The Vaudeville Star (18 page)

“Who said I hate him? I actually respect him. He’s a fine businessman.”

“Then?”

“There is no then. Go get changed. Soon enough, we’ll all be together again,” he added cryptically.

Ruby sensed a tension between them that had never been there before, and she didn’t know what to do. She left his cabin, and when she stepped into her own minutes later, she poured herself a glass of water and saw her hand was shaking.

She looked at her dresses and had a sudden yearning to look and feel desirous. She pulled out a garnet-colored gown that hugged her body like a glove. It had a plunging v-neckline and off-the-shoulder sleeves. She would wear her hair up with ruby drop earrings and no other jewelry.

Tonight, she wanted to turn men’s heads. Tonight, she wanted to play the star.

W
hen Ruby stepped
into the lounge, she saw that a wide-open square was now available for dancing while dinner was still being served in the dining saloon. The ship used this expansive room for dancing, and many passengers were delighted to hear the musicians begin tuning their instruments.

The first-class lounge was a chief indoor gathering spot, and the ship’s orchestra of professional musicians made for a pleasant evening’s entertainment. She heard the familiar piano music of Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag,” and the orchestra played along as well in a delightful accompaniment.

Several couples were already on the dance floor, including Archie and Bessie, Zeta and Lou, and one of the Vadas sisters with a man she didn’t know. It was a catchy song, and everyone was dancing quick steps to the lively tune.

She saw King sitting with Vernon and Ford at a corner table, and as she walked toward them, she could feel the stares of everyone, especially the men, as she passed by.

“Good evening, gentlemen,” Ruby said softly, though her voice could hardly be heard above the music.

King stood. “My God, woman! Who made that dress? They should be whipped!”

“Why is that?” Ruby asked, smiling.

“Because we poor mortal men can only take so much beauty,” he said, kissing her hand and then waving to get the waiter’s attention.

Vernon also stood and smiled a greeting at her, but Ford didn’t. He seemed riveted to the spot, and she felt his eyes take in the cut of the dress, the curves of her body, and her breasts that could just be seen above the low neckline. It was a dress to entice. To taunt. To torment. They both knew it.

“Damn that waiter!” King said and went in search of him.

The ragtime song ended, and Bessie and Archie joined them.

“I say!” Archie said when he neared them and spotted Ruby.

“It’s just a dress,” Ruby said coyly.

“It’s quite a dress,” Bessie admitted.

The orchestra struck up “Harlem Rag,” and Archie immediately pulled Ruby onto the dance floor. The dance was a simple one-step, and Ruby marveled at the way Archie took control. He was a graceful dancer and light on his feet.

As she moved with him, she saw Bessie and Ford come to the dance floor. Bessie looked pretty in a light pink gown, and Ford looked handsome in his black-and-white evening clothes. She admired the width of his shoulders and felt the sting of jealousy at seeing Bessie in his arms.

“You do look lovely, Ruby. But then, you always do,” Archie said as he leaned forward so she could hear him.

She smiled. They had never been as close as she and Bessie, but he had always been kind. She looked at him as an older brother.

“Thank you. You’re a wonderful dancer,” she told him.

Ruby moved across the room gracefully and noticed many of the older couples were not dancing. Though she enjoyed ragtime, she knew that many viewed the music as distasteful and brash. She noticed that older people seemed to view it as a sort of nonsense noise to be tolerated but disregarded.

When the song ended, there was applause from the older crowd as the orchestra struck up “Die Schönbrunner"
by Joseph Lanner. Lanner was a Viennese composer who had taken the waltz from being a peasant dance to something high society enjoyed. Several more couples joined the dance floor.

“Do you waltz?” Archie asked.

She was about to answer when Ford approached them and asked Ruby to dance. She could think of no reason to say no, and Archie disappeared into the crowd.

“You waltz?” Ruby said as he took her in his arms.

“I have many talents.” His voice was ripe with innuendo.

“I’m sure.”

She felt his right hand on her left shoulder blade as she placed her left hand on his shoulder. They clasped hands much like they had done with the ragtime dances, but the waltz was smoother and seemed more intimate as he held her.

“I thought it best to cut in on young Archie. I wouldn’t want people to talk about you two,” Ford said.

As they made the turn about the room, she saw Archie dancing with one of the Vadas sisters.

“Very thoughtful of you.”

