Nothing Left to Lose (40 page)

Her smile
slowly faded. “Seriously?”

I nodded
eagerly. “Hell yeah! You want me to see my friends, and I want to
be with you, so that’s a great solution.” I was already starting to
plan it out in my head. I’d have to keep Nate and Seth away from
her, they were total players and probably wouldn’t care that she
was mine.

“Ashton, I
can’t,” she laughed nervously, looking at me like I was crazy. She
playfully pushed on my chest, so I grabbed her wrists, pinning her
arms above her head. I rolled on top of her, being careful to keep
my weight off her. My heart swelled at the fact that she let me do
this to her. If anyone else – even her own mother – pinned her to
the bed, she’d be going crazy, but she was smiling at me while I
did it, her trust in me evident in her eyes. She wasn’t scared of
me, and I loved it. She was meant to be with me, I just needed to
make her see it too.

“Sure you can.
I’ll get to introduce you to my friends. We’ll have to keep up the
girlfriend charade though because they don’t know I’m assigned to
you, they think I’m in Washington in Division Two,” I explained,
grinning happily. This was going to be great. I could tell she
wanted to, her eyes were excited, but she was trying to hide it
from me.

“I’d love to
come, but I can’t. Dean and Peter are getting time off too, I can’t
ask them to give up the weekend, it’s been planned for weeks. We
can’t even stay here, we’ll have to go to the lake house if you
won’t go to LA,” she protested, shaking her head firmly.

I smiled
persuasively. “How about I make you a deal?” I offered, smiling and
pulling her arms higher above her head so her hands were touching.
She looked so incredibly hot and trusting under me like that. I
wanted to kiss her so badly that it was almost painful, but I
wouldn’t, she wouldn’t want that.

“What kind of
deal?” she asked.

She shifted one
of her legs out from under me, only to hitch it over my hip and lay
it across my ass so my crotch was pressed against hers. My body
reacted immediately to the intimate position. I gulped and scooted
down slightly so that my groin was pressed into the bed between her
legs rather than onto her. She didn’t need to know just how
freaking crazy she drove my body. The girl had some talent, that’s
for sure; she could turn me on just by looking at me in the right
way. It was ridiculous. I’d never felt anything like this
attraction for her, it was almost animalistic, and if we were
dating for real, I’d probably want to make love to her for twenty
three out of the twenty four hours in the day, only allowing her
time off for eating and bathroom breaks.

My brain was
like mush as I struggled to remember what we were talking about
before she moved and made me think of other things.

I cleared my
throat as I finally composed myself. “Here’s the deal. You come
with me to LA if I can get them to agree to it, or if I can’t, then
we both stay at the lake house,” I offered. “Either way, I’m
spending my birthday with you,” I tagged on the end.

She sighed
sadly. “Ashton, I’m not gonna be able to go. It’s not fair to pull
Dean and Peter out of a weekend off. Dean’s going home to stay with
his mom; he said he hasn’t seen her for almost a year.”

“Is it a deal
or not?” I asked, grinning slyly. I was pretty sure I could
convince them to let me take her, but even if they refused, it was
a win-win situation for me. Whatever happened, I would get to be
with the love of my life.

“Okay, deal,”
she agreed dejectedly. I could tell she was disappointed; clearly,
she wanted me to see my friends and was feeling bad that it
wouldn’t happen now. I bent and kissed her lips lightly just for a
second, pulling away before I wouldn’t be able to. She whimpered
unconsciously as I pulled away and I couldn’t help but smile. I
loved that she wanted me, even if she wasn’t interested in a
relationship.

I climbed out
of the bed, being sure to keep my back to her so she wouldn’t see
my painful arousal. That was another thing she did to me, she made
me so damn hard that it hurt. I was literally stiff as a board, and
probably spent a solid three to four hours that way every day. Not
that Anna knew that, of course, I did well to keep it from her. I
pulled on a pair of jeans, arranging my erection so it wasn’t too
noticeable.

“Where are you
going?”

I turned to
look at her over my shoulder and quickly looked away because she
was doing the face. The pouty, pleading, hurt face that made me
want to throw myself at her feet and beg her to take me, to let me
spend my life making her happy, to give her any damn thing in the
world. I’d known her for two months now, and in that time I’d
fallen so in love with her, it was ridiculous. I would do anything
for her, absolutely anything.

