Page 5 of The Marriage Narrative
“Little shop?”Grace asked with full offense.“RED FLAG.”
“Seconded. I can’t excuse that.”
Disappointment washed over Zinnia in a sobering wave. She’d felt likesomethingwas missing as soon as Sam walked through the door. Tried pushing past her doubts to make this work.
But deep down, she’d been waiting for the tiniest flutter of feelings to manifest. Not butterflies—this wasn’t that kind of situation—but therushthat came right before taking a giant step toward something greater. Like signing a lease for a dream apartment or finally booking a two-week vacation overseas after a year of saving up for it.
If Sam didn’t respect her actual business, their marriage wouldn’t stand a chance.
“No, actually,” she said. “If you’d bothered to ask, I would’ve explained that I have inventory. A lot of it. I ship anywhere from fifty to three hundred orders a week. When there’s a new product or line launch, those numbers are likely to double.”
“Oh. Shit.”
“I’m very busy and my time is precious,” she said. “Next item: background check. We won’t be moving in together until after you pass and the prenup is signed.”
“Background check? For what?”
“Department of Justice–level clearance. It takes about three days to get the results.”
“I’mnotdoing a background check.” He sounded insulted.
“Oh, so you’re the one who’s hiding something. What did you do?”
He forcefully exhaled through his nose and pulled a napkin out of the dispenser. “You know, this was supposed to be fun. You’re making it feel like just another bad date.”
“Because I asked questions?”
“Because you’re being all serious.” He began tearing the napkin to shreds. “You’re acting like Lawyer Barbie. You’re not even trying to flirt back.”
“Back?!”Fiona exclaimed.“When did he start?”
“This is a business arrangement,” Zinnia said firmly.
“To getmarried.” He gave her a patronizing look. “People who do this kind of thing always end up falling in love.”
“Red Flag Three,”Grace said.“The bar truly is in hell. You literally said the exact opposite on your dating profile. Either he has zero reading comprehension skills or he’s trying to manipulate you.”
“Seconded,”Fiona agreed.“And I’m pretty sure he thinks negging is flirting.”
Zinnia bit her lip. She didn’t even know what that was. “Sam, the thing is…I don’t want to fall in love with you. We won’t even be sharing a bedroom.”
Sam scoffed, face instantly turning bright red. “All right. Nobody said you had to.” But he had that hopeful look in his eyes that she’d hoped to avoid.
“Not you personally,” she said gently. “I’m not falling in love with anyone. I think you’re looking for a fantasy, which is okay! That’s just not what I’m here for. I want to build a life with someone—areallife and arealpartnership. I think you’ve…underestimatedthe amount of work involved with that.”
“I guess that’s what I get for giving older women a chance.” He nodded once and stood up. “Your loss.”
“Have a nice life, Sam.” Zinnia laughed, genuinely amused. She was barely five years older—if anything she’d givenhima chance.
“Maybe I shoulddo the screening for you.” Grace glanced through the rearview mirror at Zinnia, who was sitting in the back seat of the car. “You can’t give everyone a chance. Have some standards, damn.”
“He met all the requirements! It’s not my fault he knew how to hide his shitty personality.”
“Hewasn’t hiding it.You’retoo naive.”
“But you’re also kind.” Fiona, in the passenger seat, turned to the side to face them both. “And openhearted. You always try to see the best in people.”
“Even when it ain’t there,” Grace complained. “Andyou need dating lessons. It’s too obvious that you don’t know what the hell you’re doing.”
