Chapter Fourteen

Hale

Explain, please. Audrey's answer to my suggestion came as no surprise. Hell, I was shocked I'd even thought of it, but the way the woman moaned when she talked about brunch gave us a huge hint about her. The woman's soft spot was food.

Thank the gods.

We are going to sit at a table and eat a meal while video chatting with you also having a meal. It will feel like a date-ish.

I added the ish because in addition to sounding excited, Audrey was holding back. She would laugh at something we said or compliment us and immediately get quiet.

That actually sounds fun. See you three after work.

We had plans with her for a long-distance, virtual date.

The last time I was this excited for any kind of date, well, I couldn't remember.

I got some sleep after my night shift and woke up around ten to go to the supermarket. The supermarket was almost an hour away, but they had infinitely more options than the mom-and-pop down the street, and their prices weren't so hard on the wallet.

Armed with the makings of a stellar dinner, I put a roast with lots of vegetables and potatoes into the slow cooker and set about cleaning my house. Idris, Lachlan, and I decided to have the video-dinner-chat date at my house since my dining area was a bit more open. Also, I was the one of us who had a concept of keeping things tidy.

I made a beautiful loaf of sourdough along with the dinner and a carrot cake for dessert and had poured myself a cup of tea when Idris and Lachlan knocked on the front door.

"How was the day?" I asked. They had closed down the clinic early since we had no appointments. It wasn't often we had a free afternoon, but Fate had smiled on us and this time we wanted to spend with Audrey.

"Surprisingly slow and easy. No emergencies. No callouts. Only some vaccinations and a few puppy checkups." Lachlan opened the Crockpot and took a whiff of my meal. I often cooked and left meals for them in their fridges. They could cook, just didn't as much as I did. But we shared responsibilities around our home and property. We took turns keeping the grounds mowed and kept up, and Idris had painted our cabins when we first moved in. He was also a pretty good handyman when things broke.

We made it work.

Which was why I knew that we would have no big issues making it work with Audrey.

Ready when you are. No rush.

Idris called out the words as he texted Audrey. We filled our plates and settled in at the table. We sat close together on one side to make sure our date could see all of us.

Calling now. She texted all of us back.

My stomach flip-flopped at the tone of an incoming video chat. We answered immediately, and her smile lit up the screen.

She blushed as we greeted her. "You three look handsome. Hale, this was a good idea."

My chest puffed out, hearing her praise. I would do anything to make her happy. I wasn't a shifter and would never have the mate bond with her another shifter would, but I would love her to the best of my ability if she would let us. "Thank you. You look beautiful as well."

"You're lucky I got dressed today. There are days where I work in my pajamas."

Lachlan sliced the bread loaf. "Whatever you want to show up in is fine. We want you to be you. No dressing up for three guys who will probably come home smelling like puppies and questionable bodily functions."

Lachlan was a goner. He was already talking about coming home to her.

He wasn't alone.

She skimmed over his response. "You guys are making me look bad. I made a grilled cheese and some tomato soup. You three have a meal fit for a king, or kings."

"Hale does most of the cooking," Idris said. "But none of us are bad in the kitchen."

We paused to eat a bit but I wanted to get down to the good stuff. Beating around the bush wasn't going to get her to us any faster.

"Have you had chats with other matches?" I asked. Idris kicked me under the table but I didn't care.

"Come on, Hale. Where's my smooth talker?" She laughed and her blush intensified. "I've chatted with some by text but never video. Didn't feel comfortable with anyone else."

"So why us?" Lachlan prompted.

She shrugged one shoulder. "To tell you the truth, I don't know. In general, I have a mild distrust for all humans but I equally distrust predator shifters for obvious reasons. My friend thought I should give it a shot with you even though I'm scared. I also have never dated or been in a relationship with more than one person, so this is new for me."

One day, I hoped she would let us dive into why humans had such a bad rap with her. Idris stabbed some of his meat before speaking. "We haven't ever dated the same person. Never even considered it until a friend of ours got married to two women."

Her once bright and blushing face paled as the corners of her mouth cast down. "Oh."

My turn to kick him under the table. "We aren't wanting more than one wife or mate. Just clearing that up," I said.

Audrey let out a sigh and her shoulders loosened. "That was almost the end of this date." She let out a nervous laugh, shaking her head.

"What I meant was," Idris started. "We hadn't considered a polygamous situation before that. We only want one woman.'

"That's good because my cat wouldn't put up with any other women in your lives, romantically speaking. Once she finds her mates, that's it for her. Have you ever, any of you, dated a shifter?"

Lachlan put down his fork. "We have had some shifters come into the clinic while in their animal forms. We accept them as patients when their animals need care. Sometimes they bring their children in for fear of a regular, human physician. And I read a ton of shifter romance if that counts for anything."

Audrey leaned back and laughed, hard and loud. "Stop it. I do too. You and I need to swap recommendations. Some of that stuff is wrong, but a lot of it is right. Once we are mated—if we are—I don't do divorce, lying, or cheating."

"We would never do that to you," I added.

"Somehow I know that. Now, Lachlan, tell me what you love most. Bear shifters or wolf shifters."

The night passed in what seemed like minutes. We finished our meals, and I felt awful having delicious homemade carrot cake in front of her when all she could muster for dessert was a pint of ice cream.

Once she was here, she could have anything she wanted for dessert or any meal for that matter.

Audrey let out a yawn. "Sorry, guys. It's been a day. I might need to go to bed."

Shit. I didn't want this night or this call to end.

"Audrey," Idris started, and balled his fists. I'd never seen him like this. "Would you like to come here and stay with us? Give this a real shot?"

Audrey bit down on her bottom lip. "Do you guys mind if I take some time to think about it? This has been great but I need to think, and I can't do that with you three in front of me, or like this."

Lachlan leaned toward the phone. "Of course. Take all the time you need. If you want to call us or text or anything, we're always here."

"Thanks. Thank you for the date, too. It was really nice. Good night."

Before we could tell her the same, she ended the video. My heart sank, knowing there was a chance she would say no.

She was afraid of humans, but I was afraid we were about to have our hearts broken by a beautiful domestic cat shifter.