Seducing Liselle (11 page)

Janet scooped up the wrappers from the
gauze and nodded.
“Yeah.
He said you’d been hurt and
wanted me to take a look at it.”

“Oh.”
Liselle
plucked at the shirt she was wearing. It wasn’t hers, but it was incredibly
soft, as if it had been washed a million times. She ducked her head down and
sniffed. It smelled clean and a little bit spicy. Like aftershave. “Did you
undress me?”

“I’m afraid not,” Janet replied, amusement
coloring her voice.

Liselle
flushed. That meant John had done it. And his sister knew. How embarrassing.
She frowned when Janet put a finger on part of the tape that had come back up,
sticking it back down again on
Liselle’s
skin.

“Is the scrape okay? Why did John call
you?” She looked around, realizing she had no memory of the trip from the motel
to John’s cabin. “What day is it?”

Janet stood up. “It’s fine, healing well.
It was shallow, so you did the right thing with the bandage and antibiotic
ointment. No infection.” She smiled and
Liselle
found
herself relaxing a bit. “And John called me because I’m a retired nurse. It’s
Monday night. You slept Sunday away. I gave you an IV yesterday. You were
really dehydrated and out of it. You probably don’t remember but John fed you
soup last night, too.”

“I … thank you,”
Liselle
stumbled over her words, trying to figure out what the hell she was supposed to
do now. Did Janet know about her dad? She hoped not. She didn’t want to get
Beth or any of her family involved in her mess of a life. “Um, where is he?”

“I’m right here,” John said, carrying a
tray with sandwiches on it over to the bed.

Liselle
blushed. She was almost naked and lying in his bed. Thank God he’d
left her panties on, or she would’ve died of embarrassment. Janet hadn’t said
anything, but
Liselle
could tell the woman was
curious. “How did I get here?” she asked him.

He set the tray down on the nightstand and
sat on the bed. The crows-feet around his eyes went momentarily deeper as he
smiled at her.
God, he’s pretty
, she thought.

“You don’t remember me picking you up at
the motel?”

Liselle
shook her head. She tugged on the comforter, trying to pull it up
over her legs while getting herself under control. Just one smile and she was
melting. John helped her, smoothing the soft fabric over her hips.

“Well, I’m not surprised. You were pretty
out of it by the time I got there,” he said.

“I called you? I don’t remember calling
you,” she muttered, sure her face must be flaming by now. She’d tried so hard
to deal with everything on her own and now here she was, back in John’s bed,
and not for fun. She didn’t want this. She didn’t want to burden him.

“Hey, relax. I can see you tensing up,” he
said, rubbing a thumb over her arm.

“I didn’t call you,” she said clearly,
looking him in the eye.

“You didn’t,” he agreed.

“Then how did I get here?”

“And that’s my cue to leave,” Janet said,
walking to the steps. “John, call me tomorrow, okay?” She paused and gave
Liselle
and concerned glance. “You’re safe here. And if you
need to talk, I’m only a phone call away.”

Liselle
nodded slowly. John’s sister, his whole family, really, was
incredibly kind. “Thank you.” She felt like a fraud. They took her in, bandaged
her wounds, literally, and she still felt angry. What was wrong with her?

Janet smiled and walked downstairs.
Liselle
eyed the sandwiches on the tray, then picked one up
and began eating. She was ravenous. John didn’t speak until the front door
opened and closed, and then he frowned. “You should have called me as soon as
your dad showed up.”

She swallowed and shook her head. “And
then what? I was in Arizona. I had a new name, a new apartment. I have no idea
how he found me.” She sighed and slumped down against the pillows. He handed
her a glass of water. She drank and then finished her sandwich. He waited until
she was done before speaking again.

“I would’ve come.”

She stared at him. “Why? You don’t even
know me.”

“That’s bullshit,” he said, voice going
hard. “I know you better than you know yourself.”

She felt like throwing something at him.
“How did I get here?”

He sighed. “The guy at the motel called
me.”

“Gary? You’re joking.” Since when did
random motel owners care enough to do that?

“Nope, not joking at
all.”

“How did he get your number?” She was
really confused now. “
I
don’t even
have your number.”

John looked at her for a long moment. “He
got my name from my dog tag.” He reached out and plucked the string out from
under the neck of her shirt. John’s tag dangled at the end of a … what the
hell?
A gold chain?
Liselle’s
heart flipped over. She took it from him, staring at the familiar metal tag,
then
ran a thumb over the gold chain that had somehow
appeared around her neck.

“I don’t understand,” she murmured,
running the necklace through her fingers.

“The string you had it on broke,” John
said, his voice very, very gentle.

She swallowed, afraid to meet his eyes. “So
you gave me this?” Was this man for real?

He touched a hand to her cheek, tilted her
face up. His green eyes weren’t laughing now, they were warm and serious. The
heat in them made her skin prickle. “Yes.”

“John—” she began, but he quieted her with
a finger on her lips.

“
Shh
.
Just …
shh
.”
He leaned over and
kissed her. His lips were slightly chapped. “I thought my head was going to
explode when I saw you in that motel room. You were so pale,
Liselle
.
God.”
He kissed her
again.

“I’m not worth this,” she said, trying to
turn her head away. He wouldn’t let her.

“Bullshit.” He kissed her again. “Why
won’t you let me help you?”

She blinked back tears. “This isn’t your
job. I don’t want you to get hurt. Or Beth, God forbid.”

He sat back.
“
Liselle
.
Don’t you understand? I want to help you.
Why won’t you let me?”

