The Score

by Demetrius Sewell

  Synopsis

  The last thing Tatum Fox needs right now in her life is a man. But that doesn’t stop her from making the decision to face her past and accept her attraction to men outside her race…the same men her family warns her will only use her. See her as an experiment.

  When she meets Seth Carter, a sexy restaurateur who won’t take no for an answer, Tatum has a choice to make—she can either be accepted by her opinionated family, or be forced to turn away from the only security she’s ever known. But Seth has racial issues of his own. He can’t stop the rumors that he’s prejudiced in his business practices.

  Will they overcome their issues together, or will Tatum uncover Seth’s secret agreement to get her into his life, and run back to her family?

  The Score

  A BWWM Romance

  Demetrius Sewell

  Copyright © 2019 by Demetrius Sewell. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

  For more information, address:

  ZachEvans Creative LLC

  info@zachevanscreative.com

  Note From The Publisher

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be assumed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Printed in the USA.

  Cover by BookCoverZone

  I dedicate this book to my support team. Without your support and positivity, this wouldn’t be possible.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  About the Author

  Publish With Us

  Chapter 1

  “I’m not going.”

  It was two hours before the party began, and Tatum Fox was giving her friend, Karla, hell as usual. Tatum was at the law office in downtown Cincinnati and listening to her pleading friend on the phone. The office was beautiful. She’d decorated the outer office herself with warm blue hues on the walls, dark oak tables and large, real potted plants by each of the stuffed chairs. She wanted clients to be at ease sitting in the office. This was probably the worst time in their or their families’ lives because they were facing a lawsuit or some kind of personal injury.

  She kept a tangerine orange infused candle on her desk because the scent calmed her. It wasn’t helping now. She had agreed to go to the party two weeks ago, and of course, she’d assured Karla just last week she hadn’t changed her mind. Now, however, she was in the midst of doing what she usually did, changing her mind at the last minute.

  “You know how big this is for me,” Karla pleaded. “Seth Carter is the biggest restaurateur in Cincinnati. If I can convince him to change his mind and…”

  Tatum stopped listening. She’d heard the same story for weeks now. Karla was an overly hyper account executive with a big-player marketing firm. Her boss had somehow heard that a bigwig at a competing firm was retiring, and as a result, the restaurant bigwig at the center of the drama was thinking about changing firms because he only liked working with the retiring bigwig. Karla saw this as her chance to make a name for herself by capturing one of the wealthiest clients in the city.

  Tatum always took the safe route. She discovered early in life what she was good at and stuck with it. Although she once dreamed of law school, Tatum settled for a career as a paralegal. It was more work and less glory, but she didn’t care. It was safer than being a lawyer. She didn’t have to make any grandiose closing statement or have someone’s life depend on her legal maneuvering.

  “You know how much this means to me. Mr. Gault believes I can get this account. You have to be there…”

  “Isn’t James going?” Bored, Tatum tapped her fingers on the shiny oak desk.

  Karla ignored the comment…and the tapping. “You can’t do this. You promised.”

  Tatum had good intentions. She had even told her therapist that she would go, and Lord knows there had to some punishment delivered from the heavens for lying to a therapist. Of course, that was before the dread overcame her. Suddenly, she knew something bad was going to happen, and the terrible thing banging on the door of her conscious mind would happen at the party. She had no idea what that terrible occurrence might be, but she couldn’t risk it. She didn’t want to disappoint her friend, but something was telling her to run; she just needed to know how fast.

  “I know I promised, and I know this is important to you, but I can’t go.” Tatum stopped tapping. The dread came all over again and made her swivel nervously in her cushioned chair.

  “Girl, what are you going to do, huh? Stay home and watch television?”

  Tatum heard the aggravation in Karla’s voice, but she wasn’t bothered by it. “I—”

  “Come on, girl. You’re twenty-eight years old and you do nothing. You don’t date or go out to clubs or anything.” Tatum envisioned Karla gripping the telephone receiver like it was her neck. She could hear the level of exasperation in her friend’s voice. “You have to do something.”

  “You know I’m devoted to my work. Helping to defend clients is more than a full-time job.” She stopped swiveling her chair around. It was making her dizzy. Then, she jumped when Karla slammed her hand on her metal desk loud enough for Tatum to hear.

  “Earth to Tatum! Girl, you’re a paralegal, not a lawyer. The firm you work for isn’t paying you to save their clients’ lives, so get down off your high horse and come to the party and help me.”

  “I know what I am, but I can’t go to this party. Not right now.” She knew her friend wasn’t convinced. “The next time you go out, I’ll go out.”

  “I’m going out now. So, you have to come with me.”

  “Listen,” she said, trying once more to mount her defense, “I won’t know anyone there.”

