“I figured his mother or father could explain how dangerous

earth-moving equipment is, since he didn’t seem to want to

listen to me.” He suddenly stiffened, his gaze darting from

Jacob to Peter and then to Peg. “They’re twins.” His eyes

narrowed on the boys again. “Identical.”

Pushing her children behind her, Peg stepped toward

him. “I don’t care if they’re sextuplets and were driving your excavator or stupid submarine.” She pointed an unsteady

finger at him. “You have no business manhandling my kids.

And if you ever touch one of them again, I swear to God I’l

—”

“Take it easy, mama bear,” Mac said, dragging her back

against him again. “He was only concerned for Jacob’s

safety. As wel as yours, apparently,” Mac said quietly next

to her ear. “Did you not notice he didn’t defend himself

when you and your children were attacking him? Duncan’s

intentions were good.”

Peg stil ed, a feeling of dread clenching her stomach. “D-

Duncan?” she whispered, craning to look at Mac. “He …

he’s not Claude, the scientist?” She lifted her hands to

cover her face. “Ohmigod, I thought he was the guy who

scolded Jacob for climbing on the submarine yesterday.”

She peeked through her fingers at the man she and her

kids had just attacked, horror washing through her when

she saw the blood on his cheek and scratches on his neck.

“Ohmigod, I’m sorry,” she cried, jerking away from Mac and

rushing to her children. Even though he was over half as tal

as she was, Peg picked up Jacob and set him on her hip

as she herded the others ahead of her, wanting to flee the

scene of their crime before she burst into tears. “C-come

on, guys,” she whispered roughly, her heart pounding so

hard it hurt. “Let’s go to the van.”

Mac’s father plucked Jacob out of her arms and settled

him against his chest, giving the boy a warm smile as he

smoothed down his hair. “That was quite a battle you

waged, young Mr. Thompson,” Titus Oceanus said jovial y,

shooting Peg a wink as he took over herding her children

away when Mac pul ed her to a stop. “I’l have to remember

to cal on you young people if I ever find myself in a scary

situation,” Titus continued, his voice trailing off as he

redirected them toward the main lodge.

Damn. Why couldn’t Mac let her slink away like the

humiliated idiot she was?

“It wil be easier to face him now rather than later,” Mac

said, giving her trembling hand a squeeze as he led her

back to the scene of her crime. “Duncan’s a good man,

Peg, and you’re going to be seeing a lot of him in the next

couple of years.”

Wonderful. How pleasant for the both of them.

“Duncan,” Mac said as he stopped in front of the battered

and bleeding giant. “This beautiful, protective mama bear is

Peg Thompson.”

God, she wished he’d quit cal ing her that.

“She’s not only Olivia’s good friend, but Peg is in charge

of keeping the chaos to a minimum here at Inglenook.” He

chuckled. “That is, when she’s not creating it. Peg, this is

Duncan MacKeage. First thing Monday morning, he and his

crew are going to start building a road up the mountain to

the site of our new resort.”

MacKeage. MacKeage. Why did that name sound

familiar to her?

Al Peg could do was stare at the hand her victim was

holding out to her, feeling her cheeks fil with heat when she

saw the blood on it. Which he obviously only just noticed,

since he suddenly wiped his hand on his pants, then held it

out again.

Peg final y found the nerve to reach out, saw his blood on

her hand, and immediately tucked both her hands behind

her back. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, unable to lift her gaze

above the second button on his shirt—which she noticed

was missing. “We … I thought you were the man who

scared Jacob yesterday. He had nightmares al night and I

barely got him back here today.”

He dropped his hand to his side. “I’m the one who needs

to apologize, Mrs. Thompson, as I believe you’re correct

that I shouldn’t have touched your son.” She saw him shift

his weight to one leg and noticed the dirt on his pants and

smal tear on one knee. “I assumed he was the boy I’d just

told to get off the excavator. And having a large family of

young cousins, I thought nothing of lugging him off in search

of his mother or father.” He held out his hand again. “So I

guess I deserved that thrashing.”

Damn. She was going to have to touch him or risk

looking petty. Mac nudged her with his elbow. After wiping

her fingers on her pants, Peg final y reached out, and then

watched her hand disappear when Duncan MacKeage

gently folded his long, cal oused fingers around it.

Oh yeah; she had been a raving lunatic to attack this

giant of a man. Not that she wouldn’t do it again if she

thought her kids were being threatened.

Okay, maybe she was a protective mama bear.

It seemed he had no intention of giving back her hand

until she said something. But what? Nice to meet you? I

look forward to bumping into you again? Have we met

before? Because I’m sure I know someone named

MacKeage.

Damn. She should at least look him in the eye when she

apologized—again.

But Peg figured the first three times hadn’t counted,

since she’d mostly been sorry that she’d made a complete

fool of herself trying to gouge out his eyes with her bear

hands. But looking any higher than that missing shirt button

was beyond her. “I’m sorry!” she cried, jerking her hand

from his and bolting for the main lodge, her face blistering

with shame when she heard Mac’s heavy sigh.

Duncan stood leaning against the wal of Inglenook’s

crowded dining hal , shifting his weight off his wrenched

knee as he took another sip of the foulest kick-in-the-ass

ale he’d ever had the misfortune to taste, even as he

wondered if Mac was trying to impress his guests by

serving the rotgut or was making sure they never darkened

his doorstep again. He did have to admit the ancient mead

certainly took some of the sting out of the claw marks on his

neck, although it did nothing to soothe his dented pride at

being blindsided by a mere slip of a woman and her kids.

Hel , if Mac and Titus hadn’t intervened, he’d probably

stil be getting pummeled.

Duncan slid his gaze to the bridesmaid sitting at one of

the side tables with her four perfectly behaved children, and

watched another poor chump looking for a dance walk

away empty-handed. Peg Thompson appeared to be a

study of innate grace, quiet poise, and an understated

beauty of wavy blond hair framing a delicate face and dark

blue eyes—which was one hel of a disguise, he’d

discovered this morning. He couldn’t remember the last

time a woman had left her mark on him, much less taken

him by surprise, which perversely made him wonder what

the hel cat was like in bed.

She was a local woman and a widow, raising her four

children single-handedly for the last three years, Mac had

told Duncan just before leaving him standing in the parking

lot bleeding al over his good shirt. After, that is, Mac had

subtly explained that he also felt quite protective of his

wife’s friend. A warning Duncan didn’t take lightly,

considering Maximilian Oceanus had the power to move

mountains, create inland seas, and alter the very fabric of

life for anyone foolish enough to piss him off.