Page 30 of The Black Wife Blessing

"Both," Celia laughs, expertly flipping the pan. "Though I remember feeling the same way when I first started my arrangement with Aston. Now look at me - happily married for real."

"Same here." Olivia tastes the sauce with a small spoon. "Needs more acid. But yeah, Leo and I started as a business arrangement too. Sometimes the best ingredients come together unexpectedly."

I grab a lemon from the fruit bowl. "Here, try this. And I don't know... Henry's different than I expected. In a good way."

"Different how?" Celia plates the first portion with artistic flair.

"I always sorta assumed that super rich guys like him were all the same. Trust fund kids, snobby, rude... But he's nothing like that at all. He's thoughtful, funny..." I trail off, focusing on garnishing the plates. "The other night he brought me takeout at midnight because I mentioned craving dumplings."

"Midnight dumplings?" Olivia raises an eyebrow. "Girl, that man's got it bad already."

"No way, it's just part of the act." But even as I say it, I remember the way Henry's eyes crinkled when he smiled at me over steaming containers of food.

"Honey, I've known Henry for years now." Olivia wipes her hands on her apron. "That boy doesn't do midnight food runs for just anyone. Trust me."

"The thing about fake marriages," Celia adds, "is sometimes they show you what's real before you're ready to see it yourself."

I concentrate on plating, trying to ignore how my heart speeds up at their words. "Can we focus on this reduction sauce instead of my love life?"

"Fine, fine." Olivia laughs. "But don't think you're getting off that easy. Pass me those microgreens - this plate needs height."

"On it, chef," I reply playfully, getting to work on plating as Celia and Olivia watch my technique.

"Speaking of height..." Olivia gestures to my plating with her chin. "How tall is Henry anyway? Six-two?"

"Six-three," I correct automatically, then catch myself as both women exchange knowing looks. "What? It's a normal thing to notice about someone you live with."

Celia pours more wine into our glasses. "Sure it is. Just like noticing how his shoulders fill out those suits, right?"

"Or how blue his eyes are?" Olivia adds with a smirk.

I grab my wine glass. "You two are crazy and imagining things."

We finish the last touches on our collaborative dish - a fusion of French and Southern comfort food that would make any food critic weep. The aromas of herbs, butter, and perfectly seared meat fill the kitchen.

"To friendship." Olivia raises her glass. "And to arrangements that turn into something more."

"To cooking together," Celia adds.

"To good wine and better company." I clink my glass with theirs, the rich red warming my chest.

Olivia settles against the counter. "So... are you starting to feel it? That spark with Henry?"

I trace the rim of my wine glass, thinking about morning coffee conversations that stretch for hours, the way Henry's hand finds the small of my back when we walk together, how his smile makes my stomach flip. "I don't know what I feel."

But I do know. I know it in the quiet moments when he reads beside me on the couch, glasses perched on his nose. I know it when he brings me coffee exactly how I like it without asking. I know it in the way my skin tingles whenever he's close.

"Your face says otherwise." Celia's voice is gentle.

I take another sip of wine instead of answering, but my silence speaks volumes. These women know me too well - they can see right through my attempts at deflection.

"The best recipes," Olivia says, "are the ones that surprise you."

Suddenly, the front door clicks open and Henry strolls in, his dark hair windswept and tie slightly askew. My heart does a little flip - damn him for looking so good even when disheveled.

"Ladies." He nods to Olivia and Celia, then his gaze lands on me. "Monica, could I have a word?"

"Of course she can spare a minute for her husband." Olivia's voice drips with suggestion as she links her arm through Celia's. "We were just leaving anyway. Weren't we, Celia?"

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