But the fact that I had to grab a step stool and stretch to my farthest to reach it, showing off my entire backside to the whole bar, played a huge role.
And Clayton was every bit the perv he thought his brother was without any of the redeeming qualities.
If Clayton was damaged by whatever had fractured the family, he didn't show it. All I saw were malice and spite and envy.
"What do you want, Clayton?"
I set the glass down on a shelf and whipped the towel into place back over my shoulder.
My tone was gruff and my voice raised a little too loudly, and the man down the bar eyed me for a moment.
It made me feel a bit better that I had a friend and apparently, a gentleman down the way who'd watch out for me.
But it wasn't like Clayton was going to do anything stupid. He was just annoying and crude.
"Tell me how your little meeting with my brother went once he kicked us out. He closed the curtains, and I'm pretty sure I know what I heard."
It made my skin crawl to think that Clayton might've been standing there listening to me screw his brother. Sickening, to say the least.
My cheeks burned as I turned and grabbed the stool to stand on and reach for his whiskey. It was better for him to ogle me than for him to see how embarrassed I was.
"You heard the way he spoke to me in that meeting. I just got more of the same…" Stepping up on the stool, I reached for the Johnny Walker and then popped back down to my feet to grab a glass.
"Yeah, I heard that part… What about what happened afterward?" What a jerk.
Clayton was pushing and I was over it.
I almost bit his head off when I remembered the money in my account and the fact that I could not pay him back if I wanted to.
"Afterward, he lectured me on what being his intern is." I turned abruptly as I poured some of the expensive whiskey into his glass and set it on the bar in front of him. "And then he reminded me that you hired me as his babysitter, but he's a grown man and doesn't need one."
The lies came out so easily, I could've sworn myself that it was the truth.
But I knew they wouldn’t hold up against his scrutiny long term. He wanted answers and he'd paid me to get them.
"So you didn't get him to flirt with you? No inappropriate conversation or touch?" He picked up his glass, sipped it with one eyebrow raised, and set it down in front of me like he knew I was lying.
But I held firm. "You saw how angry he was. Do you think it looked like he was in the mood to sexually harass me? What do you think he’s gonna do, bend me over his knee and spank me like a bad girl for being mouthy?"
As I said it, warmth flushed through my body and I had to hide the shudder of excitement at the thought of Asher Locke bending me over his conference table and spanking me.
Oh, my God, I was so done.
"Well, keep at him." Clayton sounded more relaxed now, like he'd dropped the bone and was moving on. "Because he's definitely going to crack. He's never ripped one off during a board meeting like that before. They're seeing him unravel in real time."
I scowled and finally—blessedly, on time—Regan's hand shot up. I noticed Clayton's eyes look up to the mirror and I glanced at her.
"Gotta take this," I grunted, and I walked away before he could say anything else. I would never tell him I had a recording of Asher screwing his intern. If I did, he'd try to use it, but all that would do is bury me in a scandal and shame.
I just didn't know how to get him the thing he wanted now. I never thought this through thoroughly. Not only was Asher not the type of man Clayton thought he was, but I also felt too conflicted to really put the nails to him.
Something happened between those two to make Clayton poisoned against his brother, but I didn't know what it was.
And something had happened to Asher to make him so broken, he'd turned to alcohol for relief.
But while I had zero interest in finding out why Clayton was a douche, I couldn’t say the same about Asher.
I had to figure out what broke him.
