Nice Until Proven Naughty

“When?” Jamie asks.

“Just because I haven’t been in love doesn’t mean I don’t believe in it.”

“But everything about you represents the exact opposite of love,” Jamie says, cowering in her seat when I shoot her a dirty look.

“How do you figure?”

“Help,” she whispers, looking at Ben.

He turns away, pretending to talk to a customer at the end of the bar.

“I’ve got this.” Dani leans her elbows on the bar and rests a hand on top of mine. “Sam, we’re not trying to make fun of you or embarrass you, we’re just surprised to hear you talk about love. You don’t

even date. And your monthly dinner with Tray from Bergman and Bergman doesn’t count. He’s as detached from the dating world as you are.”

“You’re starting to piss me off,” I say, using a voice that has been known to make grown men flinch.

My sister doesn’t even blink, just looks at me with those big, sympathetic doe eyes that I currently hate.

“I’m not detached from the dating world,” I tell her. “I went out Tyler Goodwin last year.”

“You went on one date with him and never made time for a second.”

“Because I was dealing with the divorce of a state representative. I got sidetracked.”

“For three months. By the time you called him, he was already two months into a relationship with Rachel Martin.”

“Okay, how about Grant Sadeski? We went on five dates, and he invited me to dinner with his parents.”

Dani looks at me blandly. “You stood him up—left him and his parents sitting at a restaurant for two hours.”

“I got held up in court,” I shout. “And how do you know all of this? I don’t remember telling you about that.”

She shrugs and looks around. “I own a bar. People talk. I’m like a therapist, only a hell of a lot cheaper and more fun to look at.”

“So, what, you’re saying I’m a bitch?”

“Not at all.” Dani shakes her head. “You’re just busy. Your life is work, and you don’t have time to date, let alone fall in love.”

“I have a life outside of work.” Don’t I?

Jamie is shaking her head through every word I say. “You work crazy hours. On the off chance you get out before nine o’clock at night, you come here and grab a bite to eat. If we’re lucky you stay for a beer and a quick chat, and then you head home and do it all over again the next day.”

“That doesn’t mean I don’t have a life outside of work. Just last weekend I went shopping with a friend.”

“That was me. I was the friend,” Dani says. “And we went shopping for groceries only because I forced you. When was the last time you hung out with someone outside of work?”

“Here, with you guys a couple of times a week, every week.”

“Sal’s doesn’t count.”

“Why not?”

“Because you don’t hang out with anyone here. You mostly answer emails on your phone and give me one-word answers and then you scarf your food down and leave.”

“That’s not true.” I look to Ben for confirmation, and the quick aversion of his eyes is the answer I need. “Okay, maybe I’ve been a little preoccupied with work. I’m a woman in a male-dominant world. Sometimes I feel like I’ve got to put in extra hours just to keep up and prove myself.”

“I get that, but at what cost? You’re missing out on some of the best years of your life. Who knows?” she says, giving me a coy smile. “You might even be missing out on love.”