under the bus because you want to run for mayor?" Steve asked, his tone and expression both appalled.
"Our abuela—" Manny began, spreading his hands in a "what can you do?" gesture.
"—is a bully," Steve finished for him. "From what I've seen so far, everyone in your family tiptoes around her like she's some kind of human landmine."
Now it was Maggie's turn to wince. Because Steve was right.
The only reason that the two of them were sitting here right now, pretending to be deeply in love, was because she didn't have the ovaries to tell Abuela Inez to go to hell, even if it meant paying the price for her defiance.
"She and Tío Eddy control the clan's finances," Manny began.
"And you didn't want to use your own money to run for office?" Steve asked shrewdly.
Maggie squeezed his hand in gratitude. She wasn't used to having someone stick up for her like this.
He promised he'd have my back, she thought. It feels good. Really good.
"I honestly didn't know that the clan elders were planning to force my sister to mate someone they picked," Manny protested, neatly sidestepping Steve's question. "Maggie, I'm so sorry. Can you forgive me?"
She considered his question. Did she want to forgive him? She and Manny had always been close, but could she overlook his failure to question why Abuela Inez and the other clan elders had asked him to hide the true source of the loan?
While she pondered, she realized that she was stroking Steve's hand with her thumb. His touch was so comforting and reassuring that it scared her.
With an effort, she stilled the movement.
She sighed. "Apology accepted," she told her brother. "But I'm not going to lie. You know what our abuela's like, and it hurts that you just went along with her plans, no questions asked."
"I swear to you that I won't make that mistake again," Manny promised her.
"And if you do, you'll have me to deal with," Steve growled.
A thrill of happiness shot through Maggie's middle. She wasn't used to someone instantly springing to her defense like that.
What does it say that right now, I trust Steve more than I trust my family? That thought was followed immediately by another. Is this what having a mate would be like?
"Gotcha," Manny said, with a respectful nod. Then he addressed Maggie. "I'm so glad that you found each other. He's going to be a great mate."
To her surprise, Maggie agreed one hundred percent. Steve was going to make someone a great mate, that was for sure.
A needle of white-hot jealousy pierced her at the thought of Steve with another woman. Maybe I need to rethink his offer of a real date.
Her jaguar came alert. Yes. We need to keep this one.
Michael returned, carrying a tray loaded with bottles of locally brewed beer, frosted mugs, and the appetizer platter they'd ordered. It featured deep-fried pickles, baked potato skins loaded with melted cheese and crumbled bacon, and grilled Cajun-spiced shrimp.
With the uncomfortable confrontation over, and the air cleared of all but a trace of lingering disappointment in her brother, the rest of the meal passed pleasantly enough.
Manny reverted to his usual charming self and entertained Steve with stories about Maggie's childhood exploits, including the infamous plum tart disaster, which had resulted in their house filling with smoke and the fire department showing up to put out the flames shooting from the oven.
"I was only ten! How was I supposed to know that you could only use Italian plums in that recipe and not the plums from the tree in our garden!" Maggie said, laughing.
"You weren't supposed to do anything in the kitchen without our parents around," Manny said.
"It was Papá's birthday the next day," Maggie explained to Steve. "And he loved the Italian plum tart from Frank's Bakery in town. We had buckets of plums sitting in the kitchen, waiting for Mamá and my aunties to turn them into jam, so I thought I'd surprise him with a homemade version."
Steve gave her one of those panty-melting smiles, his brown eyes glowing with warmth. "So you always knew you were meant to be a baker?"
"Pretty much," she said. "And I got better at it with practice."
"You sure did," Steve agreed.
* * *
After lunch ended and Manny departed to his next real estate appointment, Maggie and Steve walked down Main Street to Cinnamon + Sugar in hopes of finding Annabeth there.
They were in luck this time. As soon as they walked through the door, Hannah waved cheerily at them, then