Love Beyond Words (City Lights, #1)(20)

The waiter appeared. He rattled off the day’s specials and Julian ordered a bottle of cabernet from a long list full of old-sounding French titles. When the waiter returned to present it, the label showed it predated the Cold War.

“I thought we’re supposed to drink white wine with fish,” Natalie managed. She was no connoisseur but the bottle had to cost half a month’s rent.

“You hate white wine,” Julian said. He tasted the small sip the waiter offered, and nodded. The man poured and left them.

Natalie laughed weakly. “Ah yes. Everything I told you of my likes and dislikes is paying off exactly to plan.”

Julian grinned. “Is it?”

“How else would I get my fix of…” she turned the wine bottle to face her, “1947 Chateau Gruaud Laros?”

“A real mastermind.”

“A girl’s gotta drink.”

They laughed again as the waiter returned to take their order. Julian caught Natalie’s dismayed expression. “Shall I?”

“Yes, please.”

He ordered appetizers, entrees—Alaskan halibut for her, red snapper for him—and sides of sautéed mushrooms, pasta, and grilled asparagus.

“Okay?” he asked.

Natalie nodded. “Okay.”

The waiter winked. “Okay.”

#

Over a Dungeness crab cocktail, Julian asked her about her studies. “How are they going? Nearly done or have you time yet?”

“Nearly done,” she said. “I’m set to graduate in June.”

“Congratulations,” he said. “And have you decided what to do with your degree? Personal accounting or… something else?” He laughed. “I know nothing about the subject myself. David handles all that stuff for me.”

“David?” Natalie asked, keeping her voice light. “You haven’t mentioned him before.” She dipped a wedge of crab into a little dish of melted butter calmly while her thoughts took off. Marshall was right. He’s gay. He’s gay and has a boyfriend named David…

“David is a good friend of mine, as well as my personal assistant. He manages my trust fund. I hate talking about that—the trust fund. It makes me sound useless and spoiled, and besides we were talking about you and what you’re going to do with your degree.”

Natalie toyed with her under-sized fork as the topic of his money whizzed by like a runaway train. Like whatever he’s writing, it’s his business, she told herself. Besides, it was too good to see him like this, sitting across from her at a table that wasn’t at Niko’s. She bit back a smile. And David is only an assistant.

“I haven’t decided yet,” she answered. “I don’t have to pick my focus until next semester. Personal accounting seems a bit too simple while investment banking is too…”

“Cutthroat?”

“I was going to say ‘irresponsible.’ I mean, it may sound stupid—I’m probably in the wrong business—but I don’t want to sit around counting other people’s money. I’d like to do something meaningful. Working for a socially-conscious nonprofit would be ideal.”

“Sounds like a noble use of your talents.”

“I don’t know about noble. It may be a huge mistake. Most of my classmates are going on to grad school to become hedge-fund managers, or try to shoulder their way into a big corporation.” She made a face. “The simulations are close enough to that for me.”

“Simulations?”

“We use a company’s financial data and current economic trends to mock up portfolios for imaginary investors. Over the course of the semester we have to show the profits and losses, and calculate earnings, dividends, that sort of thing. I was assigned a huge, soulless corporation with a fat carbon footprint and no social conscience to speak of. EllisIntel, it’s called.”

“EllisIntel.” Julian frowned. “I believe David’s invested in them for me. How bad are they?”

“Well, right now they’re in trouble overseas for factory worker violations. They’ve almost single-handedly ruined a river in Venezuela, and now there’s talk they’re going to partner with some big fracking company out of Oklahoma.” She waited until the waiter finished removing their appetizer dishes. “On the other hand, they make money for their shareholders like they were printing it. You could stand to lose a considerable fortune, if you decided to sell.”

“Sounds like it would be worth it.”

Natalie started to reply when Julian’s cell phone chimed from inside the pocket of his jacket. She realized she’d never seen him take a call before.

“Sorry,” he said, and pressed a button to silence the ring. “That was David, actually.”

“Might it be important?”

“He can leave a message.”

The waiter returned with their main dishes and Natalie swooned at the gorgeous slice of fish on her plate. “I haven’t had halibut since Mexico.”

Julian cocked an eyebrow. “I seem to recall you telling me you didn’t travel.”

Natalie smiled faintly. She hadn’t meant to mention Mexico; it just popped out. “It was a long time ago. Seven years ago now. Puerto Vallarta.”

“With your parents?” he asked gently.