“To the bakery?”
“Eventually.Goodbye.”
“Bye, Mason!”Morgan’s previous quiet meant she didn’t have anything to say, but she sounded cheerful enough saying goodbye to him.
“Keep me updated.”
“Bye, Morgan.”Mason hung up without acknowledging his cousin’s final words.
Asad had a good point, thought.He should go to the bakery.Prove to Asad that his reaction to Audrey was an aberration that faded as quickly as it came on.
First, he was going to do some more research into ‘cold feet’ and the various ways it manifested, as well as the science of attraction.Just because he was interested.
Not because he was worried Asad was right.
Then this afternoon, he’d stop by the bakery and prove it to himself.
ChapterSeventeen
Audrey
Cupcakes and Crumbs’ grand opening was good.Not amazing.Not terrible.But solidly good.Solidly busy.
Was there a line down the block?
No.
But there was a line.
For three hours straight, there was a line.Sometimes, it was only one or two people behind the person ordering, sometimes, it was nearly to the door, but there was a line.
Ashley kept smiling and moving the line alone.Alexis was in the back, baking up a storm to keep up with the more popular demands.And Audrey was running back and forth between them, assisting with both.Making sure the tables were clear and clean after people left, for the few who decided to take a seat.
Several Black Fox Security team members, mostly Harris’ team, came in early in the morning.Harris made sure to introduce her to Aiden, Jaxon, and Seth before they stepped aside to let others through.Zeus came in not long after them on his own.He did not have Noelle with him, and Audrey couldn’t help but wonder if something had happened between them, but she didn’t know him well enough to ask.Ashley didn’t ask him either, probably because that was one of the points where they did have a line to the door—he was in and back out far too fast for her to get nosy.
Finally, around lunchtime, things slowed down to a trickle, the line finally disappeared for the first time, and Audrey made her way over to the table where her grandmother and Cassidy were sitting.They’d come in mid-morning to get coffee and treats and had stayed through.
“This is quite the grand opening,” Grandma said, beaming at her.“I hope you’re proud of yourself.”
“Proud and exhausted,” Audrey confirmed.“And we still have the whole afternoon and evening to go.”Since it was a Saturday, she was staying open till eight, in case people wanted cupcakes or dessert after dinner.
Tomorrow they would close earlier, at four o’clock, so she and Ashley could go to book club.One of the perks of being the owner.She could make her own hours.Right now, she didn’t have hours posted because she planned to spend the first month trying to be open as much as possible to determine when it made sense to be open.Since she only had two employees, she would be doing most of the work, but that was also part of being the owner.
“It was definitely busy.A lot of foot traffic.”Cassidy glanced out the window.“There are a lot of businesses here, so I wasn’t sure there would be since it’s the weekend.”
“Well, Black Fox Security made up a lot of the business,” Audrey replied, laughing as she set one foot up on her knee.“They all seem to be in and out of the office on Saturday, and it’s just around the corner.”
“Good point.A lot of them go there to train or work out, too.”
“Ooh, can we go watch that after we’re done here?”Grandma asked, her face lighting up.“That sounds fun.”
“They’re working out, not providing a show,” Cassidy scolded.
“Why can’t it be both?”
“Oh, hey, there’s Yasmine and Claudia.”Cassidy leaned toward the window and raised her hand in a wave, ignoring Audrey’s grandmother’s question.Which was probably the best way to deal with her at the moment, if Audrey was being honest.
Audrey set her foot down, feeling suddenly very awkward as the door to the bakery opened and the two women came inside.How was she supposed to act toward Yasmine now?They weren’tfriendsfriends, and she hadn’t been there last night when Yasmine and Mason had told everyone they’d broken up.She’d gotten it secondhand from Ashley.