“I’m going to
see if I can get us to LA for the weekend,” I replied, smiling to
myself as I imagined her waking up in my tiny apartment.

I walked out of
the room and pulled the door tightly shut, unlocking my phone and
dialling Maddy’s phone number. “Senator Spencer’s office,” she
answered immediately.

“Hi, ma’am,
it’s Agent Taylor. How are you?” I asked, being polite. I needed to
get her on my side; hopefully if this went well, she would need to
rearrange a lot of things for the trip tomorrow.

“Oh, Agent
Taylor, I’m very well. How are you and Annabelle doing?” she asked
cheerfully.

“We’re both
really good. Actually, I was hoping to speak to the Senator, is
that possible?”

She tapped away
on her keyboard. “Well, according to his schedule, he’s free for
the next fifteen minutes. Let me buzz you through,” she chirped,
putting me on hold.

I waited a few
seconds, heading over and boosting myself up onto the kitchen
counter. “Agent Taylor, is everything okay? How’s Annabelle?” the
Senator asked as he came onto the phone.

“She’s very
good, sir. I just wanted to talk to you about this weekend.” I
mentally crossed my fingers that he would say yes.

He laughed.
“Ah, she’s finally told you.”

I smiled. “Yes,
sir, she did.” I winced, praying he’d consent. “Sir, Anna and I
have been talking and we wondered if it would be possible for her
to come to LA with me.”

“To LA?” he
repeated.

“Yes, sir. Anna
really wants to go. I think it would be good for her, she’s doing
so well here.” Anna was actually doing brilliantly at the moment;
she loved school and was settling in really well and making
friends.

“Agent Taylor,
that’s not possible. Your far guards have been given the weekend
off, as have you. You should make the most of it. It’s not a
scheduled school break, but I won’t ask the far guards to give up a
weekend that’s been promised to them,” he said sternly, his tone
implying that I was crazy even to suggest it.

“Sir, I wasn’t
asking for the far guards. I could take Anna to LA on my own. She
would stay at my apartment with me. I live with another agent, his
name is Nate Peters. He graduated second under me at the academy,
and I know that he would be willing to protect Anna with me if I
needed him to. She really would like to go,” I persuaded. I had no
doubt in my mind that Nate would protect her if the need arose.

“Agent Taylor,
are you seriously asking me to let you take Annabelle to LA without
a far guard? Do you understand what you’re asking of me? Carter
Thomas’ organisation has been threatening her constantly and the
trial is only three months away,” he replied condescendingly.

I frowned
angrily. Did he think I didn’t know that? Did he not know that I
thought about that asshole constantly and that if I ever saw him, I
would rip his heart out, and wrap it in gift wrap for her?

I took a deep
breath, trying not to growl my answer. “I am very well aware of the
situation, sir. But I will be able to protect her; you know I can.
I would die for Anna, and I would never let anything hurt her. Sir,
I think you should let her go. In a little under a month’s time,
there’s a very good chance that you’re going to be elected
President. Once that happens, Anna will probably never get the
opportunity to be normal again. You can trust me, Sir. I give you
my word that she’ll be safe with me,” I promised. Nothing would
hurt Anna as long as I had breath in my body.

He took a deep,
shaky breath, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
Please, come on,
please!
He was quiet for about thirty seconds, and
disappointment ran through my veins. Lake House it was then. At
least I’d get to spend time with her there, and she’d get to go and
visit Jack, she’d like that.

“I’ll ask Maddy
to arrange the details,” he answered and my heart leapt into my
throat as my mouth popped open in shock. “Agent Taylor, please take
care of my little girl,” he begged, not sounding like the next
President, but like a worried father.

“I will, I
promise.” I jumped off the stool, fighting the urge to do a happy
dance in the middle of the kitchen.

“I know you
will, son, and if it was any other Agent asking for this, then I’d
say no, I just want you to know that. She trusts you, and so do I,”
he stated. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up at his
words.

“Thank you,
Sir. I won’t let you down,” I vowed, grinning from ear to ear.

Instead of
going straight in to tell her, I grabbed some bagels and spread
them with cream cheese. I made two cups of coffee, putting it all
on a tray, along with one of the roses from the bunch that I had
bought her last week. I’d been buying her flowers every week,
trying to be romantic. I grinned as I made my way back into the
bedroom, seeing it empty.

