Chapter 6
Jordan
From the end of their meeting until now, Jordan had received over a hundred messages and not a single one was Zinnia’s answer.
His inbox was flooded by every single member of his family pressuring him about the show and his friends threatening to stage an intervention because he’d cancelled all their plans for the foreseeable future.
Somehow, he defied the stress making him feel constantly wired and fell asleep around two a.m.
Naturally, he dreamed about Zinnia and her answer, Groundhog Day–style.
She said no, grew wings, and then flew into the sunset. She said yes, but then her friends chased him down with a car. She said maybe, gave him exactly four hours to win her hand, and started the timer.
Two hours into his dream quest, his phone went off three times at six a.m. and woke him up.
ZINNIA: Jordan. Good morning.
ZINNIA: So, I talked to Grace and Fi
ZINNIA: Do you want the good news or the bad news first?
He groaned while rubbing his face. Beta Carotene jumped onto the bed with a solid thump.
“Hey, buddy. Ready for breakfast?”
He got a purring head-butt in response.
Jordan had never been a cat person. He’d gone to the shelter to get a dog. But while standing at the intake desk to begin the aggressively thorough canine application, he’d spotted a crate labeled CAUTION: SILENT BUT SPICY.
He’d stared at the pointy-eared orange fluff.
The giant pointy-eared orange fluff had stared back.
He’d asked the receptionist, “Is that cat available?”
One meet and greet later, Beta Carotene had a forever home.
JORDAN: Good morning/news
ZINNIA: Are you free today for a really late lunch meeting? So late it’s technically early dinner but I’m calling it lunch for personal reasons.
ZINNIA: Because it just so happens that I am.
Jordan’s cool sheets shifted around him as he sat up, instantly awake. Her response hit him like a shove in the back—she obviously wanted to move forward in a specific way, but time was breathing down his neck. He barely had enough left to finish his lengthy disappearance to-do list.
Beta Carotene chirped. Huge cat. Tiny voice.
“Don’t worry, you’ll like her. She thinks you’re cute.”
He blinked his scarily intelligent amber eyes and Jordan scratched under his chin and behind his ears. Hair flew everywhere because the spring shed was doing its best to kill him.
Just like Zinnia.
Finding someone else half as suitable would take nothing short of a miracle. He didn’t have time to scroll on a dating app. He didn’t have time to go on dates. Hiring an escort might work, but Zinnia’s marriage-merger proposal was the literal answer to his prayers.
So, he’d make time for her.
JORDAN: I know a place.
Beta Carotene was now standing by the door and glaring him into oblivion. A true Zaffre at heart, his cat ran on a schedule. Breakfast was served within twenty minutes of Jordan waking up. No exceptions.
“All right, all right. I’m coming.” Jordan also ran on a schedule, albeit a much later one. He wasn’t really a morning person. Once he was up, he was up, but without alarms he was likely to sleep until noon.
Actually, it’d be until nine fifteen a.m. because that was when Sadie called. They talked every day at that time, without fail, even if it was only for ten minutes. She caught him in the middle of driving to the store. He needed to pick up seven months’ worth of Beta’s supplies for the cat sitter.
“Alfie.” Sadie’s snappy voice filled his car in surround sound.
No one in his family ever called him Jordan.
And anytime she used his name as a greeting was a warning that he’d fucked up and was about to get yelled at.
“Maybe you forgot, but I’m on maternity leave.
Mom is the chief storyline officer now. This is a big moment for her. Don’t make me pick sides.”
“You should automatically be on mine.”
“Oh, believe me I am. I just wanted to scare you with the appearance of fairness. It’s time to fall in line, little brother.” She laughed, brightly sardonic as ever. “Mom asked me to ask you to stop ignoring her calls.”
The last time he’d spoken to his mom was during a meeting with a network rep. Everything had been fine until they pitched their choice for his future wife—a close family friend who also happened to be an immensely popular and talented actress.
Beatrix. His ex-girlfriend.
He still broke out into a frantic, cold sweat every time he even thought about it. Because they’d have to drag him kicking and screaming down the aisle before he married Bea.
“Look, I know how badly things ended between you two—I was there—but would it kill you to be reasonable?” Sadie asked. “I’m sorry, but you own your own is not enough to sustain a storyline.”
“Aw, I love you too.”
“That’s not personal and you know it.” If she’d been there, she would’ve smacked him on the arm.
Funnily enough, he felt the phantom pain anyway.
