~Elevenses ~<br/><br/>Nicci passed Marcus a mug of coffee as he nodded to her question, smiling into her eyes. She smiled back, he seemed...... somehow different, as though he was quite relaxed about everything they'd just been shown, at ease, and it suited him, in fact she loved it.  It was something that had always meant a lot to Nicci, she didn't want to shoulder the burdens alone anymore, and for the men to be capable, able to take charge and be a comfort and a stable force in her life meant more than any of them knew.  Their fingers brushed for a moment and she had a tiny flashback to the night before, and she had to concentrate on pouring herself a mug more carefully lowering her eyes so she didn't flush.<br/><br/>Bo declined and she sat down, the others starting to help themselves. She thought about his question, very surprised at Mari's answer. She'd thought Mari would take it all in her stride, especially with her background.  She frowned sipping her coffee, was she also saying she wasn't ready..... in other ways too...?  She'd been so up for it last night...?<br/><br/>Perhaps, Nicci thought, she'd been focusing on the cooking and the food so much she'd lost sight of the bigger picture.  For her to escape the constant traveling, and get away from the all the pressures of her life was a godsend.  She loved that there were no phones, no constant work, peace and quiet.  Also she loved the outdoors, she was itching to get out on the mountains, Mari and Mila, perhaps they were more home bodies and worried about being shut off for so long.<br/><br/>She looked across at Bo, he was obviously at home with it all, and not worried by any of it.  She already knew he was – well obviously an outdoor person too, "I don't think I'm worried about the work as such," she said carefully, not with all of  us working together." she cradled her cup in her hands, "I mean you guys will have all the heavy and outdoors stuff under control and we girls have the cooking and everything, but...I think there enough of us that if there are any problems there'll always be someone around to help.......?"<br/><br/>She held her hand out across the table to take Mari's, "We can learn together......... " Nicci was still worried that Mila may be talking about being with them, or even being with Nicci, especially as she and Mila had got on so well, but she'd thought after their run that they'd been OK.........?  She looked across at Mila, bringing her hand back across the table, "We can certainly achieve more together than we can apart, don't you think? " she asked, looking round the table, then biting her lip she lifted up her mug again, hoping she hadn't put her foot in it again.