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Business was business, after all.
‘Still?’ Luce asked. ‘I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. People don’t really change at heart, do they?’
Ben looked at her, sipping her wine across the table, her gaze too knowing, and for once he wanted to tell someone the truth. That sometimes he was sick of all the rules he’d set for himself. That sometimes he did want to stop. To stay in one place for a while.
Downing the rest of his pint, he said, ‘I need another drink,’ and headed to the bar before the urge became too strong.
CHAPTER EIGHT
BEN RETURNED WITH another pint for himself and another glass of wine for Luce. She hadn’t drunk more than half of the glass she already had, but she accepted it gracefully anyway. She had a feeling that he wasn’t so much trying to get her drunk to take advantage of her, more to distract her.
Clearly he’d never experienced the Myles curiosity in full flow before.
‘So, you left university, joined the family business, and you’re still there?’ She tipped her head sideways to look at him. ‘So either you really have changed a little bit, or there’s something about your job you truly love. Because the Ben Hampton I knew couldn’t stick at anything for more than six months.’ Which had, incidentally, been the exact length of his relationship with Mandy before the kiss in the library. Not that she’d counted.
Ben’s hand was already on his pint. ‘It’s a job. It pays me very, very well and I don’t have to sit in an office all day.’
Now, that sounded like the Ben she’d known. But it still felt wrong, somehow. And Luce had drunk enough wine to tell him so. ‘That doesn’t sound like it makes you happy.’
‘Are jobs supposed to make you happy?’ Ben asked, eyebrow raised.
‘Mine does,’ Luce said, in an immediate unconsidered response.
‘Really?’
‘Of course.’ At least as long as she didn’t think too much about the particulars. A lecturing position at the university and the opportunity to do her own research into areas of history that fascinated her. That was all she’d ever wanted.
It was just that day-to-day, dealing with the academic system, the obscure rules and regulations of academia, funding, and other colleagues...well, it could be a little...frustrating.
‘So, which part do you love the most?’ Ben asked. ‘Attending dull lectures your colleagues can’t be bothered to go to? Grading unoriginal essays? Applying for funding all the time just to actually do your job?’
Which was just a bit too close to her own thoughts for Luce’s comfort. ‘I’m not saying there aren’t downsides, or days that aren’t particularly joyous. But at the heart of it I love discovering the past. I love finding out about the lives of women long dead and how they influenced the world around them. That’s what matters to me.’
Ben’s gaze was curious now. How had this got turned around? Wasn’t she supposed to be questioning him?
‘In that case,’ he asked, ‘why aren’t you spending all your time on your book? Looking at a linked lecture tour or even a TV programme? Why are you wasting time writing reports for your lazy colleague?’
‘This is just how it works,’ Luce said, reaching for her glass as an excuse not to look at him. ‘It can’t be all fun, all the time. There has to be responsibility, too.’
‘And that’s why I’m still working for the family business,’ Ben said. ‘Told you I could be responsible sometimes. Ah, look—pudding.’
Tracy put their bowls on the table with a curious glance between them. How many women had he brought here? Luce wondered. Was she the latest in a long line? Did she not fit the usual stereotype? Was that why everyone kept looking at her tonight?
She couldn’t think about that now. What did it matter, anyway? Tomorrow she’d be back in Cardiff. She’d probably never think of Ben Hampton again.
Liar.
‘Okay, then,’ she said, reaching for her spoon. ‘What would you be doing if you weren’t working for the illustrious Hampton & Sons?’
Ben’s spoon paused halfway to his mouth. ‘Honestly? I have no idea.’ He looked as if the concept had never even occurred to him. As if he’d never thought about what he’d actually like to do. He’d just fallen into his job and kept going.
Which was so entirely out of keeping with what Luce had thought she knew about his character that she forgot about pudding entirely.
‘Well, what do you love doing?’ she asked. ‘Renovating properties?’
