he said reluctantly, breaking his gaze with Leslie. “I’m just helping a friend’s family with a charity organization in his name.”
Selena looked like she was in love.
Oh come on...
“I can help,” she said. “I run several charities back in LA.”
“I’m sure Levi has it covered,” Leslie said quickly.
Levi shook his head. “Actually, I have no idea what I’m doing.”
Selena looked ready to pull out a day planner and start organizing. She really must be bored out of her mind. Leslie had witnessed the woman’s schedule and it had been intense. She knew what the star was giving up, the risk to her career this impromptu hiatus from her life might cost her, but Leslie couldn’t focus on all of that. None of that would matter if the star was dead, and her stalker had made his intentions very clear.
But if helping Levi could give her something to do, something to take her mind off things and keep her from harassing the shit out of Leslie, Leslie would keep her own feelings about it to herself.
“Well, I have experience with all aspects of fundraising, from the permits to executing events that people want to attend and will open their wallets for,” Selena was telling Levi.
Levi hesitated, but then when he glanced at Leslie and she didn’t oppose, he nodded. “Thanks. If you’re in town for a while, I may take you up on that.”
“Well, for the first time since arriving, I hope we stick around for a while.” The two clinked their empty glasses, then signaled Tank for another round.
Fantastic. Her former best friend and the women she was hiding from the world were joining forces to plan charitable events in her ex-fiancé’s memory and no one wanted her involved.
On the clock or not, Leslie deserved a drink.
* * *
LEVI WASN’T AN expert on women. Not by a long shot. But he knew two things. Selena was flirting with him and Leslie didn’t like it.
Unfortunately, he was smart enough not to allow himself the thought that it could be jealousy. She’d been annoyed with him and by him since he’d rescued her ass in the forest.
He wasn’t looking for a thank-you...or maybe he was. Maybe a “thanks, Levi, for not leaving me to freeze to death in the wilderness in only a towel, and by the way, great to see you...” might be exactly what he was looking for from her. Or hoping for, at least.
He’d stayed in Wild River to see her. He’d thought the shock of the fire and the circumstances surrounding her “visit” had made her more prickly earlier that day, understandably. But her mood hadn’t changed, even after the scotch on the rocks she’d drunk in record time. She’d changed into a pair of leggings and an oversized sweatshirt with a picture of a moose on it and it was so typically Leslie that it made him smile on the inside, knowing that somewhere deep inside, she was the same woman who lived for comfort clothes and looked hot as hell in them. Admittedly, that part was mildly inconvenient—the attraction he’d always had for her hadn’t faded in the least.
Selena was a chatterbox, thank God, otherwise the silence would have been too much to endure and he’d have left moments after arriving. Unfortunately, he’d barely been paying attention to anything the young Hollywood star had been saying.
“So, what kind of fundraiser were you planning?” she asked him now.
Damn, he’d hoped to avoid the conversation about this again that evening. Leslie’s expression when he’d told her had hardly been the veiled one she’d been going for. She’d been hurt and he could understand that, but what had she expected? She’d disappeared just weeks after the funeral and he knew if she hadn’t wanted to keep in touch with him, she certainly wasn’t keeping in touch with Mrs. Powell.
She’d wanted to get away from everything and everyone.
“Um... I think it’s a dinner,” he said. “At the Wild River Resort here in town.”
Selena looked unimpressed. “Dinners are okay, but you’ll need more than food to draw a crowd at a hundred dollars a plate.”
“A hundred dollars a plate?” The resort restaurant was expensive, but Selena was right. Even the richest people in Wild River would want more than just a well-cooked steak for that ticket price.
“Have you thought of a silent auction? Or fashion show? Or bachelor auction?” She smiled up at him under long dark lashes. She was absolutely stunning, like most models and actresses, and he wished just