Nothing Left to Lose (Guarded Hearts 1)

“Yeah, I get it, bud, don’t worry, I thought it was something like that,” he admitted. He made a strangled laugh. “You do know that if you screw up and hurt her, he has the power to have you killed,” he joked.

A tired grin covered my face. Trust Nate to think of it that way! “Lucky I’m not gonna screw up and hurt her then.”

“I saw you two getting interviewed outside the hotel. I didn’t realise you were so serious about her. I knew you were in love with her, that much was pretty damn obvious by the love-sick puppy eyes you shoot her, but I didn’t realise that you wanted to marry her. It came across on TV like you were trying to make a joke, but I know you too well, Taylor. You were serious, weren’t you?” he asked.

I smiled. Nate always had known me well. “Yeah, but I don’t think she’s up for it yet. I’m working on it though. Listen, Nate, I need to go, I haven’t slept in forever and my head is killing me.”

“Sure, I’ll speak to you in the week, say hi to Anna for me when you see her, okay?” he instructed.

“I will. See ya,” I disconnected the call and switched on the TV, flicking onto the news channel, only to see me and Anna plastered all over the screen. There were clips of us leaving the hotel and answering questions. They still loved us as a couple and were talking about our nicknames for each other. A proud grin slipped onto my face when they played the bit of her pulling me in for a kiss. Admittedly, it looked just as hot as it had felt.

In my hand, my cell phone rang again. My body jerked in my seat when I saw the number that was flashing on the screen. I answered the phone with wide eyes.

“Hi, Agent Taylor. Please hold for the President-elect,” Maddy stated formally. I swallowed the lump that was building in my throat. No doubt Anna’s father was calling to reprimand me for what I’d said about wanting to marry her outside the hotel.

Moments later, his firm voice greeted me. “Agent Taylor, I just wanted to check how Annabelle was holding up after the reporters hounding you two at the hotel.”

“She’s fine, sir. She was shocked and nervous about it, but she’s fine now.”

He sounded like he breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s great. Melissa and I were concerned that she’d be under too much pressure with everyone thinking you were dating,” he said.

I grimaced, knowing this was where he was going to warn me to do my job and to keep my hands off his daughter. “She’s fine, sir. You don’t need to worry.”

“Good. At least people still aren’t aware that you’re an agent. The boyfriend cover seems to be working well so far.”

I smiled. Well, it definitely works well for me. “Yes it is.”

“Well, call me if you have any problems on your end, or if you need to up the security and I’ll make the arrangements,” he suggested easily.

I frowned. Okay, where’s the speech? “I will, sir. Don’t worry about Anna, I’ll take care of her,” I promised.

“I know you will, son,” he replied as he ended the call.

I stared at the phone, my tired brain not quite able to work out what just happened. I’d expected at least a warning that I should back off and do my job properly, but there had been nothing at all. He hadn’t even mentioned the fact that she kissed me in front of the reporters.

I sighed as I pushed the phone onto the side, deciding to give up trying to second guess everything. People never seemed to react the way I thought they would lately. When my eyes started to get heavy, I rested my head back on the sofa.

Just as I was about to fall into slumber, the sofa dipped next to me, so I forced my stinging eyes open. Anna smiled sadly at me, her hair was still wet and scraped back into a bun. She was wearing one of my T-shirts again. “Lie down,” she cooed, pushing her hand under the back of my head and pulling it towards her gently. All that came out of my mouth was a strangled gargle as she pulled a little harder and smiled. “Lie down, Ashton.” I gave in fighting and twisted, lying down and setting my head in her lap as I swung my legs over the arm of the sofa and fell into a peaceful sleep.

~ Anna ~

When my alarm sounded in the morning, I cracked my eyes open, wincing as the light from the window made my eyes sting. I squeezed my eyes closed again and rolled over to cuddle into Ashton; I was actually pretty surprised he wasn’t all over me already. I rolled onto his side of the bed, instantly noticing that the sheets were cold against my skin. I pushed myself up, frowning at the empty space beside me.

The alarm was still beeping loudly, so I turned it off, wincing because I was still tired and didn’t want to go to college today. My heart sank when I remembered that this was the first day since the party so the cat would be out of the bag about who I was now. Things were going to change today, no doubt.

After slipping on a bath robe, I headed out of the room and made my way to the kitchen, needing a strong coffee. My eyes settled on Ashton sitting there with both Dean and Peter. I frowned as I poked Peter in the back as I walked past. “Shouldn’t you be in bed? Don’t night shift workers usually sleep during the day?” I teased.

“Hey, Anna. Yeah I should, but my boss is a real hard ass,” Peter answered jokingly, motioning towards Ashton who was sitting there with a pencil and paper and a stack of notes and diagrams in front of him.

I waved my hand dismissively. “Don’t listen to him, he’s a pu**y cat. Just go to bed.”

Peter laughed, and Ashton rolled his eyes. “We’re just going over some stuff for today as a precaution,” Ashton explained.