Page 51 of The P Arrangement

It was later that night, and all our responsibilities with the conference had been completed. Granted, mine had been easier than Delaney’s, but I was still glad to be finished.

And now, we were currently relaxing at a bar. When we’d discussed where to go, we’d opted for a bar rather than a nightclub full of people a decade younger than us. It’d turned out to be a good decision because we’d skipped the tables and booths to sit at the love seat in the back.

“The trip went fast,” I told her. Too fast. I liked having Delaney in my bed every night.

“It did. But I do miss our little guy.” She threw her head back and sighed. “Parenting. Who knew it would be so hard?” she said when she looked at me again. “There are times when I just want to get away from Paxton, but then, when I do, I miss him so much.”

I smiled. “I miss him too.”

Earlier that morning, Delaney had told her sister she’d messaged me to come to her room so I could also talk to Paxton. Seeing him and not being able to hug him was hard.

“But since we’re here and we can’t go home to him until tomorrow, we might as well make the most of tonight.”

“I agree.”

“But first, I need to use the ladies’ room.” Delaney stood. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll be here.”

While I waited, I pulled out my phone. I didn’t spend much time on social media because I usually didn’t have a lot of time, but since I was waiting for Delaney to come back and I had nothing else to do, I pulled up my app.

I had way too many notifications, and I was scrolling through them to see which ones I wanted to click on when I saw something about my memories from this day to look back on. It started with the most recent year, which was two years ago, and moved backward.

The very last memory hit me in the gut.

It was the day I had proposed to Delaney. I’d forgotten what day I’d actually done it because it wasn’t a big spectacle or a special occasion. We’d been living together, and I’d bought the ring several months earlier. I’d actually been trying to find the perfect time to ask her until, one night, we were lying in bed together after making love, and it hit me that I never wanted to be apart from the woman beside me.

I hadn’t second-guessed myself. I’d just thrown back the covers, gone to my dresser, pulled out the ring box from the back of my underwear drawer, and asked her right there. Grinning, I remembered how I hadn’t even stopped to put on underwear, but Delaney hadn’t cared. She’d thrown her arms around me before she finished saying yes.

The picture on my social media page was Delaney’s ring in the foreground and the two of us kissing in the background. We were blurry, but you could tell Delaney had the sheet wrapped around her breasts and I was shirtless. My mother had been furious when she saw it, but I’d refused to take it down.

“I’d love to know what you’re smiling about,” a feminine voice said.

I looked up just in time to see an attractive woman sit beside me. She was with two other women who took the two lounge chairs near each end of the love seat. If I had to guess, they were slightly younger than me, around their mid-thirties.

Putting my phone in my lap, I said, “I was scrolling through my memories and came across the photo of the night I’d proposed.”

The woman’s smile dimmed for a moment, but she didn’t get up to leave right away. Instead, she made a point to look at my left hand. “You’re married?”

I considered saying yes, but I didn’t want to lie. “Divorced actually.”

She looked at her friends and back to me. “In that case, do you mind if the three of us sit here?”

All three ladies were beautiful, and I could tell that at least the woman beside me was interested in me. But the feeling wasn’t mutual. However, it seemed rude to tell her that her and her friends couldn’t sit by me.

“Sure,” I said as I spotted Delaney.

She raised her eyebrows at me as she approached. “I see you’ve made some friends,” she said with a smirk and looked at the love seat.

While there was room enough for three people, it would make it a tight fit, so I took her hand and tugged her onto my lap, where she snuggled into me.

“I just met them. We haven’t even made our introductions,” I told her and turned to the women. “I’m Preston, and this is Delaney.”

The lady who’d sat down next to me gave us both a polite smile and stood. “We didn’t mean to interrupt. We’ll find somewhere else to sit.”

“No, really, we should move. There are three of you and only two of us. We weren’t even using the chairs.” Delaney moved to get up.

The woman put up her hands. “No. You were here first. It’s only fair.”

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