Page 9 of Unveiled

Chapter Five

They’d shared breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the last three days, making small talk over bacon or salad. Rush hadn’t pushed her, and she was grateful for that. But she could tell his questions were getting more precise, and he was getting more frustrated. He hid it well, but she was learning he had the personality of a protector and it bothered him he couldn’t do that properly for her without knowledge.

She wanted to tell Rush everything and accept all the help he and Mark offered. The problem was, she had no clue how connected Dale and his family were. Their roots ran deep. Practically every local and state official owed Cyrus Blankenship a favor or two. Not to mention a lot of law enforcement. What if their reach extended to private security, like Cole?

As soon as they heard her name, not only would they know who she was, but who she was supposed to marry.

Rush may be new to the area, but Mark and Charlie weren’t. Her gut told her that Mark, Charlie, and Rush were good people, but she couldn’t gamble with their lives or those of everyone else at Cole. No, she’d have to handle things on her own until she could prove something against the Blankenships.

Tatum was mulling over her life choices while reading a book on New Zealand culture. Rush had quite a collection of various Polynesian history books. Reading was her favorite pastime. Usually, there was a shirtless man on the cover and major steam on the pages, but this was interesting, too.

After closing the book, she put on the one-piece, racy red cutout bathing suit she found in one of Charlie’s bags and grabbed a towel. She needed to formulate a real plan. One that involved more than simply getting her life back. She needed to make the assholes pay. She could only think if she could unwind. The pool and hot tub seemed like the perfect place to do just that.

It was becoming clear she would need allies like Mark and Rush to make something happen. But she needed to sus them out better. Find out who was connected to Cole security, and if Rush or Mark were connected to the Blankenships in any way. She was clueless about how to do that.

Lost in thought as she stepped into the backyard, Tatum almost screeched when she heard an off-key rendition of Stayin’ Alive. If the sound wasn’t enough, the sight had her laughing and wanting at the same time.

Rush was scooping the pool in a pair of perfectly fitted aqua board shorts and singing dramatically. Tatum got lost categorizing the swirls and angular patterns of ink that wound around his toned legs. They matched the tribal-esque ink on his chest and arm.

She got a familiar tingle in her belly. One she hadn’t felt in a long time. Her admiration of his close-to-perfect body was interrupted when he lifted the net from the pool and pulled a full John Travolta worthy walk to dump the leaves out.

Once that was done, he dropped the net all together and starting hip shaking and finger pointing. What made the scene even more comical was when he turned and caught her spying on him.

Instead of embarrassment halting his moves, he invited her forward and turned up the sound. He grabbed his phone off the table and in no time, the sound was coming from hidden speakers as he placed his ear buds and phone on the table.

“Come on, beautiful, let’s see those moves!” He continued dancing without a care in the world.

“Disco?”

Tatum dropped her towel and water bottle on the lounge and slowly approached, unsure if she would join him or not. “I would’ve pegged you more for the heavy metal type.”

“Bite your tongue.” He swiveled his hips and her stomach plummeted. “Disco rules. Always has and always will. They don’t make music quite like they did in the seventies.”

He reached for her waist. “Now come on and move, woooo.” Tatum couldn’t resist his absolute joy. It was infectious. Her smile came out of nowhere. It was refreshing to see someone surrender to the moment and take such bliss in a simple act.

It reminded her of her parents. They could live in the moment like that. It wasn’t until he spun her around and they were both laughing that she made a realization. She had never lived, truly lived, in the moment.

Rush let her go and went full on disco tech mode and she couldn’t help but join him. “Look at you, Julia. You’ve got the moves.”

For the first time since her parents died, and possibly the whole of her adult life, Tatum gave in to living and laughing completely. Laying down all her cares, she just danced poolside with a man who made her stomach flutter like a schoolgirl.

They were both winded but still dancing when the song shifted to a slower tune. Rush dropped his hands to her waist and swayed them. His eyelids were lowered, and she took the opportunity to study him a little closer. His ink was crisp and added to the definition of his muscles.

Why was she so fascinated with his body? His wasn’t the first well-formed male body she’d seen practically, or actually, naked. It wasn’t like Dale was soft. The opposite in fact. He looked like he spent a lot of time in the gym, which he did.

However, no one else seemed to elicit that instantaneous response in her. Tatum allowed her head to rest on his shoulder. It felt comfortable, right. Her heart practically arrested when he took her face in his hands, raised it from his chest, and stared into her eyes.

Oh my God, he’s going to kiss me. Did she want him to? Yes and no. She would give anything to feel his lips against hers just once, but that was a really bad idea. Like the worst. Stopping it, however, was beyond her ability. As his lips came closer, she licked hers and he made a sound. It was somewhere between pain and desire. Her eyes fluttered closed just as she sneezed. When she opened her eyes and met his jade green gaze, the spell was broken. He looked so confused before he masked it with that half smile and yelled “Cannonball!” He tucked his legs and splashed down hard.

Tatum was grateful he pulled back when he did because she wouldn’t have. She also regretted not getting at least one kiss.

Rush surfaced and shook his head like a dog. “How’d I do?”

“A solid seven. Nice splash, good spread, and excellent form.”

“Seven, my ass, that was at least an eight point five.” He bragged as he backstroked away. “Come on in, the water’s perfect.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to bow out, but she heard her parents’ laughter combined with hers earlier and decided to do what they would’ve done.

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