Seducing Liselle (4 page)

Beth rolled her eyes at her just like she
did the rest of her family.
Liselle
loved it.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I have your cell
number.” Beth dug her phone from her pocket and waved it around.

Liselle
smiled. “Okay. Good.”

Jenn
appeared with a foil wrapped paper plate. “Thank you for coming.”

Liselle
accepted the pie.
“No, thank you for having me.
You didn’t have to do this, open your house to me. I really appreciate it.”

Jenn
smiled and
Liselle
headed for the hall.
Just as she passed the steps, Julie hurried up to her.

“Wait!”

Liselle
covered a sudden stab of worry with what she hoped was a neutral
expression. Julie held an envelope out to her. “What’s this?” she asked, taking
it gently.

“Pictures.
Baby pictures of Beth.”

Liselle
stared at her, surprised.

Julie smiled tremulously. “I’ll be honest
with
you,
I didn’t really want you to come. But I’m
glad you did. You’re nothing like him. I’m glad I met you, especially because
now I know there’s something decent in his genes and that’s comforting, believe
it or not.”

Liselle
had to blink back tears for the second time in an hour. “I … thank
you. I’m glad I came too. Thank you for letting me
meet
your daughter.”

Julie grinned. “You can
come
visit anytime you want to.”

Liselle
reached out and impulsively hugged her. “Thank you,” she whispered,
not mentioning that it wasn’t likely. Now that she’d seen what a good family
Beth had, she could never risk leading her father here. She let go and stepped
back quickly, trying not to cry. John was watching them from the hall. “You’re
all very nice, and I’m really glad I met you.” She turned and grabbed her coat,
nearly spilling the others on the floor.

“Let me hold that for you,” John said,
coming up and taking the pie and envelope from her.

She stared at him, still too overwhelmed
to think clearly.

“Put your coat on,” he said, glancing out
the window by the front door. “It’s snowing.”

She took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay.”
She slipped her arms into her coat and buttoned it up. “Thank you.” She took
the pie and envelope back and carefully tucked the photos into her purse.

He smiled. She tried not to think about
how ridiculously handsome he looked.

“You’re welcome,” he said, opening the
door for her and she walked out, trying not to think about the lonely life
waiting for her. Resolutely, she trudged through the snow. Nothing she could do
about it. When she got in her car, she couldn’t stop herself from looking back
one last time. John was still standing there, bare feet just touching the snow,
blond hair tousled. His green eyes gleamed as he waved. His smile warmed her
more than she wanted to admit.

Chapter Three

An hour later, she sat in her rapidly
cooling rental car, cursing her luck. Of course the stupid engine would stall
for no reason she could tell. Of course she’d slide off the side of the road
when she lost power to her steering and brakes. And of
course
, it would be snowing like crazy when all of this happened.
She peered out the window, trying to decide how long it was going to take her
to walk back to the
Steeles
' house. Gloomily, she
predicted it would be at least an hour, maybe more. It was dark, and she hadn’t
worn her boots, because she was a moron. For the first time in her life, she
thought of her tiny apartment back in San Diego with fondness. At least it was
warm
there.

“This is what you get for living in
California for the last decade. You’ve forgotten what it’s like to deal with
this crap,” she said out loud, just to hear something besides the soft hissing
of the snow hitting her car windows.

She looked at the pie on the seat, then at
her purse where she’d tucked the photos. It was too dark to look at the
pictures now. The only reason she could see at all was because there was so
much snow the white reflected its own kind of dim light onto everything. She
felt like she’d been stuffed into a glass snow globe without the cheerful music
box option. She had the creepy, pipe organ, funeral edition. She put her face
in her hands, tired and frustrated and cold. She’d just rest her eyes for a
moment…

When she heard the car pull to a stop on
the side of the road, she jerked awake, knowing immediately that she was in
trouble. Her fingers and toes were so numb she couldn’t feel them anymore and
her breath steamed in the cold interior of her car. Shit! When had she fallen
asleep?

“Hello? Anyone in there?” a man called.

Liselle
shivered violently and jammed her hand around the door lever,
yanking frantically. It didn’t budge.

“Yes! I’m in here,” she yelled, shoving at
the car door with all her strength. She banged on the window, hoping to
dislodge some of the snow. No such luck. She tried the door again. It moved
this time, but wouldn’t open more than a couple inches.

“
Liselle
?
Is that you?”

John! Of course, he would be the one to
find her. She banged her head on the window, trying to wake herself up and
punish herself simultaneously. She recognized his voice. Because who else would
be on this road except the gorgeous man she’d just met? The one she’d been
trying to impress and then run as far away from as she could? She pinched the
bridge of her nose, mortified, knowing she was being ridiculous. She was so
cold her thoughts felt like molasses. She straightened her shoulders. It didn’t
matter how embarrassed she was, she needed help.

“John, yeah.
It’s me,
Liselle
. Can you get me out of
here?” She shoved at the door some more. The snow crunched against the metal
and she winced, hoping she hadn’t scratched the paint. The rental company was
definitely going to charge her extra for this.

“Hang on,” he said just on the other side,
and she let herself slump down against the seat. The frozen fabric felt like
sandpaper.

When the door creaked, she pushed on it
with her hands, trying to help. She was shivering continuously now, unable to
stop. Abruptly the door was wrenched open. She almost fell out into the drifts
of snow that had piled up around her car.

“Hey there, come on now. No snow diving.”
John reached in and grabbed her hand.

