Nothing Left to Lose (Guarded Hearts 1)

He sighed and looked down at the paper. “I really, really love this. Thank you,” he said gratefully.

An excited squeal left my lips as I threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck tightly. “Yes! I knew you’d love it!”

He laughed quietly. “Why are you so excited? This is my gift, not yours.”

I sighed happily and pulled back to look at him. “Yeah, but I love giving you things.”

He nodded. “Yeah, don’t I know it,” he muttered sarcastically. “But you know what?” He bent forward and cupped my face in his hands. “This,” he said, kissing me on the lips tenderly, “this kiss would have been enough to make this the best Christmas I’ve ever had,” he stated, his eyes sparkling and showing me the truth of his words.

My heart melted to a puddle at his sweet words. “Well, in that case, now you’ve had the kiss and get to go to drive a fast car!”

He shook his head, laughing incredulously. “You are just too perfect, Baby Girl,” he stated, looking at me softly. Perfect? Yeah right, I’m not; I’m moody, bitchy, needy, and aggressive! “Your turn,” he said, handing me a flat present the size of a birthday card.

I smiled gratefully. “Thank you.” I silently prayed this would be something we could do together. Tearing it open eagerly, I saw a Christmas card inside. When I opened it, two tickets for Usher’s concert tumbled out into my lap. Shock resonated through my body as my mouth dropped open. They must have cost him a fortune. “Ashton…” Tears welled in my eyes because of how thoughtful this was. Usher was my favourite. “This is…” I was lost for words.

He smiled, leaning forward and wiping the tear away as it fell down my face. “You’re very welcome.”

I swallowed, running my thumb over the little official silver hologram. “You are so thoughtful; this is fantastic. Thank you.”

“So, who you gonna take?” he asked, smiling at me.

I laughed and pretended to think about it. “Hmm, I think maybe I’ll ask Rosie,” I joked.

“Good choice. I would have gone for Rosie too,” he winked at me playfully.

I literally threw myself at him, knocking him flat onto his back as I kissed him passionately. When I broke the kiss, I looked at him in awe because he was just so special. “This is the best Christmas, ever,” I whispered truthfully.

He stroked his hand down my back softly. “I’m glad you’re having a good time.”

“I’m not having a good time, I’m having the best time of my life here with you,” I corrected, smiling ecstatically.

His hand tangled into the back of my hair as he tilted my head back and kissed the tip of my nose. “I got you something else too,” he whispered.

My overeager, hormone ridden body was already imagining things that he could do for me as a present. I raised one eyebrow, pressing closer to him. “Oh really? And would this thing involve your tongue doing sinful things to my body?”

He laughed wickedly and shook his head. “No, pervert!”

My mouth dropped open in shock as heat spread across my face because obviously I’d taken his comment the wrong way. “Oh.”

He was still laughing as he rolled us to the side and reached into the drawer beside his bed, producing a little, red velvet jewellery box. “That wasn’t the gift that I had planned, but I can absolutely do that after if you want.” He grinned at me and my blush deepened. “This is what I actually meant.”

My breath caught in my throat as he held out the box to me. “Why did you buy me something else? The concert tickets were already too much,” I whispered, watching his face, just marvelling over him like I had done hundreds of times before.

“Just open it,” he instructed.

I gulped and took the box, sitting up on the bed as I ran my fingers over the soft, velvety material. Lifting the lid slowly, I saw a beautiful pair of emerald stud earrings. My hand unconsciously went to my matching necklace and rubbed over the emerald stone that I hadn’t taken off since the day that he’d put it around my neck. Air rushed out of my lungs because of how precious the earrings were. The sun shining through the window made them sparkle and cast green shadows over my chest and wrist. I looked up at him and couldn’t speak. No one could be this perfect, could they?

“You like them?” he asked, looking a little unsure. “You can change them if you want to. Don’t say you like them if you don’t, I mean, I’m not good at picking out jewellery or anything. You probably hate them.”

I put my hand out, covering his mouth to stop any more ridiculous words tumbling out. “Thank you. I love them,” I whispered. The word didn’t even cover how much I was in love with the earrings.

He smiled against my hand. “You’re welcome,” he mumbled through my hand, his voice muffled.

I sighed happily and swung my legs out of bed. “I’m going to put these in,” I stated, unable to take my eyes from the little green stones nestled in the cream folds of silk.

“Hey, I thought I was doing sinful things to your body with my tongue!” he called as I walked out of the room towards the bedroom.

I grinned over my shoulder. “Hold that thought for two minutes while I put on my gift, and then maybe I’ll let my tongue do sinful things to your body too, to show you how grateful I am.”

That day was the most magical, lazy Christmas I’d ever had. Ashton and I lay on the beach in a hammock, listening to my iPod, sipping cocktails. It was pure perfection.