I felt too embarrassed by it to actually tell her. Not that trapping Asher in a suit meant I had to sleep with him, necessarily, but that was where it'd gone.
She'd put the pieces together sooner or later anyway, because she was right. I was never this happy.
Screwing Asher Locke had shaken something loose inside me.
I got the man his beer, but I took longer than I needed to in doing it.
I felt stupid for even entertaining Clayton, but his money had already paid off my debts.
I could use that as an excuse as to why I was so happy, but Regan would see right through that too.
When I finally meandered back to where she was seated at the far end of the bar, she was waiting.
"Now tell me…" She eyed me suspiciously. "What's going on?"
I couldn’t help myself. Even with all my reservations, the truth bubbled up and out of me like a bottle of champagne bursting as soon as the cork was released.
"I, uh… I sort of had sex with Mr. Locke." The stupid grin refused to budge off my face now.
It felt permanently etched there like a new tattoo, despite having seen how riled Asher was when he left the office so abruptly.
"You what?" Regan's jaw dropped and she shook her head. "That creepy guy wanted to pay you a jillion dollars to destroy his brother?"
"Hey, shh!" I hissed, leaning closer. "NO…"
"What are you talking about?" Regan picked up her ginger ale to sip and I instinctively wiped away the condensation puddle as I responded.
"His brother…" The words came out through gritted teeth as I chewed the inside of my cheek, but I didn't give her a chance to say more. "I slept with the boss and" —I lowered my voice to almost a whisper— "it was incredible. Eek!"
Regan almost choked on her drink. She coughed and spat ginger ale all over the bar, drawing the attention of the man down the way while I patted her shoulder and inevitably rounded the bar to pat her back a few times.
When she'd gathered her composure, she looked utterly shocked.
"You did what?"
"It was so amazing, Ray." I slumped onto the stool next to her and stared off dreamily as I wiped up her mess and continued. "He was so… like… animalistic and demanding, and then so sweet and gentle." I leaned in, whispering softly, "And he literally wiped me clean and kissed me and made sure I was alright and?—"
"Christ, woman," Regan groaned. "You were sent there to expose his flaws and this is how you do it?"
Her words made my chest pinch with guilt and my shoulders sagged as I withdrew.
She was right to be skeptical, even mildly harsh.
Asher was actually a pretty intense guy, but he was hurting, not bad.
And besides, he was so caring and nurturing after having basically dominated me.
It left my head spinning in a mix of guilt and elation.
"I didn't really mean for it to go this way," I told her, but it was exactly the way I thought it would go—just way faster than I ever expected.
There was an awkward silence as Regan set her glass down and turned to face me.
I couldn't tell if she was secretly judging me for moving so quickly or if she was rethinking our entire friendship. Then she said, "Well, it was good, at least."
I spent the next twenty minutes telling her how I stood up to him, how Asher tore me apart in front of his board, and then howin my defiance, I was able to expose his real need for something more than just screaming at employees.
Replaying it in my mind only reminded me of that recording on my phone, though I'd never be one to let her listen to that.
