Hurriedly, Tatum opened the front door.
Chapter 5
“Tatum.” Seth’s urgent voice made her jump. “Karla told me that you joined us.”
She slowly closed the door, turned to face him, and forced a smile. “Hello Seth.”
He kissed her on the cheek, jovial. “Wow. Thank you for coming.”
“I didn’t know my presence was required.” There was a critical edge to her voice.
“It wasn’t. I’m just glad you’re here.” He clapped his hands like a boy, still happy to see her.
Tatum didn’t care if she wasn’t being nice. She didn’t want to be here. “Well, I’m leaving—”
“Please.” He pleaded but didn’t stand in her way. “Stay and just enjoy the party.”
“I don’t want—”
“I know you don’t want a relationship. I’m not trying to force you. I just wouldn’t mind your company.”
“You have a roomful of people to keep you company.”
“Yeah, but they aren’t you.”
He isn’t the devil, and I’m not dating him. I can at least give him pity time.
Against her better judgment, she decided to stay. “However,” she warned, “when Karla leaves, I leave.”
Seth grinned. “Fair enough.”
He quickly gave her a tour of the first floor and told her she was welcome to anything she wanted to eat or drink. Tatum made it a point to sit on the opposite side of the room from him, and Seth didn’t try to engage her in conversation. He seemed to take her lead and keep some distance between them, which surprised her.
She continuously stared at the television and Seth watched the game. From time to time, Tatum tried to flash Karla a dirty look, but Karla didn’t look her way. Halftime arrived before she began enjoying herself.
Tatum wanted something to drink. She couldn’t remember the way to the kitchen, so she waited until someone else took the same journey. It happened to be Ralph, Seth’s employee from Score who had taken her home after the breakfast meeting with Seth.
“Thirsty or hungry,” Ralph asked as he opened a cabinet above his head.
“Thirsty.”
“Next question, do you want a buzz or not?”
“No buzz.”
“Ah, you must be one of those sisters who go to church every Sunday.”
Tatum laughed. “Not quite that squeaky clean.”
Ralph took two glasses from the cabinet. “Good. Nobody should be that clean. You have to have a little gutter in you.”
“Gutter?” Tatum questioned, knowing the term had to be better than ghetto. She watched him take sodas from the refrigerator.
“Hey guys, what’s up?”
Tatum didn’t get a chance to react. Seth entered the kitchen, quickly slapped hands with Ralph, and stood between them, blocking her view of Ralph. His actions made her feel guilty.
She took a step back, putting extra room between them.
“You can’t stop working?” Seth joked, but no one laughed.
“You know me, man.” Ralph seemed to be trying to quickly defuse the tense situation. “I’ll always help a lady in distress.”
“A beautiful lady at that,” Seth remarked without looking at her.
Ralph sounded distant. “You said it man. I didn’t.”
Tatum was more than insulted. She was infuriated. It wasn’t Ralph’s comment but Seth’s attitude that angered her. He was acting like a jerk. He was clearly cutting her out of the conversation. She didn’t understand why. It wasn’t like they’d been having sex on the kitchen floor when he entered.
“Don’t you remember?” Tatum purposefully interjected. “Ralph drove me to the office after that breakfast meeting?”
Seth glanced back at Tatum, but he didn’t respond to her question. Instead, he commented, “I think you’re about to lose the bet. Your team’s losing.”
Ralph laughed. He leaned past Seth and looked at Tatum. “See you later.”
Tatum watched him grab the soda and leave, happy he was gone. She wanted to battle with her host. It wasn’t right the way he treated Ralph, and she was going to let him know.
She expected him to say something. However, Seth didn’t acknowledge her. He opened the refrigerator and grabbed a beer.
“You know that wasn’t right.”
“I’m sorry. Did you want a beer too?”
“You know what I mean.”
Seth finally looked at her. He wasn’t his usual smiling self. “Do you want something to drink or eat?”
“I can get it myself.”
He shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
She moved to the refrigerator but hesitated. He was blocking the way.
Seth pretended he didn’t notice anything was wrong. “What?”
“Please move.”
He did. When she walked past him, Seth held out his arm to cut off her path between him and the counter. She remained rooted in place, could feel his hot breath on her neck.
He wants you to look at him.
She wasn’t going to give in to him.
His voice was low. “Now that you think I’m a jerk, can you forget I’m rich?”
Think of something smart to say, she ordered herself, but she couldn’t think of anything.
Tatum turned toward him. She wanted to slap him, but instead she told him, “I thought you said you weren’t going to pressure me anymore.”
Seth ignored her. He pulled her against him, resting his hands on her waist. Tatum placed her hands against his chest. She was trying to show him she wasn’t going to change her mind.
“Let me kiss you,” he said in a low, husky voice. “If you feel no passion, I’ll walk away.”
“What if you don’t feel passion?” She hated the fear she heard in her voice.
Seth lowered his head. “I felt passion the first night we met.”
“You can’t kiss me.”
