Jezebel (7 page)

Knowing her cousin had done
something to ruffle the man’s feathers, Celeste asked, “Why
all the salt between you two?”

“
I didn’t do
anything. That ole’
goat’s
still sore
from the letdown I gave him after he tried pitching me some woo. I
guess he didn’t like it when I told him, ‘old men give
you worms’.”

Finding humor in her crack,
Shane chuckled. Deep and robust in tone, his laughter rolled down
Celeste’s
spine and made
her jittery. Irritated by her
body’s
response,
considering he should no longer be on her radar,
she
silently wished
she’d
ordered an entire bottle instead
.

Dubbed “the wrong
place for the right people”, Café Society surpassed all
of Celeste’s expectations. Brimming with folks of all
colors
and persuasion
s
,
the Greenwich Village nightclub had quickly become a popular
destination for the bohemian crowd to congregate.

At the top of Café
Society’s food chain was resident band leader Pops Morgan and
his twenty-member orchestra. In full swing, they controlled the
multitudes of sweating couples pivoting and swaying to their swinging
chords. Pop’s signature cow lick waved up and down with his
band’s frenzied tempo, his baton moving like lightning
while
he kept time. Without missing a beat, he swung around and approached
the microphone.

“
My
brothers and
sisters, ya’ll look mighty fine tonight! How you all feeling?
Solid?”

As expected, hoots and
hollers poured from the crowd. “Café Society has a
wonderful,
marvelous
show planned. For you cool chicks, we have the smooth tenor vocals
of Michael Stuckey. For the fellas, we have the lovely ladies of
Midnight Magnolia. For everyone’s delight, we have the raunchy
antics of Trudy Leroux and the canary of all canaries, Vernice
Jackson.”

With each introduction, the
audience’s approval grew in intensity.
Even
Celeste found herself caught up in the excitement. She clapped for
each act and whistled the loudest for her cousin.

“
G
rab
onto your seats or a willing partne
r,
but put your hands together for Michaeeeel Stuckeeeeey…”

Couples melted onto the
dance floor as the band cued up for Stuckey’s set. After a
jovial hello to the crowd, Michael launched into one of his signature
pieces, a song of lost love. His honeyed vocals dipped and parried
with each chord of music.

“
Sing it
,
honey,” Trudy mumbled. She dipped her head, lighting the Camel
cigarette hanging from her lips.

Slowly, the bud took light,
glowing with an intensity that matched the crooner’s love for
his woman. She inhaled then exhaled. Smoke circled around her
cousin’s angular features and mingled playfully in the ebony
recesses of her deeply waved hair.

“
Orders up,”
Hiram announced, setting a small serving tray on the table.

“
Your bourbon,
top-shelf as requested.
Y
our soda
water, Mr. Brennan.” Hiram placed a bottle in front of Shane
along with a bowl of sliced limes. “
A
nd
here’s your Manhattan.”
None
too gently, he
dropped
a chipped cocktail glass in front of Trudy
.
While
it
rattled into place, Hiram grabbed his tray from the table
,
and
then waited.

“
Put it on my tab,
Hiram.” Trudy fingered her glass, but didn’t imbibe.

“
You don’t have
a tab.” Hiram
picked
at a piece of imaginary lent on his sleeve.

“
Mr. Josephson wants
all performers to pay their bills up front.”

Trudy’s mouth fell
open so fast, she dropped her cigarette.

“
I
don’t remember that being
in
the contract
,”
she said, salvaging the square before it burned a hole in the
tablecloth.

“
I guess I should
speak to him about this.” Trudy moved to stand.

“
Did you read your
contract?”

Celeste doubted it. Trudy
hated the business side of
entertainment
.
Her
cousin’s
poor business acumen had resulted in a half a dozen bad deals
and barely anything to show for the money she’d made over the
years
.

Hiram stepped back, daring
Trudy to call his bluff
.
A stare down ensued, but her cousin retained her seat.
Through
gritted teeth she asked, “How much?”

“
It’ll be two
bits for the soda water, a buck and a half for the bourbon, and two
bucks for the Manhattan.”

“
Two bucks?”
Trudy screwed her nose up at her cocktail. “Did you walk across
the George Washington
Bridge
to New Jersey
for the cherry?”

“
The Manhattan is one
of our most popular drinks,” Hiram justified. “It also
consists of two liquors. The more liquor the higher the price.”

Tired of their back and
forth, Celeste reached inside her purse. Before she could settle
their portion of the bill, Shane handed Hiram a twenty dollar bill.

“
This is for the
drinks on the table and any others during the course of the evening.
The rest you can keep for yourself.”

“
Thank you kindly,
sir.” Hiram folded the bill in half, and then shoved it into
his vest pocket.

“
I don’t know
why you tipped that old goat,” Trudy admonished Shane as she
stood
up.
“
S
ince
I’m pretty sure my cocktail came with equal parts Vermouth and
spit
,
I’m going to go on back stage and get ready.”

