Jezebel (18 page)

“
But you can’t
because you’re married.”

Ralph opened his mouth to
speak, and then closed it, taking her hand instead. Startled by his
touch, Celeste tried to quell her rising anxiety. It was one thing
to talk to him at such close proximity, it was an entirely a
different ball game to have him touching her.

Celeste tried to withdraw
her hand from his. Unfortunately, he was just too strong for her.

“
I’m
sorry for what I did. You have every reason to be angry. If this
makes any difference to you, I made the wrong choice.”

He grabbed her upper arms
and she dropped the champagne bottle, smashing it in several pieces.

It
wasn’t supposed to happen like this. I was supposed to cuss
you out and you were supposed to skulk away. Not pledge your undying
love
.

Her gaze locked with his and
she began to panic. His eyes, that rich velvet brown, so soft and
disarming always did her in.

“
I want to talk to you
alone,” he urged, tugging her hands. “Let’s go
upstairs.”

Despite their history, he
still affected her. So there was no way she could trust being alone
with him and still salvage what was left of her self-respect.

In search
of an escape,
Celeste
glanced over her shoulder and her gaze collided with Shane’s.
He was leaning against the door frame, leading into the ballroom.

Celeste wondered how long
he’d been standing there. Did it really matter when her
current predicament was indictment enough?

Caught red handed, she
expected his derision not a shit-eating grin. Or that he would
straighten up from the wall and stalk toward them.

As he drew closer, her
heartbeat kicked into high gear, practically pounding in her ears.

“
I’ve been
looking for you,” he said, sliding his arm around her waist.
“Have you been a good girl?”

Jolted by his touch, Celeste
could barely shake her head.

“
Cat
got your tongue?” His hand slid over the rise of her buttocks
and another jolt ripped down her spine.

“
Ah…ah…”
Celeste stammered unable to think clearly. One touch and she’d
turned into a blubbering idiot.

In an effort to calm her
nerves, Celeste sucked in a deep breath. It helped a little, but not
enough to keep her from jumbling her words. “Are you long…I
mean how long…what I meant was how long have you been here?”

“
Long enough,”
he said. A lop-sided grin quirked his lips and Celeste bet they
tasted like champagne. “Are you going to introduce us?”

“
Introduce you to
whom?” Celeste blinked up at him.

Without
waiting for her to come out of the clouds, Shane unwound his arm from
around her waist. “Shane Brennan.”

Mortified, Celeste watched
him offer his hand to Ralph. The handsome lout made her forget
everything else, but him.

This was bad. Very, very
bad.

“
Ralph Long,”
her ex reciprocated.

“
Did I interrupt
anything?”

Everything
and nothing! Celeste mused, not entirely unsatisfied with the way her
apology turned out.

“
Well,
Celeste and I were in the middle−”

Before he
could continue, Celeste cut him off, “Ralph and I were catching
up on old times, babe.”

To add
impact to her endearment, she wrapped her arms around Shane’s
waist and looked up at him with a loving expression. It was
a
bit much, but she needed to send Ralph a message. She’d only
meant to apologize, not rekindle their relationship.

“
Old times, eh? I hope
you weren’t trying to steal her from me.” Shane’s
voice dripped honey, but his eyes were cold.

A nervous, choking sound
erupted from Ralph.

“
No, no,” he
said, holding his hands in front of him in a defensive manner. “We
just haven’t seen each other in a while and we were just
catching up.”

“
Good.”
Shane pulled her against him and Celeste sucked in her breath.
Despite the odd undercurrent, he set her body on fire. “I’ve
no plans of letting her get away from me anytime soon.”

As Shane’s words sunk
home, Ralph slowly melted into the background. He seemed to sense
their moment had passed as well because he offered a semblance of
closure.

“
Well, I better
circulate,” he said, but before leaving he reached out and
touched her elbow, temporarily arresting her attention. With more
effort than she cared to admit, Celeste dragged her gaze from
Shane’s. “You know I wish you nothing but the best?”

Celeste
untangled herself from Shane’s embrace. “Of course, I do.
And I wish the same for you and Beatrice.”

Ralph opened his mouth, but
when his gaze drifted over her head to Shane he shut it. Curious,
Celeste glanced back.

Shane still wore a sly grin,
but his gaze was trained on her. Despite being in mixed company and
Countess Vaughn’s other guests milling about, a wave of heat
slammed her, practically knocking her over. She even swayed a little.

Sensing her change in mood,
Shane pulled her against him.

Celeste groaned. He felt so
darn good, rock hard and solid.

“
Are you okay?”
Like warm syrup, his voice rolled over her. Each syllable made her
feel all moist and sticky.

“
F-fine,” she
managed to choke out, “just a little lightheaded. It’s
hot in here and you’re holding me rather close…”

“
Want me to let you
go?”

What could she say to that?

Before she ended up telling
Shane when, where and how he could have her, she decided to use Ralph
as a scapegoat.

Celeste twisted about, but
found him gone. “Where did he go?”

“
Don’t
know…don’t care.”

Ralph’s sudden absence
put a damper on Celeste’s mood. She would have liked to have
said more, to further cleanse the old wounds, but the tiny window of
opportunity had been shut.

Since
their audience was gone,
Celeste
stepped back. She didn’t get far.

“
Oh, no you don’t.”
Shane grabbed her wrist, trapping her. “You have a debt to pay.
And you owe me big time for that boob,” he said, jabbing his
thumb in the direction Ralph had most likely run.