“Scared?” He taunted.
“No.”
“Good.”
“Don’t.”
“Positive?”
She licked her lips in anticipation. Tatum thought about her past and her fears, but they were starting to diminish. His hands slipped under her cotton shirt. They felt hypnotic against her skin. His lips were so close. Seth brushed his lips against hers, causing her body to tingle.
It’s just a kiss. You can walk away.
Tatum tilted her face to his, allowing him to kiss her.
Seth slowly brushed his lips against hers again and looked at her. “Are you positive?”
“Yes,” she answered, suddenly confused. She didn’t know what the question was. She didn’t care. She just wanted to taste him.
He kissed her, plunging his tongue into her mouth. She gave as good as she got, and passionately kissed him back. She slipped her arms around his neck. Her hands glided through his silky, strawberry blond hair. She had to have him close to her, needed to weld his hard body to hers.
Suddenly, Tatum had a problem. Passion didn’t mount slowly. It hit her like a brick dropped from a tall building. Seth was now grinding himself against her in a slow, spellbinding motion that made her want to scream. Scorching passion melted the ice within her. Her body was awake and demanding more. She had to feel him inside her or she was going to die.
“Hey Seth, that girl…”
Seth broke the kiss with a groan. They were interrupted by one of his guests.
Seth impatiently turned around. “What?” he asked, gruff.
“Sorry.” The man began backpedaling out the room.
“Is there a problem?” Seth didn’t try to hide his irritation.
Tatum realized it was the same man who had opened the door for her and Karla. Quickly, he answered, “The girl, Karla, was looking for someone named Tatum.”
“Thanks.” He dismissed the man with a wave of his hand and ran his hand through his hair like he was trying to regain control. Once they were alone again, Seth focused on her. “Listen, we can have something special.”
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br /> “You don’t understand. I can’t be with you,” she said, desperation filling her voice.
“I know you’re scared,” he said, “but I know we can make it.”
She sighed and shared her confusion with him. “Maybe…I don’t know.”
He begged. “Give us a chance.”
He doesn’t want you. He wants a white, rich version of you. It’ll happen. They said it would.
Tatum looked at him. She couldn’t see her future for her past.
“Listen, how about I give you ‘til the end of the night? You decide against any further involvement, and that’s it.”
“You said the same thing about the kiss.”
Seth rested his hands on her waist. “You were supposed to agree to a relationship if you felt passion. You felt it, but you’re still in denial.”
“Fine.” She didn’t want to be reminded of the agreement. “I’ll think about it.”
“Good.” He motioned toward the door. “Do you want to see what Karla wants, or do you want to join me in the den?”
Tatum didn’t want to see Karla right now. Karla should have told her they were coming to Seth’s house, and her friend had put her in a terrible position. “Let’s go to the den.”
Once inside the den, Seth and Tatum sat on the leather couch.
Tatum liked the den. Seth had a desk on the right and a bookshelf behind it. On the wall opposite the desk was a flat screened television and different video game consoles. She was surprised because it was so simple.
They could still hear the commotion Seth’s guests were making over the game. Sometimes they cheered, and other times some booed and yelled profanities.
“You don’t mind missing the game?” Tatum asked.
Seth shrugged. He didn’t look worried. “It’s nothing I can’t see on ESPN a million times.”
She was confused. “Why give a party?”
“Something to do.” Seth changed the subject. “Do you like sports?”
“Yeah.” She then listed the types of sports she liked in order of importance.
Seth changed the subject again. “I’m kind of insulted. You’ve never been to one of my restaurants.”
“I don’t go out much.”
“Is it by choice?”
“Yes and no.”
“Which one is it?”
Tatum grew uncomfortable. “Both.”
“No dates?”
“I don’t want any.”
Seth paused. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but it sounds like you shut yourself off from the world.”
She shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Why?”
Tatum hesitated. She stared into his bright blue eyes and wanted to believe she had nothing to worry about. “Sometimes you can’t trust people as much as you’d like. I’ve found that most people put their agenda before your best interests every time.”
“But you trust Karla. What makes her different than anyone else?”
Tatum didn’t hesitate. “She would never do that to me. Karla would turn down a million dollars if it meant something bad would happen to me.”
Seth’s piercing blue eyes studied her. “Are you sure about that?”
“Yes, without a doubt in my mind. There is no way Karla would ever betray me.”
Pause.
“Had you at least heard about one of my places before the other night when you showed up with Karla?” Seth changed the subject again.
“I’m starting to get the feeling you’re obsessed with trivial things. Maybe I should be worried.”
Seth held up his hands in mock surrender. “In my defense, you may see it as obsessive, but it makes good business sense. You have to know what’s been said about you.”
Tatum repositioned herself so she could get a better look at him. “Now you’re just being paranoid.”
Seth laughed and reached for his beer on the table. “I’m just trying to see if you were prejudiced against me before we met.”
“For the last time,” Tatum joked, “I never knew you existed.”
