Then she marched downstairs to the ground floor, and turned on the answering machine. The Vamps wouldn't like it, but she was not about to screw up her last exam because of Ian's love life. As she descended into the basement, she heard the phone ringing again. The guys in the cellar were fine, so she called Howard for the ten o'clock report. She explained about the answering machine, and he agreed.

While she ate her lunch in the kitchen, the phone rang twelve more times. It was still ringing when she went upstairs to her bedroom. She disconnected the phone there so she could study in peace. She checked on the guys again at one and four P.M. for her afternoon reports.

She also called the hospital back and talked to a nurse on the floor where Sabrina had stayed. The nurse admitted Sabrina had left with family, but wouldn't say more than that. It had to be Sabrina's aunt and uncle, since they were the only family Sabrina had. Toni couldn't recall their last name. The information would be at the apartment. Meanwhile, Sabrina never called back, so Toni continued to worry about her.

At four-fifteen, Toni changed out of her uniform and descended to the kitchen to make a snack. She would be able to leave after the guys woke up, which was any minute now. Fortunately, the sun set early in December.

"Good evening." Dougal sauntered into the kitchen, followed by Phineas. They headed straight for the refrigerator for some bottles of blood.

"Hey, guys." She finished her salad. "Sleep well?"

The door slammed open, and Ian marched in. He glowered at Toni and slapped a hand against his black-marked T-shirt. "What the hell is this?"

Chapter Four

Ian had forgotten how pretty she was--pretty enough to scramble his thoughts for a second. But it didn't matter how shiny and golden her hair was, or how pink and sweetly curved her mouth was. Or how her green jumper matched the bonnie green of her eyes. Any guard who wrote graffiti on a sleeping Vamp was not a guard who could be trusted.

Phineas took one look at him and spewed his breakfast all over the kitchen counter. Then he started snickering. Dougal, at least, was attempting to stifle his laughter.

"Eeeuww." Toni grimaced at the bloody mess.

"Don't worry, sweetness. I'll clean it up." Phineas grabbed a sponge from the kitchen sink. "You got him good."

"I wouldna call this good." Ian glowered at Toni. She hadn't answered his question. She just sat at the table, fiddling with a paper napkin, while a pink blush swept up to her cheeks. The scent of her rushing blood ignited his hunger. His gums tingled. His stomach twinged. He stalked to the refrigerator, grabbed a bottle of synthetic blood, and guzzled it down cold.

She wrinkled her pretty little nose. "You're drinking it cold?"

"Are ye offering me some that's hot?" he growled.

Her cheeks grew a brighter red. "No, of course not."

"Why so pissed, bro?" Phineas wiped up the counter. "I'd be happy if Toni wrote on my shirt. Shit, she could write on me all day long."

"You don't wear a shirt to bed," Toni muttered.

"Aha!" Phineas grinned at her. "You've been admiring my awesome bod while I sleep. I knew it. The ladies can't resist Dr. Phang." He rinsed out his sponge, then went back to work. "You should be writing your love notes on me."

"They're not love notes," Toni protested.

"That's for certain," Ian grumbled. "I'm definitely no' interested in Travis."

Phineas snorted, then took aim and tossed the sponge into the sink. "Two points! Look, I've been telling you guys to stop wearing those skirts. It gives out mixed signals, if you know what I mean."

Dougal frowned. "The kilt is a fine and manly tradition amongst the Scots."

"I kinda like 'em," Toni conceded.

Did she really like his kilt? Ian had always considered the MacPhie tartan one of the best. Or perhaps she had liked what was underneath. He slapped himself mentally. This girl distracted him far too easily. "Ye dinna answer my question." He tapped his chest. "Why the hell did ye do this?" She lifted her chin. "I will admit now that it was a mistake, but at the time, I was very angry with you."

"Angry?" Ian gave her an incredulous look. "What could I possibly do to make ye angry? I was dead all day."

