by Alexa Kang
31
The following evening, Tessa and Irene waited for the boys in front of the hospital when Alice, another nurse in their unit, showed up. An outgoing girl from Los Angeles who dabbled in a modeling career before becoming a military nurse, she had joined the 33rd the same time as Ellie and Irene.
"Hi, girls!" Alice rushed up to them, out of breath. "My God, I almost didn't make it. Milton went off on one of her tirades again when one of the patients' files went missing. It wasn't even my fault. My only mistake was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I happened to be there when she discovered the error and she started yelling at everybody. She went on and on about how we were all a disgrace for being disorganized. I thought I'd never get out of there."
"I didn't know you were coming," Irene said.
"Of course I'm coming. Jesse invited me."
"He invited you too?" Irene pouted. Alice gave her a big smile.
"I thought Jesse was your boyfriend?" Tessa said to Irene.
Irene laughed. "Jesse? My boyfriend? Hardly. Although I wish. See? I thought I'll finally have him all to myself for one evening, and what do you know? Alice is here. Now I got all excited for nothing."
"Oh come on, Irene. Don't be selfish. Jesse's community property, okay? Is that fair?" Alice said. She too was laughing. Neither Alice nor Irene seemed to take the matter very seriously.
Seeing the perplexed look on Tessa's face, Irene explained to her, "Jesse Garland, unfortunately, is not the kind of man who would ever be tied down to any one woman."
"And yet you all like him?" Tessa asked.
"Sure. It's not like we're going to marry him. No harm having a little fun with our medical unit's very own Valentino, right, Alice?"
"Um hmm." Alice agreed and made a dreamy looking face that made Tessa laugh.
At eight o'clock, two army vehicles pulled up. From the first vehicle, Anthony called out to Tessa as soon as he saw her. "Tessa!"
She ran over to him and climbed into the jeep while he moved aside to make room for her. "Tessa, this is my friend Warren Hendricks. He's the classmate I told you about from UC."
She and Warren exchanged greetings. Anthony pointed out to her the other men in another jeep behind them. "The one in the front is Clayton. He can be a little brash. Don't mind him. The other one is Jesse Garland."
She recognized Jesse. "Yes. We've already met." Irene and Alice had now gotten into the other vehicle and each of them sat on one side of Jesse. It occurred to Tessa then that Jesse had invited the two prettiest nurses of the 33rd out tonight.
"Jesse's one of my better friends in the unit."
"Is he?"
"I wrote you about him, but maybe you didn't get my letter because you were already on your way here."
"Jesse said you ordered everyone to take me out tonight."
"What? He said that?! He was putting you on."
She felt slightly disappointed. She thought Anthony wanted to let all his friends know who she was, but he put his arm around her and pulled her close against him and that made her feel better again. "I would much rather be alone with you," he said in a low voice that only she could hear.
She would love to be alone with him too, although, for once, she didn't mind having people around. He had his arm around her the entire ride. He did want to openly show everyone she was his girl! She leaned closer to him.
After a short drive, they came to a restaurant that the army had converted into a club for entertaining G.I. servicemen. While they made their way to one of the remaining empty tables, Tessa took in the scene. Other than the attendees being mainly soldiers, the place was not unlike any other bar. What surprised her was the army band. The ensemble of eight men, all dressed in military uniforms, were rolling out tunes from the 1920s with different instruments. One of them even played the piano.
"Are the band members enlisted soldiers?" Tessa asked Anthony.
"They are. They're musicians recruited to play music for the combat troops, but these men do more than entertain. They get their hands dirty like the rest of us. I've even seen them take up arms in combat." The trumpet player blew a show-stopping solo segment and everyone applauded. "They're good, aren't they?"
"More than good. They are terrific!"
"Sometimes, they come to the front line to perform for us. I really like it when they come." A sorrowful look came across his face. By the hint of sadness in his voice, she could imagine how lonely and depressing it must be for him when he was out there. Wishing to comfort him, she put her hand on his. He looked at her. She could see in his eyes how much her affection meant to him.
The excitement heated up to another level when the band started to play Glenn Miller's swing jazz songs. The audience went wild and some of the soldiers took to the floor to swing dance with the local girls they had brought along. Anthony watched for her reaction and smiled.
"What?" She tried to deflect his look. He wouldn't say anything but continued smiling at her.
"No!" she said. "I'm not going to go out there to dance with these army boys. Look at them. They're not even good. They're just flinging the girls around." She wasn't exaggerating either. Watching them, she wondered if these boys might accidentally drop one of the girls on the floor and she would have to cut short her own evening to take the poor girl back to the hospital for treatment.
Overhearing what she said, Jesse turned to them and asked, "Do you two swing dance?"
"I can't," Anthony said, "but Tessa is really good."
"Is that so?" Jesse got up, walked over to her, and held out his hand. "May I?"
Taken aback by his invitation, Tessa hesitated. Jesse looked at Anthony. "Do you mind?"
"No, not at all," Anthony said. "Go on, Tessa. I know you like this. Go and have some fun."