“Bea has a loyal fan base already watching her every move. You two have history that’s perfect for content mining.
I can’t say that Mom is wrong for thinking a second-chance romance and engagement storyline is a winning combination. ”
Jordan knew the exact kind of person he needed to bring home—a woman was preferred, with the kind of personality that easily slipped into caricature. His mom didn’t trust him to make that decision for himself. She didn’t even want to give him options.
“Alfie, please calm down,” his mom had said. “It was always going to be Beatrix.”
No. No. He didn’t care how much their families wanted it to happen, but he did consider doing it for Sadie…and that consideration lasted one entire second because no.
“Be honest.” He swallowed hard, hands clenched on the steering wheel. “If you were in my shoes, would you do it?”
Sadie scoffed. “I designed your shoes. I’ve done everything.”
“But it was always your choice. You controlled your storylines. You helped everyone develop theirs.”
“I’m on maternity leave with one foot in the retirement grave,” she firmly reminded him, and then softly added, “Are you asking for help?”
Jordan wasn’t supposed to have a favorite. He’d technically known Sadie the longest—his entire life. One of his first memories was of her, carefully handing him an ice-cream cone and bossing him around. “Don’t make a mess.”
He wasn’t supposed to, but it was his big sister anyway.
“I don’t need help so much as…faith? I have a plan. I know what I want to do, and Mom isn’t going to listen to me. This has to stay between us, or it won’t work.” He paused. “I met someone really special—one of a kind. She’s willing to be on the show with me.”
Sadie’s line went quiet long enough to hear his other sister, Lulie, yelling about something in the background. “You’ve been seeing someone? And you told them about us?” It sounded like an accusation.
“I’m serious about her, so yeah, I did,” he answered, willfully sidestepping her first question.
“How serious?”
“I bought a ring.”
Sadie screamed and he yanked the wheel hard enough to swerve onto the shoulder. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I just did.” He spoke through his teeth, heart still pounding.
“No, I don’t believe it. You honestly expect me to believe you bought someone a ring? Mr. Commitment Phobia bought a ring? Mr. ‘I’m Never Bringing Anyone Home’ bought a ring?”
He counted to five and braced himself for another scream. “Her name is Zinnia.”
Thankfully, she only gasped dramatically. “Well. I definitely didn’t see this coming.”
“I’m meeting with Zinnia this afternoon to finalize things. Hopefully.”
Her sudden laughter crackled though his speakers as he drove through a tunnel, quickly escalating into a full-bodied cackle.
“Oh, Alfie. I didn’t know you had it in you.
I’m loving this turn of events.” She laughed again.
Supervillain vibes aside, it was good to hear it.
“If we’re doing this, and we are, we’ll also need eyes behind the scenes.
Mabel’s working as estate showrunner now. You can trust her.”
Mabel had always been Sadie’s right hand and storyline partner in crime, smack-dab in the middle of all the scandalous Zaffre Hours chaos.
“She’s not helping Mom?”
“Mom doesn’t want help,” she said simply.
That sounded about right.
Jordan fit Zinnia in by rescheduling a product designer consultation and pushing proofreading Tantivy’s revised action plans to when he got home. He arrived at the restaurant a little early to give himself time to work through his nerves.
Sadie hadn’t been exactly wrong about his dating life, but commitment wasn’t the problem—keeping his family a secret was. Trust was a risk he couldn’t afford to take…and his partners knew it.
Becoming a serial dater was the natural response to that because he wanted to be with someone.
Making meals together. Taking spontaneous trips to flea markets.
Endless text message threads filled with more memories than a photo album.
Discovering new music on their living room floor with a mystery stack of used vinyls.
He wanted to come home to an amazing relationship every night.
There was just no way for him to outrun the inevitable accusations of never sharing enough, never being enough because they were right. He never did and he wasn’t. But things would be different with Zinnia.
She knew what he wanted, and he knew what she wanted—nothing but transparency between them. He was so convinced that her marriage-merger proposal would work that he felt damn near giddy watching her walk toward him.
“Look at us: we match. I had a feeling you were going to wear all black.” She greeted him with a cheeky smile.
Predictably, he had—a tailored suit this time. She wore a black sundress, violet heels, and her lucky bracelets. She’d explained their origin story over text. He was honestly a little astounded by how sentimental she was.
“This is for you.” He handed her a small jewelry box and card.
“What’s this for?”
“You.”