Page 60 of Finding the Pieces

“Thank you for this,” she says.

“You haven’t even seen what I picked.”

“I don’t need to. This was fun no matter what you put in that cart.”

“I’m glad you feel that way, because it’s time to swap,” I say, grabbing the basket from her hand and rolling the cart toward her.

“You first,” she says, keeping her eyes on me.

I bite my lip, failing to hide my smile at her enthusiasm. “One for comfort?” I ask, and she nods. She’s picked out a pair of gray sweatpants and a soft, white tee. “I know what you’re doing,” I say, holding up the sweatpants.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she says with unconvincing innocence in her tone.

“For family time?” I hold up the next and she nods. “I love them. The long-sleeve Henley and flannel plaid pants are a classic.”

I hold up the last with a laugh—a pack of Halloween-themed boxer briefs. “And for sexy time?”

“You love my Halloween pants so much…now we can match! Spooky, sexy time!”

“How did you even find these…it’s April?”

“Don’t underestimate me with a sales rack.”

“I would never underestimate your rack.”

“Shut up,” she says, shoving my shoulder playfully.

“You did good, Ellie. Tough act to follow,” I say, nodding to the cart beside her.

She peeks over the edge, biting her lips together, stifling her gorgeous smile.

“Oooooo, I love these,” she exclaims, pulling the first from the pile, forest-green waffle jogger pants and a flowy, long-sleeve V-neck shirt.

“I know you like that waffly fabric stuff,” I say.

“That is the technical term. And you’re right, I really do. One for comfort?”

“Yep, the next is for family time.”

“I love these tops for nursing at night,” she says, holding up the button-up shirt and pants set. “Should I also expect more Halloween leggings for sexy time?”

I shake my head. “Those leggings are one of a kind. You can’t recreate that kind of magic.”

She delicately lifts the last, a light purple nightgown with thin straps and lace that will fall right above her knees.

I want to tread lightly here. I know Ellie is still working on her relationship with her body after the changes she went through during pregnancy and birth.

She hums thoughtfully. “I was expecting lingerie.”

“Would you rather switch it out? You have the final say.”

She looks appreciatingly at the nightgown. “Not necessarily. Why did you pick this one?”

I step into her, keeping my voice low. “I picked this one,” I say, drawing my hand along the small of her back to pull her in close while I speak quietly in her ear. “Because I saw this and thought about kissing your cleavage between the lace edges. I thought about running my palm up your thigh to get a peek of what’s hiding beneath. I imagined gripping your ass under this soft fabric, before spanking it because you like to mouth off in bed and I like to fight fire with fire.

“You can wear this, or lingerie, or—fuck, Ellie—you could wear a trash bag around the house and I’d still find you sexy as hell. But the sexiest thing to me, is whenyoufeel sexy. And when I saw this…I pictured you feeling good in it, and I wanted to see it. I wanted to see it so fucking bad.”

She blushes and bites her lip, stealing a glance at my mouth. “I should double-check the sizes. I’m not back to my pre-pregnancy size.”

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