  “You’ll know me.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t even know this guy you’re talking about. Who is he?” Tatum asked the question as if she were indeed a lawyer and cross-examining a witness.

  “I don’t know. He’s a restaurant guy. It doesn’t matter.”

  “Is he rich?” Fear leapt into her heart when Karla groaned. Tatum shook her head as her sense of dread turned to panic. “You know I don’t like going to ritzy, country club places. You know regular people stick out like sore thumbs in ritzy places. And as normal as I am, I’ll…stick out.”

  Karla didn’t respond. Tatum knew that topic was her ace-in-the-hole. Karla must have known there wasn’t a comeback for the truth.

  Tatum sighed, relieved the conversation was over.

  “Girl, I’ll call you in an hour. If you haven’t changed your mind by then, I’ll leave it alone.”

  “Fair enough,” Tatum said, smiling. She knew Karla wouldn’t change her mind.

  “I’m going to be in late on Monday, so just meet me at the courthouse.”

  Tatum had just hung up the phone when her boss strolled into the outer office. Adam Norris owned the law firm, a good-looking man with blond hair and blue eyes who gave a hundred and twenty percent to his cases…to avoid his personal problems. When Tatum began working for him years ago, she’d thought the amount of time he spent at the office was silly. Now, she
understood. The man had more issues than a newspaper.

  Tatum didn’t look at her boss, who’d become more of a friend than employer, as he leaned lazily against the door jamb of her opened office door.

  “What’s up?”

  “Nothing,” she said, quickly changing the subject from her personal life like she always did. “What are you doing this weekend?”

  Adam loosened his tie. “I’ll probably have dinner with my brother.”

  Tatum looked back at him, giving him a questioning stare. “Did I miss the weather report? Is Hell freezing over in the middle of May?”

  “Fine, I’m turning off the phone and hiding from family and friends.” Adam stood with his shoulders slumped.

  “To do what?” she playfully prodded.

  “To watch a Perry Mason marathon.” He announced it like he’d just won an award. “I swear, they have to put that series on DVD.”

  Tatum didn’t understand his obsession with a fictional character. “You know those shows are reruns from the sixties or something. The outcome is not going to change.”

  “That’s the beauty of it. Perry always wins against The Man.”

  “You’re white, Adam. You’re part of the establishment.” She shook her head in bewilderment.

  He quickly changed the subject. “So, what are you doing this weekend?”

  “Well, more of the same.”

  “Sitting on the couch doing nothing?”

  “You’re doing the same thing.”

  “No…I’m watching Perry Mason.”

  Tatum wasn’t getting into that again. She sighed. “Actually, Karla wants me to join her and boyfriend at some nightclub.”

  “Go.” He gestured like he was pushing her to do it.

  “No.” She searched for an excuse. “I was planning to—”

  “Do nothing.”

  “No. I was planning to relax.”

  “Tatum, you should go. You need to have some fun.”

  She paused. She remembered the things her therapist had said on the same subject, but she still didn’t want to go. She knew something bad was going to happen. She didn’t know what, but she knew that whatever it was, it would be terrible.

  Grabbing a couple of files from her desk, Tatum went to the file cabinet across the room.

  Oh no. The dread has already started to make me run away.

  “I think I’ll go to the next one,” she said to her boss.

  Adam groaned. “Are you serious? When the next opportunity comes along, you’ll say the same thing. Live a little, Tatum.”

  “I live quite nicely, thank you.” She glanced back at Adam where he still stood leaning against the doorway.

  “Don’t let The Man keep you down.” Adam pumped his fist into the air. It would have seemed like a joke had he not been so serious.

  Tatum shoved the files into a folder so hard, they bent. “Adam, you’re white. You probably golf with The Man.”

  Now, it was his turn to be insulted. “Hey, I’m a defense attorney. I battle The Man every day. Besides, I hate golf and The Man doesn’t like basketball.”

  “Why?” She chuckled. “Too many black athletes?”

  He shrugged. “No, because The Man can’t jump real high.”

  Tatum laughed. “That’s nice to know.”

  “So how about this for a deal. If you go to the party tonight, I’ll give you a day off.”

  She walked back to her desk. “Isn’t that against Bar Association rules?”

  “Good question.” Adam pretended to think about it. “Is it?”

  “Why do you want me to go so badly?”

  Tatum watched Adam grow even more somber. “You have to have fun. You’re young and beautiful and intelligent. You shouldn’t be cooped up in the house.”

  “Apartment,” she whispered out loud. It was a bad habit she had, always having to correct mistakes.

  “So, are you going?” He sounded hopeful now, as if her going with Karla was truly important to him.

  “Do I get the day off?”

  Adam shrugged. “Research the Bar Association rules and tell me Tuesday.”

