“No problem.It’ll give us some time to talk through things.”He gestured at the kitchen table and the island, where there were stools.“Pick your seat.”
The teapot he kept on the back of the stove already had water in it, so he just had to turn on the burner.Opening the cupboard to the left of the stove, he pulled down the box of options and turned to see where she’d ended up.She’d taken one of the seats at the island, across from him.
Smiling, he placed the box on the counter and slid it in front of her as her eyes widened.
“Wow… that’s a lot of tea.”
“I like tea, and I like options.”He shrugged.“I also have loose leaf, if you prefer.”
“Oh, no, please don’t go to the trouble,” she said, reaching in and plucking one of the small packages.“Orange pekoe is great.It’s one of my favorites.”
“Perfect.”Turning the box back toward himself, Mason picked out a honey vanilla option and set it on the counter before putting the box away.“Sweetener?”
“Sugar or honey.”
“I have both.”He picked up both options and put them on the counter as well.He preferred honey.Grabbing two mugs, he put them down.
Audrey smiled at him, and his chest tightened.
This wasn’t a date.
But it felt… intimate.Maybe even more so than most dates he’d been on.
“How was your day?”she asked.
“Good.We did a lot of team-building exercises.Trust falls and stuff.”Things that he’d suggested to Lincoln that they do.
“Because of everything that’s going on with Zeus?”
“Exactly.According to him, he and Noelle are now broken up, and he wants nothing to do with her.Which is exactly what he would say if he was a mole still trying to maintain his position on the team.”
Audrey eyed him.
“It’s also exactly what he would say if he wasn’t a mole.”
“So, you see our dilemma.”Mason shrugged as the tea kettle started to whistle.Picking it up, he poured the water into both mugs.
“Poor Zeus if he’s not a mole.”
“Well, that’s why we did the team-building exercises.”
“Did it help?”She cocked her head at him, wrapping her hands around the mug to warm them while the tea brewed.
Mason sighed.
“Not really.Zeus refused to do the trust fall.”It was a very middle school exercise, but it was also one of the simplest exercises, and they couldn’t even get him to do that with them.
“Why?”
“He didn’t want to.”No one had wanted to do the exercises; that wasn’t the point.It hadn’t helped things, though.
It was hard to put faith in someone who wouldn’t put at least a little faith in you.Zeus didn’t believe the team wouldn’t just drop him on the floor, apparently.What would happen in the field now… well, Lincoln had Zeus focused on tech stuff at the moment.“We’ll get there.How was today at the bakery?”
“I think the number of Black Fox team members coming into the bakery is increasing my foot traffic,” she replied, her eyes twinkling.“Apparently, I’m now known as the hot place to be because of all the hot men who regularly appear.”
Mason arched an eyebrow.
“Well… good?”
