Either way, he wasn’t interested.
Maybe, if it was thirty years ago and he was still in college, or twenty years ago when he’d only been looking for a good time, or ten years ago when boredom propelled him from woman to woman and new thrill to new thrill. But over the past few years, apathy had taken its toll and extended into every area of his life.
At fifty-two, he was too young to be bored with immortality. No, not bored with immortality—bored with the way he’d been living his life. The only problem was, he didn’t know how to change it. But this bartender sure wasn’t the change he was looking for, he decided as he flicked his ashes and inhaled another drag of his cigarette.
“I might not be able to help you find a place, but I could help you find something else you might like,” she purred.
From the corner of his eye, Mike saw Jack roll his eyes, and Doug smirked before sipping his drink.
Unwilling to offend the woman—they might be able to get some useful information out of her about this place and the area—Mike smiled back at her. “What’s your name?” he inquired.
He didn’t want to lead her on either and felt asking her name was a neutral question.
“LeNae,” she replied, and smiled to reveal her white teeth. With her dirty-blonde hair and pale blue eyes, she was pretty and had an alluring figure, but he felt no interest in her.
“Nice to meet you, LeNae. I’m Mike, this is Doug, and that’s Jack.”
Doug’s wholesome face broke into the grin that had disarmed more people over the years than any military truce. LeNae smiled back at him. Jack remained stone-faced before turning his full attention to his beer, finishing it off, and pushing the bottle across the bar toward her.
“Would you like another?” LeNae asked.
“Yes,” Jack replied, and leaning back on his stool, he turned to survey the occupants of the bar.
Most of the customers had gone back to drinking, but a few still watched them. Mike braced himself as he waited for Jack to say something to annoy someone, it was what he did after all, but he turned back around.
LeNae returned with his beer and set it before him.
“How long have you lived here?” Jack asked her.
“A few months,” she replied.
“Why did you come here?”
“The same reason most everyone else in this place did.”
“Which is?”
“Things are getting a little ugly down south, and we all know it.” Her gaze traveled over them. “Isn’t that what brought you here too?”
“It is,” Doug said, “but it’s a little strange to see so many vamps in such a remote location.”
The bracelets on LeNae’s wrist jangled when she set her hand on the bar. “Remote might be the only thing keeping us all alive and out of harm’s way... until that doesn’t work anymore.”
Mike hoped she was wrong and the problem with the Savages would soon be handled, but he wasn’t willing to take any chances either, and neither was the rest of his family.
“Everyone in this bar is okay?” he asked her.
“Depends on your definition of okay, but no one is a killer, and we don’t tolerate them here either.” LeNae gave each of them a pointed look.
Mike stubbed out his cigarette before raising his hands; Doug gave her his winning smile again, and Jack drank his beer.
“I wouldn’t either,” Mike assured her.
“None of us would,” Doug said.
LeNae’s attention shifted to Doug. Mike didn’t mind; he’d met his fair share of fickle women over the years, and she’d have better luck with Doug anyway. Doug wasn’t burned-out like he was or as cynical as Jack.
His burn-out wasn’t helped by the fact two of his best friends, and an increasing number of what he considered his nieces and nephews, had met their mates, fallen in love, and settled down. Watching how happy they all were with each other, Mike sometimes found himself longing for someone he could spend an eternity with too.
