Suddenly a Bride by Kasey Michaels

some of that sugar off their teeth.”
    “You’ve got it,” he told her, looking at the boys, who were both already sticky with cotton candy, their fingers, cheeks and definitely their tongues turning a deep shade of blue. “Uh, I shouldn’t have let them have that, should I?”
    “Cotton candy wouldn’t have been my first choice, no. But they both ate all of their supper, so it’s all right. At least they’re not asking to go home. But you know what? I don’t think I should take them into the store while they’re all sticky like that, do you? Could you watch them for me? I want to get them each something with the pig on it.”
    Panic, swift and fairly terrible, kicked Will in the midsection. He suddenly remembered why he’d always made it a point to never date women with children. “Me? Watch them? Oh,” he said, attempting to look, if not fatherly, then at least reasonably competent. “Sure, no problem.”
    “Thank you,” she said, rummaging in her purse.“Here’s some wet wipes in case they finish their cotton candy.” Elizabeth’s smile strangely made his sacrifice seem worth the effort, and he held out his hand as he mutely accepted the wrapped packets. He then watched her disappear into the crowd milling along the walkway behind the right field seats, feeling only slightly desperate.
    “Okay, boys, let’s go get Coach a nice cold one.”
    “A cold what? Can we have one, too? Where’s Mom?” one of them asked, the one who had somehow gotten cotton candy on his elbow. How the hell did you get cotton candy on an elbow?
    “You’ve got to be Mikey, right?”
    “Yeah. So where’s my mom?”
    “She went to buy you guys some Pigs stuff. She’ll be right back.” So please don’t cry.
    “Cool,” Mikey said, licking his fingers. “I’m thirsty. Hey, Danny, are you thirsty?”
    Danny, who had wandered off without Will realizing he was gone, walked back to them wiping his hands together after tossing the empty plastic bag in a garbage can. At least they were… trained. “Sure. I saw a kid with a hot dog. We could get hot dogs. Or maybe pizza? I saw some pizza, too.”
    Will was beginning to sense that Elizabeth’s sons were going to eat their way through their first experience at a baseball game.
    “Here, hold out your hands,” he told them, ripping open one of the packets. With memories of his mother scrubbing at his sticky face and hands with a washcloth,he started by wiping their faces and then opened two more packets and gave them each a wet towelette so they could clean their own hands. He reserved the last packet for himself, to clean himself up after cleaning them up.
    “Will? Will Hollingswood? Is there something I should know?”
    Will shut his eyes for a moment, recognizing the voice, knowing who would be standing behind him when he turned around.
    “Hi, Kay,” he said grabbing the used towelettes the twins were shoving at him and stuffing them in his pocket before turning to look at the tall, stunningly beautiful brunette. “I didn’t know you liked the Pigs.”
    “Well, then that makes us even. I didn’t know you had children.”
    “Very funny. They’re not mine, Kay.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Okay, not so funny this time. Kay, look, I’m sorry I didn’t call you, but it’s been a hell—” he shot a quick look at the twins, who weren’t really paying attention, thank God “—a heck of a week.”
    “Yes, I heard about The Hammer. Are these two of your little baseball team children?”
    “They’ve never seen a baseball game,” Will answered, going into lawyer mode. Tell the truth while saying nothing.
    “And the entire team is here somewhere? You’re really taking this punishment seriously, aren’t you? Or maybe just trying to score brownie points with TheHammer, which wouldn’t be a bad idea. You really were out of line, Will, you know.”
    “So says the assistant district attorney. If you’d been sitting at the defense table, you would have objected,