Disclaimer: all the usual apply.
Chapter 2
Joe POV
"Right gents, a buddy of mine is working the door at this club. It's the hottest joint in town and he's gonna get us in ahead of all these other shmucks."
This had been the declaration made by Bill Guarnere in his thick Philly accent as they'd walked past the long line of soldiers queuing to get into the place, and so far it hadn't disappointed.
The club was bustling, the drinks cold and the women beautiful. One in particular had caught his eye when she'd walked in surrounded by three men wearing a military uniform he hadn't seen before.
She was tall, close to his own height, with long limbs that made it look like she was drifting instead of walking. She had dark oval eyes and rosebud lips set into sharp features. He'd followed her with his eyes as their group had made their way over to a table which had been marked as 'reserved', jealousy gnawing at his insides as one of the men placed a hand against her lower back.
Their group had spent the next hour hovering around the bar and he'd spent that time switching between conversations with his friends and stealing glances at her. At some stage another woman had joined their group, her red dress and easy smile catching the attention of a few men, but he only had eyes for the woman with the dark hair and darker eyes.
"So, who do you think they are?" Perconte, a short Italian paratrooper, had asked their group when the woman in the red dress had joined the group.
Malarkey, a soldier with flaming red hair and an open, friendly face offered his best guess, "British maybe? Those don't look like any of our uniforms."
"Nah," Bill dismissed him, "I heard 'em talking. American the lot of 'em."
Toye, Guarnere's closest friend, nodded. Where Guarnere was on the shorter side, with a thick jaw and thicker accent, Toye was tall and muscular, with dark hair and a mean right hook.
"It doesn't matter which unit they're with. Did you see what's one their uniforms? They've seen action," Toye said in his signature deep voice.
They all nodded, some sneaking glances at the three men sitting at the table. Even without the uniforms it would have been easy to tell they'd seen action from the way they carried themselves. It was an ease and confidence they all tried to mimic, but knew it didn't come close to the real deal. Not yet at least.
"So have the women," he added, the comment earning him a few sideways glances.
"The broads?" Bill asked before downing his beer and ordering another in one fluid movement.
"C'mon Bill, you've seen the way those two move. You tell me they're staying safely at home? I'm not saying they go around shooting Krauts, but they've seen some kind of action."
The Philadelphian conceded his point with one nod.
"Nurses probably. Some of them work close to the front lines," Malarkey offered the most reasonable explanation.
The conversation of the men around him quickly moved onto the topic of their CO, a man they were all dreading following into combat.
Still think my idea of fumbling a grenade next to him is pretty solid, he thought.
Happy to let the conversation move on without him he stole another look at the woman just to find her staring at him. He instantly had the distinct feeling he was being assessed and he shifted his weight around uncomfortably under her scrutiny. Trying his best to hide both his surprise and unease he twisted his lips into a smirk, a look he'd perfected at a very young age.
The woman looked away slowly, as if she hadn't even seen him.
With his newly poured cold beer in hand Bill declared, "C'mon, we're going over there."
"What?" Perconte asked, his head whipping from Bill's face to the suggested destination.
"Hey fellas. What's got this one worked up," George Luz asked as he joined them, casually jerking a thumb in Perconte's direction.
Luz and Perconte were the same height, although the former liked to say he was taller. He had sandy brown hair and quickly took up the mantel of Company jester.
"Wild Bill wants to go over to that table," Perconte replied, nodding in the direction of the woman's table.
Luz made a show of eyeing the table and its occupants before saying, "Here's the plan. You fellas distract the three guys and I'll do you all a favour and manage the ladies all by myself."
"Please, they'd eat you alive," Toye retorted, confidently sauntering past Luz and over to the table.
He shrugged, casually pushed himself off from the bar he'd been leaning against, and fell in next to Toye.
Toye stopped just over the shoulder of the brunette, catching the blonde's eye and earning himself a smile even he had to admit was pretty damn breath-taking.
"Hello ma'am, mind if we join you?" Toye asked.
"Please do," the blonde replied without a second's hesitation, "but you'll have to steal some more chairs."