Ready to
tell him where he could stuff his debt, Celeste tipped her head back.
But when her gaze met his, the angry retort on the tip of her tongue
melted faster than spring snow. Hands down, Shane Brennan had to be
the most virile man she’d ever come across.

“
W-what do you want?”
she asked, stumbling over the words. And not liking it one bit. He
had the darnest way of making her lose her cool.

He let her go and lifted his
champagne glass.

“
Everything.”
Shane jerked his hand, pulling her back against him. The full body
contact made Celeste moan. “Right now, I wanna dance with the
most beautiful woman in the room.”

“
I guess it couldn’t
hurt,” she said, “Are you familiar with the jitterbug?”

Shane didn’t reply.
Instead, he pulled her behind him and into the other room. He
deposited her in the center of the dance floor then walked over to
the four-man orchestra playing in the corner.

Curious, Celeste watched him
talk with the piano player. They exchanged a few words and then Shane
reached into his breast pocket and deposited a couple of bills into
the bowl sitting on the baby grand. Whatever the amount, it must have
been satisfactory because the sweating musician grinned from ear to
ear.

The
dizzying music stopped and the piano player started yelling orders to
the rest of the orchestra. Several people expressed their discontent.
However, the moment was fleeting when a melancholy wail erupted from
the trumpeter’s horn.

“
Oh go ahead Daddy!”
Someone yelled as the trumpeter held the note.

Expelling the rest of his
depleted breath, the trumpeter trilled through several melodic notes.
He paused mid-note and the rest of the band jumped in. The piano
player trickled on the keys, the drummer rasped out a beat with a
wire brush and the bassist plucked out several chords. The number was
smooth and mellow, perfect music for intimacy.

“
This is more like
it,” Shane said, rejoining her. Before she could escape, he
hauled her into his arms.

CHAPTER
THIRTEEN

Celeste
didn’t protest when he pulled her closer, fitting them together
like spoons in a kitchen drawer. Blushing, she focused her attention
on th
e
couples around them. Unfortunately, their impassioned expressions
and grinding bodies did little to help her current predicament, only
caused it to grow and expand like a wildfire.

Why fight it? It wasn’t
like she was a virgin. That ship sailed long ago and docked at
several ports multiple times. Accepting the inevitable and loving the
sway of his hips, Celeste laid her head against his chest and closed
her eyes.

“
This is nice, no?”

Celeste nodded. “Really
nice,” she said, relaxing both her body and her guard. She
just needed to enjoy the moment and stop worrying about the
consequences.

The more she relaxed, the
more she became attuned to his body, his rhythm and she soon
marveled at how light he was on his feet. Must be his training as a
boxer.

“
Have plans this
weekend?”

In her element, she decided
to hedge. “Why?” she asked.

“
Don’t
be coy.” His arm tightened around her waist. “You already
have me wrapped around your finger. You don’t have to play
games.”

Embarrassed yet delighted by
his admission, Celeste ducked her head.

“
Do you have plans?”
he asked again.

Deciding to play it
straight, she shook her head.

“
I
picked up tickets for
Mulatto
.
It’s run—”

Before he could continue,
Celeste cut in. “At the Post Modern theatre?” she gushed,
unable to hide her excitement. “It’s a revival of the
original that ran on Broadway.”

In the
face of her enthusiasm, he chuckled. Not caring a whit, Celeste
continued, “My old man died in a fine big house/My ma died in a
shack/I wonder where I’m going to die/Being neither white nor
black.”

“
So
you’re familiar with Hughes’ works?”

“
Anyone who’s
colo…I…I mean anyone familiar with the Harlem
Renaissance knows of Langston Hughes.” Suddenly filled with a
ton of questions, Celeste glanced up at him. “How were you
able to get tickets? I heard they’ve been sold out for weeks.”

“
Stop worrying your
pretty little head,” Shane said. “I got connections.”

Celeste pursed her lips. A
part of her was pleased by his compliment, the other half was miffed
that he’d been able to score the most sought after ticket in
Harlem.

Just
yesterday, she and Trudy had tried to swindle tickets from Robert
Dillard, one of the show’s executive producers. But they’d
come up empty handed and ears burning. Dillard hadn’t liked
being the butt of Trudy’s onstage jokes. So much
so, he’d regaled them with a salty tirade that lasted almost
ten minutes.

“
So what’d you
say?” Shane squeezed her hand, pulling her out of yesterday’s
antics.

Celeste didn’t think
twice. “What time should I expect you?”

Before
she could finish, Shane grinned. Although his expression could’ve
been misconstrued for smugness, it didn’t detract from his good
looks only added to them. Celeste cleared her throat because her
heart was sitting in it.

“
Six o’clock
sharp,” he said, “Unless that’s too early for you.”

Still unable to speak for
the lump in her throat, Celeste shook her head. What the heck was
wrong with her? She was acting like a wallflower not the femme
fatale her peers made her out to be.

“
Is six no good? Or is
it too early for you?”

“
Six
is good,” she choked out. Feeling herself falling in much too
deep for her liking, she looked for an exit. “Since that’s
settled, I’d better beat it.” Celeste cringed. Whenever
she was nervous she used the corniest vocabulary. “I’m
sure my cousin is beating the carpet looking for me.”

Instead of letting her go,
Shane brought her closer. “Do you have to leave so soon?”

Grasping onto the last
vestiges of her crumbling composure, Celeste took a deep breath.
Unfortunately, the combination of patchouli, starched linen and his
unique manly scent filled her nostrils, intoxicating her.