Seduction of Moxie (16 page)

*

As Moxie made her way across the floor to the table in the far corner, she couldn’t hear anything but her pulse roaring in her head. It seemed to take forever to navigate the length of the room, and as she finally got close enough to see Violet’s gray eyes, she shuddered as she realized they were staring, somewhat hungrily, into her own.

She stopped just in front of where Violet was standing, and for a moment, she couldn’t say anything. She bit her lower lip as she struggled inwardly for just the right pithy quip to break the ice. She wanted to say something smart and sassy that would leave Violet breathless.

“Hi,” Moxie rasped, the beginning
h
sound seeming interminable. She internally cursed just how far from smart and sassy she had deviated.

“Hey there,” Violet replied, her voice brimming with sensuality. “You were amazing.”

The compliment, and perhaps the way it was delivered, meant more to Moxie than she anticipated. “Thanks.” She nodded amiably to the others seated around the table. “Vi, what are you doing here?”

Violet smiled. “Everyone keeps asking me that. But I think I know the answer.” She placed her index finger to her lower lip in mock contemplation. “Is it because the concept of my
not
being here is illogical?”

“How did you know I wasn’t on my way already? My itinerary must have arrived long after you left.”

“A magic fairy told me.”

Wil turned to Julian. “You’re
magic
now?”

The corners of his mustache shifted upward slightly. “Did I forget to mention that?”

“So I guess you’re not picking me up at the station,” Moxie said.

“Even better,” Violet replied. “Now Wil and I can just ride the train west with you.”

“Wil’s coming?”

Wil looked only slightly offended. “I’ll do my best not to embarrass you, darling.”

Violet turned to Wil. “Whatever you do, try not to shit in the dining car. They really take issue with that.”

Wil scowled. “Should I be writing all this down?”

“So,” Moxie said slowly, “when things get dull, just pack up the carnival and take it along with you?”

“Perhaps I had other, ulterior motives.” Violet’s eyebrows twitched twice suggestively.

“Oh? Like what?”

Violet abruptly changed the subject. “Did I mention that your opening number, your whole show really, was quite—”

“Provocative?” Julian suggested.

“Arousing?” Wil proposed.

Gary decided to give it a try. “Jazzy?”

Everyone turned to him quizzically.

“Jules,” Wil asked, “where did you find this guy, the Salvation Army?”

“It’s closer to the
salivation
army, darling,” he answered smugly. “You should stop by sometime and pick up a saliva soldier for yourself.”

Moxie was anxious to bring the conversation back to where it had been a moment ago. “So, the song, the show, you were saying—”

“It was very, very sexy.” Violet’s words were little more than a throaty whisper.

Moxie was pleased at that observation, and her face was radiating heat for some reason. “Noticed that, did you?”

Violet took a small step toward her, so they were dangerously close. “I did. Every bit of me noticed.”

“Is that so?” She felt an unfamiliar mixture of excitement and fear. Looking into Violet’s eyes, she saw what she could only interpret as intense desire.

“Can I buy you a drink?”

“I might be amenable to that,” Moxie said as she pulled up a chair at the table. “But only one this time.”

Wil frowned. “You sadden me, darling. I saw such potential in you.”

“Well, the last time we all went out, things kind of got away from me.”

“We refer to that phenomenon as vespers,” Julian explained.

Wil poured a glass of champagne for Moxie. “Mostly because it’s punctuated by lying prostrate at the toilet and periodically calling out to the Lord.”

Moxie took a sip, enjoying its effervescence. “Oh, well, perhaps I wasn’t as bad off as I thought I was.”

Violet covered Moxie’s hand with her own. “It’s very good to see you.”

The intimate contact between them was unsettling, yet thrilling, and Moxie turned her hand over to caress Violet’s palm with her own. “I’ve been thinking about our phone conversation.”

“So have I.” Violet’s index finger slowly traversed the valley between Moxie’s middle and ring fingers, through the sensitive center of her hand, and down to her wrist. Her touch was one part tickle, one part heat, and three parts erogenous stimulation. Or maybe it was four parts. Hell, her ability to do simple math was clearly a goner.

“Shit.” Her attraction had overpowered her.

Violet seemed to be studying Moxie’s response closely. “Do you have any plans tonight?”

