Nothing Left to Lose (Guarded Hearts 1)

I had to scoff at that. “Just chill, will you? Everything’s fine. Jeez, you’re going to work these two to death. Nothing’s going to happen. Maybe I’ll have a couple more people talk to me today, or maybe they’ll all avoid me like the plague. Nothing to be dramatic over,” I shrugged, genuinely not knowing what to expect.

Ashton cleared his throat loudly and turned back to Peter and Dean. “Ignore the interruption,” he stated, waving dismissively at me.

I laughed incredulously. “Interruption? Wow, rude much?”

A smile twitched at the corner of his lips as he carried on planning with the agents, obviously trying to ignore me and not react.

“Anyone want coffee? I’m making eggs if there are any takers,” I smiled wickedly as I interrupted again on purpose.

“No thanks. We’re working,” Ashton replied tersely before the other two could answer.

I grinned. Wow, serious Ashton is here today! I waited for him to start talking again before I spoke, “Orange juice, Dean?”

Ashton sighed dramatically. “Seriously, Anna, are you trying to annoy me?” he asked, raising one eyebrow in warning.

I nodded, smiling sweetly. The idea of Ashton getting annoyed with me was actually pretty funny; I didn’t even think he would. I could see Dean and Peter trying to hide their smiles. Ashton shook his head at me, obviously trying terribly hard not to smile and turned back to them, starting to plan again.

“Cereal anyone?” I asked, laughing wickedly.

Ashton jumped out of his chair so fast that I barely saw him move. He grabbed me from behind, wrapping one arm tightly around my waist, pinning my arms to my sides and covering my mouth with his other hand. I laughed against his hand as he shushed me and pinned my body against his so I couldn’t move.

“Right, we’re done now anyway but just to recap, Peter, you’ll come meet us at the end of school. Dean will move a little closer, and if I call, then you’ll adopt near guard position and ignore me completely,” Ashton ordered. I squirmed in place as I started to find it incredibly sexy the way Dean and Peter were hanging on Ashton’s every word. I could see the respect for him and it made me practically overflow with pride. “I’ve already spoken to the school office this morning and told them that additional arrangements may need to be taken, and they were fine with it. There should be no problems, it’s just business as usual, but Dean can show his presence from now on seeing as everyone will expect Anna to have a guard with her now.” His grip loosened slightly around my waist, but I didn’t move away from him, I liked having him this close; I shifted my weight to my other leg and discreetly ground my ass across his crotch. His arm immediately tightened back up again, pinning me against him. “If there are any problems at all, I need to maintain cover, so you take her away. Don’t wait for me to make the first move, I’ll only move if I have to because I need to look like a boyfriend and not an agent. Right, well, Peter, you’d better go get some sleep,” he said sternly.

Dean and Peter nodded, both standing to leave. “Got it, boss,” Peter answered, nodding as both of my far guards left the apartment.

After the front door shut, Ashton kissed the side of my neck softly, still holding his hand over my mouth. “Now, Miss Spencer, you need to stop interfering with my job, or else,” he growled sexily in my ear. My whole body started to throb at the sound of his husky voice as he held me tightly against him. When he bit the back of my neck playfully, I whimpered with desire and instantly regretted teasing him because now I was going to be fantasising about him all day. “Is that understood?” he whispered against my neck, sending his hot breath blowing down my back. I couldn’t answer; my mouth was dry and my body practically vibrating with excitement. “I said, is that understood, Miss Spencer?” he whispered in my ear. I grinned against his hand and nodded. “Hmm, good,” he purred as he moved his hands from their restraining positions and rested them on my hips gently. I didn’t move away from him, I couldn’t. I loved the feel of his body against mine, I would be quite happy just to stand here like this all day. “How about I make you breakfast?” he offered, his voice still thick with lust.

How about we skip breakfast and school and go to bed? It was on the tip of my tongue, but somehow I held it back. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out the lustful thoughts that seemed to come to me so frequently lately. “No, it’s okay. Thanks for the offer though, I thought I would make something hot today,” I said, finally able to drag myself out of his embrace. “You hungry?”

“Of course,” he grinned, watching as I pulled out a packet of bacon from the fridge. He nodded eagerly. “You know you’re the best girlfriend anyone ever had, don’t you?”

I smiled. “Well, I do now that you’ve told me,” I replied, shrugging. I did already know that actually, he told me a lot.

When we arrived at school, the whole parking lot seemed to turn in unison to watch us. A hushed silence settled over the crowd, and I shrank into Ashton’s side, already wishing I was somewhere else. This was going to take a lot of getting used to.

Ashton’s arm tightened around me as the excited whispering started. “Relax, Baby Girl, it’ll die down,” he said, squeezing my waist affectionately.

As we made our way to the building, my eyes settled on Rosie and the rest of our friends that were standing in a little huddle outside the front entrance. I sighed, feeling my shoulders slump in defeat. I knew this would happen; clearly they would all treat me differently now that they knew who my father was. It was inevitable. However, the wide eyes and tight lips that looked back at me made my insides ache. I should have taken more time to prepare myself for this kind of public rejection, I wasn’t ready at all.