He tossed back his own drink and caught up her hand. “I know you’re baiting me, but I’m going to prove you wrong anyway.”
“You just want to dance with me,” Vivian taunted as he led her toward the dance floor.
“Yes,” he agreed, pulling her close—too close, really, for a quickstep, their fingers twining around each other as they raised their hands. “Now let’s see ifyoucan keep up.”
His palm was warm against her back, and Vivian could feel the sparkof it all the way down her spine. But a moment later, the buzzy heat faded, leaving her cold with wariness. Honor was right. Leo hadn’t appeared at the Nightingale until the night after Willard Wilson was found dead behind the club. It could have meant nothing. He hadn’t paid any attention when Bea had mentioned the dead man that morning, after all. But it was a coincidence. It might be something more.
“Why did you pick the Nightingale to come to?” she asked. The question came out more bluntly than she had intended. But there was no way to take it back, so she planted her weight for a moment to prevent him from leading off, waiting for an answer.
He stared down at her, his cheeks flushed with the heat of the dance floor, even though they weren’t moving yet. “I told you—I wanted to see you again.”
“I meant before that. Why’d you come here last night?”
“I needed somewhere to get a drink,” he laughed. “And I heard a rumor that Danny was working here. Did you change your mind about that dance?”
“No, of course not.” Vivian shook her head, then raised her eyebrows in challenge. “Let’s see how fast those Chicago feet move.”
After that, they needed all their breath for dancing, for matching the slide of the trombone and therat-a-tatof the drums. Vivian wasn’t sure whether she believed him yet. He seemed honest, but there were plenty of bootleggers who could lie to God himself and get away with it. But the music got under her skin too quickly for her to stay as wary as she knew she should. And Leo coulddance,she remembered with a rush of pleasure. It was hard to think grim thoughts as they flew across the dance floor, his lead so easy to follow, and so quick to adapt to whatever she did, that it felt as if he had been holding her in his arms every night for years. Vivian was breathless and laughing by the time the music finally flourished to a stop.
Leo grinned down at her without dropping his arms, though all around them couples were breaking apart and re-forming as the next song began. “How did my Chicago feet do?”
Vivian shrugged, pretending to play it cool though she knew her delight was written all across her face. “Good enough, I guess.”
He laughed. “Well, you dance like a dream, sweetheart, and if you keep pretending you don’t like me, I might just have to kiss you to make you admit it.”
Vivian bit her lower lip in a useless effort to stop her smile from spreading. “You’ll kiss me when I say you can, and not a moment before,” she said, her voice suddenly husky.
Leo’s grip on her tightened before he abruptly let go, laughing ruefully as he ran his fingers through his hair. “You know exactly how to get under a fella’s skin, don’t you?” he asked, shaking his head. A moment later, though, he had to grab her arm and pull her quickly out of the way of a dancing couple. “Come on, let’s go bother Danny for another drink.”
The bar was crowded, and Leo gestured for her to wait while he pushed his way forward to get their drinks. Vivian was glad to have him step away for a moment. Getting too flustered over a little flirtation was never a good idea, especially not when she knew better than to trust the fellow flirting with her. Fanning her flushed cheeks, she looked around for something to distract her equally heated thoughts.
Her attention was caught by the couple embracing just a couple feet down the bar, a girl with dark hair tumbled across her face, her companion leaning over her shoulder from behind as he wrapped his arms around her waist. He was at least a foot taller than she was, and he had to bend his blond head a long way down so he could nibble on her bare neck and whisper something in her ear.
Vivian couldn’t stop her eyebrows from climbing. She never batted an eye at the couples getting frisky in dark corners, but it was rare to see two people necking right out in the open. Shaking her head over folks who couldn’t hold their liquor, she was about to turn back when the couple unwound from each other, the girl pushing away with a laugh. Vivian’s eyebrows climbed even higher as she realized who the girl was.
“Get me a drink and we’ll see,” Mags said, brushing her hair back into place with a flick of her wrist. “Something classy, got it? I don’t do cheap.”
The man, who was definitely not Roy, waggled his eyebrows at her before he turned to push his way through the crowd to the bar. Vivian hadn’t quite managed to wipe the surprise from her face before Mags turned and caught sight of her.
“Well hello, shellshock!” she exclaimed, her nose wrinkling up with delight as she smiled. “I see you made it out of the slammer all right. Lord, that was quite the show, wasn’t it? I almost didn’t come out tonight.”
“Guessing you didn’t get in trouble with your father, then?” Vivian asked, trying not to sound too pointed. It wasn’t Mags’s fault that she knew people who could help her out, any more than it was her fault she had money. But it was still hard not to resent her for it.
“He was too busy boozing it up with his Long Island buddies to even notice I’d been out,” Mags said, rolling her eyes. “Mother and Dad laid in plenty of provisions before Prohibition. So they’ve got no cause to fuss at me for going out, don’t you think?”
“And what do they think of your new fella?” Vivian asked, tilting her head toward the bar where the handsy man’s blond head stuck out above the crowd.
“What?” Mags followed her gaze and shrugged. “Oh gosh no, he’s not someone I’d ever take home to the folks. Honestly,” she lowered her voice, grinning widely, “I can’t even remember his name. I just needed someone to dance with me and buy me a drink, and I do like them tall.”
“What about Roy?” Vivian tried to keep her voice casual. Maybe he had missed seeing the man slumped in the shadows—the door had been closed, and it was dark out there. But maybe he hadn’t. A shiver chased its way across Vivian’s shoulders, but that didn’t stop her from adding, “I thought the two of you were pretty friendly.”
“I thought we were too. But I caught him in a corner chatting upsome mousy girl a couple nights ago,” Mags said, her red lips pursing into a pout. “He thinks just because Dad likes him I’ll let him get away with anything. But we’re done unless he comes crawling on hands and knees. And even then, he’ll have to talk pretty sweet to get me back.”
Her pout transformed into a smile as her new fellow came back, drinks in hand, and offered one to her. “Thanks, honey,” she said, giving him her attention only briefly before turning back to Vivian. “But who needs him, right? I’m all set for the night. And it looks like you are too,” she added, her voice dropping to a purr as she glanced over Vivian’s shoulder. “Golly, someone’s found herself a looker.”
Vivian turned to see where Mags was staring and discovered Leo had reappeared behind her, the hat he had reclaimed from the bar tucked under one arm and a drink in each hand.
“Danny mixed it, so no blaming me if he chose wrong,” he said, handing one glass to Vivian.
