arrested and charged a man they believe is your stalker, so we can head back to LA.”
Selena looked both relieved at the news and disappointed. “There’s no need to leave right away. My touring schedule is already messed up. I could call my team and let them know where we are and that we will head back in a few days.”
Leslie knew how desperate Selena was to get back to her life and yet the star was putting Leslie’s feelings and her relationship with Levi first and an unexpected lump rose in her throat. She forced her expression to remain neutral as she said, “No need. We’ll head back in the morning.”
“You sure?”
No, but unfortunately it was the only decision she knew how to make right now. She had no idea what to do about Levi, but she could do what she knew best—finish the job of protecting her client and hope she could get her life back on track.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t sure it was possible to go back to the life she’d been living now that she’d gotten a glimpse of what could be a better one.
* * *
THE CALL FOR assistance from the Florida Department of Fire Safety couldn’t have come at a worse time...or maybe a better time. After their argument, it was difficult to be in the close quarters of the cabin with Leslie and resist the urge to talk to her...touch her, beg her to stay open, stay vulnerable...but he sensed she needed space. Any attempt at trying to make things better would likely backfire.
He’d laid his cards on the table. He was wearing his heart on his sleeve and every other cliché metaphor for putting himself out there to get his ass kicked by love. There was nothing else he could do now but wait and see if she could move past the past, if she did love him too.
Or thought she could eventually...
This space was a little more than he’d like to give though, given the circumstances. Being around her was challenging, but she was leaving in the morning and he hated the thought that he was now leaving first. The Florida fire department needed his team right away to help with forest fires blazing due to the dry, hot weather and lightning storms the East Coast had been experiencing that week.
He’d called in the other members of his team and now that Leslie and Selena were leaving, there wasn’t really any danger in the other men finding out that they’d been hiding there that week.
He didn’t like the idea of leaving the two women there alone overnight, but they had everything they needed—food, Ski-Doos, his truck in case of an emergency, firewood... They should be fine. They were both capable of looking after themselves.
“Hey, you ready to go?” Chad asked, popping his head around the office door frame.
Levi hesitated. “Yeah... I’m ready.” He grabbed his jacket and his gear and shut down his laptop.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Leslie packing her things into a backpack in her bunk room across the hall. She wasn’t looking at him, but she was aware of him. They’d been tiptoeing around one another all evening, avoiding even superficial contact.
But she’d heard the emergency call and she knew he was leaving. For a dangerous mission, at that.
Would she at least say goodbye?
He took his time turning off the office lights and locking the office door. He bent to retie his boots in the hallway.
She was sitting on her bed, reading one of Selena’s magazines. Only he knew she wasn’t actually reading. She hated those magazines.
He coughed. Loudly.
She didn’t even glance up.
Guess that was it then.
“Levi, plane’s leaving, man,” Chad called out from the front door.
“Coming,” he called, hoping to catch her attention.
Last chance...
Nothing.
Okay then. That’s where they were once again.
* * *
JUST STAY IN the room.
Nothing good could come of talking to Levi right as he was leaving. Leslie wasn’t sure how she felt and she didn’t want to confuse things further, by wrapping her arms around him and kissing him goodbye, which was what she desperately wanted to do. Without words of reassurance, acting on her impulses again would just be a dick move. So she stayed put as he got ready to leave and headed toward the front door, ignoring his attempts at capturing her attention.
But he was going to fight wildfires. He was putting his life at risk.
What if...
Nope. She wasn’t going there. Levi would be fine and the time apart