Page 21 of Romancing the Rumrunner
Tony’s mouth snapped shut and he looked back down, shuffling the papers on his desk. “Yes. Fine.”
He cleared his throat and Jessie smiled, a warm confidence ebbing through her and soothing her rattled nerves. The papers in his hand were backward and his pen was upside down. Apparently, she looked more thanfine.
Tony abandoned his paperwork and came around the desk, looping her arm through his.
“Let’s go meet the band.”
Jessie tried to calm the nerves building again in her gut. It was almost show time.
Tony led her into a small room behind the stage where the band members were lounging.
“Fellas, this is our new singer, Jessica Harlan. Jessie, you spoke with Louis last night, but this is the rest of your band.”
Jessie waved shyly as the men stood and came to greet her.
Louis stepped up front and shook her hand. “Glad to see you again, miss. If you can sing like you did last night, we’ll bring the house down in no time.”
Jessie flushed with pleasure and returned his handshake with genuine delight.
“I’m very pleased to meet you all,” Jessie said, relieved that they were so welcoming.
“You definitely class up the joint,” Louis said.
The other men nodded in agreement.
“We’ve been asking Tony to get another singer in here since Ida split. Glad he finally decided to give in. We can play all right on our own, but a joint like this really needs a good set of pipes to get swinging.”
Their enthusiasm went a long way to putting Jessie at ease. “Well, I’ll try my best to do you proud.”
Tony squeezed her arm. “I’m going to go check out our crowd tonight. Jessie, why don’t you discuss the songs you’d like to sing. I will probably be gone for the night by the time you are done. But we have a few errands we need to run tomorrow. Can you get someone to watch your shop for you?”
“Errands?”
“Yes. Your shop? Can you get away for a few hours?”
“Um, yes, I have someone who can manage things for a little while.”
“Excellent. I’ll pick you up at ten o’clock then.”
Jessie nodded, bemused. Whaterrandscould he possibly need to run with her?
She watched Tony walk away and couldn’t help but admire the view. The man looked as good going as coming. She bit her lip, shocked at her own thoughts but unable to keep them from venturing into territory that made her skin tingle.
Louis cleared his throat and Jessie turned to him, though she couldn’t bring herself to look him in the eye. Luckily, he took pity on her and kept his observations to himself.
Jessie was happy to discover the band knew all the songs she wanted to sing, even a few of the more obscure ones. And they were happy to try the new arrangements she suggested. They came up with a set list and a schedule. She’d sing for half an hour and then would get a break for fifteen or twenty minutes. The boss, as the men called Tony, usually opened the bar for business around eleven o’clock and kept it going until three a.m., so Jessie would need to arrive by ten thirty, at the latest, in order to get ready.
Fatigue lapped at her. She’d been up since four o’clock that morning to accept a delivery of beef and she’d worked hard all day at the shop. Maude and Joe would make sure The Red Phoenix ran smoothly on the days she wasn’t there, but she had to make an appearance some days as well. It just wouldn’t be smart to be open only on the days she wasn’t at The Corkscrew, so there were going to be times when she’d be dropping in at her own club early, going to The Corkscrew, and then closing up shop at The Red Phoenix. She was definitely going to have to hire some temporary help if she was going to keep up the double life without keeling over. A girl had to sleep sometime.
The band took their places. Jessie closed her eyes and took a few calming breaths. All those people watching her sent her stomach in a tailspin, but once the music began, she’d be all right.
She was thrilled when the crowd cheered and hollered at the end of every song, and she and the band kept things roaring until the boys had to start kicking people out. And through it all, she could feel Tony’s eyes following her every move. She’d never felt so on display. But when he was the one watching, Jessie didn’t mind as much. A girl could get addicted to his kind of attention. And that was something Jessie would have to guard herself against very carefully. Because she had a feeling that Tony Solomon would be a very hard habit to kick.
Chapter Eight
Jessie looked at Tony as if he’d just grown a second head. “You arenottaking me shopping.”
“Why ever not?