She could feel Ford’s eyes on her and the heat from his body. His hand at her shoulder seared into her.

“You haven’t said anything about my dress,” she said softly.

“What should I say?”

Ruby shrugged.

“It is a beautiful dress, Ruby, but then you know that. It hugs your curves in all the right places. And I seem to remember all those curves very vividly.”

Ruby said nothing as they made a turn and Ford held her in his arms. Like so many things, he was an expert dancer.

“What? Nothing to add? I answered your question about the dress,” he said.

“Yes. You did.”

“Didn’t you like the answer?”

She looked at a passing couple and saw Zeta with a smile on her face in the arms of Vernon. Another couple passed by, and she saw Bessie in King’s arms.

“Hello there!” he called out to them jovially.

She smiled brightly at King as they passed him. “You don’t need to try so hard. He’s already crazy about you,” Ford told her.

“Is that was this is about?”

“What?” he asked.

“Your comments. Your looks.”

“What looks?”

Ruby looked away. “You look at me . . .”

“Yes?”

“As if . . .” She tried to find the right word.

“Go on.”

“You look at me as if you want me.”

“Ruby, darling, I’ve had you,” he said with a grin.

Ruby felt a blush creep into her cheeks. Maybe it was the dancing or the theatrics that seemed to surround her, but she felt dizzy. The way he said darling in his Southern drawl made her ache for him, and his hands seemed to be everywhere. She felt his hot hands on her breasts, her belly, her thigh, and his mouth in places no man should ever be.

“Besides, we both know you wore that dress for attention, and you got it. Whose attention you want remains to be seen.”

“Meaning?”

Every word and every gesture coming from Ford seemed to be geared to annoy her.

“Come now, Ruby. You like the attention. King fawns over you. You have poor young Archie drooling. You want to add me to your stock of men as well, darling?”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Darling?”

“Yes.”

“Hmmm,” they made a turn and he smiled, “I think I called you darling that night.”

“I don’t remember,” Ruby said tartly.

“I told you not to be frightened.”

“And I told you I wasn’t. Not then. Not now.” Ruby threw a glance at him.

Ford grinned and tightened his hold on her. “I thought you said you didn’t remember.”

Ruby felt his hand curl around hers, and she willed the waltz to end soon.

“It will end soon enough,” he told her.

Ruby’s eyes flew to meet his. “How do you do that?”

“Everything you think is written across your beautiful face. It’s not difficult.”

Ruby felt a rush at the word beautiful used to describe her face.

“And I’ve known you your entire life, Ruby.”

She felt his hand dip to her upper back, branding her as it moved. She was his. She was his. She would always be his. She ached to be his again.

Ford crushed the thoughts that raced through his brain. He wanted to drag Ruby from the lounge and strip the red dress from her body. He could see the tops of her breasts, the curve of her waist, and he wanted nothing more than to throw her down upon the bed and taste the honey between her legs.

He knew that King was nearby watching them, and he had to practice what he had learned. He had to shutter his emotions and trap them deep inside. He couldn’t have her. She wasn’t his. She wasn’t his. She would never be his.

“Ford.”

He snapped out of his reverie to realize the music had stopped and the couples were leaving the floor.

“Miss Sutton,” he said formally, dropping his arms to his sides and waving a hand in front of him. “After you.”

They made their way back to the table, where King was consuming more champagne and Bessie and Archie were listening to an old vaudeville story being told by Vernon. They all laughed at the punch line, though Ruby had missed the joke.

“Ruby, you looked like a glittering star out there on the dance floor,” King said, smiling at her.

“Thank you, King. I had two excellent partners.” She looked at Ford and Archie.

“That’s absolutely correct! Partners! They are so important!” he said loudly and stood up suddenly with his drink. “A toast!”

Everyone at the table had a drink in hand, and Ford grabbed two glasses of champagne from a passing waiter and handed one to Ruby.

“A toast to partners!” King said, raising his glass as everyone repeated his words.

Ford seemed to be studying him, and Ruby watched King as he downed the entire glass.

“And one more toast!” he said, waiting for his glass to be refilled. “To beautiful women!” He nodded at Bessie, but his gaze lingered on Ruby for far too long.

Ford stiffened next to her, and he bent down low to whisper something in King’s ear.

“Yes. Right you are. Let’s take this party back to my cabin,” King bellowed. “My cabin we go!”