“Sorry to interrupt, but Miss Valette needs to cut this evening short.”

Moxie looked up to see Cotton standing at the table, and she jerked her hand away from Violet’s reflexively. “I do?”

He looked at her sternly. “Yes, it’s getting late.”

“Everyone, this is my agent, Cotton McCann. Cotton, this is—”

“Yes. Enchanted.” His disinterest was evident. He pulled her to her feet. “But we really must be going, since we have such an early departure tomorrow morning.”

“We?” Moxie asked suspiciously.

“Yes, I’ll be joining you, and so will Ida.”

“You mean Irene?”

“The one I’ve been sitting with. Whoever she is.”

Moxie was confused. “When did you decide this?”

Cotton stared at Violet in what appeared to be a silent challenge. “Recently. It’s best for you to be surrounded by people who are looking out for your best interest.”

Wil polished off her drink. “Just a li’l tip from me to you, mister. I hear you should avoid shitting in the dining car.” She winked at him.

He seemed disgusted, but Moxie wasn’t sure if it was what Wil said or how she said it that generated his disdain. “Go get changed, Moxie.”

When Violet looked to Moxie to gauge her response, Moxie discreetly motioned back toward the stage. This either meant that Violet should venture backstage to meet her or that she had a neck disorder. Violet dropped her chin to show understanding.

“Okay, thanks again for coming out, everyone,” Moxie said before departing.

Violet studied this man, this Cotton McCann. She tried to suppress her anger, but that had never been her forte.

He was still trying to stare her down for some reason. “You’ll find I’m very protective of my clients, Miss London.”

It interested her that he knew her name without first being introduced. “That’s an admirable quality, unlike pomposity or antagonism, which are decidedly less so.”

His eyes narrowed. “You look like one of those Hollywood deviant types to me.”

“Looks can be so deceiving,” she replied with a calm that belied her emotions.

“Yeah?”

“Absolutely, because you look like a fat, manipulative, bombastic chiseler, but I’m sure you simply make a terrible first impression.”

Wil beamed. “I love it when she gets like this.”

“I can see why,” Julian replied. “Even I want to fuck her right now.”

A muscle in Cotton’s cheek began to spasm. “Look here, you cheap piece of Christmas trash—”

“No, Mr. McCann, stop right there.” Violet had now officially reached her breaking point. “I don’t know who you think you are or how you cultivated such an asinine and misguided sense of entitlement. You think you can just pull out your dick and swing it around like a hammer—”

“Nice metaphor,” Julian interjected.

“—and everyone will kowtow. But this Violet isn’t shrinking, if you get me, not by a long shot. So go flex your muscle for some meek tomato who’s too enraptured by the promise of stardom to care that you are a complete ballsack. And when you’re done with all that, jump up my ass.”

A look of incredulity washed over Cotton’s face, no doubt exacerbated by Wil, Julian, and Gary all spontaneously breaking into applause.

“Thanks,” Violet mumbled, picking up her dog. “Now, if my adoring public will excuse me, I need to take Clitty to the little terrier’s room.”

She walked off, headed toward the restrooms, and, feeling fairly certain that no one was looking, she ducked back toward the dressing rooms. There seemed to be only two rooms dedicated to the entertainment staff. One was empty, and the other had the door closed. Feeling lucky, she set Clitty down on the floor and knocked.

Before she even had a chance to pull her hand back completely, the door flew open to reveal Moxie, wearing a blue silk peignoir—implying to Violet that underneath, the dress was gone and who knew what she had on now. Moxie smiled and tugged her into the room by the hand. As Clitty followed, she checked the hallway suspiciously before shutting the door and locking it.

“Expecting G-men?” Violet asked.

“No, but I wasn’t expecting you either, and look what happened.” Moxie boldly closed the distance between them.

“I’m like a bad penny.” Violet tentatively reclaimed Moxie’s hand. “Where were we?”

Moxie’s tone took on a more seductive quality. “Let’s see. You had told me how sexy I was.”

“I had, yes.” Violet moved closer, and now their faces were only inches apart. “And you were saying you’d been thinking about that day we talked on the phone.”

“You were very naughty.”

“You seem to bring that out in me.”

“Why is that exactly?”

