“Sparkle wants me to guard you from Airmid during my waking hours. And if Asima is the Siamese cat, she got tired of lying outside your door. She went off to sleep in her soft bed.”

Cinn‘s lips lifted in a brief smile, and Dacian‘s interest rose.

“You mean her soft, soft bed.”

“What?”

She waved the comment away. “An inside joke. And I don‘t need a vampire protecting me from anything. I don‘t even know if I believe this Airmid exists. Sparkle would tell me anything to keep me here.”

He didn‘t know why. What could a woman who grew plants have to offer Sparkle? But he didn‘t really care. “Doesn‘t matter. She says to protect you, so I protect you.”

She drew those sexy lips into a thin line of disapproval. “I already have Asima keeping an eye on me.”

He got up, opened the door, and made a big production of looking up and down the hall. “Talking cat gone. I‘m here. I‘ll stay here until someone takes over at dawn.”

“A vampire is not staying in my room with me. You want to guard me, you can do it from outside the door.” She studied him closely. “Other than being a little pale, you don‘t look like a vampire. Not like you did down in the dungeon.”

“I‘m glad you find me almost human.” He walked back to the couch and lay down. “That way you‘ll be able to forget I‘m even here. Oh, and I‘ve fed, so you‘re safe.”

He watched the horror bloom in her eyes. “Bottled blood.” Sort of a before-dinner cocktail. He‘d go hunting for his main course tomorrow night. “No bellboys died in the making of my meal. And no, I‘m not going to curl up outside your door. If you want to take a shot at bashing my head in, go for it. But it won‘t do any good.”

Cinn was ready to suggest that she sleep outside her door. Or maybe at the hotel down the street. “I can‘t sleep in the same room with you.” Was that wimpy voice hers?

For a moment she could‘ve sworn bitterness shone behind those blue eyes, but then he smiled. Not the same kind of sexy smile as a few minutes ago.

“You‘ll sleep if you‘re tired enough.” He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a key. He swung it back and forth. “The key to the greenhouse. Sparkle said I could let you work there at night as long as I stayed with you.”