Billionaire Protector - Alexa Hart Page 0,43

right onto the guest room. I hadn’t wanted to use it for fear of waking Penn and Murphy. The two of them passed out in that giant bed so peacefully had been one of the most beautiful things I’d ever been witness to.

I didn’t want to ruin it.

So instead, I was traipsing around like a complete creeper in one of Penn’s t-shirts, which fit me like a nightgown. I looked so ridiculously out of place that it was almost funny – even to me – and I might have laughed if Preston hadn’t suddenly materialized out of nowhere.

He looked like shit. He was still wearing a tux, and I could have sworn it was the same one he’d worn to the party. But what did I know about tuxes? All I could tell was that it was badly wrinkled, and the collar was undone.

A very sad red bowtie hung haphazardly down his jacket.

“Holy shit! You been here since the party?” His eyes went wide at the sight of me, and I wished there was a way to melt straight through the floor and disappear.

“No. Just... since last night.” I shrugged and attempted to force a smile onto my face. The meeting was so uncomfortable that I didn’t seem to have the ability to do it this time. Not even a fake smile made it to my lips.

“Oh. Well. I was kinda out on a weekend bender, so I’m a little out of the loop. Work hard, play hard. That’s my motto. Guess you guys are really hitting it off, huh?” Preston sounded exhausted. Dark circles under his eyes made him appear about ten years older than he had just thirty-six hours ago.

“We’re... I like Penn. We’re having fun, I guess.” I knew I was blushing and silently prayed to the gods of rich assholes that Preston would let it slide.

“Hm. I see. So he doesn’t know yet?” Preston slumped onto a velvet-covered bench placed against the hall wall.

My body turned to glacier-worthy ice. “What?”

Does Preston know? Does he know who I am? How does he know? He’s been partying all weekend... He couldn’t have possibly had time to investigate Anne Johnson.

“Your walls. He doesn’t know about your walls.” He leaned his head back, shutting his eyes, while I attempted to process his words. “Goddamn, I’ve got a killer bitch of a headache. Christ Almighty.”

“Walls?” I was lost – literally and figuratively.

Preston sighed. He looked like an older, rougher version of Penn. His eyes were kind, but he was missing Penn’s softness – his warm, gentle nature.

“I’ve been around a lot of girls, Anne. A lot. Like so, so, so many.” He paused, and I couldn’t stop my eyes from rolling.

“So I've gathered.” It was the only response I could spit out.

“You are one of those girls who’s got big, thick, giant walls up. And not just kind of up – they're like, fortress up. You’re never gonna let that kid get too close to you – not even if you want him to. Am I wrong?” He looked me straight in the face, and I noted that there was no judgment in his eyes or voice.

“I don’t – I couldn’t possibly know what’s going to happen, Preston.” I had taken a few steps backward instinctively.

“But you do. You’re not gonna let him in. It’s so obvious that I don’t know how he can’t see it. And for what it’s worth, I don’t really care.” He threw his arms up lackadaisically. “Penn’s a big boy now, and he’s gonna have to learn some hard lessons. I think you might be one of them.”

I stiffened. “I would never hurt Penn.”

Preston smiled. “You would never hurt Penn on purpose.”

“I would never hurt Penn at all,” I retorted, feeling myself growing angry.

How dare this overgrown playboy try to analyze me or my relationship with Penn? This was literally the second time I’d even talked to or seen Preston. We were almost entirely complete strangers. He didn’t know me, and I wasn’t worried about him getting to know me.

I was trying to get to know Penn. That was my priority as far as the Hardick brothers were concerned – my only priority as far as the Hardick brothers were concerned.

“Relax, Anne. I’m not attacking you. I call things as I see them, but I am judgment free. It’s the rest of the family you need to worry about.”

I could hear my heartbeat pumping in my ears. “Why?”

“Dad won’t stop until he knows everything about you.