Billionaire Protector - Alexa Hart Page 0,39

her heart bothered me.

Anne had to open up. And to be fair, so did I.

Thick tires turned onto the gravel, and I turned toward the sound. They’re here. And Anne is smiling.

She hopped out of the truck. This time the fanciness was all gone. Anne was wearing work boots, jeans, and a black tank top. Her hair was back in a ponytail, and her entire countenance was a one-eighty-degree turn from the Anne who had flew out of that same truck in Denver.

“You ready for this?” I asked her playfully.

“Are you ready for this?” She returned immediately.

“I weady!” Murphy whelped out to us from his car-seat.

“Well, there’s the official call. Let’s get goin’.”

The evening immediately turned into a dream.

The attendee number had grown, but only slightly. The size of the group was just big enough to give us a little privacy, and just small enough to not be overwhelming.

Jessie led the festivities like a champ. Ghost stories (the spook factor kept low), tales of the wild horses, and even some camper safety thrown in for good measure filled the air, while smores, roasted hot dogs, and popcorn filled the bellies.

Murphy had taken a particular liking to Jessie and stationed himself by her side for the majority of the night. The two of them were immediate best friends. There was a constant murmur of the parents conversing, and a slightly louder constant sound in the form of the little kids playing and laughing.

Anne appeared genuinely delighted with everything. When the night air started to chill slightly, she scooted in closer to me, and I threw a flannel blanket around us.

That was a big mistake. Something about the nearness of our bodies mixed with the faux privacy that the blanket offered made the heat between us rise rapidly. Anne peeked up at me from under her lashes and grinned shyly, her dimple making me go rock hard in about one second flat.

I didn’t want her to leave when the campfire was done.

I didn’t want her to leave because I wasn’t done.

“Stay,” I whispered into her ear when Jessie started closing down the show for the night. Murphy was still sitting right beside her and staring at her with sheer adoration.

Missed your chance, Pay. She’s taken now.

Anne sighed, and I clearly heard the desire in the sound.

“Please,” I whispered again, this time touching her ear with my lips and making her shiver.

“I have to work tomorrow.”

“Of course you do. You can leave as early as you need to.”

“I didn’t bring any pajamas for Murphy.”

“Pierce has two little ones. I should be able to find something pretty easily.”

“I didn’t bring any pajamas for me.”

My arm tightened around her. That wasn’t going to be a problem.

Eventually, I managed to convince her. We practically had to pry Murphy away from Jessie. She promised to see him soon and the look on his tiny face made it clear that he would hold her to it.

“The house isn’t far. We can leave the truck down here. Walk with me.” Anne’s expression was joyful, and she nodded amiably.

I picked up our cargo, Lil’ Murph, and started leading the way. The deep blackness of the night made it hard to see anything other than a flash of light here or there coming from the mansion.

This was my chance.

“Anne, I have to tell you something.” I’d said it as nonchalantly as possible, but she tensed regardless. “It’s not bad. Promise.”

She gave me a wary side-eye but kept walking along beside me. “Okay, Penn. Shoot.”

Murphy’s little head was pressed into my shoulder. He’d fallen asleep in about two minutes time. Carrying him... with Anne right beside me... There was a feeling of belonging that I hadn’t known existed up until this moment.

“My house – the Hardick house – it's kinda more like... It’s big.”

“Big?” Anne clearly knew I was giving her the soft version of reality.

“It’s huge. It’s a mansion. My family and I live in a mansion.” I forced the words out one by one, hating them all.

“Oh.” We walked in silence for a minute or so. It felt like an eternity to me.

“I didn’t want to freak you out, ya know?” It was the only apology I could give, and it was the truth. “People get weird around... money, I guess.”

“Weird how?” She asked this patiently, and I took it as a good sign. She wasn’t freaking out.

Not yet.

“I don’t know. Friends... girlfriends... basically anyone I haven’t known since I was in diapers – they find out where I live...