He chuckled softly until he realized I wasn’t laughing with him. “No one was hurt. You’ll see. Everything will be fine. Magical communities know mistakes happen when people come into their powers. Your muffins are pretty mild compared to some of the stuff I’ve seen.”
“Yeah?” I blinked up at him.
“Yeah.” He smiled down at me. He seemed so sure. Oh, how I wanted to believe him.
“I should talk to Elwood before he hears about it from someone else.”
“I’m sure he’s already heard. And tomorrow is soon enough. Nothing’s going to change overnight.”
I winced but knew he was right. Ravenstone was a small town. Gossip traveled faster than a bullet down these cobblestone streets.
“I don’t think I should open a bakery.”
Gideon stilled. “Why?”
“I obviously don’t have a handle on my magic. What if next time I’m thinking about you when I’m making cookies and suddenly everyone’s taking off their clothes and getting frisky with one another?”
He grinned. “Thinking about me makes you want to take off your clothes?”
“You know what I mean.” My cheeks heated. “My point is, I hadn’t even realized I was doing anything magical.”
“Didn’t you? You seemed to know right away that it was those cheesy muffins that were the problem.”
I sighed and pushed my face into his chest again. My actions made my glasses go askew, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t meet his eyes right now. “Yeah… looking back, I can see what happened, but?—”
“No buts,” Gideon said, cutting me off. “Now that you know how it happened, you’ll be able to recognize the signs.”
I hoped he was right. “That doesn’t mean anyone will ever want to eat anything I make ever again. Even Sandy avoided my baking after he saw what was happening.Sandy!”
I could feel Gideon shaking his head. “Sandy only set the muffin aside. You must’ve missed him wrapping up the leftover cupcakes in a napkin.”
I looked up at Gideon again. “Did he really do that?”
“Yes. I wouldn’t lie to you.”
“I know.”
“And if you don’t think anyone will ever eat your baking again,” he said, “I can disprove that right now.”
Before I realized what was happening, he’d stepped away from me and grabbed a muffin from the table.
“Gideon! Stop!”
He chomped into the cheesy muffin of doom. I stared at him. I don’t know what I’d expected, but he didn’t explode or glow or spontaneously blurt out how my bakery dreams had just gone up in smoke.
“See?” He smiled. “Everything’s fine.”
I took the muffin out of his hand before he decided to eat any more of it.
“I don’t have anything to hide from you, baby.”
My stomach fluttered. I wasn’t sure if it was because of his term of endearment or everything else he’d said after tasting the muffin. Gideon wasn’t a liar. I’d known that, but it was still reassuring to hear it and know it was true. So I broke off part of the muffin and stuffed it into my mouth, too. We stared at one another for a long moment.
“I don’t have anything to hide from you either,” I whispered.
Gideon’s eyes softened. I’d expected him to hug me again. Instead, he took my hand in his and looked into my eyes.
“I…” He cleared his throat. “Like I said before, I’m sure you’re my mate, but I can’t know for sure without being able to shift into my wolf. But without that confirmation, I’ve been struggling.” His voice broke on that last word.
