Page 5 of Intercept

Carson glanced at her. The side of his mouth tugged back with disapproval.

I looked down at the thick, expensive carpet on the floor and waited for the moment to pass. Whatever went on between father and daughter was none of my business.

"Please, take a seat," Carson said finally. He waved to one opposite him.

"Thank you, sir."

I slid into the leather seat and crossed my legs at my knees. As subtly as I could, I tugged my skirt down a bit, toward my knees.

I caught Rubie's eye. She looked at me like I was trying to throw myself at her father, or something ridiculous like that.

I offered her a smile, but she rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to her phone.

Carson cleared his throat.

I smiled as though I wasn't bothered at all. For all I knew, this might be a test of some kind.

I pushed Rubie Thomas out of my mind. I wasn't going to let some spoiled brat ruin my dream job. No freakin' way.

"We're just waiting on Mr Clinton. Ah, here he is." Carson didn't even try to hide his annoyance as Abraham 'Bam' Clinton sauntered into the room like he was the one who owned the place.

"Hey Carson," he greeted cheerfully. "Rubes."

Rubie glanced up long enough to give him a disinterested smirk.

"Bam." Carson's voice was tight. "I'm sure you're more than aware of my thoughts on players fighting. Especially in public." He didn't pull any punches. In spite of his words, he looked angry enough to throw one.

"I didn't touch anyone," Bam replied.

I probably would have crawled under my chair if Carson spoke to me that way, but Bam was undeterred.

"That's not what the police said," Carson reminded him. He pulled out a pair of glasses and pushed them onto his face. He opened his computer and read off the screen.

"You shoved the guy, then proceeded to become more aggressive. You threatened him on the way to the station. What, if any of that, is untrue?" Carson slid his glasses off and let them dangle from his fingers.

Bam shifted in his chair. "It's all true, but with good reason."

He didn't seem even slightly sorry about what he did. If anything, he looked like he was proud of himself. Big bad football god, immune from getting into trouble for behaving badly.

I had a feeling he was in for a surprise.

"What reason could possibly be good enough that you would bring yourself, and the team into disrepute?" Carson's voice was calm, but his eyes flashed with anger. The tips of his ears were bright red.

"I was defending my sister," Bam said, as though somehow that would make all of this all right. "The asshole, I mean, the other guy, was callin' her all sorts of names and making remarks about her clothing. Offensive remarks. Things no one should say about any woman."

"So, you tried to leave the bar and he stopped you?" Carson asked. He put his glasses back on and read again. "It doesn't seem like that was what happened."

"Yeah, uh." Bam glanced toward the desk. "It happened so fast. Before anything went down, I suggested to my sister that maybe we drink somewhere else, but she wanted to stay."

I made a face at him. Nice job throwing his sister under the bus. What kind of jerk does that?

Carson clearly had the same thought. He looked at Bam over the top of his glasses.

"Next time, I suggest you think for yourself, rather than getting into a fight in a public bar." He tugged off his glasses so fast I don't know how they didn't snap. "You're lucky you weren't charged and thrown behind bars. You know what that would do for your reputation and your career." He let those words hang in the air for a moment.

Bam cleared his throat.

Before he could speak, Rubie said, "You'd be released from your contract. Dad doesn't like when people don't behave."

Source: www.allfreenovel.com