Page 22 of Brushed By Moonlight

“And what is?”

Staying aliveseemed too blunt, so I settled for, “Getting a good night’s sleep.”

“Gotcha,” he said.

Lions — especially males — weren’t known for being overly zealous when it came to anything other than sunning themselves or scoring dates. But I had to hand it to Bene. He turned out to be a damn good assistant. With me measuring and sawing beams and him hammering them into place, we had a frame up in no time.

It was warm up there, though, and soon, his gray T stuck to his chest with sweat. A welcome diversion, I had to admit. One I allowed myself because I’d had a shitty night and a tough morning. I deserved a little pep-me-up.

All very innocent, of course. Lion shifters were notorious womanizers and definitely not my type, even if this one had the body of a Viking.

Bene made surprisingly good company too, happy to chat about anything but himself.

“All those places you’ve lived… Do you have more than one passport?” I asked.

“I do,” was all he was willing to divulge.

“And you decided to work for Gordon because…”

“Oh, you know. Time for a change.”

“From what?”

“From my previous job.”

Okay, I got the point. No talking about personal stuff.

I turned back to my circular saw and continued cutting planks to size.

“How was your night?” I asked as Bene held the first one in place. A perfect fit.

“Great. We made a few changes, though.”

I wanted to ask, but I didn’t want to ask.

“Got my own room now,” Bene went on without prompting.

I couldn’t help myself. “So, the other guys are sharing, then?”

“Nah. We each got a room. Marius and Henrik moved upstairs.”

“They what?” I squawked.

“Well, you know how it is,” Bene said, then dropped his voice to a growly bass, imitating Marius. “Dragons need space.”

I clicked my jaw. That had not been the plan.

“So, we have cats on one level, the dragon above, and the vampire above that,” he said.

My blood went cold. “Above, where?”

“Roux and I are on the ground floor, just where you put us.” Bene held his hand flat, then put the other hand above it. “Marius is one flight up, same level as the drawing room.” Then he moved the bottom hand to the top, marking another story. “Henrik took the top.”

“The top,where?” I demanded.

Bene jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Down there.”

I stared into the darkness at the end of the hallway.