Page 81 of Shadows In Paris
Lizzie exhaled and placed her gun on the table. ‘That’s a relief. I was worried someone had reported the abandoned milk truck, and they’d come to search for us.’
‘Like I said earlier, it’ll be covered in snow after today’s storm, but it’s stopped falling and is melting now, so it’s just as well we’re getting out of here tomorrow,’ Hannah said.
Jack and Hannah were freezing after their nighttime surveillance, and Lizzie made them some tea and they all huddled around the embers of the fire. Hannah threw some more logs on, and the flames crackled back to life, warming their faces.
Lizzie drank her tea, relieved the threat was over, and listened to Jack and Hannah reminisce about when Hannah first met Henry. Lizzie said, ‘Henry sounds wonderful. I hope I get to meet him when he’s on leave.’
‘I’ll make sure you do,’ Jack said. ‘The four of us can go out to dinner. Wouldn’t that be fun?’
‘I can’t even remember the last time I went out to dinner,’ Hannah said.
Lizzie reached over and squeezed Hannah’s shoulder. ‘All the more reason to come back with us tomorrow. The change of scene will do you good. Going out to dinner, the four of us, sounds amazing, doesn’t it?’
Hannah nodded. ‘It does, but I suppose I’m afraid of not wanting to come back here after being in London and finally seeing Henry again.’
‘If you don’t want to come back, you don’t have to. My mother dreams of you two getting married. She’d jump at the chance of arranging it for you,’ Jack said.
‘It wouldn’t feel right when they need our help here,’ Hannah said.
‘You would still help. HQ would snap you up in a heartbeat. You’d be invaluable in London and possibly have an even greater impact. We’re scaling operations in France. Imagine how many agents could benefit from your unique expertise.’
Hannah looked wistful. ‘It is tempting, but I can’t imagine living a normal life.’
Lizzie interjected. ‘Oh, trust me, it’s far from a normal life when you work at the SOE.’
Hannah said she appreciated the offer, and she’d give them an answer in the morning. ‘I won’t be able to fall asleep again now. You two get some rest. I’ll whistle if I need backup.’
Lizzie went upstairs and Jack followed.
CHAPTER 42
Lizzie opened her eyes as light trickled through the blinds. Jack’s arm lay across her stomach, and she was snuggled into his warm body.
This.This was what she had missed. The closeness of him next to her in bed. Knowing she could reach out and touch him anytime, which she did now.
He stirred and opened his eyes. ‘Seagrove,’ he said, his voice husky.
‘Raven,’ she whispered. ‘How did you sleep?’
‘Like a baby. You?’
Lizzie purred, ‘I haven’t slept that well since I arrived in Paris.’
‘Me neither! And today is the day we’re going home. I can’t tell you how much I missed you. I’ve never missed anyone in my whole life like I miss you when you go away. It’s as if there’s a gaping hole in my heart and I can’t function properly. Sounds sappy, but it’s true.’
Lizzie beamed at Jack’s effusive words of love and ran her fingers over the dark stubble on his chin. ‘I feel the same, butyou put it so much more eloquently than I ever could. It’s not at all sappy. It’s lovely.’
Jack lifted her on top of him in one fluid movement. His lips claimed hers and soon they were lost in each other again and forgot all about sleep.
Lizzie’s brunette locks tickled his skin as she propped her head on his chest and they lay in bed, not wanting their time alone to end.
‘I’d better go before Hannah twigs what we’re up to,’ he said after a while, climbing out of bed and pulling on his trousers.
‘I don’t think you need to worry about that. She knows.’
Jack’s dark eyebrow shot up as he studied her face. ‘Knows what?’
‘Knows about us.’