She licked her lips. He looked so
frustrated and all at once she realized he was completely, utterly serious. She
remembered the nightmare he’d had, months ago, the night she’d slept with him.
She remembered the way he’d tossed and turned, calling out names. He’d lost a
lot more than the use of his shoulder in that mission he’d flown, years ago.
He’d lost people, too. And given the way he so naturally took care of her, the
way he took care of his niece and his sisters, it was likely that losing his
men had damaged some essential part of who he was. He
needed
to take care of her as much as she needed his help.

Suddenly, she was ashamed of herself.
She’d been stumbling through life for years now, never trusting anyone even as
she told herself she was better than her dad. Better than her brother. Feeling
so self-righteous about her choices, but really, she’d been fooling herself all
along. She’d refused to trust anyone, assuming she’d suffer for it, pretending
that it was better for them to keep out of her life. But not every man was her
father. John wasn’t her father. He was a good person. Every time she refused to
let him help her it was as if she was telling him he wasn’t good enough. That
she didn’t trust him. She was hurting him more by refusing his help and he
didn’t deserve that.

“I’m sorry,” she breathed, tears rolling
down her cheeks. “John, God, I’m so sorry.” She was sobbing now, reaching out
for him just as he leaned in and gathered her close.

“
Shhh
, it’s
okay.” He smoothed her hair. “You’re tired. Everything will look better in the
morning. You don’t have anything to apologize about.”

She clung to him, hating herself for being
so weak. “This is so stupid!” She rubbed her face angrily. “I’m forty-three
years old! I have a degree and I used to have a good job and now I’m running
from place to place—God. I hate him.”

John held her tighter. “He’s not going to
bother you here, I promise.”

Even as he said the words,
Liselle
snorted. “You can’t promise that.”

“Yes, I can. He has no idea where I live.
You’re safe here.” He handed her a tissue.

She blew her nose and took deep breaths.
“I guess I’m just really angry.”

He nodded. “What did you do for a living?”

“You mean before? When I thought he would
never find me?” She wiped her eyes. Her thigh throbbed and she really just
wanted to go to sleep and forget about all this, but John deserved to know.

“I have a degree in finance and marketing.
I used to do the accounts for a big software company in California.” She threw
the dirty tissue on the floor. John didn’t even flinch.
Strong
man.
“Now I’m lucky if I can get a job waitressing.”

He ran a thumb over her lips and kissed
her, soft and quick. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not! You know I had my name
changed, legally?”

He lifted an eyebrow. “
Liselle
isn’t your real name?”

She shook her head. “It is now. It’s the
name I chose for myself when I ran away to go to college. I changed it the day
I turned eighteen. And then I changed it again, and again, and it never
mattered.”

“Is
Liselle
Parker your legal name now?”

She nodded.
“Yeah.
I figured, what’s the point changing it when my dad and Matt always found me
somehow? And I didn’t want to give either of them the satisfaction of taking
away from me the first thing I ever gave myself. I chose that name. It was
mine.”

He
smiled,
green
eyes so bright they hurt her heart. “I think it’s a beautiful name.”

She laughed, feeling better for some
reason. “It was my grandmother’s name.
My mother’s mother.”

“Good,” he said, shifting the covers up
over her hips.

“Where are you going?” she asked, grabbing
his arm. She didn’t want him to go.

He smoothed the pillows under her head.
“I’m not going anywhere. But it’s late. You should get some sleep.”

She frowned, so tired that what he was
saying didn’t make sense. “Where are you going to sleep?”

He stood up. “I’ll just be downstairs on
the couch.”

“Don’t go,” she said before she could
think about what she was asking.

He paused, about to walk away. “
Liselle
, you need to rest.”

She flushed. “I know. Just … stay.” She
yawned, suddenly.

He looked at her for a long moment,
then
began unbuttoning his shirt.
“All
right.”

Liselle
watched him undress, slipping off his jeans. He was as beautiful as
she remembered: thick muscles, soft sprinkling of hair on his chest. She wished
she had the energy to do more than look. He sat on the bed to take off his
socks.

“You took my clothes off, didn’t you?” she
asked sleepily.

“Yeah.
You looked pretty uncomfortable.” He slid into the bed next to her
wearing just his boxers.

“Thank you,” she whispered, turning her
head into his shoulder. He was warm and smelled good. For the first time in
months she felt her body completely relax, despite the pain in her leg.

“You’re welcome,” he said, his soft voice
following her down into sleep.

John opened his eyes at six a.m., right
around the time his alarm usually went off. The sun was barely up, but the soft
click of the air conditioning flicking on told him that it was going to be hot
outside again. He turned his head.
Liselle
was still
asleep, her hair spread out over the pillow like a sleek, fragrant blanket. It
was a little shorter than it had been back in February, but there was still
enough to play with. He picked up a lock, fingering it.
Soft.
When she stirred, he froze.

“John?” she murmured, snuggling into his
shoulder. The comforter fell down over her hip, exposing the faded cotton of
her panties. For some reason, the shabby look was even sexier than if she’d
been wearing expensive silk. Her skin was pale, but at least she didn’t look
gray anymore. He ran his fingers down her hip, enjoying the way she felt under
his palms. His cock was half-hard and well on its way to full erection as he
closed his eyes and inhaled the sweet scent of her.

“Time is it?” she asked, sounding sleepy
and adorable.

“Not time to get up yet,” he replied, only
partially honest. He had to get up, soon, and get to work.
But I can go in a
little late
, he thought.
I own the company, and the guys know where to
go this morning without me babysitting them.
They had a job renovating an
old general store in the next town over, and today they were working on tearing
up the worn subfloor so that they could install new tiles. The crew could get
started without him for once. He slid his hand up under
Liselle’s
shirt and settled his fingers over the curve of her waist. She was so warm and
pretty. He wanted to close his eyes and bury himself in her forever.