The table only had one open chair and there were six of them. They quickly found and stole chairs from surrounding tables, ignoring any threats or insults directed their way. The entire time the original occupants of the table watched them closely. The women seemed amused while it felt like the men were weighing them up.
He was the last to find a chair and as he dragged it towards the table he tried and failed to find an available space.
"Here you go," the blonde said, catching his eye and waving him over to the gap she'd created between herself and the brunette.
For a second he wondered if she'd done it on purpose, waiting until the very last moment to create a space for him next to her friend. He dismissed the idea as he took his seat, she had no reason to do that.
"Well boys, now that you're all seated, let's quickly do the introductions because my champagne isn't getting any colder and neither are those beers," the blonde beamed.
"My name's Jessica and this is Arlene," she continued, pointing at the brunette who smiled politely and gave the table a small nod in greeting.
Pointing to the three men now sitting directly opposite them she said, "That's Clark, John and Alex. Yes, they are all officers but you will not salute at this table. I have a very strict 'no champagne and saluting' rule. You can call them sir if you must, don't want you all to lose your minds. I know how much you military boys enjoy a good rank."
"Hey! What if we want them to salute us?" Clark asked.
"Then you can find yourself another table," Jessica replied flatly, never batting an eyelid.
There was a tense moment as she and Clark held a staring contest. He stole a glance around the group to decipher if it had been a mistake to join them when he caught the faintest hint of a grin on Arlene's lips.
Alex and John were the first to really give up the game, both cracking up in unison and John smacking Clark so hard on the back his beer almost spilled all over the table.
"Nah fellas, no sirs or salutes tonight. We know who to take our orders from," Clark admitted through a chuckle, tilting his glass in Jessica's direction.
"Yes, sir," Bill said with a cheeky smile, "I'm Bill Guarnere, but everyone calls me Wild Bill or Gonorrhoea. That's Toye, Malarkey, Perconte, Luz and Joe."
They all exchanged a round of tilted glasses and hellos before the table fell into an easy buzz of separate conversations.
He was seated between the two women, and he honestly felt like he was sitting in the middle of some silent back-and-forth.
Trying his best to stay out of their line of sight he leaned back in this chair, throwing a casual arm over the back rest as he sipped his beer.
"So Joe, where are you from?" Jessica suddenly asked, with a smile he couldn't really place on her lips.
"Most recently San Francisco ma'am."
"Ma'am is my mother. Please, call me Jess. You know, Arlene was born in San Fran, lived there for a few years before the family moved. Isn't that right?"
Arlene gave Jessica a ruby-red smirk before turning her dark brown eyes to him. "That's right. We lived there until I was eleven, before we moved to Los Angeles."
He was concentrating so hard on what she was saying so he wouldn't get distracted by being close to her that he didn't register when she'd stopped speaking.
"Joe?" she asked, laying one tentative finger on his knee.
The spark of electricity that ran from her fingertip into the pit of this stomach jolted him awake. "Do you want to dance?" he blurted the first thing that came to mind.
She seemed surprised, her eyes quickly darting to the dance floor and then to her friend who was now deep in conversation with Bill and Luz, but her finger never lifted from his knee.
Turning her full attention back to him she smiled sweetly and said, "I'd love to."
Jessica POV
From the corner of her eye she saw Joe stand and offer Arlene his hand. For a moment she was worried her overly cautious friend was going to stay firmly seated, but then she accepted the offered hand and allowed Joe to lead her onto the dance floor.
She looked back to Luz and Bill, neither man having noticed her momentary distraction.
"Yeah, so then there was Currahee. This mountain they'd make us run up every day, come rain or blistering shine," Luz finished telling her about their time spent in basic training.
"Three miles up," Bill exclaimed, raising his glass, "three miles down," the other men finished.
"Well, I'm sure you'll be glad of it when you're trapesing through occupied Europe, dodging German bullets," she said.
"The Germans will be the least of our problems," Malarkey scoffed under his breath from across the table and she saw Toye nod his agreement.
"How so?" she asked and both men's eyes widened in surprise.
