Camden fought the urge to take a step back from the huge man that stood before them, staring at her and alternately glaring at Eden.

It wasn’t that he was scary. No, not much could scare a woman who could call on her elemental or her shifter. It was that there was something about him that sunk into her with the fierceness of a grappling hook.

He turned that obsidian stare of his back to her.

“Your antics could have killed the girls.”

“Hardly.”

“What if you couldn’t have controlled yourselves—your elementals?”

She took a step forward, then instantly regretted it. Her intent had been to stare into his eyes, a faceoff of some sort.

Instead, her gaze was now forced to focus on a chest that rippled with hard muscles.

Not that looking at a hot guy’s chest would be bad, under normal circumstances. But not this guy. Not right now.

Not ever, a part of her countered.

A hand on her forearm pulled her attention and ire away from the man Griz had called Tyler.

“Let me handle this.” Griz applied a light amount of pressure.

Camden inclined her head in agreement and stepped back, giving Eden a glance.

Eden had a look in her eye and raised a brow, which in their own special twin-talk, Camden knew was equal to a shrug.

Tyler turned to peek at the little girls on the porch.

Adorable, that they were. Camden agreed. But they were completely yielding power to their elementals—or…

She tipped her head to the side, and before she could control her filter, her mouth had already begun its trajectory forward.

“Do the girls control their elementals or do the elementals control them? And what about their bears? How do they seem to get on?”

Tyler rubbed a chin that had stubble on it, creating a scratchy sound that filled the quiet of the small clearing the driveway was in. He seemed to let go of his outrage over the elemental displays of power. Then, he shook his head. “I’m not really sure. This whole elemental thing is new to me.”

“Have they been aggressive toward you or your brother?” Eden asked.

“Not once.”

Curious.

And even more curious, why the hell were the twins placed with these two brothers?

Granted, they had those factors in common, both sets were twins. Both sets were shifters.

But the brothers were clearly single. The twins were female so how could their male guardians possibly relate to them? And they weren’t even elementals!

Camden wasn’t going to let this go. She wanted answers.

Movement on the porch drew her attention to the girls. They were dismounting their wooden horses and scooting inside.

Griz cleared his throat again, pulling her attention away.

“Why don’t we go visit about this,” Mac suggested.

“You’re the new nannies?” a tiny voice asked.

Evidently, the little ones had not gone and stayed inside. They’d somehow slipped out a different door and gone around the building. Now they were walking toward them from out of the woods.

“Nannies?” Eden glanced between Griz and Mac.

“What’s that about?” Camden asked.

“We need a new nanny,” Tyler clarified.

Camden burst into laughter. She couldn’t help it. Nannies? Really? Nannies? “Is that what you told them?” She glanced at Griz for answers.

Tyler looked at the girls. “Wait inside, please.”

The girls pouted—cutely—but complied.

“So, nannies…” Eden prompted Griz.

Griz grimaced, almost sheepishly, though with that wicked scar on his face, it looked more like he was putting on a threatening expression. “I didn’t really expand on it.”

“So, you’re not nannies.” Tyler frowned. “Then what are you?”

“Why would you tell him we’re nannies?” Camden pushed Griz.

“I didn’t say that,” Griz protested. “Not exactly.”

“Well, when I called you and said the nanny quit, and that we needed help…” Tyler leaned closer to Griz, looking him in the eye.

Griz looked down and began making patterns in the dirt with the toe of his boot.

Cam didn’t really know Griz all that well, but he sure had the look of a boy with his hand caught in the cookie jar.

“Griz.” Tyler’s tone was firm.

“You need help,” Griz said as he looked up. “I called Mae and Mac and we came up with this.”

“Well, what the hell is this?” Tyler asked. “A damned war between elementals? I can just see them burning down my home, Trista’s tornadoes, Tessa’s earthquakes, and then that damned ice…” He turned a fiery gaze toward Camden.

She stared at him right back. Daring him. She had no idea what she was daring him to do, but by damn, he was issuing a challenge in those eyes—sexy, bedroom eyes.

I am not going to think that.

What the heavens was wrong with her? She was never the type to be man crazy. Circe had set a great example, never letting a man rule her mind, heart, or emotions, so why was this damned large—yes, even sexy—shifter able to get to her like this?

Eden was looking at Camden as though she’d lost her mind.

Though Camden was certain no one else could tell the turmoil she was dealing with inside, she knew Eden had some notion. And it definitely had roused Eden’s curiosity.

Eden turned from Camden and focused her attention on Tyler. “There won’t be an elemental war.”

“It sure looked like one around here a couple of minutes ago,” he countered.

“The little ones are too accustomed to having their own way. It’s obvious they are used to terrorizing and controlling their environment and the adults in it.”

Tyler frowned at her. “They’re just little girls. And if every woman who came out here didn’t have her eyes on getting a husband or getting into bed with my brother, then maybe—”

“Why don’t you let the girls go to someone who can take care of them so you and your brother can spend your time pursuing all the pus—” Camden couldn’t believe she was going off on him like this. But this wasn’t the time to stop. “You and your brother can pursue all the women you want and let someone else who can dedicate their time to the children do so. I know someone who can handle them and would love to have them.”