Ruby noticed that King stumbled a bit when he stood, and he was slurring his words. He hung on to Ford and bid several strangers good night.

But as he passed by, he said, “No, not you, Ruby! Come have a night cap with us!”

Ruby nodded in agreement and took up the rear as the three left the lounge. When they entered King’s suite, he passed out almost immediately on the couch.

“King?” Ruby leaned over to check on him.

She didn’t realize that by bending over him, Ford had a perfect view of her breasts pressed against the neckline and pushed up by her corset.

“He needs to sleep it off,” Ford said, turning away. “He’ll have a headache in the morning, but he’ll be fine.”

Ruby moved away from King and walked to the door with Ford directly behind her.

“I’ll walk you back to your cabin.”

“Thank you, but I’m returning to the party. Unlike some, I can hold my liquor, and I intend to enjoy myself.”

They stepped out into the passage, and Ford laughed. “You can hold your liquor because you don’t drink.”

“That’s not true. I drink. I enjoy brandy or a glass of champagne.”

“Exactly. That’s a drink. Not drinking.”

“You prefer I was a lush?”

“Not at all. Just pointing out that you don’t drink.”

They turned into the lounge, where once again ragtime was playing, and immediately Ruby took a glass of champagne from a waiter and gulped it down.

“Happy?”

“Slow down, Ruby. You won’t like it in the morning.”

“What happens in the morning?” she asked.

“Well, that depends.”

“On?”

“Are you waking up in your bed or someone else’s?”

Ruby blushed at his words. “My own, of course.”

“Well, alcohol has a way of changing that as well.”

“In what regard?”

“Alcohol makes you do things you wouldn’t normally do.”

“Well, I’ve had two glasses of champagne, and I feel nothing,” she proclaimed.

Ford grinned. “Just wait.”

They joined Bessie and Archie at the table, and Ruby was immediately asked to dance again.

Bessie watched her brother and best friend take to the floor and then turned to Ford. “You won’t mind me saying this, but you should be very careful.”

“Of?” He wondered at her words.

“Most of the time, you’re very good at hiding what you feel and think. But when you look at Ruby, there are times it’s very obvious.”

Ford swallowed. “What is?”

“That you want her. Just be careful. It seems we are all in this web manufactured by King.”

Ford nodded and took a sip from the glass in front of him. It tasted bitter, but he downed it anyway. “Yes, we are.”

Ford watched Ruby dance with Max and then Vernon, and finally he replaced them both. He could tell she was startled as she looked up into his face.

“This is your last dance, Ruby.”

“What do you mean? I’m having a wonderful time.” She smiled widely.

“Yes. I can see that.”

“So? Why do have to be such a killjoy? Let me enjoy myself.”

“After this dance, be a good girl and say good night. Then I’ll take you back to your cabin and tuck you in.”

“Will you?” Ruby said saucily.

Ford ignored her, and when the dance ended, she bid good night to everyone, though a new song had started and no one seemed to notice her absence.

“Ruby, come along,” Ford said, pulling her along the passage.

“It seems such a long way, and my feet hurt,” she said, leaning against him.

“Ruby.” He wrapped his arm around her waist and stopped at his cabin since it was much closer than hers. He unlocked his door as Ruby sank against him.

He laid her on his bed and removed his jacket.

“I can’t breathe,” she said softly. “And the room is spinning. Why is it doing that, Ford?”

She lay on the bed with her arms outstretched as Ford threw his jacket across a chair.

“Nothing is spinning except you.”

He watched her breathe heavily and complain again about not being able to breathe.

“Help me. My laces,” she said weakly.

Ford went to sit beside her. She sat up and leaned over his lap as he undid the laces at the back of her dress.

“Better?” he asked.

She fell back against the bed and sighed happily. “Yes.” Her hands fell above her head, and she suddenly pulled out a long pin from her hair and threw it across the room.

“What the hell?” Ford exclaimed.

“It was hurting my head,” she whimpered.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Another pin followed it, and Ford cursed under his breath. “Ruby, stop it!”

She giggled. “Make me!”

Ford made a quick movement, and suddenly he was on top of her, holding her hands above her head.

“Get off me!” she said weakly.

In a quick series of movements, Ford combed through her hair and removed all the pins, placing them out of her reach.

“No fair.”

“Go to sleep, Ruby.”

“I will. But you have to give me a good night kiss.”