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He watched her as she slid onto a stool and dove into the conversation at the end of the bar, obviously faulars Their voices drifted to him as he ordered a vodka tonic and settled in to watch

"Hey hey! There’s our girl," one of the men called "About tiuys…" She shook her head while plopping onto the eo"

"Biggest drug bust in county history and you act like it’s no big deal?" another man said "Your story practically broke that case for those knuckleheads in the DEA"

"Hey, Marty, isn’t one of those knuckleheads your nephew?"

"Doesn’t rinned "Pretty sure that means he’s not, actually"

The hter

This was her natural environment, Baojia decided The perfectly coiffed woirl who joked with the oldShe was relaxed here, despite her professional attire, which did not stand out as ritty bar was filled with allame that was on the television in the corner There were more men than women, but not so few that Natalie stood out There weren’t ht, not Friday or Saturday Strangely, though the dive bar was completely opposite of his own club in numerous ways, the smell was remarkably similar Alcohol Sweat Skin

Blood

He hadn’t eaten since he’d taken Natalie’s blood days before It was probably a bad idea to see her again without feeding, but he trusted his self-control enough to chance it This was the hurateful for that And since he’d promised Dez anyway…

He watched her with the old rey-haired and wrinkled--uess They watched her with a paternal protectiveness he could respect She told stories they laughed at They told jokes that ht

His eyes slipped to her collar; he could see the pale, freckled skin where he had bitten her He knew instinctively that, should she ever discover he had ry He took a sip of his cocktail and ed There was no need for her to know unless she came to the attention of another immortal And if she did, annoyance with hionna pee"Okay, okay When I get back, we’re changing the subject"

"Spoilsport," one hed and stood up "Hey, Howard, can you order , Nat"

He watched her as she rolled her eyes and ducked down the hall leading to the bathroo to watch the baseball ganored the sounds of the television and tuned in to the old men’s conversation "--anyone called her dad?" "Would she ever forgive us if we did? She didn’t even call hi that last story" There was scatteredShe lives all alone" "She travels too ht you was gonna set her up with your nephew" "She heard he was a cop and wouldn’t give hihed "Says she’ll drink with us, but that’s as far as it goes" "Eh," another one said "My Tricia’s the sa one of these young guys, anyway" So Natalie’s father was a police officer, as were theHe smiled She was smart Old cops kept their noses in their old precincts If she wanted sources for stories, these enuine affection for them Then he frowned They were also, evidently, worried about her He heard her leaving the restroom, her step already fa her brush up against hi up with an eet you another one" He looked down at her, , a rew around her house "It’s fine Sorry I didn’t see you" "No, it wasattention" She looked down at his black suit "It got all over you, too" She pulled hi into her fanized froet coffee, but I keep theh as the uy’s suit? You gotta stop trying to run men over A simple hello works" "Hey, shut it" She slapped the old man’s arm as she dabbed at the spot of vodka and tonic water on his chest "Poor guy was just trying to watch the gaain He cocked his head, a "It’s fine, really" "This was probably just dry-cleaned, right?" She did the nose-wrinkling thing she’d done in the car the other night "You look very… well-pressed" "I’hed, a pleasant sound that he decided he wanted to hearout with these jokers doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a man in a nice suit," she said with a wink "Hey," another one of the old men spoke "You wear a suit when you’re dead" "Or you work in a cubicle," Marty said "Sahed "Natalie, I like this guy" One of the old cops slapped his shoulder "Sit down and let our girlwaslet our here buy you a drink" "Oh thanks for offering" Natalie turned to Baojia and said, "Sorry for the peanut gallery Join me for a drink? It’s the least I can do since I messed up your suit" He smiled This was far easier than he’d expected "I’d love to"