The Ex Husband. |✔️|

nine

Cole arrived around an hour after he rang Tyler went running straight out to him, cole picked him up and hurried inside.

"Tyler will you go and play whilst mama and I need to talk," Cole said softly placing him down, and without the usual groan and stamping of feet  Tyler nodded "okay daddy" he grinned before running off.

"Olivia and I are over," he said as soon as Tyler was out of earshot.

"that doesn't change anything" I shrugged.

"Bella we need to lay all our cards on the table, we need a fresh start"

"you mean you want to know whether I and Frankie are together?" I rolled my eyes still angry over this morning.

"No, well kind of but not like that, I don't blame you if you moved on"

"Cole nothing has ever happened between Frankie and me, we're strictly friends! Yes we've had the odd drunken kiss but that's as far as it goes"

"Are you attracted to him?" he raised his eyebrow waiting for a flicker of a lie.

"he's a handsome guy, but as a lover or husband he is not my type, let's just say he's a lot like you with his Womanising"

"so you and Olivia?" I questioned.

"honestly Bella, she was just there after you left, and she just kinda stuck around"

"So you literally kicked me out and replaced me like that"

"I didn't kick you out, you left" he retorted.

"Well, you didn't give me much of a choice" I fired back.

"can we draw a line in the sand and forget about the past"

"I'd moved on from the past, unfortunately, it always has a way of rearing its ugly head"

"I always thought you'd be married, with a couple of kids and a dog" he laughed trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, you'll be amazed to know the. Amount of men are interested in a single mother" I replied sarcastically.

"I didn't mean it like that, I meant I always thought me seeing you again was Almost.

"When I saw you at that meeting the other day, I couldn't believe it, it is like all my prayers had been answered, Bella I never stopped thinking about you"

"Cole stop, we can't, I could never trust you again, and it's not a healthy environment for Tyler"

"How can I prove I've changed?" he pleaded.

"Time...being honest!! There's a whole lot of things you can do, but you've only been in Tyler's lifeless than a week you've already lied and lost your temper, so it's going to take a lot of time, and that's saying I can even think about forgiving you"

I saw a flicker of hope in his eyes, I didn't mean it to come across like that I meant a healthy co-parenting relationship, not an ugh!!!!.

"So how about a grown-ups only dinner, I can find a babysitter"

"I've got a nanny that's fully capable thankyou"

"is that a yes?" he grinned.

"let me get one thing straight before we go any further, this is not a date" I warned.

"No, of course, it's two parents going for a grown-up meal to discuss childcare" he smiled.

"Fine" I rolled my eyes

"here I want you to have this back" He handed me the teardrop diamond white gold wedding ring

"You kept it?" I replied shocked at seeing it again.

"It cost me a small fortune" he joked "I want you to have it back and know that if you ever feel like it you can put it back on"

"That's not going to happen" I rolled my eyes.

"a guy can hope right?" he smiled softly "when I made those vows Bella I meant it"

"Well you had a funny way of showing it" I shrugged he raised his eyebrows "Sorry, I forgot, but I meant them too cole, but it wasn't me that broke them"

"Can you imagine how different things could have been"

What if you didn't stick your dick in your secretary? I had to bite my tongue. "Tyler starts school on Monday, isn't that crazy" I tried changing the subject.

"what was he like as a baby?"

"Just like you, from the moment he opened his eyes, he looked just like you, I sat and cried for the first hour because I was so angry at you, I did all the hard work yet he came out being the double of his dad" I shown him a photo of Tyler when he was newly born"

"oh look at him, those chubby cheeks"

"Oh those looks are deceiving, he was the neediest baby in the world, I don't think I put him down for the first year of his life, let me tell you, that kid has a set of lungs.

"come on let's go," cole said standing up.

"We haven't had our starters yet" I frowned.

"scrap this fancy dinner, this isn't what I want, how about pizza a couple of bottles of wine and we'll go spend some time with our son"

"I never had you down for the staying kind of person, remember when I used to beg you to stay home and we would have a movie night and you used to call me what, boring? Was it?"

"Call me a changed man, I'll be packing the sports cars away and driving a more family appropriate car soon" he joked.

"now that's something I can't wait to see" I joked

And we left, we stopped off for pizza and wine, and we went home to Tyler who was over the moon that cole had brought him the new Jurassic park DVD, the three of us sat on the couch, maybe between a mixture of wine and the dim light of the tv, and seeing Cole as a normal person rather than playing Mr millionaire, I watched the pair sleeping and it pulled my heartstrings.

Why did I still have these feelings for him he treated me like shit, he had hurt me more than anything else and yet I found myself staring at his face taking in the beautiful site of Father and son.

For goodness sake Bella I cursed myself, I'm not letting him win that easy, I scooped Tyler up and carried him up to the bed, and brought some spare blankets down to Cole who was still fast asleep, I turned the TV off and the room darkened, I felt a hand grab my wrist.

"Bella" Cole whispered

"yes?" I replied, my eyes just making out his silhouette

He didn't reply, his lips came crashing down on mine from out of nowhere.

"Cole stop! We can't do this"

"what's stopping us" He groaned kissing up my neck...

And I did the one thing I didn't want to do - let my walls down and look where we ended up.