Page 16 of Guarded Hearts

“Well, she didn’t. There’s no evidence of her having a boyfriend in years.”

That gave Carson pause. He didn’t know how to feel about a beautiful woman going unloved, let alone for that long. Layne deserved to be wined, dined and sixty-nined.

He should know how much she enjoyed that position.

He shut down the meandering path his mind had taken and firmly flipped the switch to work mode. “You checked into her finances?”

“The reports just came through. No signs of financial issues.”

“Disgruntled employees?” He could easily imagine someone being jealous of Layne.

“Only her father and Layne are involved in the family business. Each of them have a personal assistant, but I’m pretty sure neither are coming after her.”

“What evidence do you have of that?”

His phone buzzed with a text message. He glanced at the screen to a selfie of Layne and a woman who was in several of her photos, smiling in various locales.

“Layne’s assistant is happily married, and according to her social media, she’s three months pregnant. She doesn’t fit the stalker stereotype.”

“And Mr. London’s assistant?”

“His name is Charles Williams. He doesn’t have any children of his own, and he loves Layne like his own daughter.”

Suspicion crept in. “How do you know?”

“He left her everything in his will.”

“Damn. All right.” She claimed she was liked in her circles, and she really was. Not that he would ever think otherwise.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught movement and turned his head. Faye stood in the doorway, offering him a genuine smile that caused her face to beautifully wrinkle.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, Mr. Carson. I realized that with all the excitement, you probably didn’t eat dinner.”

He hadn’t even thought about his stomach. But his ward needed to be looked after. “Did Layne eat?”

“No, sir.”

He smiled at her. “Come on, Faye. I’m not ‘mister’ or ‘sir’ to you. You’re like family to me.”

Her grin widened. “I was about to ask Layne if I can fix her some food.”

“Grilled cheese,” he said without hesitation. “She’ll eat grilled cheese.”

Faye gave a small nod. “Of course, Carson. Can I bring one for you as well?”

“That sounds perfect. Thank you.”

She left the room, and he picked up where he left off with Colt on the phone.

“Grilled cheese?” his brother asked.

“Of course you heard that, smartass.”

Colt chuckled.

“It was Layne’s favorite food back when…”

“When you were a thing?”

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