mason was nice.And insanely hot.
“Hey, Audrey, ready to go?”David’s voice almost made her jump, because for a moment she’d forgotten she was waiting for him.She wasn’t sure whether she was relieved or disappointed he’d interrupted the moment.“Oh, hey, Mason.What are you doing here?”
“Uh, I just had to pick some stuff up.”Mason’s focus was now entirely on David, and she was not feeling bereft just because he wasn’t looking at her anymore.Nope.Because that would definitely be pathetic.
“Same.”Her brother came up beside her, slinging his arm around her shoulders as he held up a folder in his other hand.Audrey smiled up at him.She was so glad she still had some family and that he’d been welcoming to her, even though she’d been trying to get him to talk to their parents for months after he’d cut them off.“Audrey and I are headed over to brunch with our grandmother now.Cassidy is driving her and meeting us there.”
“I love Cassidy,” Audrey chimed in, because she loved seeing the happiness on David’s face every time she said it.She truly did love Cassidy.She hoped David and Cassidy got married and lived happily ever after.If anyone deserved it, it was the two of them.“So does Grandma.We stayed up ‘til two o’clock last night talking.I adore her.”
The poor girl had been worried about whether Audrey would hate her, since her stalker ex-boyfriend had shot David while trying to kidnap her.As if that was Cassidy’s fault.
Now her stalker ex was dead, and they could live happily ever after without him hanging over them.
That was a big part of what they’d talked about last night, and Audrey had been happy to reassure Cassidy that she didn’t blame her atall.
“She’s pretty great,” Mason agreed, making Audrey want to melt even more.She just wanted to stand here and stare at him.Which meant she needed to get away from him right now.She couldn’t be lusting after one of her brother’s team members.She had a bakery to get up and running.She wasn’t looking for a relationship.
“She’s so great.But we do need to go so we can meet her.”Audrey smiled.“Will you be at Jensen’s tonight?”
She hadn’t met Jensen yet, but that’s where her welcome party was going to be.David’s apartment wasn’t big enough to hold everyone comfortably, according to him, and Jensen’s was where they usually gathered.Apparently, the house was incredible.Audrey was looking forward to seeing it.
Something changed in Mason’s expression, his smile faltering.Audrey felt her heart falter, too.
“Yeah, he’s coming,” David said, frowning at Mason when he didn’t answer right away.
“Yeah, I’m coming,” Mason echoed.
Something was going on there, and Audrey wasn’t sure what.Maybe it wasn’t any of her business.
