Page 18 of Guarded Hearts

Then she remembered her new, very unwanted, bodyguard’s rule—no going outside without him.

Since she wasn’t about to ask him to escort her, she would be staying in. She placed the tube on the counter and applied a smear of lip balm instead.

Part of her wondered if she should try harder with her appearance. But this washerhome andherbreak from theworld. She could look any way she wanted to. It didn’t matter what Carson thought of her.

Not that he thought of her atall.

What she needed was to get back to basics. If some creepy asshole hadn’t sent her a scary photo of her own bedroom—and her ex wasn’t in the house with her—what would she be doing this morning?

The answer was obvious. Talking to her assistant.

She sank to her big, comfy, oversized corner chair. When she set her palm on the arm, she felt something rough and inwardly groaned at the crumbs from her grilled cheese left behind the previous night.

Damn Carson for taking over her life. He may be trying to protect her, but he didn’t have to dictate the type of sandwich she ate.

You didn’t have to eat it, either.

She silenced the mental she-devil on her shoulder. When she dialed her assistant, Hannah’s sweet voice rang out over the line, just as comforting as the flannel Layne wore.

“Hey, Layne. How’s country life?”

How to answer? She bypassed it with a question of her own.

“Forget about me. How are youfeeling? Is your second semester treating you better than the first?”

“Oh, girl. You have no idea how much better I feel this week.”

“That must mean you were able to meet with Robert this morning.”

“Of course.” Her tone changed from chatty to brisk businesswoman as she launched into the details of her meeting with one of their biggest clients. “He’s on board with our selections for the Seattle condo. But he needs a few more days on the Phoenix estate.”

“Got it.”

“I just remembered—I got a shipment!”

“Ohh. Video call me and you can show me. I’m almost certain it’s the pottery from Kenya.”

A moment later, Hannah’s face appeared on Layne’s screen. She grinned at her assistant. “You’re not green anymore. You’re glowing.”

“Thank goodness. Adam was getting really worried about my morning sickness.” She set a box on the table she was sitting at in the office back in New York City. “Are you ready for this?”

“Absolutely.” Without thinking, she got up and drew the drapery aside just a hint to allow some daylight into her room. At that exact moment, Carson walked by.

He stopped dead in his tracks and looked right at her. Through the pane of glass, their gazes locked.

Dammit. He was going to launch into another lecture about the rule she just broke.

Unwilling to be suppressed by his grumpy moods, she arched a brow at him in challenge.

He shook his head and walked away from her window.

Only when she swung her gaze back to the video call did she realize that Hannah had seen the whole exchange.

Her big blue eyes were round. “Who. Is. That?”

She let out a trickle of air from her lungs. “That’s Carson.”

Her eyes widened farther. “TheCarson?”

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