The shadow-legs crossed the floor under her door for the umpteenth time. Her thoughts veered to the strong, brave sentry protecting her dressing room. And she wondered if he was one more reason God wanted her to get some things off her chest. If she hoped for a chance to get to know Jason better—or anyone, for that matter—she had to be honest about her past. If he had a past like hers, she’d want to know, if they—hypothetically—moved beyond friendship. Hypothetically.
Wait. She was really getting ahead of herself. Maybe he had all kinds of dark secrets. Maybe he was married.Maybe—
“Tayla?”
His deep, gentle voice jerked her out of her thoughts so quickly she jumped. “Y-yes?”
“Everything okay? I need to check in with Knox and Leland soon.”
“Oh, of course. Yes.” She looked in the mirror. The black spaghetti strap dress fit well. Yep, this would work. “I found the one I need. I’ll get changed.”
“Not trying to rush you.” His voice moved much closer to her door. “But I don’t want to talk to Knox on my cell in here.”
In the quiet boutique within earshot of several guests. “Yeah, got it. No problem. I’m almost ready.”
Jason was thankful for an empty elevator on the way back to the suite. This was the first time all morning he’d been alone with Tayla. And he needed some clarification about Leland’s earlier comments.
“So,” he pushed the button for the third floor as the elevator doors closed. “Can you explain what Leland meant when he said you would look more natural at this partythan any of us? What exactly do you do for the Grayhouses?”
“Yes, I should probably explain.” Apparently, the explanation required fortitude she needed to summon, because she took in a slow breath before continuing. The deep breath—or whatever she was thinking during that breath—seemed to relax her. He watched a new sense of calm settle over her.
“Like I said earlier, it’s a long story, so I’ll stick to the highlights. My late husband was Spencer Carmicheal. His family not only attends many parties like the one tonight promises to be, they host them. They travel in . . . elite circles.”
Whoa. Yeah, they do. She was married to a Carmicheal? He’d read about Spencer Carmicheal’s death in the news, but he never guessedthatjet-ski accident was the one Leland told him about. Leland never mentioned her husband’s last name.
That was a pretty big detail to omit. Then again, Leland never told him he had a niece before yesterday. Wow. Leland really isn’t a sharer.
The elevator opened, and they stepped into the hallway. She grinned at him. “I learned how to work a room. Mostof the parties we hosted were large galas for charities that were important to me. So, even though we were wearing ridiculously expensive clothes, eating ridiculously expensive food, those galas brought in millions of dollars to organizations that shared the love of Jesus to people through food, clothing, housing, and literacy programs—”
She stopped when she saw the door to their suite, but she didn’t look like she was ready to go in. She lowered her voice and continued. “Anyway, now I work as a personal assistant to the Grayhouses. They’re lovely people. I adore them. I assist them with a variety of things, but part of the time, I do what I did before—helping with charity galas. The Grayhouses raised eight hundred thousand dollars last month for food banks in the Houston area.”
Jason’s heart hitched. The passion in her voice when she talked about sharing Jesus’s love with the poor . . . wow. This is an incredible woman. She’s beautiful, smart, passionate—
But his mind tripped over something that wasn’t adding up.
“That’s really awesome, Tayla. Really, I mean that. But . . . you may not want to share everything, but . . .” How to put this delicately? “I’m still not understanding the wholepicture.” She looked at him with patient eyes. “I didn’t know Spencer Carmicheal, but I read about him. If you don’t mind me asking, why is his widow working as a personal assistant?”
She squeezed his arm with a knowing smile. “You mean, why is the benefactor of five billion dollarsworkingat all?”
“Something like that.”
“Well, that’s the long-story part. Maybe I’ll share that sometime, but not in this hallway. Though, to satisfy some of your curiosity, I decided to give away every penny of it. I don’t have a cent of that money. I donated it to several charities.”
He pretended not to notice the pain in her voice and the strange shadows swirling in her eyes when she said those words. Like she’d considered burning the money before she decided to donate it.
Huh.
He wanted to comfort her. He wanted to know the whole story. He wanted—
“Hey.” Knox’s head popped into the hallway. “You guys coming in?”
Tayla’s smile brightened. “Yes, of course. I found a perfect dress. I’m ready for tonight.”
Knox opened the door wide, and she walked into the suite.
Jason’s face must’ve betrayed some of what he was thinking, because Knox mumbled, “Sorry, man. If I, um . . . sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Jason said.
