Page 39 of Arranged

No one laughed. I glanced at Chester, who was trying to hide a smirk. I smiled back. That was reward enough for me.

“As you know, our husbands,” Millie said slowly and dramatically, “are out drinking together tonight.”

I nodded, pretending that I’d known that, but of course I hadn’t.

“My Preston,” she continued, “just told me that all they can do is talk about their wives.” She beamed at me. “They miss us! How sweet is that?”

It didn’t escape my notice that the two single girls remaining at the table were rolling their eyes at each other. Who could blame them?

“It’s so sweet,” I answered woodenly. Millie seemed to expect it.

“That sounds like my Bradley,” the one I thought was Hadley said smugly.

Hadley and Bradley? Really? Had their parents planned that shit out?

“Of course they do,” Veronica said with unshakable confidence. “My Royce hates going out without me.”

Millie nodded emphatically. “My Preston is the same.”

“What about you, Noura?” Beatrix piped in. “Does your Banks hate going out without you?”

There was a certain something in her voice. Something catty and almost knowing. I wondered what she’d heard, and some part of me wanted to be brutally honest. Some part of me wanted to just spill the tea to the whole gossipy lot of them just to see how scandalized they’d be. No, my husband doesn’t hate going out without me, in fact he’s only gone out with me once.

But I knew I couldn’t do it. I’d signed away all my rights to being a truthful person when I’d signed that prenup. Hello, money. Goodbye, honesty.

I just smiled blandly and said that he did.

“You guys are basically still on your honeymoon,” Millie added without an ounce of irony. “God, I remember those days. I miss being a newlywed.”

That prompted the women into telling various romantic early marriage stories.

I listened attentively. Hearing about happily married people sure as hell beat out the gossip about random women I didn’t know.

This went on for a while and when they eventually tried to draw me into telling them a story about my marriage, I quickly redirected the conversation. “Did you say they were coming here?” I asked.

“Yes! The husbands are on their way. Isn’t it nice that they’re such good friends?”

I agreed that it was nice.

“We need to find Beatrix, Addison, and Camilla husbands that fit in with our men,” Hadley added. “It’s a small pool to draw from, though. Not many eligible, single men left from our circle.”

“They can only marry men from your circle?” I asked. I was past being offended and into honest curiosity. How these people thought was a complete mystery to me.

“I mean, they can marry anyone they want. It would just be nice if it was an insider instead of an outsider. No offense.”

I shrugged it off, but of course her saying no offense only made it more offensive.

There was a commotion at the back entrance, and I saw that several tall men had just entered the room.

Our booth fell silent. Everyone’s attention was grabbed.

I barely noticed the other men. My husband was the stand-out of the group.

He spotted me and grinned.

My heart took a sharp little jump in my chest.

My reactions to him were unexpected and unwanted.