“Oh, yeah.” I bit my lower lip as I remembered. “What about it?”
“I want to talk to you about becoming my assistant. See if you are suitable.”
“Suitable?” I made a face at him, and I saw Sebastian rolling his eyes.
“Yes, suitable.”
“Do you want to interview me or something?”
“Yes.” He stepped back. “I will be waiting.” He walked back to the front of the class, and Sebastian laughed.
“Sorry. He doesn’t really have a way with people.”
“You can say that again.”
“It’s what comes of having everything handed to you.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah,” he laughed. “Though I can’t really talk.”
“I guess you are brothers.” I stood up and grabbed my bag. “I guess I better go before he threatens to fail me already or something.”
“Don’t worry too much. He’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. His bark is worse than his bite.”
“If you say so.”
“Trust me. He is very smooth. He wouldn’t get half the women he does if he didn’t know when to pour on the charm.”
“Oh, he has a lot of women?” A surge of disappointment ran through me and I wanted to slap myself.
“It depends what you call a lot.” He laughed heartily. “Let’s just say that our mother is very worried that he will never get married and produce an heir to carry on the family name.”
“Oh.” That’s weird, I wanted to say, but I kept my mouth shut. Who was I to talk about crazy families? Maybe they were from a family or country where it was important to have people carry on their names. Maybe they were still stuck in the olden days? It did seem like they were rich if Sebastian had grown up with masterpieces in his home.
“But I will see you tomorrow, yes? I will save you a seat.”
“You’re not English or French, are you?” I blurted out.
“How did you guess?” His eyes twinkled at me as we walked to the front of the class.
“I think I kind of knew when we met the other night. Your mannerisms and your speech ... There’s just something a bit different.”
“You’re correct, of course. I did go to school here, but I still carry the tint of accent from my country.” I wondered if he remembered telling me that the other night and I cringed at how obvious I was being.
“What is the name of your country?”
“Sebastian, don’t you have things to be getting on with?” Xavier walked up to us and gave his brother a look. “Mother would be disappointed to know that you aren’t concentrating one hundred percent on your studies.”
“I’m just talking to a new friend, Xavier. It’s allowed, you know.”
“Maybe you should think about what is best for your country and not what is best for your bed, dear brother.”
“Xavier!” Sebastian’s voice was outraged, and I felt my heart sink into my stomach. This was it. Xavier was going to tell his brother that he knew me and then Sebastian was going to look at me in distaste.
“Run along, Sebastian. I don’t have all day and I do believe that Lola would like to get this interview out of the way as well.”
“Good luck, Lola. I apologize for my brother. This is his first time as a professor. I think he’s letting it go to his head.”
“That’s okay.” I smiled at him warmly. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I can’t wait.” He smiled at me one last time before glaring at his brother and walking out of the room.
I stood there watching him and didn’t stop staring at the door, even after he had walked through it. I felt my heart rate increasing rapidly as I stood there waiting for Xavier to say something. But he remained as silent as I did. Finally, I couldn’t take it any longer and turned to look at him. He was watching me with hawk eyes and pursed lips.
“What’s your problem?” I couldn’t resist saying the words that were in my mind. “You’re such an asshole. Do you know that?” I glared at him and noticed his lips twitching. “Are you going to answer me or not?”
“What do you want me to say, Lolita?” he finally spoke and raised an eyebrow at me. My stomach did flip-flops as I stared at him, unable to forget and ignore how attracted I was to him.
“My name is Lola, not Lolita.”
“And I suppose you’re going to tell me you’re not a prostitute either?”
“You’re a fucking asshole.” I grabbed my bag. “I’m out of here.”
“Running away again?” His voice was tight as he grabbed my shoulders to stop me.