“Wait, just a sec,” she pulled back to
snatch up her purse. She didn’t want to lose the photos. “What about the pie?”

“Don’t worry about the damn pie,” he said,
a faint hint of exasperation threading through his voice.

She flinched, a sudden stab of
apprehension making her heart pound. What was she doing, trusting a man she’d
just met?

“
Liselle
, you
know I won’t hurt you,” John said, touching her hand again. His voice was
gentle but insistent.

How did he know she was frightened? Did it
matter? She swallowed and gathered her courage.

“Yeah, okay,” she whispered, letting him
take her arm and pull her out.

“What happened?” he asked once she was
standing up.

She looked around, still trembling
violently. Her head felt like it was stuffed full of cotton. Strangely, her
face felt hot. She shoved back her hood. Everything around them was quiet: the
trees, the road, the sky. The entire world was white except for John’s truck,
which was blue. The headlights were so bright they hurt her eyes.

“My engine stalled. I have no idea why.
And then I had a hard time with the brakes and steering and the car slid into
the ditch. And then I fell asleep.”

He looked at her, face tight with worry.
“Come on, we’ve got to get you warm.” He took her arm and guided her to his
truck.

“Where are we going?” She fumbled with her
purse, stumbling and almost going down as the heavy snow dragged at her feet.

“I’m taking you to my place. It’s not far
from here.” He opened the passenger side door and boosted her up.

She tried not to think about his hand
shoving against her butt, but then she was inside and he was gone before she
could freak out. A blast of hot air wafted across her face. He had the heater
on high. It smelled faintly of coolant, but she wasn’t going to complain. At
least it was warm. The seat was hard and springy and the vinyl was cracked. It
caught on her wool coat and snagged against her leggings, but she didn’t care.
She held out her frozen hands to the vents blasting hot air at her and let
herself relax slightly. When John hopped in the driver’s side, she glanced at
him. His cheeks were rosy. He smiled at her, eyes crinkling attractively. She
smiled back, feeling a little tentative. The tips of his ears were red.

“You should have worn a hat,” she said
vaguely, clutching at her bag.

He shrugged, buckling himself in with easy
competence. “I wasn’t planning on spending time outside.”

She huffed. “Yeah, well, neither was I.
And look what happened.”

He grinned at her and shifted into first
gear, shoving at the stick until it popped into place. “You’ve got a point.”

The truck lurched and she grabbed onto the
door. “What’s that noise?” The entire vehicle was vibrating and there was a low
grating sound coming from the engine.

He grimaced. “I think a bearing is going.
Or gone.
I have to look at that soon.”

She had no idea what a bearing going
missing could do to an engine but it sounded bad. “Are you sure this is safe?”
Her brain was starting to work again as she got warmer. She wiggled her toes in
her boots. They were damp, yuck, and had started to tingle painfully.

“It’s safer than your car,” he said,
muscling
the vehicle onto the road. Snow went flying past
her window as the wheels spun. He shifted again and the grinding sound eased a
bit.

Liselle
couldn’t think of anything to say, so she closed her eyes and tried
really hard to not think about the fact that they were headed for his place.
Where was she going to sleep? She drifted off to the sound of the engine
rumbling. A few minutes later a jolt woke her.

“What happened?” she asked, rubbing at her
eyes. She couldn’t believe she’d fallen asleep again.

“I’m not sure,” he said, shifting. His
thigh flexed. She tried not to stare, but his tight jeans didn’t leave much to
the imagination.

She grabbed onto the dash as she jerked
her head away, hoping he knew what he was doing. The air coming from the vents
abruptly cut off.

“Shit,” he muttered. “It better not be the
alternator.” The truck lurched again and he shoved hard at the steering wheel,
turning onto another road that led deeper into the woods.

“Is this the way to your house?” she
asked, trying to see through the falling snow and failing. There was nothing
outside but trees and white.

“Yeah, but something’s not right with the
damn truck.” He cursed again, shifting hard.

Once again, her eyes dropped to where his
leg worked the clutch, denim pulling taut against his muscled thigh. She
blushed, raising her cold hands to her cheeks. The wet wool of her gloves
scratched her skin. She looked away just in time to get a steadying hand back
on the dashboard as the truck suddenly slid to a stop. The engine let loose a
hard thump and died.

“Ah, hell,” John said, rubbing a hand over
his hair. “I think something happened to the transmission.
Again.”
He sighed and looked at her sheepishly. “We’re going to have to walk. I’m
sorry.”

“How far is it from here?”
Liselle
asked, already unbuckling her belt.

“Not far, thank God. Maybe ten minutes in
the snow?”

She nodded. “Well, let’s get going before
my feet get cold again.”

He winced. “I’m really sorry about this.”

She laughed and pushed open the door. The
ancient metal squeaked. “This is a lot better than freezing to death in my car,
John.”

He hopped out and hurried around to her
side, helping her down.
“Yeah, but still.
I didn’t
want you to have to walk in this.”

She shrugged, fatalistic. “Worse things
have happened to me.”

He gave her a sharp look,
then
shoved the truck door shut. “I promise my house is
warm. I even have hot chocolate.”

She smiled at him, for the first time in
her life thankful for a man’s help. “I’ll hold you to that. I love chocolate.”

He grinned at her and offered an arm. She
took it, struck once again by how strangely gentle he seemed. In her
experience, men weren’t often gallant, and especially not men as large as John.
If they were, they usually wanted something from her that she wasn’t willing to
give.