Page 26 of Unveiled

With that promise to herself, she gave herself over to the dance. Tatum also decided to let him, and Cole Security, help her. The sooner the better. No matter what happened or where she ended up, it would be better in the long run than staying here and getting addicted to a man she couldn’t have.

He’d said he wanted all in last night, but everything about him today said he had second thoughts. Tatum wouldn’t hold him to passion driven words he hadn’t meant.

When the music slowly died, Rush released her to flip the steaks. “You don’t like the shirt, then the shirt goes.” He reached back and pulled the ridiculous half shirt over his head, tossing it somewhere off to the side. Not that she couldn’t already see through it, but the sight of Rush without his shirt did things to her. She scolded herself for being that way. How could she become one of those women after just one night? It was ridiculous. She needed to pull herself together.

A part of her still wanted to ask him what had changed, but she wasn’t brave or stupid enough. Sometimes the truth hurt worse than the lie. The lie was staring her in the face with lust in his eyes. . .going through the motions.

The term velvet lies swirled around her brain. That’s what all this felt like, a velvet lie. Soft and plush, but still very synthetic.Everything since falling asleep last night was like velvet.

Pulling her eyes from his incredible chest, she dropped her gaze to the grill. “Those about done? I’m starving.” Rush turned his attention to the steaks, and she served up salad and sides. Grabbing the plates, she stood next to him while he deposited a ribeye on each. They sat and enjoyed their meal mostly in silence. Rush was the first to finish and push his plate aside. He simply stared at her, making her self-conscience about eating. Not enough to stop, though. She really was hungry, and her stomach trumped all, but she still couldn’t just shovel in food while he stared.

“So,” she said as soon as she swallowed. “I’ve decided to let you, Mark, and the rest of Cole help me. You’ve gotta trust someone sometime, right?” She shoved in another juicy bite of steak and tried not to moan as it melted in her mouth.

“Really?” Rush seemed shocked at her revelation, but the truth was, so was she. “What changed your mind?”

Tatum savored her last bite. The steak now sat heavy in her stomach. She wanted to be honest with Rush and herself, but she couldn’t seem to do that. She’d settle for self-honesty.

I’m in love with Rush.

As impossible as it seemed, she was.

Reckless? Probably. Too fast? Definitely, but her heart knew what it wanted for the first time. However, she couldn’t settle for this velvet he was offering. It wasn’t enough. Tatum would keep her feelings to herself. She didn’t want to rope him in or make him feel obligated to uphold his pillow talk. She decided to adopt a page from his book and go velvet.

“The way I see it, once you have sex with a person, there’s a little trust there. I mean, I trusted you with my body so I can trust you to help with my situation.” The next was out of her mouth before she’d thought it through. “We clear this up and we can both move on with our lives.” It was mean and not her at all, but she let her pain control her mouth. Even though his distance hurt her, an apology was poised on her tongue at the flash of hurt in his eyes, but it might have been just more velvet and motions.

“Right now, I’m. . .we’re both stuck in a holding pattern and that’s not healthy. I need to confront Dale and his family, get my family interests back, and find a new life without this one weighing me down. And you need to get started on your new life here, too. You can’t do that with me staying in your guest room.”Tatum winced at her own attitude, but she soothed her conscience by reminding herself that she was simply reacting to the current situation appropriately.

“Not that I’m not thrilled to help you and to gain some trust, but I thought you’d be sleeping in my room instead of the guest room.”

Studying his eyes gave her no clarity.She stared so long she thought he’d lean away, but he remained steady. There appeared to be genuine hurt and insecurity swimming in his green depths. But in true Rush fashion, by the time he mentioned the sleeping arrangements, he was back in that seductive joker mode.

“I have no problem sleeping there while I’m here, but my point stands. I need to handle my situation and I’d like all the help I can get.”

When Rush finally looked away, she took a deep breath. “Okay, Sweetheart, let’s do this. Tell me what I need to know.”

It was painful how fast Rush could switch gears, but it wasn’t surprising. He’d practically told her it was his MO before they ever kissed, so these feelings she was dealing with were one-hundred percent her fault.

It had escaped her earlier that she was no longer Babes, but reverted back to Sweetheart. That was very telling. Babes is genuine while Sweetheart is most definitely velvet.

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