When we pulled up at the house, I was a little disappointed. I genuinely liked spending time with him, but there was just too much pressure here.
“So, you wanna go do something? Swimming maybe?” he offered as we climbed out of the car. “In the indoor heated pool, I meant, not the ice water again,” he added quickly, shuddering.
I laughed at that. “Er… there’s something I really want to do first, so maybe in like an hour or something?” I suggested, raising my eyebrows. Yesterday, while shopping, I’d seen the Apple store and realised that Ashton needed an iPod if he was going to survive college. I was pretty sure he didn’t have one, and I had a spare, brand new one that I’d bought for myself a few months ago when I thought I’d lost mine. Music was a college attendee’s survival essential; he’d need that to keep himself sane.
He looked at me sceptically. “You’re not leaving the house though, are you?”
“No, I’ll be in my bedroom.” I rolled my eyes at his assumption. He obviously took this guard thing way too seriously.
“Okay good. An hour’s fine then, I’ll go finish that book.” He shrugged, smiling a half smile.
“I’ll have to make sure to pack the other three for you if you’re that into them,” I teased.
He just rolled his eyes and didn’t bother to answer me. On the way through the house, we stopped by the kitchen to grab a drink and sandwich for lunch. I said goodbye to Ashton for the hour, taking my food to my room. As soon as I was alone, I pulled out my laptop and started to sync my spare iPod to my iTunes, copying all of my music over to it for him. Having no idea what kind of music he liked, I had no clue if there was anything in my collection that he would like – it would be a start for him though, at least.
After exactly an hour, he knocked on my door. I winced and looked up worriedly because the music was still syncing. “Ashton, I’m not done, I’ll be a bit longer then I’ll come get you, okay?” I called, hoping he wouldn’t just walk in and see me doing it. I wanted to give it to him tomorrow on the plane so he could listen to it during the flight if he wanted to.
“Are you okay?” he asked, sounding a little concerned.
“Fine,” I answered, chewing on my lip, watching the grey bar at the top as it copied all of the music over.
“Anna, can I come in?” he asked, still sounding unsure.
I ran to the door and yanked it open before he just walked in and ruined my surprise. “What’s up?” I asked, pulling the door close to my side so that he couldn’t see into my room.
“Are you really alright? You’re not freaking out because of the guns, are you?” he asked, reaching for my hand.
I smiled at his concern. I appreciated the thought actually. “No, I’m not freaking out. I just had something I wanted to do on my laptop before we leave tomorrow,” I promised, shrugging.
His face brightened, and he seemed to visibly relax. “Oh, that’s good, I was worried,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Thank you for being worried, but I’m honestly fine.” I shrugged.
“Okay, well, let me know when you’re ready.” He raised my hand to his lips, planting a soft kiss on my knuckle before turning and walking to his room next door.
While my laptop finished its task, I dug out another swimsuit and shrugged out of my clothes. By the time I had my clothes back on top of it, the sync was finished. As I walked to his room, I scraped my hair back into a bun before knocking politely on his door. He pulled it open as I was mid-knock so he must have been keen to go.
“Hey, I’m done,” I greeted.
“Okay, great,” he smiled and stepped out of the room, slinging a towel over his shoulder. As we stepped into the pool that we had at the back of the house, he raised one eyebrow in appreciation. “This is nice, I didn’t even realise this was here.”
“Yeah, I guess I should’ve shown you this on my tour of the house, huh?” I teased, grinning, remembering how I ditched him on his first day.
“Yeah, I still owe you for that,” he warned, narrowing his eyes at me.
“I’m so scared,” I mocked, stripping out of my clothes.
“You should be.” His arms closed around me quickly, lifting me off my feet as he stalked towards the pool.
“No!” I shouted, just as he threw me into the water. I came up laughing and spluttering. “Asshole!” I cried, wiping the water out of my eyes. He did a cannonball into the pool, sending water everywhere. “Wow, you’re such a child,” I scoffed, trying to hide my grin.
We swam a few lengths, bantering back and forth. Ashton was a strong swimmer; apparently they had to swim a lot for training. He said that once, as a punishment for letting a chicken loose in the officers’ lounge, he and Nate had to spend the whole night in the pool, swimming lengths and picking bricks up from the bottom.
