By the time I finished handing out the last toy and turned around, Nolan was already surrounded. A dozen tiny hands tugged at his sleeves, begging for their turn.
One clung to his leg like a koala. Another tugged insistently at his sleeve. The third—the original pigtailed girl—was now perched on his shoulders, her small hands tangled in his red hair like reins.
He looked like a man who'd accidentally stepped into a trap—one made of sticky fingers and relentless enthusiasm.
And then—
Shaela appeared beside him, a sleeping baby cradled in her arms. She took one look at Nolan's irritated expression and smirked.
"Tired already?" she asked, her voice dripping with amusement.
Nolan's eye twitched. He shot Shaela an annoyed glare. "Get lost, Umbrella Girl. I'm not going to throw you."
Oh damn.
The effect was immediate.
Shaela's face—along with the tips of her ears—flushed a brilliant scarlet. The baby in her arms gurgled innocently, completely unaware of the sudden tension.
