Nothing Left to Lose (Guarded Hearts 1)

He shifted slightly, and a lazy kiss was planted on the side of my head.

Excitement bubbled up inside me because he was awake and I could give him his presents. I’d already forwarded the other gifts that I’d bought – the main one being to all of his friends back in LA. The gift that I’d bought for Ashton would be better with a group of friends going too. I had no doubt in my mind that he was going to love it.

I pulled back to look at him again, and he grinned at me. “Good morning, Baby Girl. Merry Christmas,” he whispered as he bent his head to kiss me. I smiled against his lips and rolled on top of him, before sitting up and smiling excitedly.

“Merry Christmas to you too. Can I give you your present now?” I asked excitedly.

A wicked smile crept onto his lips as his hands slid up my thighs, over my hips, and settled on my waist with his thumbs on the skin just under my br**sts. “Oh yeah, I would love my present,” he purred suggestively. Desire built inside me quickly, and the gift giving was long forgotten as I dipped my head and captured his lips in a soft kiss. Before things could progress, he rolled so that he was hovering above me. “I was joking, you know. I’d like to give you your gift too,” he said, laughing.

I nodded, too lost in the moment to stop. “Maybe later,” I muttered, guiding his mouth down to mine again as I wrapped my legs around his waist.

One intense lovemaking session later, I watched as he climbed out of the bed and fumbled through one of our suitcases before plucking something out of the side pocket and strutting back to the bed. I’d been more organised and already had mine placed under the bed where I could reach them. I leant down, picking them up, unable to keep the smile off my face.

As he settled back into the bed, we exchanged gifts. I nodded to the two things in his lap. “Do yours first, I want to watch you open them.” I didn’t actually care what he’d bought for me, he didn’t need to have gotten me anything at all, I already owed him more than I could ever give him for what he’d done for my life in the last four months.

He smiled worriedly. “You promise that you didn’t go crazy? You agreed not to go overboard.”

“I didn’t go overboard,” I confirmed. Well, I didn’t think I did anyway, but he may have a different idea about boundaries and limits. I pointed to the cheaper one. “Do that one first,” I chirped.

He picked it up and slid his finger under the tape. My nerves were frazzled; he was being so slow, I was sure he was doing it on purpose. As he pulled the paper off, his eyes widened and a beautiful smile stretched across his face. “Oh God, Anna, I love this!” he enthused. I smiled down at the photo of us that I’d put into a silver frame. It was one of the ones from my father’s birthday party; I’d purchased it from one of the photographers.

I grinned. “I have a couple of others at home too, but I only brought one with me because of the ridiculous baggage allowance restrictions,” I chimed in.

“This is the best thing that you could have gotten me,” he gushed, leaning in and kissing me softly.

I chuckled knowingly. “Yeah, until you see that one,” I teased, pointing to the rectangular, gold, flat present. He picked it up quickly, ripping it open. As he pulled out the sheet of paper inside and saw that it was a trip itinerary, he looked up at me warningly. “I hope that you’ve included yourself on whatever this is,” he said before he even unfolded it.

I sighed, knowing he would be difficult about it at first. “Ashton, don’t start freaking out and panicking. No, I’m not going because it’s really not something that I’d enjoy. Just get over it, alright?” I stated, trying to look stern but probably failing miserably because I actually loved the fact that he worried about me so much. “Smile, please? I’m so excited about this, please don’t ruin it for me,” I begged.

He sighed and nodded, finally looking down at the printed sheet in his hand. As he read it over, I saw the tension leave his face as he read the details of it. “Holy shit! You’ve arranged for a driving weekend for me and my friends? Shit, Anna, this is incredible!”

I grinned and chewed on my lip as I nodded enthusiastically. I knew he would love it. It was a weekend of driving in a Formula 1 car, with actual tuition and lunch with one of the McLaren-Mercedes drivers. Once I’d had the idea of it, my father had pulled in a lot of strings to make it possible. Luckily, it was off season for the Grand Prix, so that made it possible.

“Tell me that’s not better than a photo,” I prompted, smirking at him.

He laughed, shaking his head. “Okay, yeah, you got me. Thank you so much for this, it’s amazing, seriously overboard, but amazing,” he sighed, and his eyes tightened. “But you’ll come too, right?”

I groaned, knowing that this was where it got difficult. I knew he wouldn’t like being two and a half hours’ flight away from me. “I don’t want to go. I booked this for you and your friends, and you can relax without me being there. This really isn’t something that I’d enjoy.”

He reached out and touched my cheek softly, his eyes betraying his anxiousness. “I don’t want to leave you.”

I sighed at the puppy dog face that he pulled. “Please don’t do that face at me! I’ve arranged for a guard to come and replace you for the weekend. It’s just two nights. Please? Come on, you love this, right? Your friends are gonna love this too,” I pleaded desperately.