"You were live on the Internet. People were looking at you on Single in the City, and the phone was ringing off the hook. I have problems of my own to deal with, so--"

"Ladies were calling me?" Ian interrupted her. He couldn't believe it. Vanda's plan was working.

Toni shot him an annoyed look. "Didn't you see the messages I left for you upstairs? On the nightstand?"

"Nay, I was distracted by this." He pressed a hand against his chest. He wanted to stay angry, but the thought of women actually pursuing him was amazing. "Ladies were calling me?"

Toni groaned, then took her plate to the sink. "Yes, Mr. Super Ego. Forty-three women and two men, to be precise. And that was before ten A.M."

"Two men?" Phineas snickered.

Ian muttered a few words in Gaelic that made Dougal laugh. His initial excitement was wearing off, for he now realized that all the women who had called during the day were mortal. None of them would do.

The phone rang, and Phineas reached for it.

"Don't bother." Toni returned to the table where she'd left some clothes on the back of a chair. She looped a green scarf around her neck. "It's probably another desperate woman. The answering machine's been picking them up since this morning."

"But she might be hot!" Phineas lifted the receiver. "Hello there," he said in a deep, sexy voice. "You have reached the luxurious abode of Dr. Phang, the love doctor. Tell me where it hurts, baby."

"Toni," Dougal spoke quietly. "Ye're supposed to answer the phone during the day. We doona want people thinking the house is vacant."

"I know." She stuffed her arms into a jacket. "But--"

"No, Travis, I'm not interested!" Phineas slammed the phone down. "Shit."

Toni snorted. "See what I mean? That's why Howard agreed to let me use the answering machine." She hitched her handbag over her shoulder. "See you guys later."

"Where are ye going?" Ian asked.

She ignored him and strode from the kitchen, leaving the door swinging in her wake.

"Bloody hell," Ian growled. He gulped down the rest of his cold breakfast, then set the bottle in the sink on his way to the kitchen door.

"Ian." Dougal stopped him. "Doona chase her away. We're in desperate need of mortal guards we can trust."

He pointed at his T-shirt. "What makes ye think we can trust her?"

"She's a good fighter, and she has good reason to hate the Malcontents," Dougal replied.

"And she hasn't killed us in our sleep," Phineas added. "Yet."

"That's reassuring." Ian strode into the foyer and found Toni by the front door, punching buttons on the security panel. "Ye canna leave."

"I don't see why not. I'm off duty." She finished the code to release the alarm, then reached for the doorknob.

"I need to talk to you."

"I don't want to." She motioned to the answering machine. "But there are hundreds of women who do."

"Ye're exaggerating."

She marched across the foyer to the sideboard where the phone and answering machine were located. She punched a button, and a robotic male voice spoke.

"You have three hundred and fourteen messages."

Ian's mouth fell open.

Toni gave him a knowing smirk, then strode back to the front door. "You'd better get busy. It'll take you hours to return all those calls."

"I'll just delete them."

She turned slowly to face him. "You're not going to answer them?"

"They called during the day, so they must be mortal."

"Good grief, you're an arrogant snob!"

He stiffened. "It's no' a matter of arrogance. It's reality."

"Your reality! You think you're too good for mere mortals."

"Doona presume to know what I'm thinking."

Her eyes narrowed. "Fine. We'll stick to the facts. Those are real people who called with real feelings. Only a pompous oaf would deny them the courtesy of an answer."

He moved closer to her. "Doona lecture me on courtesy, no' when ye wrote this rubbish on me while I slept."

"I was angry!" She stepped toward him, her cheeks growing flushed. "I had to endure hours of people moaning, 'Ooh, Ian is so hot!' You're lucky I only wrote on your T-shirt. I almost puked on it!"

He had trouble concentrating on her words, because her rushing blood filled his nostrils, and her racing heartbeat pounded in his mind. Just gazing into the fiery green depths of her eyes made his hearing grow dull. The scent of her blood combined with the fragrance of her hair and skin, and he'd never breathed in air so sweet.

