Jazz Baby by Tea Cooper Page A

I don’t want everyone else to notice.’
    â€˜Why ever not?’
    â€˜Dolly after weeks here you know as well as I do what goes on behind these doors and I don’t want you dragged into it. Ted will kill me.’ His raised voice filled the whole room.
    â€˜Ted’s dead,’ Dolly said flatly. ‘What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him and besides I’m old enough to look after myself. If I want to work here then it is between me and Mrs Mack. It’s none of your business.’

Chapter 12
    Dolly’s eyes blazed the colour of the night sky, matching her dress. The silky material hung soft and loose, hiding the curves he now knew lay beneath. Vitality poured out of her, the same quality that held the audience captive when she sang. Her voice called to him, riveted him. Even with her glorious hair cropped short she was the most desirable woman he had ever seen.
    Each of her songs seemed to be for him alone until she had leant into Lawrence and stared up at him with that wide-eyed look of elation. Millie had promised him she would look after Dolly, not put her on display like the night’s trophy. He knew he’d made an exhibition of them both. He didn’t care. He hadn’t given Millie the money to send Dolly out to buy a frock that made her look so…so alluring.
    Jack shuffled his feet on the silk rug, tracing the pattern with the toe of his evening shoes, and clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white with the effort of reining in his fury. Confused by the force of his reaction Jack had no idea what made him so angry. Dolly was quite right. She wouldn’t have come to any harm and it was unlikely anyone would force her to do anything she didn’t want to do. He should be pleased Lawrence had been keeping an eye out for her. And now he had dropped himself, and more importantly Ted, right in it.
    â€˜ If Ted were alive he would kill me for getting you into this situation.’ The lie sat heavily on his lips, but he didn’t know what else to say. The last thing he wanted to do was destroy the tenuous truce he and Ted had established. If he told Dolly that her brother was alive and at this very moment sitting in his flat drinking his whisky and wearing his bathrobe, she would quite rightly want to go rushing around there to see him. What a Godforsaken mess!
    â€˜It’s still none of your business. You made me look like a stupid child who can’t be trusted out of your sight for one minute. I didn’t come here searching for you or asking you to look after me. I came here because I wanted to go somewhere and do something with my life, instead of mouldering away in Wollombi. All you’re doing is causing a problem.’ A desirable pout highlighted her lips as she punched the pillow on the sofa with an amazing amount of force.
    Jack loosened his bow tie and unbuttoned his collar, collapsed into the chair on the opposite side of the room and flung one leg over the arm. Despite his assumed pose every muscle in his body screamed with tension. ‘There’s something you need to know, it might explain a few things.’
    Dolly’s head came up and a calm stillness settled over her as though she was waiting for bad news. He had her full attention. Now was the time to tell her about Ted. Explain how he’d found her brother, about his injuries, and hopefully he would be able to make her understand why Ted didn’t want to see her. Having failed Ted once he wouldn’t do it again.
    A high-pitched shriek rent the air, and a door banged. The sound of music seeped into the room.
    Jack dragged himself upright. ‘Would you like a drink, Dolly?’ He indicated to the crystal decanter and glasses on the side table at his elbow.
    She frowned and shook her head, the tip of her tongue tracing her rosy lips.
    â€˜If you don’t mind, I will,’ Jack said, pouring a generous slug of whisky into a glass. He eyed the water jug