the local food bloggers and social media influencers I invited showed up, and everyone looked like they were having a good time. And Andrea Rossi—she's the Denver Gazette's restaurant critic—even showed up! I wasn't sure she would. And she was super nice. And she said she liked everything she sampled!" Maggie was actually burbling now. It was really cute to see her so excited. "And once we officially opened for business, a ton of people showed up."
"Yeah, I saw," Steve agreed. "Congratulations on a great first day."
When he and the other smokejumpers had left the bakery after enjoying the complimentary coffee drinks and a few of the mouthwatering pastries on display, there had been a line going around the block, waiting to get in once the VIP hour ended.
"I wish you could have stayed to meet Andrea," Maggie said to her parents. "You left just before she arrived."
"Oh, it was much too crowded by then," Carmina said, sounding apologetic.
"Besides, we had those tickets to the zoo," Inez said. "You weren't expecting us to spend all day hanging around your bakery, were you? Those ugly metal chairs of yours were so uncomfortable."
Wow, way to suck all the joy out of Maggie's big day, Steve thought as her ebullience drained away.
With an effort, he suppressed a growl. Instead, playing the part of a supportive fiancé, he put his arm around her shoulders. It felt natural to support her, especially when she deserved some credit for her beautiful, classy bakery with all of its delicious sweets.
"But crowded is good. We were sold out of almost everything by the end of the day," Maggie said, sounding defensive now. "And I think I need to hire an extra production baker and a second barista."
"More expenses, and so soon? I only hope your success continues and that this investment wasn't a huge mistake like I warned your brother," Inez said in a quelling tone.
"When are you coming home again?" Martín asked. "Or have you gotten too busy to spend time with your family now that you're on TV all the time?"
Maggie deflated beneath Steve's arm, and it made him angry.
Just in the short time that he'd been hanging out with Maggie's relatives, he'd noticed that none of the three people sitting at the table \ appeared to be very interested in her accomplishments. The only thing they'd wanted to discuss was her relationship to Steve…when they actually spoke to her at all.
Now that he thought about it, they'd pretty much only been talking to him since they all met up in the restaurant's parking lot.
It was the same dynamic he'd noticed with his family when it came to his older sister Tina, who was every bit as smart and ambitious as Aarón, but who always had to work twice as hard for half the credit that his brother received.
Just before this fire season had started, Tina had phoned him on the verge of tears. Her voice shaking, she had described being passed over for promotion to Chief Financial Officer in favor of a less-experienced but male cousin.
"You think abuelita would understand, being a woman herself," she'd complained.
Bristling on Maggie's behalf, Steve told Carmina and Inez, "I think she's amazing, and a real catch. And I'm sure that Cacao Denver is going to be a huge success."
Maggie turned her head and beamed at him, her expression glowing.
Wow, he thought. She makes me feel like a real hero.
He took shameless advantage of his position as her fake fiancé to lean in and plant a quick kiss on her plump, tempting lips. Nothing too deep or dirty, not in front of her parents and grandmother, and definitely no tongue.
Heat flared between them, and a searing flash of desire shot straight down to his crotch. His jaguar half came to sudden life, rising dangerously close to the surface. Beneath his clothes, a warning prickle of impending shift ran over Steve's skin.
She reacted too, with a small, shocked gasp and a start. His acute senses homed in on her suddenly racing pulse and the tantalizing scent of her arousal.
With an effort, he pushed down his cat, which wanted him to strip off her clothes and cover himself in her incredibly appealing scent as he mated her fast and hard.
He looked Abuela Inez straight in the eye and said, "I'm a lucky guy to have met a woman who's so beautiful, brave, and hard-working."
"We're very proud of her," Martín said quietly, as he resumed cutting into his ribeye steak.