“Wow, and you liked this place?” I asked, turning my nose up.
“Sure, it kinda saved me, I guess. When I was seventeen I didn’t get many opportunities and I started hanging around with the wrong people. It was a toss-up for me between joining up with the force, or carrying on being that person who I was becoming. Thankfully I chose the academy.”
I swam over to him and held onto the edge so we could talk. He grabbed my waist and pulled me to him. He was so close to me that the heat started up again. I had no idea how he did it to me. I moved closer to him, trailing my finger across his shoulder, looking at his tanned skin as lustful thoughts crashed over me in droves.
“You’re looking like a prune,” he teased, looking at my wrinkly fingers.
“You do too,” I muttered, chewing on my lip. I knew I needed to get out of the pool, this was just plain wrong, and I shouldn’t let this guy affect me so much. “Maybe we should get out.” I didn’t wait for an answer, just swam to the ladder and pulled myself out, grabbing my towel and drying my face.
When I turned back, he was just pulling himself out of the pool. My stomach tightened as he picked up his towel from the chair and started rubbing it over his chest. I watched the movements with interest; I’d never envied a towel before that moment.
Once I could bring myself to stop staring at him, I wrapped the towel around myself and we started walking back through the house. At my bedroom door, we parted ways. “I guess I should start packing after dinner,” I mumbled, scrunching my nose up. Packing was the worst part about being kicked out of so many schools and having to start over.
“I can help you if you want,” he offered. “I don’t have that much to pack. If you have anything you want to put in with my stuff, you can.”
I smiled gratefully. He’d already told me that he had a selection of clothes waiting for him at the apartment. Apparently they were supplying him with appropriate clothing; all he’d had to do was tell them his sizes. I dreaded to think what kind of clothing they deemed ‘appropriate’ for college.
I pushed my door open. “Okay thanks. I’ll knock for you after I get back from dinner with my parents.” I was going to do my best to enjoy my dinner tonight. As of tomorrow I would be leaving – and having a chef certainly was one thing I missed while at school.
~ Ashton ~
After I’d eaten dinner with the other agents and the other staff they had at the house, I’d packed up my own clothes before she finally knocked on my door signalling she was finished eating with her parents. As I lay on her bed with my arm folded behind my head, I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. She was just so incredible. I genuinely didn’t understand how there could be such a perfect creature like her in the world, and yet all those terrible things had happened to her.
My eyes were glued to her as she bent over, folding up her clothes. I could barely suppress my moan of desire for her. She obviously had no idea the effect she had on me, and I was pretty grateful of that fact. Clearly she needed a friend right now, so that was what I was planning on being for her. I’d do whatever it took to make her happy, even if this assignment ended up killing me. It was going to be incredibly hard on me to be so close, yet be so far away at the same time, but I could cope with it.
She turned and caught me looking straight at her, so I quickly flicked my eyes onto something else, knowing she was going to bitch me out about it. “You want to help me instead of just watching?” she teased, tossing a rucksack at me.
I laughed in relief. At least she didn’t realise I was perving on her. Pushing myself up from the bed, I turned to her art materials that she had piled on her dresser and started putting it into the bag. When I got to her sketchpad, I wanted so badly to look at it, but I didn’t know if she would want me to.
“Can I look through your drawings?” I asked hopefully.
She winced uncomfortably. “Um, okay. Some of them are a little… harsh.”
Harsh. What is that supposed to mean? I sat down on the chair and started flipping through the pad. My mouth dropped open in awe as I looked at her drawings. They were incredible: the lake, the house, a tree, a sunset, one of her mom. I could tell which ones she called harsh. They were actually quite disturbing; blood, death, knives and guns. The same man was drawn over and over, looking menacing and angry. I recognised him from the photo in her file, this was Carter.
“These are really great. What do you want to do when you finish school?” I asked, pushing the book into the bag.
“Well, I always wanted to be a graphic designer, but I’m not sure that’ll happen now. I’ll just be happy if I can graduate and finish my course,” she replied, looking a little sheepish.
I could feel my anger simmering just below the surface again. Carter had taken everything away from her. She just needed to get her confidence in people back though, that’s all, I could help her with that. I’d do whatever it took to get her life back on track again.
