The Ego's Nest (Dave Hart 5)
Page 17
opening a sumo school. We’re all starting new chapters in our lives. They’re even tipping Jim Bradman as the next prime minister. Now that’s interesting. Imagine what we could do if we ran the country … I shelve the thought. For now, anyway. Though I like to think big.
Dan Harriman isn’t here. He’s eight thousand miles away. The Foreign Office runs open competitions now for senior posts overseas, and Dan’s got a new job as governor of the Falkland Islands. Apparently it’s quite nippy this time of year, and there’s a shortage of attractive young women. Last I heard the sheep were looking worried. But it was better than Bang Bang’s alternative.
I look around the entrance hall. Once upon a time this place used to be full of crooks and brigands and robber barons. Has it really changed now? Of course not. It’s just back to the future. Some bad guys can turn out to be surprisingly good, and when they’re not good, at least they’re interesting.
We go into the cloakroom to hang our coats, and mine is taken by a pretty Asian girl in a black uniform skirt and a white blouse, with dark eyes and long black hair. She’s wearing perfume – not too much, just enough – and I can’t quite place it. I look at her and she catches my eye and smiles. She has perfect white teeth and a mischievous dimple in her cheek. She keeps smiling as I look her up and down and wonder what lingerie she’s wearing underneath her uniform. What to do? I know what I have to do. I’m happily married now, with a wedding band on my finger, and I’m not going to stray. I’ve changed. I’m not a player anymore. The past is the past.
On the other hand, a year is a long time to be married. I smile back at her and look her in the eye …
Copyright
First published 2011 by Elliott and Thompson Limited
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This electronic edition published 2011
ISBN: 978–1–9076–4244–9
Paperback ISBN: 978–1–9076–4223–4
Copyright © David Charters 2011
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.