“Because I want you so much.”

“Oh, baby.” Moxie’s words were nearly a whisper, but they were all the invitation Violet needed, and she leaned forward and kissed her.

What started as gentle and hesitant rapidly became urgent and all-consuming. Moxie’s right hand moved to the nape of Violet’s neck, while the other one slid around her waist. Their tongues moved against each other as Violet reached beneath the blue silk, praying to God that Moxie really was naked under there. Almost as tantalizing, Moxie had stripped down to her underwear, and Violet’s finger brushed the satin of a stray garter belt.

When Moxie moaned, Violet thought she would explode from the sexual energy coursing through her. “God, you smell so good.”

“Twilight Moon,” Moxie murmured, her mouth beside Violet’s ear. “My perfume. You said that you liked it.”

“Know what else I like?” She nibbled on Moxie’s neck, and the sound of her ragged breathing told her that the enjoyment was mutual. Emboldened, she brushed her thumb over Moxie’s breast lightly through her brassiere and the nipple stiffened instantly.

“Mmm. I love how you touch me.”

“I haven’t even started yet.” Violet kissed her again, consumed with hunger.

A loud knock startled them both, and they separated.

“Moxie? It’s me, Cotton. Can I come in?”

Moxie looked panic-stricken. “Um…just a moment.” She readjusted her dressing gown, glanced in the mirror, and wiped off her smeared lipstick with her thumb.

Clitty, on the other hand, was completely confounded by the disembodied voice behind the door and pawed at it before letting out a staccato yip.

“What was that?” Cotton asked.

Clitty yipped again.

Violet bent down and picked him up to silence him.

“Hiccups,” Moxie called, wincing immediately at such a horrible lie.

“Can I come in yet? I need to talk to you.”

Moxie put her finger to her lips silently, then slipped out into the hallway, shutting the door behind her.

“Why are you out here not completely dressed? Let’s go back in the dressing room, for God’s sake.”

“You don’t want to go in there. I’d hate for you to see what the other girls have done. It’s a real mess. Lots of…period things everywhere.”

“Oh.” He appeared repulsed. “Look, I think I’ve gotten rid of that London woman for the evening.”

“You have?”

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, falling in with a group of queers and boozehounds, but luckily for you, I was here to step in. You have a career to think of, after all.”

“I realize that, but—”

“Don’t ruin it before it even gets started. You were fantastic tonight. Better than I’ve ever seen you. You’re on your way up. Eileen said—”

“Irene.”

“—she thought that woman might even be on the train tomorrow.”

“She might.”

“Which is exactly why we’re coming along too. You need to focus on your screen test and think about your future. Now finish changing and meet me out front. I told Iris—”

“Irene.”

“—that I’d take you both home.”

She blew her bangs out of her eyes while she considered this predicament. “And if I asked you not to go to any trouble?”

“I saw how that woman was pawing you. If I left you here, I wouldn’t get a bit of sleep tonight.”

“Neither would I,” she muttered in frustration.

“Exactly. I’ll see you out front. And get a wiggle on.”

She watched him walk away and tried to collect herself. “Shit.” She took a deep breath and reentered the dressing room, where Violet sat, her dog in her lap and her chin in her hand. “Did you hear any of that?”

“Not really. Something about periods and boozehounds. The rest was a bit muffled.”

“Just as well.”

Violet stood and deposited Clitty in the chair. “Why, oh why, is your agent such a bastard?” She let her hands rest on Moxie’s hips as she kissed her throat.

“He thinks he’s looking out for me.”

Violet continued tasting her neck and earlobe. “More like looking out for his vested interest in you.”

“Mmm…what?”

“I said come back to my hotel with me.”

Moxie’s head was spinning and her groin was tightening. She had never felt this kind of raw desire before, and it was debilitating. “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Cotton’s driving Irene and me home. He’s waiting for me outside now.”

Violet’s tongue probed Moxie’s ear, and her whispered reply gave Moxie chills that vibrated throughout her body. “I’ll send a taxi to your place to get you after he drops you off. He’ll never know.”

She struggled to form words. “Except he’s also picking me up in the morning to take me to the train. God, your tongue is so…mmm.”

“This tongue can be yours for the rest of the night, and it takes requests.”