“Well, don’t give up on your dream, Anna. I’ll help you,” I promised, looking at her beautiful face.
She laughed quietly, and the sound made my heart beat faster. “You sound like Jack. He used to say things like that all the time.”
I decided to take that as a compliment. Jack sounded like a good guy from what I’d heard, and he was a damn lucky one too to have her love him so much. “Smart guy,” I commented, grinning.
I turned back to her stuff and picked up the sketch pad that she bought the other day when we went shopping. I flipped it open and on the first page was me again. I had to laugh at her portrayal of me. She obviously thought I was good-looking; I could tell by the way she seemed to skim over my flaws and drew me looking perfect, with not even a hair out of place.
“Do you like drawing me?” I asked, flipping the pad around so she could see what I was looking at.
“Sure, why not,” she replied, shrugging.
I frowned, trying to work out what that meant. Women were incredibly hard to read; I’d never really tried to understand one before. It was a lot harder than it looked. I flipped to the next page – it was Jack this time, I recognised him from the photo next to her bed. He was covered in blood and looked like he was in pain; the picture was a little horrifying.
I groaned and shook my head. “Why don’t you draw a nice picture of him, instead of this?” I asked, nodding down at the book. I didn’t want to show her the picture in case it upset her, suddenly being confronted with it.
She sighed, and her eyes dropped to the floor; her whole posture was sad and defeated. “It makes me too upset, so I don’t draw him anymore.”
“Anna, surely it’s harder for you to draw him like this,” I protested, silently wondering if she just liked being sad.
“You’d think so, huh?” She took the pad out of my hand and put it in the bag, indicating the end of the conversation.
I sighed, angry at myself. Way to go, Ashton, upset her again. Great job, asshole! I reached out and put my finger under her chin, guiding her eyes up to meet mine. I needed to see her smile again, I hated that she was so sad all the time. “It’s okay to miss him. You should remember the nice times and try to forget the bad stuff. It’s not good for you,” I whispered.
She smiled weakly, but it didn’t reach her lifeless eyes. “I know, but I can’t help it. When I close my eyes, that’s what I see.”
“In time the bad stuff will fade, and you’ll just be left with the good memories,” I promised, stepping closer to her and wrapping my arm around her shoulders. She fitted against my body perfectly. The smell of chlorine wafted up from her hair, making my scalp prickle. It was almost like torture. If I can’t have her, then why does she fit me so perfectly? I wanted so badly to dip my head and kiss her cheek, so I could feel her soft skin against my mouth again. I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the taste and feel of her since what happened yesterday.
She pressed her face into my chest and her body accidentally brushed against mine. I gulped and willed myself not to get turned on by the tiny movement. “Everyone says that, but three years on and it’s still just like yesterday,” she muttered.
I sighed and closed my eyes, pressing my face into her hair, breathing her in. I had no idea how I could make her feel better. “Just take one day at a time, that’s all you can do.”
Her arm tightened on my waist for a second before she sighed and pulled out of my grasp, stepping back and frowning down at the floor. “Let’s just get this stuff packed.”
Two suitcases and a rucksack later, she was finally satisfied that she had enough clothes to last her. She seemed to have packed everything but the kitchen sink. I even saw her throw in the next three Twilight books for me. I’d never had someone think about me like that before. The guys at the academy were great, but guys just didn’t do that sort of thing. It was weird for me to accept that someone could just genuinely be that kind and thoughtful. It amazed me that, although she was going through agony, she still had it in her heart to think of others too.
After we were done, she disappeared off into her en-suite to have a bath, so I sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the door, just wishing I could go and sit on the floor and talk to her some more. That was easily my favourite thing about her; she always had something interesting to say and could make me laugh like no girl I’d ever met. Sighing, I pulled out my cell phone, opening my email and finding the itinerary for our travel the following day.
When I knew it word for word, I stripped out of my clothes and took the spare pillow and throw off her bed, laying it out on the floor again. My back muscles were already protesting about sleeping on the floor, but it seemed to stop her nightmares so I could deal with it for a while. I’d already put in a request for a sofa bed to be put in the apartment we were to share.