  She was going to make some humorous comment, but the phone rang. Adam looked like a deer in the headlights. Before she could answer the phone, he told her, “If it’s Erica, tell her I’m lost at sea,” and rushed into his office as if looking for a place to hide.

  “I need to talk to for you a moment.”

  Seth Carter closed the door to his new office and waited for his visitor. Seth was a self-made man in his late thirties who took the hard way on purpose because he loved a challenge. He owned three restaurants in the city, but the newest one, Score, was his baby.

  He’d been content with two successful restaurants until he was captured by this idea. He loved the idea of having a restaurant and nightclub in one building. It spoke to the eternally partying fraternity boy in him.

  But there was another reason he opened Score. He needed a restaurant in the black community. He had to show the community that he was interested in them, but he wasn’t exactly doing this to show support. He was trying to prevent a potential problem.

  The tall, muscular and handsome man with blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair tensed when the door opened.

  “Do you need something?”

  Seth turned to look at the pretty woman with an olive skin tone, deep brown eyes and long black hair. She smiled, her brown eyes widening. But he ignored the stare. He had business to take care of.

  Gabby Lopez, a trusted hostess, seemed to wait with bated breath.

  Seth sat on the edge of his desk. “I need your help with something.”

  “Whatever you want,” Gabby almost sang.

  He studied her as she stared at him like a dazed groupie looking at an idolized celebrity. She’d worked for him faithfully since he opened his first nightclub several years ago. She was always a hostess.

  “We need to take a break from each other,” Seth said, trying to choose his words carefully. “I think I’m starting to depend on you too much.”

  “I don’t mind.” She flashed a smile.

  Seth nodded. “Listen, I think it’s time you helped me in another club. You know how I feel about this place. Score’s my baby, and you’ve had a…much appreciated hand in it.”

  Her smile faltered. “What do you mean?”

  “Water and Legacy’s patron base is slipping. I think you should go to one of those places and work your magic.”

  “You mean, in a managerial position?” She sounded astonished.

  He shook his head with defiance. That was definitely out of the question. Gabby had been more than a hostess at his restaurants. It was partly his fault. He tried to be nice and teach her the business side of restaurants. As she learned the ropes, she kept taking on more responsibility, and Seth hadn’t stopped her. Now, he had no choice. There was more than just a business reason.

  “No, you’ll keep your same position. You’ll just work your magic.”

  Gabby shrugged, then laughed as she spoke. “I wouldn’t be able to help you around here as much as I usually do.”

  “Like I said before…” He paused before continuing. “That’s what I want.”

  “But…” Gabby looked bewildered.

  Seth stood and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Listen, I trust you. You are there for my business and me more than anyone else has ever been, and I thank you for it. Right now, I need you to go the other restaurants and work there for a while.”

  Gabby didn’t speak. He watched her bow her head like a child being sent to a foster home and didn’t understand why. Seth impatiently glanced at his watch as he waited for her answer. He wasn’t sure why it was taking her so long. Gabby really had no choice in the matter.

  Gabby placed her hand on his cheek, caressing it, not noticing that he flinched. Seth noticed the dreamy look on her face. Gabby smiled as he removed her hand, held it, and shoved all her reservations aside. “I’ll do it.”

  Seth flashed a sexy
grin. Like always, he had gotten what he needed.

  Tatum entered the dark nightclub ready to relax. Usually, she faded into the background and watched the players play. Somehow, just watching men and women interact at this basic level made her feel comfortable. She knew she wasn’t weird or anything, but of course, those who said that usually don’t know they were.

  Brushing the thought aside, she tried to merge into the surroundings until she felt as comfortable as if she were at home. She loved forming assumptions about people before she met them because that practice minimized the chances of getting hurt or ridiculed. Her past had taught her to do these things to protect her from repeating the same mistakes.

  Tatum followed Karla, her boyfriend, James, and a few others further into the club. The music was playing so loudly she could feel it pounding in her chest. The dance floor wasn’t packed. In fact, there were a just few people dancing, or perhaps more accurately, these people looked more like they were having sex with their clothes on. More people stood by the bar. Most of the men had super-glued themselves to a woman by now. Some groups of women sat at tables having fun and drinking.

  Tatum fully expected Karla and James to leave her. Karla was in her hyperactive mood again. She constantly asked anyone who would listen about Seth Carter. Tatum thought Karla should have been an investigative reporter. Karla constantly asked the five Ws and one H. However, Karla wasn’t getting the information she needed.

  Karla finally found a couple wanting to hear talk about the account. Tatum was half-listening to Karla when it happened…they were standing by the staircase when the most attractive man she had ever seen approached them. He had a muscular frame, bright blue eyes and strawberry blond hair. His attitude reminded her of the preppy, fraternity guy who got all the girls and was friends with all the boys. He was obviously the life of any party.