“Okay, Okay, I got it.” He held up his hands in surrender again.
Tatum thought about what Karla had said about Seth when she asked if her friend thought he was attracted to her. She thought about Karla’s warning.
“Are you some kind of playboy or something?”
She thought he purposefully drank his beer slowly, as if gathering his thoughts. “I thought you said you didn’t know anything about me.”
“I don’t…or didn’t before we met.”
“Why the question?”
She sighed. It felt like she was being interrogated. “Let’s just say I’ve heard some things, but I heard this information after we met.”
“Good?”
“No.”
“Aren’t paralegals supposed to find out both sides of the story?”
“No.” She laughed. “Just the lawyers have to do that.”
Seth wasn’t amused. “Do you want to know the truth?”
“Of course. I want to know more about you.”
He nodded before starting. “Recently, I’ve been in a place where… I wasn’t interested in long-term relationships. I think most people saw what they wanted to see and assumed the worst. But the women I was involved with knew the score.”
“So there were a lot of women?”
“No.” He stared at his bottle.
“Are there still a lot of women?”
He looked at her. “No.”
Tatum hesitated before asking, “What changed your mind?”
He stared at her, his expression sultry and voice thick. “You.”
She believed him, but she didn’t want to talk about it. She watched him place his beer on the table next to the couch. “So why did you go into restaurant business?”
"I didn’t want to go to school.”
She laughed. “So you simply didn’t sign up for classes or anything?”
“I signed up for classes, and I knew people on campus.”
“How did you know people when you never made it to any classes?”
Seth grinned, proud. “I hosted good house parties.”
“What made you stop the house parties and turn it into a business?”
“The neighbors and the cops,” he said with a chuckle.
Tatum laughed. “The neighbors kept calling the police because you were too loud?”
“Yep.”
Tatum ran her hand through his hair before she realized it. The amusement left her voice. “You take crazy risks. I would have just taken the neighbors calling the cops as a reason not to do it.”
“No.” He caressed her leg. “I believe in what I feel. It doesn’t matter what others think as long as I feel it in here.” He pointed at her chest. “If I feel it in there, I don’t care about the risk or what others are saying.”
She felt his right index finger press against her chest, but Tatum was too scared to look down. She prayed he didn’t notice how fast her heart was beating.
She looked away. Seth lifted her face so he could see her. Then he caressed her cheek.
She cleared her throat and sighed. “Why are you so sure that what you feel is right? You could be wrong.”
Her confusion was less about him and more about herself. She needed inspiration.
“Babe, you’ll never know until you find out. That’s the beauty of life. Live it and the rest happen.”
“I can’t imagine doing that,” she said honestly.
“Yes, you can. Start with us.”
Tatum glanced away, then back at Seth again. Maybe it was the cozy romantic scene, like chasing beer with liquor or having two glasses of champagne in twenty minutes. She was high off Seth. The moment grabbed her and wouldn’t let her go. It teased her with the knowledge of what could happen next. If she said yes, she’d see more of Seth, literally and figuratively. It was the chance of a lifetime. She could learn a lesson and have what she always wanted, love and acceptance.
“I’ll start w
ith us,” Tatum said and nodded.
Seth kissed her. This time, it was slow and sweet.
She leaned against the armrest of the couch. They playfully explored each other. He kissed her neck as he unclasped her bra. Tatum felt his strong abdominal muscles before unclasping his belt buckle and jean button.
There was a knock on the locked doors and Seth groaned. He began lifting up her shirt. “Ignore them.”
Tatum couldn’t. The fact that someone knew they were in the den made her feel like a love-struck teenager. She was feeling guilty and needed to resist her passion until the person on the other side of the door was convinced nothing was happening.
Tatum pushed him away and clasped her bra. “Get the door.”
Chapter 6
“Do you think you’re strong enough to enter a relationship right now?”
She sat in the office with the walls closing in on her. Tatum thought about skipping her therapy session. She didn’t need the under emotional, overly dramatic stress fest. She would rather be sitting at home contemplating life.
She sighed for the fifth time in ten minutes. She just wasn’t feeling it today.
“Frequently, people seeking help in therapy will become very passive when they feel they’ve passed an emotional hurdle.”
Tatum listened to the therapist. She knew this observation was supposed to force her to talk. It wasn’t going to work. Deep inside, she knew what she wanted to say. However, she didn’t know how to say it. She couldn’t forget everything Seth had told her about believing in one’s intuition regarding what the best direction to take might be and living life.
But Seth also angered her, precisely because he made her second guess her life. Things weren’t as easy as he made it sound. Yes, it is. For him because he was white.
It would all be easy for him. He didn’t have people telling him he was....
“Would you like to discuss what’s on your mind?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Let’s try anyway.”
Tatum shrugged. She hated her therapist right now. After sighing again, she finally gave in. “I’ve changed my mind about dating him. It doesn’t make sense. This world doesn’t need classes mixing.”
The Score Page 5
