Seducing Liselle by Marie E. Blossom Page B

said.
    Liselle swallowed and let the gentle hand push her back down. She looked
around, calming down marginally when she recognized the space: she was in
John’s bedroom. The windows at the far end of the room were dark, but the room
was brightly lit with two lamps and an overhead lamp. She felt like total crap,
but happily she remembered where she’d heard that particular voice before.
    “Janet?” she croaked. “What—” She broke
off, coughing. Her throat was very dry. “How did I get here?”
    Janet smiled as she deftly taped down a
fresh bandage on Liselle’s thigh. “You’ll have to ask
John. He called me to come look at your leg.”
    Oh , Liselle thought. That’s why my thigh hurts. My dad
pushed me into the wooden fence back in Arizona. She swallowed again,
forcing her sluggish brain to wake up. “John brought me here?”
    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