Page 17 of Fated Mates and How to Seduce Them
The biggest bedding section was immediately to the right of the escalator on the first floor, which was just perfect for their purposes. André went right in, looking at the notepad as he moved. All right, so he had three kiddos who wanted dinosaurs, two unicorns, several Marvel fans, a few Star Wars fans, and some who just listed a color, not caring about the print. Well, that would be easy enough.
First, though, sheets.
All the beds at the group home were twin sized, so he looked for those sizes first.
“André!” Ian protested, the word strangled.
“What?” André looked down at him, feeling genuinely alarmed.
“You’re not buying Egyptian cotton sheets for kids!”
Oh, that was the objection. “But if they’re high quality, they’ll last longer. Right?”
Ian’s jaw firmed, and he did not look moved by this argument. “You are not spending almost sixty dollars for a single set of sheets. No.”
“All right, fine. How about satin?”
Ian groaned in despair.
“What? Satin is half the price, so it should be fine, right?”
Ian closed his eyes, visibly praying for patience, which was just rude. André had tried to compromise, hadn’t he?
“André. There are polyester sheets right there—”
André staggered sideways, dramatically fetching up against the display wall. “Sacrilege!”
“Will you be serious?”
“No, I am. Do you know howitchythose are? And they start pilling up after, like, three washes. I learned this at summer camp. No. I won’t buy those. I refuse. My mother will somehow teleport here to grab me by the ear if I even try. Material matters. I stand firm. Or microfiber?”
Ian seemed to realize this was the best compromise he was going to get because he let his head flop forward before growling, “Fine. I’m so glad I’m shopping with you right now. You really would have spent thousands in this store without blinking.”
And here André was, thinking he’d have to come back and buy things without Ian interfering. He liked the company, no question there, but Ian was far more stingy than André.
Ian did insist on shopping the sale rack first, which was fine; André had no problem doing so as long as they bought decent quality. They managed, between the two of them, to find something everyone would like plus extras. In under thirtyminutes, too, which was impressive. André paid out and then handed everything over to Liam and Mateo.
Right. Bedding sorted. Clothes next.
A few stores down, André spotted a children’s clothing store with adorable outfits in the display window, so he went for it first. Two friendly looking young women manned the counter as he stepped inside, and he could tell they liked the look of him.
Oh good. He could use their help.
Armed with a smile that never failed him, André went straight for them. “Ladies, I’m on a mission. Can I enlist your capable help?”
The petite one blushed a little as she pushed her glasses up. “Of course, sir. How can we help you?”
“I’m shopping for a lot of kids.” André gently freed the notepad from Ian’s hands to show them both the list. “I want to buy five outfits a piece in each of these sizes—”
Ian made a strangled noise next to him.
“—and in these colors, if the kids specified a color they liked. Think you can help me?”
“Absolutely,” the other woman said decisively. “Here, follow me.”
Ian grabbed his arm before he could move, whispering harshly, “No one said anything about five complete outfits for each child!”
“Well, their clothes are shot,” André responded reasonably. “I’d replace the whole wardrobe—”
