"Oh, right. Okay. Let me think." Another giggle.
Toni waited while the caller grew silent, apparently attempting to think. Did Ian actually know this girl? Hadn't he said he was looking for a Vamp woman? This girl had to be mortal because it was daylight, and she was conscious. Sorta. "Can you tell me your name?"
"Oh." More giggles. "I'm Mitzi."
Toni wrote on the pad of paper. "And your message?"
"Can you tell Ian I think he's really hot?"
"Sure." Toni glanced at Ian. He looked stone cold to her. "How did you meet him?"
"I haven't yet. I just found him on Single in the City. It's a dating service, you know?"
"I see." Was that how Ian planned to find his true love? That didn't make sense if he was looking for only Vamp women.
"Yeah, I just saw his profile," Mitzi continued. "And his picture. And I had to call because he's so hot!"
"Right. Do you want to leave a number?"
Mitzi recited her number. "Can you tell him I want to go out with him? And he'll probably get lucky, 'cause he's so hot!" She giggled, then thankfully hung up.
The second Toni set down the receiver, the phone rang again. This had to be Howard. "Hello?"
"Is Ian MacPhie there?" a throaty female voice asked.
Another woman? At least it wasn't Mitzi. "Ian is unavailable at this time. May I take a message?"
"My name is Lola. I was just reading Ian's profile at Single in the City, and I must say, it was fascinating."
"I bet." Toni glanced at the computer in the office next door. She might need to take a look at this profile.
"Yes," Lola continued. "I especially liked the part about Ian's castle in Scotland, and how he's spending some of his vast fortune to renovate it."
Vast fortune? Toni snorted, then covered it with a dainty cough. She seriously doubted Ian had a vast fortune when he was working as a security guard for Romatech Industries. Would he really stoop to telling lies on the Internet in order to get dates? The man was gorgeous. Why would he have to lie about anything, other than the little problem of being dead half the time?
"You see," Lola lowered her voice dramatically, "I was a royal princess in a former life. I belong in a castle."
"Wow."
"I'm also a vegetarian," Lola announced. "I do hope Ian is one, too. He's so hot."
"Right. Well, I can safely say he doesn't eat meat."
"Splendid." Lola recited her phone number. "Ta-ta."
Toni wrote the number down, then she glared at Ian. "Liar. You said you didn't want to date mortals."
Cum on feel the noize! She jumped. Now this had to be Howard. Or Sabrina. She pulled out her cell phone. "Hello?"
"Toni?" Howard's voice boomed. "What's going on?"
"Everything's fine. Ian's in the bedroom on the fifth floor. The phone was off the hook, but I put it back."
"What was so urgent that he had to call Connor?"
Toni winced. "He was probably calling about me. The concept of a female guard was too bizarre for him."
Howard chuckled. "He'll get used to you. Has he seen you fight yet?"
"Yeah, a little."
"Then he knows how tough you are. He'll learn to trust you in time."
She grimaced. Ian was actually right to suspect her. She did have a hidden agenda, though she certainly didn't mean the Vamps any harm.
"Do you need anything today?" Howard asked. He made sure groceries were delivered to the townhouse, so Toni wouldn't have to leave her charges unprotected.
"I'm fine for now, but I have a final exam Friday at NYU. I'll need to leave around noon."
"I remembered that. We've arranged for me to come to the townhouse so you can go."
"But I thought you had to guard Roman and Connor."
"They're staying at Romatech, so the guards there can keep an eye on them. Don't worry. We've got it covered."
"Thank you." Toni felt relieved, but a bit shocked that the Vamps were willing to change their routine just to help her out. "Just one exam to go, and I'm officially done with my master's."
"Great." Howard paused. "You know, you can probably get a better job than this. It's not very…intellectual."
"It's fine. The pay is a lot more than I expected."
"Yeah, well, the Vamps know how important it is to have mortals they can trust."
"I understand." The phone on the nightstand rang. "Oh God, I hope that's not Mitzi or Lola."
"Who?" Howard asked.
"These girls keep calling for Ian. Apparently he signed up with an online dating service."
"You're kidding."
"I wish. I'll call you back for the ten o'clock report." Toni shut her cell phone and answered the house phone. "Hello?"
"Hi," a soft female voice answered. "Is Ian there?"
Toni groaned. "He's…meditating right now."
"Cool. I'm Destiny." She gave her phone number. "Ian is just so hot. You know, I'm totally synthesized to the harmonic vibrations of the cosmos, so I can tell that Ian and I belong together."
"I see." And his vast fortune had nothing to do with it. "Any message for Ian?"
"Yes. I love to take walks in the rain and sit on the beach to watch the sunrise."
"Great." Toni wrote Plans to kill you by spontaneous combustion beneath her name. "Thank you for calling."
She hung up and glared at Ian. "Do you realize my best friend is in the hospital, and instead of being able to call her, I'm stuck talking to your silly girlfriends?" Her voice rose to a shout, but Ian just lay there, oblivious.
"Why are you looking for a woman? Why would a vampire even believe in true love? Do you really think you can be faithful for centuries? A few years is too much to ask for these days!"
He didn't answer.
"Well, at least you don't talk back. I'm the boss here during the day, and don't you forget it."
He didn't argue.
She stalked into the adjoining office. She hadn't gone to college just to end up a social secretary for a horny, hot vampire. So much for her third affirmation, I will achieve something meaningful with my life.
She needed to talk to Sabrina. That would calm her down. She opened her cell phone and dialed the hospital. "Sabrina Vanderwerth's room, please?"
"One moment," the operator replied. "Please hold."
Toni sat in the black leather chair behind the desk and booted up the computer. Maybe she could find something useful in the computer files. Her search in the library had yielded nothing. The phone on the desk rang. Great, another woman. Toni quickly took her name and number, then hung up after Britney expounded on ten reasons why Ian was hot.
Meanwhile, the hospital operator came back on her cell phone. "Sabrina Vanderwerth has been released."
A sliver of alarm crept down Toni's spine. "But I just saw her last night. When was she released?"
"I'm not able to give out any personal information."
"Wait," Toni began, but the dial tone signaled she'd been cut off.
The phone on the desk rang. "Arrgh!" Toni quickly took the name and number of another girl who thought Ian was hot. Then she dialed Sabrina's cell phone.
After seven rings, she was transferred to voice mail. "Bri, this is Toni. I just heard you were released from the hospital. Call me." She checked her phone for messages. Zilch. Where was Sabrina?
The phone on the desk rang again. This time it was LaToya who thought Ian was hot. Then Michelle, and then Lauren. Apparently Ian's hotness was becoming legendary.
"This is too much," Toni growled. She used the house phone to call her apartment. Maybe Sabrina had simply gone home, and she was worrying over nothing.
The phone rang until the answering machine picked up. "Bri, are you there? Call me, I'm worried about you."