"Oh…ummm…." Malarkey struggled to regain his composure.
Deciding to save his friend Bill offered, "Our CO, Sobel, well let's just say he ain't the kind of guy you want at your side when the bullets start flying. And you definitely don't want to be following him into a fight."
She nodded, "I see. I'm sorry to hear that. Hopefully something changes before you really get stuck into the fight."
"Yeah, like an act of God," Toye remarked, and by the look he shared with the other men she wasn't sure they wouldn't be taking matters into their own hands.
"Tab, Shifty," Malarkey waved two more soldiers over to their table.
Two tall men joined them, both were attractive, but the one was sheepish, almost shy, while the other moved like a true ladies' man.
Remembering his manners Malarkey quickly introduced the two men. "This is Floyd Talbart and Shifty Powers. Gents, this is Jessica, Alex, Clark and John," he said, pointing to each individual as he spoke.
Her three friends nodded politely to the new arrivals before continuing their conversation.
Indicating the two open chairs Arlene and Joe had left she said, "Please, take a seat."
Shifty smiled sweetly and took Arlene's open seat, but Talbart held out a hand to her, a crooked smile on his lips, and asked, "Can I have this dance?"
She arched one eyebrow, the corner of her lips twisting up a fraction as she studied the hand hanging mid-air.
Why the hell not?
Softly placing one hand in his she stood, "Why not?"
He smiled triumphantly and she saw the sneaky wink he shot his friends behind her back.
He led her to the dance floor and smoothly swooped her into his arms as they started to glide across the packed floor to the beat of a mid-tempo song.
Talbart was a wonderful dancer, moving them confidently across the dance floor while expertly avoiding a collision with any other couple. The volume of the music and the tempo of their dance made it impossible to have a meaningful conversation, so instead they shared playful glances and carefree smiles.
As the song reached its crescendo he spun her out, twirling her around and around. She felt the red silk curl up her legs as it spun out, a few rebellious strands of blonde hair tickling her cheeks. She tilted her head back, giggling into the music and nearly falling into his arms as he pulled her closer, his own chest reverberating with his deep laugh.
Winters POV
A blur of deep crimson fabric moving across the dance floor caught his attention. Only half listening to the conversation Nixon and Harry were having he scanned the moving crowd trying to find the source of the sudden thud in his chest.
He was so deep in thought he didn't realise his friends had fallen silent, or noticed the side-long glance they shared.
"You see somebody you know?" Nixon asked, jabbing him in the ribs with his elbow when he didn't respond.
He jerked his face towards his friend, a scowl etched across his forehead. "No. Maybe."
He hated feeling this unsettled. Like a schoolboy trying to steal a glance at his crush.
Nixon chuckled and from the corner of his eye he saw Harry's gap-toothed grin.
"There she is. Dancing with Sergeant Talbart," Nixon said, casually tilting his glass towards the centre of the dancefloor.
He did his best to resist the urge to whip his head in the direction his friend had shown, instead moving painfully slowly.
This time she was easy to spot. Her red dress curling up around her legs as she was spun out, head thrown back and mouth open as she laughed.
He felt his lips move into a smile as he watched her dance and laugh with a reckless abandonment he didn't often see since the weight of war and adulthood had settled on all their shoulders. A pang of jealousy hit him square in the face when his view of her was obstructed by the silhouette of her dancing companion.
Talbert was a sergeant in his Company. He was a good soldier and a good man, but he loved the ladies and from what he'd heard and seen they loved him. He was easy going and charming, always quick with a laugh and a light. The jealousy twisted his insides further when the song slowed and they pressed their bodies close together, the young couple swaying to the music as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"You know, you can just go and cut in," Harry rudely interrupted his dark train of thoughts with his flawless logic.
He shrugged. "She seems happy enough."
Harry shook his head and he heard Nixon's exasperated sigh next to him.
As if to prove the point Nixon stood, straightened his uniform and said, "Well, if you're not going to break them up, I will."
He was about to protest when Nixon's window of opportunity was resolutely closed by another soldier wearing the same uniform as Captain Clark.
