Be Careful What You Wish For (The Clifton Chronicles 4)

“And what if you were to join us for dinner, Seb?”

“I would have to order last, be served last, begin my meal last and leave the table last.”

“Another first,” said Cedric. “By the way, when did you learn all this?”

“This morning,” said Sebastian.

* * *

Sebastian would have given up the beginners’ class by the end of the first week if he hadn’t become distracted. He tried to concentrate on what Professor Marsh was saying, but all too often he found himself glancing back in her direction. Although she was a lot older than Sebastian, thirty, perhaps even thirty-five, she was very attractive, and the boys at the bank had assured him that women who worked in the City often preferred younger men.

Sebastian turned and looked in her direction again, but she was concentrating on every word the professor had to say. Or was she just playing hard to get? There was only one way he was going to find out.

When the lecture finally came to an end, he followed her out of the hall, and decided she was just as attractive from behind. A pencil skirt revealed a slim pair of legs he was happy to follow into the student bar. His confidence grew when she walked straight up to the counter, and the barman immediately reached for a bottle of white wine. Sebastian sat down on the stool next to her.

“Let me guess, a glass of chardonnay for the lady, and I’ll have a beer.”

She smiled.

“Coming up,” said the barman.

“My name’s Seb.”

“I’m Amy,” she replied. The American accent took him by surprise. Was he about to find out if American girls were as easy as the guys at the bank claimed?

“So what do you do when you’re not studying Japanese?” asked Sebastian as the barman placed two drinks on the counter.

“That’ll be four shillings.”

Sebastian handed over two half-crowns and said, “Keep the change.”

“I’ve just retired as an air hostess,” she said.

Could this get any better, thought Sebastian. “What made you pack it in?”

“They’re always on the lookout for younger recruits.”

“But you can’t be a day over twenty-five.”

“I wish,” she said, before taking a sip of her wine. “And what do you do?”

“I’m a merchant banker.”

“That sounds exciting.”

“Sure is,” said Sebastian. “Earlier today I closed a deal with Jacob Rothschild to buy a tin mine in Bolivia.”

“Wow, that makes my world look pretty mundane. So why are you learning Japanese?”

“The head of the Far East desk has just been promoted, and I’m on the shortlist for his job.”

“Aren’t you a little young for such a responsible position?”

“Banking is a young man’s game,” said Sebastian, as she finished her wine. “Can I get you another?”

“No, but thank you. I’ve got a lot of revision to do, so I’d better go home if the professor isn’t going to find me out tomorrow.”

“Why don’t I come with you, and we can revise together?”