Still unsure, Tessa took Jesse's hand and let him take her out to the floor. Anthony did say Jesse was his friend, so she didn't want to turn him down and be too standoffish. At least Jesse didn't seem like those other rough country boys who were tossing those poor girls around like they were sacks of potatoes.
As soon as they began, all her hesitation went by the wayside. Jesse was a fantastic dancer. With ease, he swung her every which way, pulling her in, then releasing. He pulled her forward and released her backward while leading them in circular turns, then lifted her and tossed her into the air. His steps were so quick, his hold of her was steady, and his movements were so fast.
He swing danced even better than Jack!
Tessa could not stop laughing the whole time. She hadn't let herself loose and had this kind of fun for a long, long time. When the music stopped and they were both trying to catch their breath, they found they were the only ones still dancing. She and Jesse were so good, all the other dancing couples had cleared the floor for them. Everybody in the room was clapping, hollering, and whistling in cheers. Tessa looked over at Anthony. He applauded along with everyone else, clearly wowed too while Clayton good-naturedly slapped him on the back.
Still holding on to her hand, Jesse asked, "Can you tango?"
"I can. My father taught me and he's the most amazing dancer. Although, I haven't done it in years."
He grabbed her waist and waltzed her over to the pianist. "Can we have some tango music please?"
Before she knew it, he had led her into the tango starting position. "I'll lead then."
She didn't expect this. She told him she could tango because it was true. She didn't mean she wanted to dance the tango with him right now. But she had no time to react. The high-pitch, wailing sound of the opening violin segment of "Tango Jalousie" began and he pulled her into a close embrace. The sudden closeness of their bodies took her by surprise.
The mournful and raging music continued as he circled around her, pivoting her movements into a front cross, side step, back cross, and side step until the rest of the band joined in with the next segment's diabolical tunes. All the while, he gazed at her, his eyes as intense as the first time she saw them. The wave of passion flowin
g from them overwhelmed her. Their bodies were close. Too close for her comfort. She looked away to see Anthony's reaction. Anthony was watching her with the rest of the crowd. He didn't appear to have noticed anything odd. He gave her a little smile. Touched, she smiled back.
"Hey, look at me," Jesse whispered into her ears, his voice sounding as duplicitous and seductive as the music being played. "You're dancing with me."
She nearly stumbled. "Ye…yes. Sorry." She faced him again and looked into his eyes. His eyes drew her like a magnet. It was hard to look away.
The tempo slowed down and the music changed from tunes of fiendish danger to doomed desire. He pulled her up against his chest, then stepped back and pulled her off her axis, forcing her to lean into him. When the first part of the song reached its fiery climax, he swept her up by the waist and led them into a series of small lifts, making their physical contacts unavoidable. When their bodies touched, their movements were neither flashy nor obvious. They happened so fast, only he and she knew. She could feel a latent, carnal undercurrent each time his body brushed against hers.
All this was too much. She could not dance so intimately with someone she had only just met. She was about to pull back away from him, but the music changed again. Going along with the romantic segment's smooth and lyrical beats, he switched to a normal embrace and led her with classic tango steps forward, sideways, and backward. Relieved, she continued. She could not help being impressed by the way he danced. His movements were so effortless and elegant, so crisp and controlled. He kept varying his steps, challenging her. His eyes were still on her, watching her every move and her every step to see if she would falter. Unfazed, she stared back at him and matched him step for step.
"You can keep up with me?" he said in wonder.
Of course she could. She wasn't a neophyte. She was Dean Graham's daughter. "You've seen nothing yet," she said. She wished she could show off more moves. If they weren't in front of so many soldiers, she would turn it up a notch and show him what she could really do. But as it was, she restrained herself and held back, mindful not to kick too high or make any exaggerated move that might invite the wrong kind of attention.
Perhaps sensing her reservation, he switched to a lighter move and led her to a side step to the left. But then without warning, in a quick change of momentum, he switched their weight to the right. The momentum caused her left leg to swing up behind her into a cute and eye-catching boleo kick. The sudden playful move made her laugh. He repeated this change of momentum several times. She stole a glance at him. He was trying to please her.
With her now more relaxed, he skillfully turned her around into a reverse embrace and led them into a set of forward steps. He then turned her around into another reverse embrace and they stepped toward the opposite direction. So smooth when he moved, she didn't notice how closely he was holding her in his arms.
He turned her back into a forward embrace and continued on, easily leading each circular step until the music came to an end. From their last movements, she expected they would end with the classic final pose in which she would lean backward away from him and extend out her arm. Instead, he pulled her body back up against him, grabbed her extending arm, and swung it around his neck while he slid his fingers slowly down her inner arm and down her back. They ended facing each other. Their faces were so close. If they were any closer, their lips would have touched. She could feel his warm breath on her face.
They came to a dead stop this way and the music ended on its last note. The room erupted into cheers and thunderous applause, loud whistles and howls.
Quickly, she pulled away from him. But if anything out of line had just happened, she seemed to be the only one to have noticed. She looked at Jesse, but he merely gave her a small bow while he mouthed the words, "Thank you." All traces of seduction he had shown earlier had disappeared. She looked over at Anthony. He gave her a thumb's up, his eyes beaming with pride.