This man was slightly shorter than Clark, with dark blond hair cropped short and broad shoulders. He placed a hand on Jessica's lower back as he said something to the couple. Talbart took a step back, bowed his head to hide the blush creeping into his cheeks at something Jessica said, before walking towards a pretty redhead who was standing by the bar with her equally attractive brunette friend.
The other soldier pulled her towards him and she followed his lead as if it came as naturally to her as breathing. He watched them sway to the music, catching glimpses of whispered words, shared glances and knowing smiles.
He looked away, feeling for all the world like he was intruding on a very personal moment. For the first time in a long time he wished he drank, sure that the taste of alcohol would help soothe the feeling clawing at his stomach.
Nixon sat down dramatically. "Well shit, just missed my window of opportunity."
"Maybe next time Nix," he remarked, hoping he sounded casual.
Nixon rolled his eyes and downed his glass. Slamming it down on the table he declared, "Just ask her to dance for God's sake."
"We're going to war Nix. Now isn't the time for distractions."
"Really? Well hell, and here I was thinking now's the ideal time for distractions!"
He shot his friend a dirty look, earning a snicker from Harry who was enjoying the little show.
"In all seriousness Dick. She's the first woman you've seriously looked at since I met you. Live a little."
He patted his friend's shoulder, hoping to put the subject to rest by saying, "Nix, look, she's already gone."
Nixon frowned, his thick eyebrows almost meeting in the middle as he searched the dancefloor.
"Where the hell did she go?" Nixon exclaimed, sounding almost offended.
He and Harry shrugged, neither one knowing where she'd gone or how she'd seamlessly melted into the crowd.
Where did she go, he repeated to himself, unaware that he'd be repeating that question over and over again over the next few days.
Arlene POV
Resting her cheek on Joe's shoulder she took deep, deliberate breaths, trying to settle the butterflies swarming in her stomach while committing his scent to memory.
She'd lost count of the number of songs they'd spent entangled in each other's arms. Some had been fast, and they were good fun, but she loved the slower songs because Joe would pull her close as they swayed to the music.
The first notes of a familiar song started to play and immediately she was transported back to a musky barn in France filled with British Commandos as they anxiously waited for Jessica and Benjie to return to them.
Her chest constricted and her grip on Joe tightened involuntarily as the memory of the hours that had followed flashed before her.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Joe asked tenderly, moving his hand from the small of her back to caress her cheek.
She lifted her head from his shoulder and met his worried gaze. "Nothing. Just a bad memory. I'm sorry."
"There's nothing to be sorry about. You….you've been over haven't you?"
She averted her eyes from his, staring intently at the back of the head of the woman dancing next to them.
Joe sighed and she thought she heard him curse under his breath. "I'm sorry. It's none of my business."
She looked back to him and tried her best to soften her features. "Now you have nothing to be sorry about. It's a fair question, I know I don't really act or look the way most of the women back home do."
"I know I've sure as hell never met anyone like you," he replied, a blush tinting his cheeks as soon as the words left his lips.
She smiled coyly, looking away momentarily as she tried to settle the flutter in her stomach. With a deep breath she looked back up and said, "We work with the men at the front. Sometimes behind the front. Have been for quite some time now."
"But you're American?"
"We volunteered early on. We work mostly with the British."
He nodded as he mulled over her words and she waited for the inevitable dash once he decided this wasn't the company he'd signed up for, for the evening.
To her surprise his grip on her hand tightened and he pulled her even closer to him.
"So you and Jessica are nurses?" he asked.
She bit the inside of her cheek, weighing up telling the whole truth or going with his assumption. Finally, deciding that something in-between was best she answered, "Sometimes and other times we help to gather and disseminate intelligence while doing our best to hamper enemy movements."
He arched up one eyebrow.
She titled her head to one side, waiting for his response to the revelation.
She felt him shift his grip on her hand and she followed his lead without hesitation as he spun her out and brought her back to the warmth of his body in one fluid movement.
"How long have you been fighting?" he asked.
"Since the start. It's been a while."
"I'd say!" he replied, a smile spreading across his handsome face.
