Page 14 of Embrace

“Lazy day in the hotel sounds good to me,” he agreed.

He rose from the bed and stretched. His muscles flexed which resulted in heat rising in my panties. Blaze had always been an attractive man, but I’d never wanted to cross the line with him and risk ruining our friendship. Some people could hunch on their friends and act like nothing was up. Me? Oh nah. Sex was too much of an intimate act for me to do it with no strings attached. My heart and my pussy had to be on one accord.

By the time we’d both showered and pulled on loungewear, the food had arrived. We turned on a movie and ate in a comfortable silence.

“Give me a bite of your grits,” I commanded as I leaned over to get a good look at the food he’d ordered.

He chuckled and scooped a bite of the cheesy grits onto his spoon. He lifted the utensil up to my mouth, and I happily ate it.

“You like it?” he asked.

I nodded. “I should have gotten this instead.”

“You don’t like your pancakes?” he quizzed.

I shrugged. “They’re all right. I just like your grits more.”

“Here.”

He passed me the grits and took my pancakes. I poked out my bottom lip. “You don’t have to give me your food, B.”

“I know. I want you to have it.”

“You know what? Being your wife might be fun.” I chuckled. Prior to this moment, Blaze would have adamantly told me no. He’d laugh at me for picking the wrong meal but would have given me a bite. However, the generosity and gentleness were new. I liked it a lot.

“I’ve never had many complaints,” he replied. He took a sip of his orange juice before he jabbed the scrambled eggs with his fork and consumed them.

I raised a brow. “Oh please. I can name at least four exes who want you dead right now.”

“See, why you bringing up the past?” he inquired with a chuckle.

“I can’t let you forget the menace you were just days before the wedding.”

“Yeah whatever.” He chuckled and took a bite of the pancakes.

We finished breakfast, then I laid in bed while Blaze sat with his back against the headboard. I wasn’t sure if we should be cuddling or what, so I stared at him. When his eyes locked onto mine, he chuckled.

“What’s up, Su?” he asked.

“I’m not sure what we’re supposed to do when we lay in bed together now. It’s still kind of weird to think we’re a married couple who can get intimate, you know?”

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve used the words husband, wife, married, or marriage, I’d be rich. However, I was still amazed at the fact I’d paid for an arranged marriage service just for them to tell me my perfect match had already been in my life the whole time.

“We don’t have to rush into anything. Do what feels most natural to you, and we’ll go from there. Even though we’re married now, we don’t have to have everything figured out today. We can start with a couple dates to test the water,” Blaze instructed.

“I like the sound of that.” I moved closer to him and rested my head on his lap. He placed his right hand on my hip. This felt perfect.

“We should have an email from Arranged Hearts with our honeymoon plans. You ready to check?” he asked.

“Yes!”

I moved over to lay my head on his side while he opened the email app on his phone. Sure enough, there was an email from Lamya with our honeymoon package on full display.

“Good morning, Newlyweds!

I hope y’all have enjoyed your first night as a married couple. Below you will find your itinerary for a weeklong vacation in Belize. Your flight information is also attached,” Blaze read the email audibly. He trailed off as he clicked the link to the package we’d been given. He whistled when he saw the detailed itinerary.

“You know what this means?” I asked.

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