Loki grinned goofily and eyed the snacks.
“I’m gonna go upstairs and get on Kyla’s bad side,” Archer said. “It’s already going to be difficult to get her to sleep tonight.”
Most likely, although she was still recovering from her twenty-four-hour bug.
“Daddy, I’m sleeping here tonight, right?” Jo asked to be sure. Corey helped her tug off her boots.
“Correct, Shepherd and Archer wanted to kidnap you,” I answered, and I was granted giggles in return. “So you, Kyla, and Loki will sleep here. Corey and I will bring Jamie and Jason to the city.”
It was part of our bonding operation. Greer and Archer wanted to spend time with my four when I wasn’t around, and Corey wanted to form a connection with the whole lot. But since we couldn’t fit all of us in the cabin, we used Corey’s condo in Arlington too.
Besides, the kids appreciated it more that way. Jason had no interest in watching movies suited for Loki and Emma-Jo. It was good for him to get some alone time. And he and Jamie didn’t fight as much when it was only the two of them.
Last but not least, it felt wonderful for me to be able to take my two eldest and give them some extra attention, all while knowing the other children were happy and taken care of.
“Jason and I are going with Daddy and Corey,” Jamie announced smugly.
“Heck yeah, you are.” Corey grinned.
I shook my head and dug out Loki’s pajamas from his bag.
Siblings. They always wanted to one-up one another. Make one another jealous. We had maybe one sleepover a week away from Winchester, and no matter where, and no matter which child, they would brag to another. Next time, when it was Jamie who got to stay here with Greer and Archer, he’d try to make Jo jealous again.
She was not much better.
“Second round finished in the exam room, Tate!” Greer hollered.
“Thank you!” Tate called back from downstairs.
Greer and I brought the paint and everything to the next room. Countless extension cords were strung across the floor for us to trip over near the stairs. And we had to bring the heavy-duty spotlights into every room we entered.
I cracked open the window in the new room while Greer switched on the lights and plugged Archer’s Bluetooth speaker into a power bank.
“Now this is a good tune.” He bobbed his head to the beat of a country-rock song, and I handed him his roller and took the other for myself. “So what’re the odds of you and me being able to sneak away for a night soon?”
Shit. I smiled to myself and bent over to pour more black paint into my tray. “Just you and me?”
His answer came closer than I’d expected. “Just you and me.” Then he kissed my shoulder.
I released a breath as a flurry of love and excitement swirled through me. For the longest time, I’d thought it was bullshit when people in love claimed they “walked on air.” Now I found myself with three men who had that effect on me. Fucking crazy was what it was.
“Carol’s folks asked if they could have Jamie and Jo the weekend after next,” I said. “They have tickets to some children’s play, and then they’re gonna buy Christmas gifts for the other kids.”
“I’m listening.” He started at the other end of the wall, dragging the roller from ceiling to floor.
“Well, Corey requested a day of making Christmas cookies with Archer and the youngest two, and Jason goes where the cookies are…” I trailed off.
“Huh.” Greer glanced over at me before applying more paint to the roller. “As long as someone takes a shit-ton of photos of their kitchen adventures, one might say that’s the perfect time for two hot Daddies to sneak off for a romantic getaway in the city.”
The man was fucking killing me. It had to be illegal to be this happy.
“One might,” I agreed smoothly. “You know Corey’s always telling us to use his condo if we want.”
“He’s a good boy, that one.” Greer nodded. “I think we should listen to him.”
“I think so too—”
“Who should listen to whom?” Tate poked his head in, always with an iPad in his grasp.
Greer looked at him over his shoulder and didn’t miss a beat. “Say I wanted to take Sloan out for a romantic dinner next weekend. You know of any good places?”
Tate didn’t miss a beat either. “Ocean Prime. Franklin’s raving about it—and he knows good restaurants.”
“How is he doing, by the way?” I asked. Because last I heard, he’d been balls deep in an orgy as well as falling in love with his ex-wife’s nephew.
Tate laughed. “Bless him—he’s happy and confused and rolling with the sub-frenzy punches. If he doesn’t realize soon he’s lost his head over Jack, Kingsley and I will happily inform him.”