A little while later I could hear her moving around in the bathroom. When the door handle twisted, I quickly lay down and closed my eyes, pretending to sleep. There was no need for me to make anything more difficult for her. She sighed and the light flicked off before the mattress creaked and the sheets rustled. As I lay there, I could hear her breathing as she rolled to the edge of the bed. It was one of the most precious sounds in the world to me.
Suddenly, I felt one of her fingers trail across the bridge of my nose and trace across my cheek before she swept the hair from my forehead softly. I desperately wanted to open my eyes and talk to her, hold her and kiss her, but she needed me to be the strong one, so I would be. Her hand moved down, resting on my chest, just above my heart. It was almost as if she wanted to check I was still there or something. It was nice, and I couldn’t help the smile that crept onto my face – lucky for me, the light was off so she couldn’t see how excited the small touch was making me.
I woke early again in the morning. I sat up, clenching my teeth so that I didn’t groan as my muscles protested. I smiled over at Anna who was still in a peaceful slumber, so I pushed myself up to my feet, bending and planting a soft kiss on the top of her head before I silently folded up my makeshift bed. It was easier this way; there was no awkwardness for her if I snuck out while she slept. I sighed and went to my room for a quick shower, changing into my clothes for the day and packing the last of my things.
After taking my bags downstairs, I sought out Dean to check he was all set for today. We were due to be driven to the airport at nine, so there wasn’t long to wait. Satisfied he was ready to go and knew what he was doing, I made my next stop the kitchen. My stomach was growling angrily as I looked at the stack of pancakes that Mary had made.
After gorging myself on a huge stack, I picked up an extra plate and loaded a couple on for Anna, carrying it carefully through the house and up to her room. When I got to her door, I knocked and waited for her to call me in. It was only just seven, so I was assumed she wouldn’t even be up yet.
“Yeah?” she called sleepily.
I opened the door and strutted in, seeing that she was sitting up on the bed, yawning and rubbing her eyes. Her hair was all messed up from sleeping, yet she still looked like the most beautiful girl in the world. I smiled to myself. I could look for a thousand years and never get tired of seeing her face, I was sure of it. I knew that every girl I met from now on would pale in comparison to Anna.
“Hey, Baby Girl. I got you some breakfast.” My eyes widened in horror at what I’d said. Baby Girl. I’d called her it a couple of times now by accident; I really needed to stop that.
Thankfully, she didn’t seem to notice. “You did? Thanks,” she smiled at me gratefully as she scooted back to the headboard, grinning when I passed her the plate.
I watched her in silence while she ate her breakfast, the whole time willing myself not to get turned on when she licked her lips and put her fork in her mouth. I had no idea how eating could be a turn-on, but she somehow managed it.
“You sleep okay?” I inquired when she’d finished eating. I knew the answer to that question already; I’d spent half the night watching her sleep.
She set her plate on the side and nodded. “Yep. You?”
Not really, no. “Yeah, fine,” I lied.
She smiled and climbed out of the bed, stretching her body and groaning. I closed my eyes at the sight of her flawless body; I could already feel the tightening of the crotch area of my jeans, the sight of her stretching certainly wouldn’t help at all.
“I’ll take your bags downstairs ready. We’re leaving in just under two hours,” I suggested, checking the time on my cell phone.
“Okay, I’m just going to get dressed. Can you leave one of the bags so I can put my hairbrush and stuff in it?” she asked, bending over one of the suitcases, giving me a spectacular view of her ass and legs. Well, that did it; I got a full on hard-on and quickly turned to rearrange myself downstairs while she wasn’t watching so it wasn’t noticeable.
Fuck my life! This is going to be the longest eight months ever!
The next hour was pretty hectic and so I didn’t get to see her much. When the car finally arrived to take us to the airport, her parents followed us outside, their expressions anxious and sullen.
I stood back and watched as she said her awkward goodbyes. Her back was stiff, and her weak smile was forced as they hugged her goodbye one at a time. I hated to see her so tense, it made my stomach ache. I wasn’t close enough to hear what they were saying, but her mother had tears in her eyes, and her father looked like he was begging her to stay out of trouble.
