Billionaire Protector - Alexa Hart Page 0,38

have been.” Pierce tapped his pen on the desktop, still homed in on me like a hawk.

“Are you worried that something might be off?” He asked calmly.

“Off? What do you mean, off?” I could feel my defenses powering up for a fight.

“Do you think something is wrong – odd – sketchy, regarding Anne’s personal life?”

“Anne isn’t sketchy, Pierce. Not at all.” Why did I suddenly want to punch my oldest brother? He hadn’t said anything horribly offensive.

“But you’re worried.” He stared me down, not flinching.

“Why do you keep saying that?” I’d grown angry.

“Why are you worried?” He wasn’t backing down.

“Just forget it, Pierce. I’ll see ya around.” I was up and opening his office door when he threw out his last words of wisdom.

“You don’t have to talk to me about it, Penn. But you should probably talk to yourself. And you should probably talk to Anne.”

I slammed his office door shut and bee-lined for my own wing of the house. Dad’s inquisition would probably be a million times worse than Pierce’s, and I didn’t have the patience for that currently. Even if Preston was at home, somewhere deep in his own quarters, he was almost certainly heavily hung over. Or still drunk. Either way, it wasn’t prime time to let him put his two cents in.

Anne and Murphy would be at the ranch in just a few hours.

The campfire was set up like an octagon, with eight long tree trunk sections serving as the seats. Depending on the week, sometimes those trunks were packed with kids and parents. Other times, it was me and the fire.

But the s’mores cart was always present and therefore the work put into creating the little setting was more than worth it.

Nothing was better than s’mores.

I’d asked Jessie to come tonight, knowing that I wanted to be a little freer to cater to Anne and Murphy. Jessie had started jumping up and down when I told her why I needed her this particular night.

She rarely missed a campfire during her summertime break anyway. Jessie had confided in me once that it was her mission to make the campfires fun for Payden again. She’d been there when my mother was still alive, and she remembered the happiness on little Pay’s face.

Jessie insisted that happiness could be restored.

I wasn’t entirely convinced that it could be, but if anyone was going to make it happen, it would be Jessie.

A few vacationers started to trickle in around 7:30, and I felt my pulse start to quicken. While she wouldn’t actually see my home, as it was hidden up the lane behind forested land, she was coming to the ranch.

That was close enough. The ranch and “home” were basically interchangeable in my mind. I belonged equally to each of them. The horses were extended family. The fields, trees, mountains – it was our version of a backyard.

As nervous as I was about scaring Anne off, I also had a huge desire to show her my life. Actually let her in.

Fill in the blank spaces, as Pierce would say.

“Why don’t you just let me take over completely tonight? I think I can handle the crowd,” Jessie tilted her head toward the whopping six humans that were patiently waiting on the trunks.

“Fine, but if you do ghost stories, keep ‘em rated G. Murphy’s a little guy. Like three years old little.” I heard the protectiveness in my voice as I spoke.

“Daaang, Penn. Look at you! All serious and whatnot with a mama!”

“We’re not serious. We barely know each other.” I protested.

“Right. Payden told me how you talked about her.” Jessie had a large, shit-eating grin spread across her face.

“Oh really? I could tell you a few things about the way Payden talks about... stuff,” I tried to stop the sentence completely, but it was too late.

Jessie’s face went serious. “I don’t know what you’re referring to, but maybe you should go meet your girlfriend in the visitor’s lot instead of letting her wander around like Goldilocks. Bears, you know.” Jessie could change the subject like an outfit.

“Yeah, yeah. I already warned her about the bears. I should have warned her about you.” I hollered at her as I walked toward the lot. Her laughter echoed through the trees.

I paced in the parking lot, kicking at the gravel just to have something to do.

Getting serious with a mama. Am I?

The idea itself didn’t bother me. The thought of getting attached to a girl who had built her own personal Fort Knox around