Nothing Left to Lose (Guarded Hearts 1)

I giggled. “Well, at least I can cover that one up.”

He grinned sheepishly. “Sorry.”

I rolled my eyes and pushed him away gently. “Go turn off the bath, Pretty Boy, before your apartment floods,” I suggested, grinning. He jumped like he’d forgotten it and ran out of the room quickly. He called me in there after a couple of minutes, and when I walked in I saw that he’d drawn me a bubble bath. I couldn’t hold the little ‘aww’ that escaped my lips as my heart skipped a beat at the thoughtfulness of him. I climbed in and sighed as my strained muscles started relaxing. I closed my eyes and replayed some of the memories of last night; I had a feeling I would be revisiting those memories a lot.

After a little while, I forced myself to focus and washed my hair and body before getting out and wrapping myself in a towel. Once I was back in the bedroom, I looked through the outfit choices I’d brought with me. Settling on something casual, I dressed quickly in black leggings and a fitted white shirt. Not wanting to spend too much time on my hair, I pulled it over one shoulder and braided it. Happier than I had felt in years, I practically skipped to the lounge. My whole body was relaxed and contented. My need for Ashton’s body that I had been struggling with for the last two months was finally satiated.

Ashton paused his video game that he was playing as I walked in the room. “Wow, you look beautiful.”

Seeing him sitting there, smiling at me, and with the memories of last night still fresh in my mind, the need for his body came back with a vengeance. “Thanks.” I walked over and sat next to him on the sofa. “Can I play too?” I asked, nodding at the TV screen, needing a distraction before I dragged him back to his bedroom again.

He grinned. “Actually, I’d love that. That’s every guy’s fantasy, a girl that plays video games, did you know that?” he replied, winking at me playfully before standing up and getting another controller for me, adding me on to his game.

I smiled. “Oh really?”

He nodded in agreement, passing me the controller and restarting the game as he sat at my side.

As it turns out, I sucked royally at video games. We were playing some kind of war game, but all I was doing was running around aimlessly and getting killed. Ashton seemed highly amused by my lack of ability though.

After about half an hour, the timer on the stove beeped and he paused the game, setting his controller onto the sofa. “I’m gonna go get lunch, no cheating while I’m gone,” he teased, kissing me quickly on the lips but pulling away way too quickly for my liking. I watched him go into the kitchen, and a few minutes later he returned with the only thing he could cook without cremating it – tuna and cheese baked potatoes.

I smiled gratefully. “Thanks, Ashton.”

“So, what shall we do today?” he asked, digging into his food.

I shrugged. “I don’t know, what is there to do?” I smiled down at my full plate. I was actually ravenous after all of the exercise this morning.

“Do you want to see my training academy? I’m sure my captain would like to meet you.”

“Sure. Sounds great,” I agreed, grinning. I would love to see the academy he raved about so much.

“I’ll have to call my Captain to see if I’m allowed to take you in there,” he winced as he pulled out his cell phone, dialling quickly. After a couple of seconds the line obviously connected, so I listened to his side of the conversation. “Hi, sir, it’s Ashton Taylor. No, everything’s going great actually. I’m in LA with Miss Spencer and she’s requested to see my academy, do you think that would be possible? Yeah, she’s good. No, she’s not being difficult at all,” he smiled at me, so I blushed and looked away. “She’d really like to come, sir. No, but I can get the senator’s permission if it’s needed.” He looked at me with wide eyes before his face relaxed. “Yeah great, we’ll be there in about half an hour or so. Thanks, g’bye, sir.” He grinned happily and pushed the phone back into his pocket. “It’s all arranged, so whenever you’re ready.”

I smiled and tucked into my food. I had a feeling he would enjoy showing me around there. When he was done eating, he showered quickly and threw on his clothes while I did the dishes.

When we got there, Ashton was beaming his kilowatt smile. He grabbed my hand, dragging me in behind him. A balding older man wearing a black SWAT T-shirt and black pants came over. The warm smile and the way he shook Ashton’s hand told me that they liked each other.

“Officer Weston, this is Anna. Anna, my old captain,” Ashton introduced, waving a hand between us.

The man turned to me and smiled, somewhat nervously. He had obviously read my file too and was erring on the side of caution.

I held my hand out to him. “Nice to meet you, Officer Weston,” I greeted politely. His eyes widened in surprise as he glanced at Ashton, who nodded and smiled encouragingly.

Officer Weston tentatively shook my hand with his rough calloused one. “You too, Miss Spencer,” he replied, his face betraying his total and utter confusion.

I waved my hand dismissively. “Anna’s fine, not Miss Spencer.”

He nodded. “Well, I wasn’t expecting a visit from you. What are you two doing here in LA? And where’s your far guard?” he asked, glancing behind me.

“We’re on our own for the weekend, sir. It was cleared by Senator Spencer,” Ashton answered quickly.