Celeste’s heart raced
at the idea of being left alone with Shane, but not in a good way.
On the edge of panic, she rose from her seat.

“
Do you need any
help?”

Trudy
waved her back down.
“I’ve
dressed myself for more than thirty years. I think I can handle this
on my own.”

“
Are you sure? I don’t
mind helping out.”

“
Stay and entertain
our new friend. You wouldn’t want some floozy stealing him
from you would you? A guy like him in a place like this is bound to
attract
th
em
like flies to buttermilk.”

With a sinking heart,
Celeste watched her one and only buffer walk away.

“
Don’t worry I
don’t bite.” To Celeste’s horror, Shane moved over
and took Trudy’s seat
,
bridging the distance between them
.
“Not on the first date anyway.”

Celeste cheeks blo
o
med
with heat and a shiver cut a path down her spine.
What
was wrong with her? Where was her usual moxie? She tied guys like
him into knots for fun, not cower like a shrinking violet.

Celeste willed herself to be
transported away. Zeroing in on Michael Stuckey and his plaintive
appeal wrapped up in a seductive riff, Celeste rested her chin in her
palm and closed her eyes.

Not entirely foolproof, her
scheme didn’t keep her from listening for
her
table mate’s
every
single
move. In
truth, the harder she tried ignoring him, the more he occupied her
thoughts.

Before she drove herself
completely off the reservation, Celeste
opened
her eyes and
sat
back. Bad move. Shane was staring at her over the rim of his glass.
Slowly lowering it, he smiled. Celeste gulped.
Not
only did he have that devilish dent in his chin, he had a matching
set of dimples in both cheeks!
Transfixed,
she simply
sat there like
an idiot and returned his stare.

“
Mind if I smoke?”

“
N-n-no,”
Celeste stuttered, st
uck
in a mental
rut
.

Holding her gaze, Shane
pulled a cigar from his breast pocket. He ran the length of it under
his nose, and then slid the tip between his lips. Around and around,
he rolled the cigar until the tip glistened. An image of him licking
and playing with her nipples popped into Celeste’s already
addled brain and she groaned. She knew she should look away. She
couldn’t help it. It was like she needed him to exist.

He reached into his pants
pocket. She inhaled. He pulled out a gold plated lighter. She
exhaled. He flicked it open, pressed the lever, lighting the cigar
with two quick puffs. She inhaled again.

Celeste even envied the
smoke caressing his face. What would it feel like touching him?
Kissing him? Have his arms draped around her? For sure he’d
feel good.

And safe.

Celeste frowned. Of all the
screwy things! No man was safe. Eventually all of them let
her
down. Her father taught her th
e
lesson,
while
Ralph
instilled
it. So how did he do it? How did this human punching bag, engrain
himself under her skin
in such a short time
?
So much so, she was sitting here fantasizing about him.

Irritated by her inability
to completely ignore her budding attraction him, Celeste reached for
her drink again. This time she drowned it in one fell swoop.

Satisfied in figurative
terms only, Celeste switched back to self-preservation mode. Of
course, as a precautionary measure she waved Hiram over
.

“
A full body of your
best bourbon, please.” Another glass just wouldn’t do.
She needed to unwind. Dull the razor’s edge she was riding.

Hiram’s
eyebrows rivaled his hairline. “You want a
whole
bottle?” His eyes skipped over to Shane, who
remained
markedly silent
and unmoved by her order
.

This
unnerved
Celeste
more than
Hiram’s
deference. I
f
S
h
ane
had
condemned
her for drinking like a fish on the night of her father’s wake
,
she would’ve given him as good as she got. Unfortunately, she
didn’t
know how to deal with indifference.

“
And what of it?”
she huffed with a saltier tone than was necessary.

“
Nothing, Miss
Celeste.” Hiram smiled. “I’m here to serve not
judge.”

Just
pass me the shovel and I’ll dig my own hole!
Hot
with embarrassment, Celeste picked up her glass and rolled it over
her cheek. Her hand shook so much, the ice clinked loudly. To make
matters worse, Shane remained a passive witness through all of it.

Torture?
An understatement! With each passing minute his disinterest stabbed
at her conscience, plucked away her resolve and beat her down so
badly she started eyeing the exit.

She didn’t suffer
long. Their table suddenly lurched, knocking her glass
out
of her hand
and
sending Shane’s soda water wobbling out of control.
She
snatched up
a
cocktail
napkin, to staunch the flow of
ice
water
from
staining her dress,
but
froze.

“
Lord,
have mercy.” Celeste’s eyes widened at the massive belly
straining against the confines of a snow-white tuxedo vest. “We’re
being attacked by a two hundred and fifty pound penguin.”

CHAPTER five

“
Excuse me,” the
penguin mumbled.

Stunned, Celeste sat
paralyzed
,
while he pulled at his vest and smiled like an idiot. Was he
actually
flirting
?

“
I think the penguin
is sweet on you,” Shane confirmed as two pairs of hands tugged,
rather unsuccessfully at his massive shoulders.