Once they were done, her eyes flitted in my direction before she climbed into the waiting black Bentley. I stepped forward to go with her, but her dad stepped into my path and smiled warmly. I gulped. I was actually incredibly intimidated by him, after all, not only was he the probable next President and my boss, he was also the father of the girl I wanted to date. I wanted him to like me.
“Agent Taylor, I just wanted to say thank you,” he said quietly. I could tell by his fierce expression that he meant the words.
“You don’t need to thank me, sir. It’s my job.”
He shook his head. “Not just the job, Agent Taylor, I meant for what you’re doing for Annabelle. She seems so much better. You’re good for her.” He held out his hand for me to shake. I grinned placing my hand in his. Looks like I may get Dad’s approval after all!
“No problem, sir. Anna’s a great girl who’s been through a lot.” I frowned at my words. ‘Been through a lot’ didn’t even begin to cover what she’d had to endure.
“Yes, she has,” he agreed, nodding. “Please take care of her. She trusts you, and so do I.”
I felt immensely proud of myself. “Thank you, sir, that means a lot. You don’t need to worry about her, I’ll take excellent care of her,” I promised.
He turned, nodding towards the waiting car. “You’d better get going or you’ll miss your flight.”
I nodded and started towards the car, but just as I was about to climb in the back, he spoke again, making me stop. “At the end of this assignment you can name the department of your choice, and I’ll make it happen,” he said sincerely. My insides knotted at the thought of any department, my hand gripping the door handle slightly too tight.
“Thank you, sir.” I smiled gratefully and slid into the car with Anna, smiling broadly.
After being ushered through airport check-in and security, we were boarded in first class. Anna seemed both relaxed and happy to be away from the house and her parents. I had a feeling that it was difficult for her there with them, knowing they wanted the old Anna rather than this new version.
Once the plane was in the air, and the seatbelt signs went off, she stood and pulled down her inflight bag, rummaging through it. A smile crossed her face as she pulled out a rectangular box that had been wrapped in a sheet of her sketch pad. She grinned and held it out to me. “I got you something.”
I frowned, a little taken aback. “You did? What is it?”
She grinned, pulling out a book from her bag before plopping herself back down in her seat and tossing the little hard box into my lap. “Open it and see.”
I frowned and picked up the package. It was hard and about the size of my palm. As I unfastened the tape and pulled the paper off, my eyes widened in shock. It was a wicked-looking iPod. “Seriously?” I asked, looking at her face for signs of trickery.
She nodded in confirmation, smiling smugly, obviously pleased with herself. “I didn’t think you had one, and I had a spare, so I figured you could have it to help keep you occupied during the boring lessons. It’s a college must have.”
I looked at her in awe. Her thoughtfulness and caring attitude amazed me; I’d never known anyone like her.
“Again with that face?” she teased, rolling her eyes. She reached out and took it from my hand, opening it and connecting the headphones before turning it on. “I didn’t know what kind of music you liked, so I just put all of my stuff on here for you for now so you’ve got something to be getting on with,” she rambled, flicking through a list of albums.
I gulped, unsure what to say. Could this girl actually be real?
“You’ll have to set up your own iTunes account, but you can share mine for now,” she continued, shrugging casually. I didn’t think she had any idea how thoughtful and incredible she was.
I ran a hand through my hair, still struggling to come to terms with how crazy about her I was. “Thank you. You didn’t need to do that, that’s really sweet of you.”
She smiled wickedly, handing the device back to me again. “Next week when I’m being all bitchy to you, just remember that I was nice to you… once.”
Before I could stop myself, I’d leant in and pressed my lips to hers. She moaned in the back of her throat and kissed me back. My mind was racing a mile a minute. After her threat at the cemetery, I didn’t think this would happen again. The feel of her soft lips on mine made the hair on my arms stand up on end. Her hand moved up, gripping the back of my head as her lips pressed against mine harder.
Although it only lasted a few seconds, the kiss was sizzling hot, yet, at the same time, chaste and sweet. She pulled away, blinking a couple of times before squirming in her seat uncomfortably.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.” I winced apologetically, waiting for her to lash out and tell me to keep my hands off her.
She cleared her throat, turning away and picking up her book. “It’s okay. Glad you like it.”