She stepped back. "Is something wrong? Your eyes look a little weird."

He struggled to think. Why had all those calls made her angry? Then a sudden thought struck him.

"Ye were jealous."

"What?" she scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous."

He pointed to the words on his chest. "Ye dinna like other ladies saying I was a studmuffin."

"They never called you a--" She winced. "I have to go." She moved toward the door.

He followed her. "The studmuffin part was yer idea?"

"It wasn't meant as a compliment," she muttered.

He smiled. "But it is yer honest opinion, aye?"

She grabbed the doorknob. "I have things to do, places to go."

He planted a hand on the door. "Such as?"

"None of your business."

His smile faded. "Ye never told me yer full name. Or why ye agreed to guard us."

"I told you, good pay and free room and board."

"And I told you I doona trust you. Ye're hiding something."

Her eyes glinted with anger. "I took a vow to protect your egotistical hide."

"Why would ye protect us when ye doona like us?"

She arched a brow. "Maybe it's just you I don't like."

His gaze drifted over her face, then down over her hip-length jacket and tight-fitting jeans. "I can tell when ye're lying, lass. I can hear yer heart racing and smell the blood rushing to yer face." Her cheeks turned pink. "I don't have to explain myself to you."

"Fine. Then I have no choice but to investigate you." The phone rang, distracting him. "Don't leave," he warned her, then headed toward the phone.

Toni made a frustrated noise behind him, and he glanced back. With an impatient gesture, she tugged her hair free from the scarf that had pinned it down. The strands of gold tumbled down around her shoulders. Somehow, she managed to make a simple movement look graceful and beautiful.

The answering machine picked up, and a woman's voice filled the foyer. "Ian, I just read your profile, and I'd love to meet you. Are you there? Pick up!"

He reached for the receiver, then hesitated.

"What's wrong?" Toni asked.

"I doona know what to say."

She snorted. "How about hello?"

The caller gave her name and telephone number.

"It's no' that simple." Ian couldn't tell if this woman was a Vamp, and it wasn't something he could just ask. Bugger. He'd have to actually meet all the women who called after dark. The minute he saw them, he'd know if they were alive or Undead. But what if there were hundreds of them?

The woman hung up, then the phone rang again.

He dragged a hand through his hair. "This is too much. I shouldna have let Vanda do this."

"Vanda?" Toni asked. "Is she another girlfriend?"

"A friend. She wrote my profile and put me on the dating site. She only meant to help, but--" "What?" Toni walked toward him. "You didn't write your own profile?"

Another woman's voice came on the answering machine.

Ian turned down the volume so he could talk to Toni. "I let Vanda write it. She said she knew what women wanted to hear. I suppose she does, since so many are calling."

Toni wrinkled her nose. "It's not what I would want to hear. I've never read such hogwash in all my life."

"Ye read my profile?"

She tucked her hair behind an ear. "I was curious. I mean, hundreds of women were calling. I wanted to see what had gotten them all excited."

"And ye thought it was hogwash?"

"Of course. 'My true love will be like a shimmering, starlit princess in my enchanted Highland castle. And I'll be her devoted love slave, attending to her every waking desire till she's flooded with waves of sensual pleasure.' Oh, the rapture! The ecstasy! The nausea!" Toni pointed at her mouth like she wanted to induce vomiting.

Ian winced. Vanda's prose did sound overly dramatic, but then Toni's reaction seemed a bit exaggerated, too. "It's verra interesting that ye would commit the lines to memory. I'm flattered ye studied it so carefully."

Her mouth dropped open, then snapped shut. "You should have Vanda do some serious editing. The way it's worded right now, it doesn't sound very...manly."

He arched a brow. Was she challenging him again? "I'll take a look at it tonight."

"You haven't read it yet?"