Jack’s brows rose in surprise. Pleasant surprise. God knows he’d expected much worse. Even though he’d have to do some rearranging of his personal schedule to get away for the weekend, this wasn’t nearly as bad as he’d anticipated.

“Sounds good,” he said, relaxing for the first time since Gavin had made his “great news” announcement. “Although I’m wondering about the expense.”

“It’ll pay off in the long run. Remember, Jack, people who have bonded work better together. And people who work better together are more efficient.”

That little pronouncement sent Jack’s radar whirring and knotted his stomach. He knew those words. All too well. God knows he’d heard them enough since Mad Dog was hired. They were her personal mantra.

“Madeline arranged the whole team building weekend,” Gavin said.

Figures. More consultant-related money going down the tubes. But based on Gavin’s determined expression and tone, his mind was set. Well, at least Mad Dog wouldn’t be coming along. Thank God.

“She’ll be joining the group for the weekend,” Gavin added.

Jack barely suppressed a groan. And there it was. For about three seconds he’d been lulled into a false sense of security, stupidly thinking that the great news might actually not be bad. Reality had just smacked him upside the head with the force of hammer to his skull.

“Why is she tagging along?”

Gavin’s expression turned inscrutable, which gave Jack’s radar another jolt. He considered himself pretty adept at reading people, and in the past two months he’d picked up on a lot of the nuances of Gavin’s expressions. This carefully blank look practically shouted that there was more going on than he was willing to say, which only furthered Jack’s suspicions of a downsizing.