like fall in love.
* * *
SELENA ENTERED HIS office and closed the door behind her.
Oh no... If the star tried flirting with him again right now, Levi might actually have a nervous meltdown. “Hey, I’m just in the middle of...”
“What did you do to make Leslie even more annoyed?” she interrupted.
Oh, he was to blame for that? The way he remembered it, it had been her who came out to the shed, her who had initiated the kiss—and other things. He’d warned her, given her time to change her mind. She hadn’t.
He folded his arms across his chest as he leaned back in his chair. “What makes you think I did something?”
“Because both of you are acting even more awkward and tense around one another since the ride out to the cabin.”
The woman was perceptive. But it was since the mind-blowing sex in the shed that things had been more awkward. Like neither of them knew what to do or say to one another. What did you say to your off-limits best friend after crossing a line like that?
“Did you two have an argument?” Selena asked when he wasn’t forthcoming with information.
The opposite actually. They’d connected in a different way, a much deeper, raw, emotional way. And they were both shaken up about it. And now neither of them knew how to handle it or what to do next. “Sort of... I guess,” he said. He wasn’t going to tell Selena the truth. That would be up to Leslie and so far, he got the impression that she really wasn’t trying to form any sort of friendship with her client. He understood that. Keeping someone safe relied heavily on being aware and cognizant and not blinded by emotion in times of extreme decision making. Life-or-death decisions couldn’t be made effectively if Selena was too close...
“Well, if we all have to be cooped up inside here together, you need to apologize and make it up to her because she’s even more unbearable than before.”
“Apologize and make it up to her?” For giving her the orgasm that she asked for? This was bullshit. He wouldn’t do it. She was the one who was playing with his heart and real emotions. She knew how he felt about her now. It hadn’t just been sex for him. In fact, it was because he cared so much about her that he’d rejected her advances the first time. He wasn’t sure what had gotten into him when she’d come out to the shed.
Part of him had thought she would never do it. Another part was hoping there was a deeper meaning in it for her as well.
Which would be another kind of problem.
He’d always had to deal with unrequited love, hiding his feelings and feeling guilty over them... What would he do if there was a real chance for them? If they actually decided to give a relationship beyond friendship a go? Could he do that? Or would his loyalty to Dawson prevent him from allowing his own happiness?
Either way, this new source of conflict was Leslie’s fault.
Nope, he wouldn’t apologize and he wouldn’t suck up to her...
“Look, you’re the man,” Selena said, “and whether you’re right or wrong, it needs to be you who caves first, because Leslie won’t and this elephant in the room will just spiral and grow bigger until we are all grumpy and ready to kill one another.”
Unfortunately, she was right. The tension in the cabin was nearing an unbearable level already. “Fine. I’ll apologize to her,” he said through clenched teeth. And tell her straight out that their actions were a mistake; she didn’t have to tell him that. And that he could control himself in the future and give her the space she’d been asking for all along. It wouldn’t be happening again. Despite how badly he wanted it to.
“That’s not enough. You need to do something nice for her,” Selena said. Her own attraction to him obviously fading, was she now moving on to matchmaker? He wasn’t sure which Selena he preferred. Both were slightly irritating.
Levi sighed. “Leslie’s not the type to want a big elaborate gesture...” She hated flowers and surprises and didn’t like jewelry. She’d be only more annoyed at him if he groveled.
Selena rolled her eyes. “Just because a woman doesn’t come across as needy and demanding and soft doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to feel appreciated. Feel like she matters.”
Leslie was so appreciated and she definitely mattered. Given the chance, he’d show her that