“I love it, thank you.” My heart was killing me, I wanted her so badly, but her happiness was more important to me than mine and she didn’t want to betray Jack. Maybe if we carried on being friends, she’d allow herself to fall in love with me. I hoped that was true. My stomach was churning as I watched her open her book to the right page. I was falling in love with her, I could practically feel it happening – another week or two and I’d be a goner.
During the two hour flight, she just sat there reading, munching on peanut M&Ms, and I sat there playing with my new gadget. As I scrolled through the music, I was pleasantly surprised by how similar our tastes were. It was easily the best present anyone had ever given me. I’d wanted to get one when I was training, but I’d never had enough money at the time. After a little while, she lifted the arm rest between our seats and shifted in her seat, leaning against me, getting more comfortable.
The flight ended way too soon for my liking. I was enjoying the casual closeness a lot more than I should.
Peter Burnet, the night time far guard, met us with a little sign at the baggage collection point. He was younger than I expected, probably only mid-twenties. Clearly he liked to work out, that was evident by his broad shoulders and thick neck. He smiled nervously when we stopped at his side; his eyes scanned the group quickly before coming to a rest on Anna.
After a brief round of introductions, he led us out the front where a sleek, silver Jaguar XF sat waiting for us. My eye twitched at the beauty of it, and my hands were already itching to touch it. A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. If my best friend Nate could see me now, he’d probably scream like a little girl. Dean and Peter didn’t get a flash car like ours though, much to Dean’s obvious disappointment.
The drive to our new apartment wasn’t that long. I tried to memorise the streets as I let the GPS lead me to the college campus. When we arrived, I pulled into an underground parking lot and cut the engine, surveying the area before walking around to her side and opening the door for her.
Peter and Dean had arrived by then too, so we all made our way to the elevator with Peter telling us about the security on the building. Other than the fire escapes that only opened from the inside, there was one way in and out, which would be advantageous for surveillance. You could only gain entrance to the building with a tag card, and then you also needed a pass code to use the elevator or stairs. The building itself had obviously been chosen carefully.
When we got to the second floor, I left Anna outside with Dean and Peter while I went into our apartment to check it was safe before I let her just wander in. My eyes widened in appreciation as I took in the expensive-looking hardwood floors, the perfect paint jobs and the enormous flat screen TVs that hung in each room. The fully-equipped, high-gloss, white kitchen was pure luxury. The apartment was huge and stunning.
After checking out all of the rooms and deeming them safe, I went back to get her and let her get her first look at our home for the next eight months. Peter went down to get the luggage from the car.
“Wow, this place is gorgeous,” Anna enthused, walking in and opening all the doors that she came across, looking in them. When we got to the bedrooms, she turned and winced. “There’s no sofa bed. We’re gonna have to order one.”
I frowned, flicking my eyes around seeing that she was right. I’d requested one, but perhaps the request had been overlooked. I’d have to make a couple of calls later. “Looks like it’s the floor for me again then,” I joked, trying not to wince, because sleeping on the floor made me feel like an old man.
She turned back to the bed and frowned. “You can just share with me if you want. I don’t like you keep sleeping on the floor,” she mumbled.
I waved my hand dismissively. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it. Shall we unpack then?” I suggested, dreading unpacking all of her stuff again.
She shook her head adamantly. “Nope. Something much more critical needs to be done before that,” she answered, raising one eyebrow knowingly.
Hmm, what can be more important than unpacking? “What’s that then, Baby Girl?” I asked curiously. Damn, Ashton, again with the pet name? Stop it, dipshit!
She smirked at me. “We need to go collect menus from all the takeout places that deliver because I’m not cooking for your pretty ass every night.”
I burst out laughing. “Hey, I’ll cook some nights,” I protested.
She scrunched her nose up in distaste. “Tuna melt baked potatoes can get boring pretty quick.” I smiled because she’d obviously listened to me carefully before; she seemed to remember everything I told her, no matter how insignificant it was.
“Tell me about it. Come on then, I’ll call Dean and let him know we’re going for a walk,” I agreed, pulling out my cell and dialling his number.
“Tell him we’re going for a drink after too.”
I raised one eyebrow. College clearly had an effect on her – or maybe it was the freedom of being away from her parents. Whatever it was, she was smiling and it made my insides tingle with happiness.