believe they’d al just attacked the giant!
Mac hesitated, then relaxed his hold, letting her slip free
to protectively hug al four of her children. “Mind tel ing me
what incited this little riot?” he asked the man who was now
standing and wiping his bleeding cheek with the back of his
hand.
The guy gestured toward the lower parking lot. “I was
taking the boy to find his parents, because I caught him
inside my excavator not five minutes after I’d just pul ed him
off it and told him to go play someplace else.” He shrugged.
“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 drivingyour 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 bothof 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
herhand, 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 wasa 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