”Hey, don’t jinx it!” Joseph murmured, sidling up behind her as she disarmed herself, his arms wrapping loosely around her hips. It had taken him a long time to be as comfortable around Emma with a gun, even despite growing up in firearm-crazed Texas with an ex-military father. Even now, he waited until she’d removed the damn thing, although he’d gotten less awkward about it sitting in the locked drawer of the small cabinet he’d placed by the door just for that purpose.
“The universe owes us,” he added, planting a kiss in the crook of her neck. “Just one whole night to ourselves. No kids, no interruptions.”
Which didn’t mean he’d put his phone on silent because, without ever saying it, he had to agree with Emma. The odds of them having a night that actually went according to plan were slim, but that wasn’t going to stop him from being an optimist. It was the only way he’d been able to find he could get through anything nowadays, without buoying himself out of drowning in his own cynicism with drugs or alcohol.
“Now, close your eyes,” he told her, sliding around to take her by the hands so he could guide her into the dining room. “I even cleaned up all of Ana’s Legos so you wouldn’t step on them.”