Sisters in Arms by Kaia Alderson

Author:Kaia Alderson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Published: 2021-06-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

New York City

Late January 1945

RIBBONS OF DAYLIGHT streamed into the hotel room through the thin gaps between the blackout curtain and the window frame. Grace opened one eye, then quickly covered it with her hand to block the sunlight. It had been so long since she had slept in a bed as soft as this one. She picked up her watch from the side table. It was almost seven o’clock in the morning.

She wriggled her limbs, which were twisted around the sheets of the rumpled bed. Her movements were unhurried. She had no incentive to rush, but then she remembered the night clerk’s threat.

She swung her legs over the side and the bed groaned under her shifting weight. She winced as she stood. So much for her hopes for a silent escape. Even so, Jonathan’s face remained buried in his pillow.

“The last thing I want is for things to become awkward between us.” His words were muffled, but the meaning behind them was clear. “Last night—all of it—was about more than getting into your pants.”

He turned and sat up. “I wasn’t lying when I said I’ve had feelings for you for some time.”

“And I meant it when I said no strings attached. Jonathan, last night was inevitable. Like a dream really.” Grace scooped her wool stockings up from the floor. She sat down on the foot of the bed and began pulling the material up the length of her leg. “Let’s not ruin it with empty promises.”

He frowned. “There’s nothing empty about what I’m trying to tell you.”

“Then what are you trying to tell me?”

He paused, like he needed a moment to work up his nerve. Now, that made Grace go still. In all the time she’d known him, she had never seen him be unsure about anything.

“I would like to court you, Grace. Properly.”

She shook her head. Those words were not supposed to be coming out of his mouth. While growing up, she had eavesdropped on her brother and his friends in the neighborhood talking about how they liked the girls who made it easy, the ones who gave it up without pressuring them into a relationship or any kind of a future together. Last night’s “fling” with Jonathan was supposed to be like that. She had wanted him to see her as, well, an easy girl. One who would slip from his mind like they had never even known each other. Nothing more. He was supposed to be breathing a sigh of relief that she was making a beeline for the door, not giving her reasons to stay.

And his declaration shouldn’t be making her heart flutter with longing for what could have been. Nor should it flood with regret.

Damn this war. Under different circumstances, she could easily see him as the kind of man she might want to spend the rest of her life with.

“That’s . . . not what I want, though.” She turned her back to him and finished zipping up her skirt. “We agreed to no strings attached, remember?”

“No, that’s what you said.

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