Nothing Left to Lose (Guarded Hearts 1)

Gripping her hand tightly, I gave her a little tug towards her hotel room door. “Let’s pack your stuff and then you can come to my room while I do mine.”

There wasn’t much to collect really. All of the party clothes had been provided for us, so it was only what we travelled in yesterday and our sleepwear that needed to be packed. She was done within three minutes and then we headed down a floor to pack my belongings.

She lay on my bed while I threw my clothes into a bag. When I was done, the need to hold her was just too great, so I gave in. I crawled up the bed, hovering over her as I smiled down at her underneath me. I didn’t touch her as her gaze came up to meet mine. I searched her eyes, desperately trying to see if what the papers had printed was true. Her full lips curved up into a smile as she reached up and traced the line of my jaw with one delicate finger.

I was almost so lost in the moment that I missed the click of the door as the handle twisted, but thankfully, I still had some degree of control over myself. I rolled off her quickly, tensing, watching the door, but relaxing when I saw Dean saunter in.

By his tight jaw alone, I knew something was wrong. “Car’s here when you’re ready to leave. But, there’s a slight problem.”

I raised one eyebrow in question as I stood. “Problem?”

He nodded, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah, there are some reporters out front waiting for you two. Probably a good fifteen or twenty of them all crowded out there. There’s probably about the same amount out the back too. There’s no way to get out of the building without going past them,” he stated.

Anna groaned behind me. I nodded, this was just something we had to deal with, it’d be over soon and then we’d be away from it all. “It’ll be fine.” I put my hand on top of Anna’s head, stroking her hair as I kept my eyes firmly on Dean. “We’ll go out the front, just make sure the car is parked there waiting. Also, ask that Mike guy to follow us to the airport, just in case.”

Dean nodded in acknowledgment before picking up his overnight bag from his bed and sauntering out of the room to get to work. I turned back to Anna. “Once we get back to campus, everything will settle down and they’ll lose interest. It’s only because we’re still in the hotel.” At least, I hope it is! “Come on.” I picked up her bag and mine, and waved for her to follow behind me.

By the time we got down to the lobby and had checked out, passing our luggage to one of the concierges to take to the car, Dean had arranged the cars and had rounded up two extra guards along with Mike. They were all standing by the door waiting for departure.

My hand closed around Anna’s as I pulled her close to my side. “Don’t leave my side. If anyone grabs you or anything, I’ll handle it, or Dean. You just smile and we’ll get to the car.”

She nodded in understanding, chewing on her bottom lip furiously. We walked over to Dean, and I nodded discreetly, watching as they pulled the doors open for us to exit.

As soon as we stepped out, the fifteen or so people started shouting our names and cameras started whirling. Dean and Mike stepped to our sides, arms outstretched, keeping the crowd back as they surged forwards, trying to get the best pictures. My eyes scanned the crowd, looking for anything untoward or suspicious, but they were all just reporters after a scoop.

One of the reporters quickly shoved a Dictaphone towards us, leaning in as close as she could even though Dean was holding her back. “Annabelle, Ashton, what do you think about what the papers are saying about you two this morning?”

Anna looked up at me quickly as if she wasn’t sure she should answer. I shrugged. I had no idea what the protocol was for it, she should probably have had a press agent here with her or support, but that was too late now. No one predicted anything like this would happen.

She cleared her throat and smiled. “It’s crazy, this is all just crazy,” she answered, waving her hand around at all the people as her hand tightened on mine.

Another reporter tried to bustle forward. “Ashton, what do you think of the body language expert saying that the President-elect liked you and trusted you with his daughter?” he shouted.

I shrugged awkwardly. I didn’t want to answer any questions; all I wanted was her safely away from this crowd. “I’m glad, of course. What boyfriend wouldn’t like to hear that his girlfriend’s dad likes him?”

Anna laughed at my answer, and we carried on walking, but it was a slow feat because they were all crowded around the path to the car. We were about half way to the car now.

“Annabelle, now your father has been elected, do you think your relationship with Ashton will change?” another asked.

Anna smiled. “I hope not, I don’t want it too. Hopefully he won’t see me as a different person now. What do you think, Pretty Boy, you gonna see me any different?” she asked, turning to look at me, smiling affectionately.

I grinned and pulled her closer to me. “I won’t see you any different, Baby Girl,” I promised.

“Can you two kiss so we can get a photo?” one of the reporters pleaded.

I groaned inwardly. She wouldn’t want to do that. If we were to kiss, then her parents would find out and she would hate that. I looked down at her and was just about to tell the reporters that that kind of thing was private, when Anna gripped the front of my T-shirt and pulled my mouth down to hers.

My whole body stiffened from shock, but I kissed her back immediately, very aware that the cameras were clicking like crazy around us as they took their shots. As she tried to deepen the kiss, I pulled back and shook my head discreetly. Clearly, she had forgotten where we were and that everyone was watching. She whimpered as I pulled away, but then blushed as she seemed to come back to reality. I smiled and brushed my finger across her pink cheek as I nodded my head in the direction of the car, signalling for her to start walking again.