Mrs. Powell. His pulse raced even faster than it had seconds before and his hands shook as he clumsily struggled with the button on his jeans. This was not good. Not good at all.
“Mrs. Powell, I didn’t know you were stopping by,” Levi said, pure awkwardness in his voice.
“Obviously.” The chill in her tone could have frozen the entire backwoods. Her steely gaze was locked on Leslie. “Leslie? I wasn’t aware that you were back. But then, I guess taking this situation into account, I wasn’t aware of a lot of things.”
Leslie met her gaze. “Hello, Mrs. Powell. Nice to see you,” she mumbled as she moved past them quickly. “I’ll let you two talk.”
Levi cleared his throat and sent her a desperate look as she escaped the office. But Leslie shouldn’t have to stay and explain herself to Mrs. Powell. Obviously she felt guilty getting caught by her former mother-in-law-to-be, but Mrs. Powell had made it very clear that Leslie wasn’t part of their family anymore. She’d never wanted Leslie in their family, yet she adored Levi.
So, this was all on him to explain.
* * *
LESLIE’S DEVASTATION HAD reached an all-time high. This was by far the worst thing that could have happened. Her ex-fiancé’s mother catching her and Levi in a compromising situation was a thing of nightmares. Levi had looked guilty as shit and she knew they both should be. Things had gotten out of control. She’d allowed them to get out of control. This was on her.
But she’d sensed her presence in the office would only make things worse. Mrs. Powell had never liked her, so it would be Levi who would reap the woman’s disappointment. Damn, why had she put him in all of these tough situations?
She hovered near the door frame of her bunk room to listen, out of sight.
“What are you doing?” Selena asked, getting up from her bunk to join her.
“Shhh...”
“That was unexpected,” she heard Mrs. Powell say carefully.
“Yeah...for me too, honestly,” Levi said.
Unexpected for him too? Which part? Getting caught or getting physical with her? Most likely both hadn’t been planned. They certainly hadn’t on her end.
“What is she even doing here?”
Was Alaska off limits to her now? Leslie’s irritation grew. She’d never given Dawson’s mother any reason to dislike her. If anything, she’d helped keep Dawson’s head on straight at times, forcing him to study and take his academics seriously when all he wanted to do was play sports and cut class. She’d helped him graduate. When he’d fallen in with a rougher crowd in high school, with Levi’s help, she’d pulled him back and made him realize he couldn’t throw his life away for a few stupid choices. Of course, the Powells hadn’t known anything about all of that. To them, their only son could do no wrong.
“There was a security risk to her client in LA,” Levi said.
Leslie winced, but it was too late now. Mrs. Powell had seen her. He needed to tell the woman something.
“Yes, I heard about the cabin and I saw her on the news.”
Her disdain was evident. She’d condemned Leslie already without having any idea what was going on. As usual.
“Leslie needed my help and it’s a confidential situation I couldn’t talk about. With anyone. She’s not guilty of anything they are accusing her of in the media,” he said.
“You believe that strongly enough to put your own career on the line?” Mrs. Powell asked, her tone a fraction more threatening than concerned, which made Leslie’s blood boil. She could be rude and dismissive to Leslie, but Levi didn’t deserve that.
“Who is this woman?” Selena whispered, looking ready to barge into the office and set her straight herself.
Oddly enough it made Leslie feel a little better. “Our mutual...friend, Dawson’s mother,” she whispered, stumbling over the word friend. She didn’t need Selena knowing more about the situation than that.
“I believe in Leslie,” Levi said and Leslie felt her conflicted heart grow even more confused. He was such an amazing guy and her unexpected attraction to him had only magnified in the last few days, but could it be more than that?
He’d always been the one she could count on. He’d always made her laugh. He was smart and handsome and hardworking... Oh God...
Mrs. Powell’s appearance had given her a very real reason why they shouldn’t even be thinking about it, yet here she was realizing that maybe she did have feelings for Levi. Ones that might go a lot deeper than she ever could