Page 92 of Finding the Pieces

“I didn’t get candles,” she says with mirth, before rolling me onto my back and straddling my hips. “Can’t have a fire hazard like that in the house. We have a child, Dom.” The false reprimand in her voice is a relief.

I’ve missed this so goddamn much. These moments that just feel like…us.

We’re still here.

I rub my palms up and down her thighs, and my eyes catch on her nipples, pebbled beneath her soft cotton T-shirt. I reach down and palm her ass before giving one cheek a slap.

“Relentless.”

“Consistent,” she counters, with a wink. “Lie down on your stomach.”

“Baby, I’m all for trying new things in the bedroom, but it’s been a while. Maybe we start back up with some vanilla before you go all in, huh?”

She rolls her eyes and slaps my chest. “First of all, I’m disappointed in your seriously lacking sense of adventure and spontaneity. Second, that’s not what’s happening. Roll over.”

I do, andshe crawls onto my back, before she starts kneading my shoulders. I unwillingly let out a deep groan as she works my muscles.

“Oh fuck, okay. Maybe I am feeling my age. We might have to cancel any birthday plans so we can do this all day instead.”

I can hear the smile in her voice when she says, “Afraid we can’t do that, sweetheart. I got us a sitter and plans I can’t and won’t”—she leans down to kiss my shoulder—“cancel.”

My brows hit my hairline in surprise. Ellie got a sitter and planned for us to go out, just the two of us? What the fuck is she up to?

I roll over, careful to keep her braced astride me, and hold her waist tightly.

“What’s the plan, Captain?”

“For once, Dominic, that’s for me to know and for you to learn as we go. No planning. No interfering. No trying to one-up anything with your exuberant need to be thoughtful. Your job is to enjoy today, okay?” She’s clearly put a lot of thought and effort into this, and it’s important to her. Fuck if I’ll be the one to mess that up for her.

“But before we do anything, you’re going to need to open this,” she says, handing me a small box with a purple ribbon. I slowly open it and my stomach drops when I see a single puzzle piece inside the packaging.

Turning it over, I read,Grow with me.

My eyes search hers, lost in their depths.

“Why did you give me a piece of my own, Ellie?”

“You’ve spent all this time helping me piece myself back together. But you forgot a really important part of the puzzle. You.”

I stroke her cheek and commit this moment to memory. I don’t care what the rest of the day looks like, what we do, who we’re with, or where we go. I know she’s here with me, all the way with me, and I’m never letting go.

Chapter fifty

Dom

I’m sitting in the passenger seat, waiting for Ellie to join me in the car. She’s taking an extra minute saying goodbye to her parents and Luca at our front door before she makes her way down the driveway.

My muscles tense with worry that it’s still difficult for her to leave Luca, but my fears vanish when her eyes catch mine, full of excitement as she sits next to me, buckling herself into the driver’s seat.

“Okay, before we go, I have something for you,” she says, a mix of mischief and glee evident in her demeanor.

“Started my morning with a massage, I’m on my way to a date planned by my wife, and you’re telling me there’s more?” I pull her close with a firm hand around the back of her neck, brushing her lips with mine. “What more could I want?”

She presses her lips against mine in a quick kiss before I feel her grin. Something falls into my lap and I look down to see an unsealed envelope.

“You’ll definitely want these,” she says with confidence.

I quickly dump the contents out and laugh when I see a roughly drawn sketch on a piece of paper. There are two horribly drawn stick figures holding hands,with giant shoes on their feet and faces so warped I can’t tell their noses from their mouths.

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