"Excuse me," she said to Jesse and hurried back to Anthony. As soon as she sat down, she put her arm around his and held onto it like it was a lifesaver.
"You were awesome, Tessa!" Anthony said. "I didn't know you could tango that well. How come you never told me?"
Tessa gave him an awkward smile. "Did you see what Jesse did?"
"No." Anthony shook his head. "I'm sure he was great but I wasn't watching him. I only had my eyes on you." He leaned close to her and whispered into her ear, "You look so amazingly sexy dancing like that. Makes me want to take you somewhere alone away from here."
His words, and what he was implying, sent a torrent of burning sensation straight up to her heart. She caressed her head against his arm, adoring the intimate sound of his voice.
"I might have to learn to tango so I can dance with you like that too."
"No," she said. "You don't have to do anything." She stroked his face. "Don't ever change."
Pleased, he gave her a small kiss on her forehead.
She took a sip of her wine and glanced in Jesse's direction. Jesse was still on the dance floor, surrounded by Alice and Irene, each demanding him to dance with them.
"Look at them. Is he always such a flirt?" Tessa asked Anthony.
"I don't know. I always thought it was the women who wouldn't leave him alone."
Jesse, Alice, and Irene were now making a minor spectacle of themselves with the two girls both vying for his attention. He put one arm around each girl and walked them away to the side while other couples returned to the floor and danced. He whispered to Irene, then to Alice. Whatever he said to them must have pleased them. Other men in the room could only watch in envy. And yet, Tessa had a gut feeling Jesse didn't enjoy any of it. A glimpse of boredom fleeted past his face even as he sweet-talked the girls and drew their admiring eyes. Everything he did looked like an act to her.
But whatever he was doing, it was none of her business. "Come on." She tugged Anthony. "Let's go outside and take a walk."
"Okay." He took her hand and together they left the club.
Once outside, he pulled her into a secluded side street, took her into his arms, and kissed her hard. His embrace was so tight, but she wanted more. She held him as close as she could and kissed him back. How she had longed to feel his arms around her again, to be able to touch him and to feel his touch. She laid her face against his neck and inhaled. She wanted to soak in his scent. She kissed his lips, his face, his chest where the top of his shirt was left unbuttoned. She wanted to taste every part of him. She couldn't get enough of him.
32
Jesse watched Tessa and Anthony as they left their table and headed out of the bar. Irene and Alice were still to trying to outwit each other to get his attention, but he barely heard a word they said.
For the first time in his life, he found himself deeply drawn to another person. Tessa Graham. He could not get her out of his mind. Why was she immune to him? This had never happened before. Did she love Anthony Ardley that much?
So what if a girl was in love with someone else? Seducing a girl away from someone had never been a problem for him, and it wouldn't bother him one bit even if Ardley was the person from whom he would steal her away. But Tessa Graham was like an ice wall. He wasn't sure he could succeed with her. In any case, for reasons he couldn't quite understand, he felt unable to do what had always come so easily to him. In front of her, he didn't want to play his games, tell his lies, or talk his sweet talk. With her, he would feel ashamed if he tried any of that. She made him want, for the first time in his life, to be honest and decent to another person. He wanted her to know him for who he really was, not the facade built on tricks and lies, designed to serve an ulterior motive for the sheer purpose of survival.
There was only one problem. He had put on so many false identities over the years, he no longer knew who his true self was underneath all that.
Playing his act had become second nature to him. Here in the army, he had no need to use any of his arts. And yet, he couldn't help himself. Conning others into gi
ving him things was a habit that he couldn't break. He had no need to be a womanizer here, and yet here he was, flirting with nurses like Alice and Irene and toying with their hearts even though it felt more like work than fun. And Ardley. Why did he befriend Ardley in the first place? Because Ardley was money. He could spot money from a hundred miles away. But what was the point? He was stuck on the front line with no end in sight. He had no need to go after money, but he couldn't resist. It was his instinct to orbit in the sphere of people who were moneyed.
As all his schemes were now only motions without motives, he and Ardley had actually become friends. Ardley was the first real friend he had had in a very long time. He almost started to value their friendship, until Tessa Graham came along. Part of him wished he had never met Ardley. Then he would never have met her. Thinking about her made him question everything about himself.
"You owe me two dances, Jesse. You danced two songs with Tessa," Alice said, half joking and half serious.
"No," Irene protested. "It's my turn. I asked first, Jesse. Earlier tonight, remember?"
"Ladies, ladies," Jesse said, "I'll dance with both of you. I promise. Just let me take a breather, okay? Come on. Let's have a drink." He led them both back to the table where Anthony and Tessa sat a while ago. He felt no inclination to dance with either Alice or Irene. Who were they kidding? No way they could dance as well as Tessa. He meant to stall and let the time pass until it was too late and they all had to leave.
Although come to think of it, he had never danced with such fire with anyone before either. Dance to impress women, yes. Pretend to romance them, certainly. But when he danced the tango with Tessa, he felt an overwhelming desire to take her, to make her feel something for him. He didn't know what came over him.
Tessa's glass of wine was still on the table. She only finished half of it. Unable to take his eyes off it, he took the glass and drank the rest.
