Willing himself to calm down, he stalked to the bar and ordered a drink. “Hi Roxanne, O

negative, please.”

“Here for the party?” She started pouring his drink.

“Yeah, I never miss out on a party. Free blood, right?” He pointed to the taps.

“You bet. Just don’t go overboard. The boss has instructed me to keep an eye on you guys. If anybody overindulges, I’m authorized to cut you off.” She smirked.

He grinned back. “Spoil sport!”

She put the glass of blood in front of him and ruffled his hair. “Now go play with the others.”

Eddie tossed her a mock-outraged look. “You make us sound like we’re kids.”

Roxanne chuckled and leaned over the bar, her ample bosom almost too close for comfort.

He glanced at it briefly, but nothing stirred in his groin. “That’s because you are.”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m twenty-five!”

“Baby!” she cooed as if talking to an infant.

He grabbed the glass and downed its contents. The rich blood coated his throat, stilling his hunger. He instantly felt better, calmer. Maybe he’d just been overly hungry, and that was why he felt so apprehensive about being in Thomas’s company. Hunger could do a lot of funny things to a vampire. He’d found that out the hard way when he’d first been turned. He’d never been so ravenous in his entire life. Nor as violent.

A hand tapped on his shoulder. Eddie spun around and released a shaky breath when he realized that it hadn’t been Thomas’s hand that had touched him.

Get a grip, he chastised himself.

“Hey, Cain.”

“Wow, you’re jumpy. What’s up?” The dark-haired vampire with the permanent stubble on his chin and the penetrating dark eyes looked him up and down.

“Nothing. Why would something be up? Just getting my first drink.”

Cain nodded toward the bartender. “I’m having what he’s having.”

Roxanne smiled. “Coming right up.”

As she turned to the taps, Eddie caught the long lusting look that Cain raked over her body, lingering on her breasts, then dropping to her shapely ass. He could clearly see what his colleague was thinking. Oddly enough, when Eddie let his gaze sweep over Roxanne’s curves, he felt nothing. The woman was exceedingly beautiful, but Eddie didn’t feel any desire rising in him, nor any blood surging to his cock. Touching and kissing her held no appeal for him, when he should have the same lusty feelings as half the vampires in the lounge had for this extraordinary female specimen with the upper crust English accent.

Maybe something was wrong with him. Maybe a hormonal imbalance. Perhaps he should go see Maya and have her check him out to see if his testosterone levels were low. Maya, Gabriel’s mate, was the only vampire physician—apart from the psychiatrist Dr. Drake—in San Francisco.

Her specialty when she’d been a human doctor had been urology. If anybody knew a male body, then it was she. Maybe after the party, he’d pull her aside and make an appointment with her.

“Did you hear anything about that?” Cain’s voice drifted to him.

Eddie fumbled for an answer. He hadn’t heard what Cain had been talking about. “Sorry, can you repeat that?”

Cain narrowed his eyes and gave him an assessing look. “You wanna tell me what’s wrong with you? First you’re jumpy, and now you’re distracted.” His colleague leaned closer.

Eddie’s breath hitched. Did Cain suspect the reason for his inattentiveness?

“You’d better pull yourself together, kid! I have the feeling there’s some shit going down here soon. I just overheard Gabriel telling Samson he’s calling a staff meeting later tonight.

You’ll need all your marbles. So whatever hot broad is distracting you, put her out of your mind.”

Eddie sighed inwardly. If only it were a hot woman who was occupying his thoughts, then he would have nothing to worry about. He’d never been distracted by a woman. Sure, he’d fucked some of them, but now that he thought of it, he’d never been so into it that he’d forgotten about the rest of his life. Even as a teenager, he’d preferred hanging out with his buddies to sneaking off into some dark alley with a girl to get some action. His friends had actually teased him that he was too much of a good guy. And good guys didn’t get laid. No wonder he’d been almost twenty when he’d lost his virginity.

It hadn’t rocked his world. Maybe he was just not a very sexual guy. He shook his head. No, that couldn’t be true either. After all, he masturbated daily. Didn’t that prove that his sex drive was alive and well? Perhaps he’d simply not met the right woman. That had to be it. Roxanne was just not his type, that’s why he didn’t feel any spark in his groin when he looked at her.