Read The Last Hot Time for Free Online Page B

Danny just stood there watching, the beer going warm in his hand.
    "—gotta hear it again today," Shaker said in his ear. "Oh, come on, Doc! It ain't a movie."
    There was a black-haired girl in a deep blue dress, one of those flapper dresses that ended in long points, showing and hiding leg at once. "Do you dance?" Danny said, half hoping she'd knock him on his butt for asking.
    'Til try," she said, and he saw that it was Ginevra Benci, the bartender from last night. She held out her bare white arm and he took it.
    There was one extraordinary pair of dancers on the floor, a man with dark, dark skin in a pure-white suit, large but totally graceful, and an elf woman in a black sequined flapper dress like Ginevra's, who moved as if she was boneless. Danny tried to follow their style, ridiculous as he felt. After a moment, he realized that the man was looking at him; Danny felt his collar tighten, but the big man winked and nodded, and the couple started doing steps Danny could follow with relative ease.
    By the second chorus, Danny and Ginevra were actually moving as a unit, off each other's toes. Danny hadn't done this since—

    well, he'd done this, but he had never enjoyed it before.
    The piano crashed, the sax cried, and the music stopped. Everybody applauded, even the waiters. Ginevra tugged Danny's arm; he turned and saw Patrise in the doorway, clapping furiously.
    "Delighted you could both make it," he said. "And that you kept each other busy. Come up here, let's get to dinner."
    Danny looked at Ginevra; she looked slightly away from him. Had Patrise told her to be his date for tonight? There were four couples plus one at the table: the two of them; McCain and an older woman, certainly over thirty, in black and pearls, introduced as Chloe Vadis; Cloudhunter and Carmen Mirage; and the two expert dancers, whose names were—that is, who were called Matt Black and Gloss White. Patrise sat alone at the head of the table.
    Other people took the cue, drifting up to the tables and the bar. Fountain had gone back to a slow swing tune. Two couples were still dancing, half melted into each other.
    Danny ordered a rare steak. McCain had his well done, with a lobster tail on the side. Ginevra had chicken salad, Gloss a dinner-sized Caesar, Matt a rack of barbecued ribs. Chloe Vadis was brought some kind of multicolored pasta dish. Carmen just had a little fruit cup, and Cloudhunter didn't eat at all. Patrise had a half duck glazed orange he caned like a surgeon.
    There were occasional bursts of conversation as they ate; people came by to say hello, to admire Matt and Gloss's dancing, to mutter into Chloe's ear. Patrise had a compliment for every compliment, a quick answer for every question. He gave things a center. Danny still felt one part in three dreaming. He looked at Ginevra. Ginny. He wondered how she felt.
    Carmen stood up. So did Cloudhunter. "Well," she said, "here goes nothing."
    Patrise said, "Knock 'em dead, primoroso?
    Cloudhunter took Carmen's hand and kissed it. She shut her eyes for a moment, then went around the curve toward the Stage, disappeared through a curtain. Cloudhunter bowed and followed.
    As the plates were cleared away, the room lights went down. Candles flared to life on the tables—like magic Danny thought, and then let go the "like." The music stopped, and the last dancers left the floor.

    A soft-edged spotlight showed Cloudhunter on the bandstand. He was wearing a blue velvet tailcoat and white tie, boots with silver trimmings. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said, sounding like the rise of a summer storm, "Miss Carmen Mirage."
    He stepped back. She came out, bowed at the light applause, and began singing, a slow, torchy tune.
    Tell me what my true love loves
    'Cause I want to fit him
    Like my hands in gloves
    Will he get in motion
    For a carol of devotion
    Or a cooing like a soft gray doves
    You know I can '/ take the waiting
    Or the silence or the doubt
    So will you tell me what my loves about
    Carmen