"What are you smiling about?" she asked, perplexed by his unusual reaction.
He leaned down so his lips were an agonising inch away from her ear. "I realised this means you'll be in Europe. So tonight's not the last time I get to have you in my arms."
"You assume we'll be working in the same area."
"Seems we're all gonna start from England and that island is only so big. I'll find a way to see you again."
"Aren't you confident," she retorted.
"When it comes to you, let's call it single minded determination."
Her lips curled into a smile, anticipation and the heat of his breath on her skin sending a flush up from her chest and into her cheeks.
A soft touch to her shoulder broke the intense heat building between them. She turned her head to the side to find Jessica's twinkling eyes flicking knowingly between their flushed faces.
"John's friend is in charge of security at the Empire State building. He's pulled a few string for us to get access to the viewing deck at the top of the building tonight. We're taking some champagne and heading over there now," Jessica said, her face perfectly neutral.
"Oh," she replied, an all too harsh twinge of disappointment snapping at her insides.
The right corner of Jessica's lips twitched upwards a fraction and she knew then she'd been caught out. Before she could say anything Jessica turned her full attention to Joe. "Of course you have to come along Joe! I just won't take no for an answer and ask Arlene, I can be magnificently stubborn when I want to be."
Joe hesitated for a moment, his eyes darting to hers to gauge her reaction to Jessica's invitation.
Hoping to make it easy for him to decline the invitation she said, "Jess, they probably need to deploy the morning."
"Nope," her friend replied, popping the P, "I spoke to Tab and he said they're only deploying tomorrow afternoon late. And were told to report to barracks at 10:00 only."
"Oh, well….ummmm…..Joe you don't have to come along. I'm sure you want to spend the evening with your friends," she said, her mind suddenly unable to form a coherent thought or sentence.
He smiled, soft and warm, as he manoeuvred his hand so their fingers were intertwined. "I'm gonna spend months with these guys. I think they can survive one night without me."
Her lips turned up into a smile as she lost her train of thought in his dark eyes.
"Perfect," Jessica exclaimed with a clap of her hands.
They both snapped their heads in her direction and she was sure Joe could feel her pulse racing through the palm of her hand.
"Let's go. The boys are waiting for us at the coat check," her friend said, already turning on her heel and heading for the door before she'd even finished the sentence.
Joe held onto her hand as he deftly led her through the crowded room. He didn't head straight for the stairs leading to the exit though, instead stopping by their old table, now fully occupied by Easy men she recognised and others she hadn't met.
Joe bent down to say something to Malarkey she couldn't hear over the noise in the room. The young redhead glanced past Joe to flash her a mischievous smile which made her flinch, suddenly embarrassed and wondering what Joe had told him.
Joe slapped his friend on the shoulder and led her wordlessly towards the stairs. They quickly ascended them, the crisp noise of the ballroom almost instantaneously muffled by the heavy carpet used to line the hallway.
Joe released his hold on her hand and offered her his arm. She slipped her arm through his, her body leaning into his as they neared her waiting group of friends.
"What did you say to Malarkey?" she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"That your friends had other plans and invited me along."
"And the look he gave me? It wasn't exactly one of pure innocence."
He chuckled. "That's just his face. I think the last time he looked innocent was the day he was born. And I'm sure that was short lived."
"Well, he's Irish. It's in his blood," she teased.
As they reached the waiting group John held out her jacket to Joe. She raised her eyebrow at her friend, silently demanding to know what he was up to. He ignored her, instead helping Jessica slip into her coat as Joe held hers out for her.
She assumed Joe hadn't checked anything in, because as soon as she'd slipped into her pitch black coat and belted it around her waist he offered her his arm and they followed Jessica and John out of the club, Clark and Alex taking up the rear.
XXXXXXX
Hi everyone! Sorry for posting the chapter a bit late. We went away for the Easter weekend and I left my laptop at home.
I hope everyone had a great weekend and a wonderful start to the week.
You're going to hear this a lot (like a hell of a lot), but I just wanted to say thank you for everyone that left a review and all the follows and support.