“The castle is a hotel as well as a place to role-play. Hordes of guests will be interested once they find out what your plants can do.” Sparkle grew thoughtful. “I bet mobs of tourists will sign up for a tour of your greenhouse. You can give them a brief rundown of your plants’ talents.”

“Hordes? Mobs?” Cinn went into panic mode. “Wait. I thought I was just here to develop a few plants with interesting traits for the castle. I didn’t think I’d have to talk to anyone.”

Sparkle’s expression hinted she was doing a few mental eye-rolls. “I told you that Jessica and Sweetie Pie were huge hits. Everyone will want plants like them in their rooms. Get over your hermit complex, for heaven’s sake. You’re brilliant. Revel in it. Milk it for all the attention you can get.”

Damn. Cinn opened her mouth to argue over her job description, but before she could get a word out, the three men she’d seen enter a moment ago reached the bar.

“Let’s go somewhere a little more private.” The one with the thick tawny hair jerked his thumb toward an empty corner table.

The guy was big. Toe-to-toe, Cinn would have to look up a long way to meet his gaze. Not that meeting his gaze was on her to-do list. His eyes were the same shade of amber as Sparkle’s and had the same predatory gleam. But that was where the similarity ended.

Cinn would bet that Sparkle hunted men for a whole different reason than the guy staring at her now. He wore a short-sleeved T-shirt that exposed a grim reaper tattoo on one muscular bicep. It fit. She wouldn’t want him hunting her.

Sparkle didn’t argue. She slid from the bar stool and motioned for Cinn to follow her. Even though her boss hadn’t said a word, Cinn got the feeling that Sparkle wasn’t a huge fan of Mr. Big-Bad-and-Scary. Strange. She’d swear it wasn’t team spirit zinging back and forth between these two.

Before Cinn could slide from her stool, strong hands lifted her and placed her firmly on the floor. She gasped and turned to look at the man beside her. “Thanks, I…” Forget the first man. Now this was wicked in its most basic form.