Page 5 of The P Arrangement

I hated having to see her.

Every time was like a punch to the gut. Even after two years.

We’d been apart for about two years, yet I still wanted her as much as the day we’d saidI do, and I resented the fact that I could no longer touch her like I used to. Like I still wanted to.

Her shoulders squared when I didn’t answer right away, and I relented. As much as I hated seeing her, the reality was, I didn’t hateherat all.

Not even a little bit.

And it hurt me to see how strong she was trying to be in front of me.

Her thick brown hair fell past her shoulders over her blue blouse. Delaney had always been what she described as “midsize” with thicker hips that I used to love to grab and a soft belly that I used to love to touch. She wore a pencil skirt that came to her knees, which accentuated her curves just right, along with a pair of heels. She looked like the professional judge she was, except for her eyes. She looked weary, and the normal green sparkle I was used to was missing. Despite that, she was still the most beautiful woman in the world.

And even in my frustration, I didn’t have it in me to tell her no to her question.

“Sure. But come into the kitchen so I can feed Pax.”

I spun on my heel and didn’t wait to see if she followed. Pulling a small bowl from the cupboard, I saw Paxton bolt past me to the kitchen table. He was big enough now to climb up onto his booster seat. We left it strapped to a kitchen chair, where we always ate since I never used the dining room. It reminded me of growing up and all my parents’ stuffy guests and fancy dinners, where I’d had to be quiet and sit still, as if I were a mini adult instead of a kid.

“What did you want to talk about?” I asked my ex-wife as I walked over to the stove.

Glancing at her over my shoulder, I caught her staring at the skillet sitting on the burner. My housekeeper, Clara, had made dinner for Paxton and me before leaving for the evening.

“Is that Clara’s pasta?”

I turned away, hiding my forming smile. “The one and only.”

She groaned, and the sound of pleasure from deep in her throat had my dick growing hard behind my zipper.

That was enough to wipe the grin off my face.

“I love Clara’s pasta.” Her voice was filled with longing in a way only good food could do.

“I know.” I dished up a small portion for Paxton.

“Mommy, stay. Mommy eat wiff me and Daddy.”

“Oh, honey, Mommy can’t—”

I turned around. “If you want to eat, you can stay.”

I didn’t really want her to, but I couldn’t say no to my son. He rarely saw both of his parents at the same time, and it just didn’t seem fair to him that we had gotten divorced.

Delaney’s eyes widened in surprise, but I knew her well enough to know she wanted to say yes.

“You know where the dishes are. You’re more than welcome to help yourself.”

I tried to ignore her moving around my kitchen like she used to and focused on getting Paxton his dinner. After putting his bowl down in front of him, I grabbed him a glass of milk and dished up my own food.

“How was visiting your cousins today, Pax?” I asked as I put his milk on the table.

“Fun.” His eyes sparkled, and I grinned.

“Thank you for asking your sister to help out,” I said to Delaney as she sat down across from me.

I often envied her relationship with her sister and parents. My own had never been very warm toward me, and as an only child, I had no one else. For a while, I had been close to my in-laws.

I missed them almost as much as I missed my ex-wife.

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