Nothing Left to Lose (Guarded Hearts 1)

“You sleep okay?” I inquired when she’d finished eating. I knew the answer to that question already; I’d spent half the night watching her sleep.

She set her plate on the side and nodded. “Yep. You?”

Not really, no. “Yeah, fine,” I lied.

She smiled and climbed out of the bed, stretching her body and groaning. I closed my eyes at the sight of her flawless body; I could already feel the tightening of the crotch area of my jeans, the sight of her stretching certainly wouldn’t help at all.

“I’ll take your bags downstairs ready. We’re leaving in just under two hours,” I suggested, checking the time on my cell phone.

“Okay, I’m just going to get dressed. Can you leave one of the bags so I can put my hairbrush and stuff in it?” she asked, bending over one of the suitcases, giving me a spectacular view of her ass and legs. Well, that did it; I got a full on hard-on and quickly turned to rearrange myself downstairs while she wasn’t watching so it wasn’t noticeable.

Fuck my life! This is going to be the longest eight months ever!

The next hour was pretty hectic and so I didn’t get to see her much. When the car finally arrived to take us to the airport, her parents followed us outside, their expressions anxious and sullen.

I stood back and watched as she said her awkward goodbyes. Her back was stiff, and her weak smile was forced as they hugged her goodbye one at a time. I hated to see her so tense, it made my stomach ache. I wasn’t close enough to hear what they were saying, but her mother had tears in her eyes, and her father looked like he was begging her to stay out of trouble.

Once they were done, her eyes flitted in my direction before she climbed into the waiting black Bentley. I stepped forward to go with her, but her dad stepped into my path and smiled warmly. I gulped. I was actually incredibly intimidated by him, after all, not only was he the probable next President and my boss, he was also the father of the girl I wanted to date. I wanted him to like me.

“Agent Taylor, I just wanted to say thank you,” he said quietly. I could tell by his fierce expression that he meant the words.

“You don’t need to thank me, sir. It’s my job.”

He shook his head. “Not just the job, Agent Taylor, I meant for what you’re doing for Annabelle. She seems so much better. You’re good for her.” He held out his hand for me to shake. I grinned placing my hand in his. Looks like I may get Dad’s approval after all!

“No problem, sir. Anna’s a great girl who’s been through a lot.” I frowned at my words. ‘Been through a lot’ didn’t even begin to cover what she’d had to endure.

“Yes, she has,” he agreed, nodding. “Please take care of her. She trusts you, and so do I.”

I felt immensely proud of myself. “Thank you, sir, that means a lot. You don’t need to worry about her, I’ll take excellent care of her,” I promised.

He turned, nodding towards the waiting car. “You’d better get going or you’ll miss your flight.”

I nodded and started towards the car, but just as I was about to climb in the back, he spoke again, making me stop. “At the end of this assignment you can name the department of your choice, and I’ll make it happen,” he said sincerely. My insides knotted at the thought of any department, my hand gripping the door handle slightly too tight.

“Thank you, sir.” I smiled gratefully and slid into the car with Anna, smiling broadly.

After being ushered through airport check-in and security, we were boarded in first class. Anna seemed both relaxed and happy to be away from the house and her parents. I had a feeling that it was difficult for her there with them, knowing they wanted the old Anna rather than this new version.

Once the plane was in the air, and the seatbelt signs went off, she stood and pulled down her inflight bag, rummaging through it. A smile crossed her face as she pulled out a rectangular box that had been wrapped in a sheet of her sketch pad. She grinned and held it out to me. “I got you something.”

I frowned, a little taken aback. “You did? What is it?”

She grinned, pulling out a book from her bag before plopping herself back down in her seat and tossing the little hard box into my lap. “Open it and see.”

I frowned and picked up the package. It was hard and about the size of my palm. As I unfastened the tape and pulled the paper off, my eyes widened in shock. It was a wicked-looking iPod. “Seriously?” I asked, looking at her face for signs of trickery.

She nodded in confirmation, smiling smugly, obviously pleased with herself. “I didn’t think you had one, and I had a spare, so I figured you could have it to help keep you occupied during the boring lessons. It’s a college must have.”

I looked at her in awe. Her thoughtfulness and caring attitude amazed me; I’d never known anyone like her.

“Again with that face?” she teased, rolling her eyes. She reached out and took it from my hand, opening it and connecting the headphones before turning it on. “I didn’t know what kind of music you liked, so I just put all of my stuff on here for you for now so you’ve got something to be getting on with,” she rambled, flicking through a list of albums.

I gulped, unsure what to say. Could this girl actually be real?

“You’ll have to set up your own iTunes account, but you can share mine for now,” she continued, shrugging casually. I didn’t think she had any idea how thoughtful and incredible she was.