I set the tray
on the bed and walked over to the bathroom door, hearing the shower
running in there. “I made breakfast. Are you gonna be long?”

“No, I’m just
about to get out,” she called back as the water snapped off.

I shivered as I
imagined her standing naked in that room, just a few feet away from
me, her glorious body all wet and dripping. I groaned at the
thought. “Damn it,” I mumbled, quickly coming away from the door
and taking deep breaths, trying to calm myself.

She came out a
couple of minutes later, a towel wrapped around her body that came
to her mid-thigh, her legs still glistening. I reluctantly dragged
my eyes away as she walked to the bed, pulling her pink robe over
the top. A cute, little confused expression crossed her face as I
placed the tray on her lap. This wasn’t the type of thing I usually
made her for breakfast; I usually stuck to fruit salad, toast or
cereal, because everything I cooked burnt to a crisp for some
reason.

I grinned
smugly. “It’s a typical LA breakfast.”

She looked even
more confused for a couple of seconds, before understanding and
then excitement shot across her face. “I can go with you?” she
cried, spilling half a cup of coffee all over the tray as she
jerked up excitedly.

My heart leapt
at her excitement. I nodded in confirmation, grinning like an
idiot. “Yep, you can come.”

She squealed
and grabbed me, spilling the other half of the coffee over the tray
in the process. As she clung around my neck, I lifted the tray off
her lap and set it on the bed. Suddenly her body stiffened against
mine. “Oh,” she said quietly, pulling back. I looked at her
beautiful face, watching the excitement fade. She looked a little
sad, guilty even.

“What’s up?” I
asked, reaching out and brushing a loose hair up into the towel she
had twisted on top of her head.

“I just feel
bad for Dean, that’s all.”

I laughed
quietly. She really was incredible this girl, always thinking of
other people. “You don’t need to feel bad for Dean, he’s not
coming. He and Peter still have the weekend off,” I informed her,
smiling proudly.

Her eyes
narrowed. “Well, who are they sending? Not Mike, I hate Mike,” she
sneered at his name.

I laughed at
her reaction. “No, not Mike. You don’t need to worry, you like who
you’re going with,” I said confidently. She raised her eyebrows,
clearly not believing me. She didn’t like any of the other guards.
She had warmed to Dean, and I think she quite liked Peter too, but
she hated the guards at the lake house.

She eyed me
suspiciously. “Well, who’s taking me then?”

I grinned
proudly. “Me.”

She looked at
me expectantly. “And…”

“And me,” I
replied, grinning at her.

She gasped.
“Just you? Are you freaking kidding me? No far guard?” she cried
with wide eyes.

I nodded. “Just
me, no far guard,” I confirmed, smiling, my chest throbbing
painfully because of how excited she was.

She squealed
and threw herself at me; the force of it caught me off guard and
threw us both off the bed. I twisted so I took all of the impact of
the floor and held her protectively to my chest. It hurt a little
but not too bad. I laughed as she gasped, obviously shocked at what
had happened.

She cupped her
hands around my face, looking at me worriedly. “Oh God, I’m so
sorry. Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

I shook my
head, laughing. “I’m fine.”

A smile spread
slowly across her face as she took in the news again. “I really get
to come to LA? Just with you?” she asked, pressing her perfectly
toned body to me tightly.

I nodded. I
couldn’t speak; I was incredibly turned on by this position. She
was straddling me and leaning over me so our chests were pressed
together. Her robe had opened at the bottom, and I could see one of
her legs right up to the top of her thigh. I was rock hard, and
there was no way to disguise it this time, she was sitting on top
of it, for goodness’ sake.

“Thank you,”
she breathed as she bent her head and kissed me, hard, making my
whole body yearn for her.

I brought my
hand up to the back of her head and tried to get her closer,
moaning in the back of my throat as the desire took over my body. I
had the bare minimum of control when she jumped on me like this.
Most of the time I could manage to keep in my mind that I couldn’t
upset her. If I didn’t love her so much then I wouldn’t even try to
stay away from her. It was weird, but because I loved her, I almost
didn’t want to be with her, because I couldn’t stand to see her
upset afterwards. It was impossible to reconcile, the need to be
with her, but yet, at the same time, wanting to stay away.