Page 10 of The Marriage Narrative
“Unfortunately. My mom swears it’s my fatal flaw.”
“I think it’s a good thing. A little intense, but good.” And so completely different from what he was used to, it made him feel lightheaded with disbelief. Potentially having a life with someone with no ulterior motives? Who valued honesty? Who wanted to be partners in all things? Impossible.
Zinnia could’ve been lying to him—desperation was likelyblocking him from picking up on all the ways theywouldn’tfit together. Wanting to believe her felt as precarious as actually doing it.
“I have other reasons too,” she said thoughtfully. “I feel like this huge chunk of my life is on pause because I haven’t found someone yet and also? Everything issoexpensive. The government literally punishes single people without kids with higher tax rates and no breaks.”
“I know. They could at least let us write off vet bills.” He laughed, still riding the high of hearing hers. “Your accounting and finances plan was really good, by the way.” She’d emailed the document a prompt fifteen minutes after their call ended. The fact that she wanted an ironclad prenuptial agreement was an immediate bonus for him.
“I’ve thought this through six ways from Sunday and consulted a lawyer,” she said. “I’m ready.”
Jordan had known people like her existed—voluminous and irrepressible, lighting up entire rooms just by existing inside of them—but he’d never met anyone actually like that. He wished he had time to truly get to know her first, all her likes and little quirks, but that wasn’t in the cards this time around. His family dealt in ultimatums. They’d forced his hand, so he had to keep thinking of her in terms of suitability.
And she was objectively perfect.
“I can tell,” he said. “Well, I’m in if you are. Let’s get married.”
Chapter 4
Zinnia
She almost didn’tbelieve it—her heartstuttered. “Did you forget about the background check part?”
“I’ll do it today. We can go together.” Jordan’s easy smile effortlessly reached his intriguing brown eyes.
That wasn’t even his best feature. His natural reddish-brown hair might’ve been first. It also could’ve been the freckles dusting across his nose and cheeks. They were so faint that she only saw them when he was close enough for her to inspect every inch of his face during their conversation.
She sat up a little straighter, raising her chin. “Before we do that, I want you to tell meyoursecret. There’s something you’re intentionally hiding from me. I can feel it.”
Grace had taught her well. The secret itself was irrelevant. She only cared about the effort he put into reciprocation.
“Everyone has secrets.” His mischievous grin slowly faded into a deadpan expression. “Not to mention that I answered all your questions. All of them. Every last one.”
“Thank you for being so gracious about that, by the way. I really appreciated it.”
“Ah, sothatwas the test?”
She laughed softly. “I promise you it wasn’t.”
Sam had also taught her a lesson. She now went through her extensive checklist during the introductory call. His Lawyer Barbie remark had gotten under her skin because it was so far off base.
She was actually more likeLife in the DreamhouseBarbie. Applicants needed to know that upfront.
“Back to your secret. I specifically want to know something you should tell someone before you marry them. Think of it like a trust exercise.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Are we getting married?”
She thought,Potentially, but by the time the word reached her mouth it turned into, “Hopefully.”
Grace was going to kill her. She’d issued a yellow flag the second she saw his picture, declaring he couldn’t be trusted. There was no way hewasn’ta stereotypical light-skinned fuckboy who was dedicated to breaking hearts with mind games.
Fiona was going to learn necromancy, resurrect her corpse, and then kill her again. She’d thought he had nice eyes and a good sense of humor—he’d used his giant orange cat, Beta Carotene, for the infamous dating app fish pose, noting his weight and gotcha date—but sided with Grace.
They had no idea Zinnia agreed to meet him. She’d been so intrigued by the introductory call that she even snatched her lucky bracelets out of early retirement.
Jordan checked his phone for the first time in almost two hours. “The event is about to start. We can continue this later over ice cream?”
“That is the plan.”
