Nothing Left to Lose (57 page)

I sighed and
ran my hand through my hair. Part of me wanted to argue the case
that it was morally wrong to keep this information from her, but
the part that loved her and wanted to shield her from everything
bad, was actually a little relieved that she would still be in the
dark. Her reaction to me drawing my gun on Nate was in the
forefront of my mind. She’d been terrified that Carter had come
back for her. I didn’t want her to start to worry about that now. I
decided not to push him to change his mind.

“Okay sir, it’s
your decision. I’ll have this letter forwarded to you and keep you
apprised of the situation.” I couldn’t help but feel slightly
annoyed with him because he was making the wrong decision. As just
her guard though, it wasn’t my place to make that kind of decision
and I had to go with what he said.

“Okay, thank
you, Agent Taylor.”

He disconnected
the call and I sighed, looking over to Dean. “We still can’t tell
her. Let Peter know that we’re going out at seven. If you could
both be ready, that’ll be great. If this gets too much for you two
then let me know, I’ve been authorised to bring in another agent,”
I stated, grimacing, because I had no idea how I would explain
another agent to Anna.

“Right, I’ll
see you at seven then,” he nodded, and headed over to take his
position in front of the elevator again.

I took a few
deep breaths to calm myself and went back into the apartment,
praying that nothing would ever hurt my girl. In the kitchen, I
sought out an envelope, shoving Carter’s note into it and
addressing it to the lake house. Peter could arrange for it to be
sent special delivery tomorrow.

I hung around
in the kitchen for a while, trying to calm my nerves. Anna was like
a mind reader at times, she could tell just by looking at me if
something was wrong. When my body relaxed, I made two coffees and
went into the lounge, watching her work on her project for college.
My heart was throbbing painfully with the need to wrap her in my
arms and keep her safe and never let her go, but I refused to make
this any harder for her than it was every day. She needed to have
fun, and tonight I would give her exactly that.

At six o’clock,
I went for a quick shower. I dried myself quickly and straightened
my hair, putting on a bit of make-up. Then the long process of
choosing something to wear to our date started. Casual and warm,
he’d said. I chewed on my lip as I settled on a pair of jeans and a
fitted black shirt, pairing it with some black converse.

Once satisfied
with my choice, I made my way out to the lounge where he was
already waiting for me. “Wow, you look incredible,” he purred,
looking me over slowly. I smiled and blushed under his intense
inspection. “You’ll need a sweater though, it might be cold.”

I frowned;
confused as to where we would be going that would require warm
clothing. “Where are we going, Ashton?” I called as I strutted back
into the bedroom and found a hooded sweatshirt.

“It’s a
surprise, stop asking.”

I rolled my
eyes and slipped the sweater on, going back out to the lounge
again. “Do I pass the examination this time?” I asked
sarcastically, twirling on the spot.

He grinned and
nodded. “Trust me, you pass every time, but I want you to be
comfortable so…” he trailed off, taking my hand again and leading
me to the kitchen. Sitting there on the counter was a dozen white
roses; he hadn’t given me any for two weeks because last date night
we were in LA. He handed them to me, grinning.

I smiled
gratefully as I smelled them, breathing in their sweet aroma.
“You’re so romantic, Ashton. Thank you,” I gushed, running my
finger over the soft petals. He opened one of the drawers and held
out a rectangular silver tin. “What’s this?” I asked curiously.

“Open it and
see,” he instructed, leaning on the counter next to me.

I opened it to
see a brand new set of inks, the professional expensive kind that
would be perfect for my project at school. I gasped from the
surprise. “My God, these are perfect!” I cried excitedly. “Thank
you!” I threw my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

“You’re
welcome, Baby Girl,” he answered. He pulled out of my arms and
picked up the bouquet of flowers, putting them into a vase and
filling it with water. “I’ll let you arrange them later. Come on
then, let’s go before the suspense kills you,” he teased.

The drive to
the secret location for our date took about forty minutes, and he
even overstepped the mark by making me sit with my hands over my
eyes for the last couple of minutes. “Oh come on, you’re taking
this a little far,” I complained.

“Will you stop
whining? Jeez,” he scolded, laughing. I huffed and sat in silence.
It was killing me, but I actually didn’t peek like I normally would
have done, he was so excited about it that I didn’t want to ruin
anything for him. The car rolled to a stop, and his door opened
then closed. A couple of seconds later, my door opened too. “Keep
your eyes closed,” he instructed as he took hold of my elbow and
helped me climb from the car.

Sounds of
screaming and laughing filled my ears, and in the background there
was soft music playing. The air smelled sweet, like popcorn. I
grinned, not having a clue where we were. The suspense was killing
me. “Ashton, come on, please?” I whined, bouncing on the spot.

He chuckled
wickedly. “Okay fine.” His hands closed over my shoulders, turning
me the other way. “Open your eyes.”

Pulling my
hands from my face, I blinked a couple of times as bright lights
and colours overwhelmed me. I gasped as it all started to make
sense. A fairground. I could see the Ferris wheel going around with
twinkling fairy lights looped around every post. There were guys
dressed up as clowns walking around on stilts, roller coasters,
stalls where you win prizes, food stalls. I laughed excitedly and
turned to Ashton, grinning, finally understanding the reason for
the warm, casual clothes.

“Ashton, this
is awesome,” I chirped, grabbing his hand and stepping closer to
him.

“Do you like
fairground rides?” he asked as he guided me over to the ticket
booth, paying for two wristbands.

“I love them,”
I admitted. “Provided you hold my hand,” I added quickly.

He smiled as he
wound the blue plastic band around my wrist before holding my hand
tightly. “Now that would definitely be my pleasure,” he flirted,
dragging me into the park. We both ignored Dean and Peter, who paid
for entry only behind us and followed us in.

Deciding to do
the scarier rides first, Ashton and I went on a couple of
rollercoasters which, of course, made me scream like a little girl.
My near guard had found my high pitched girlie scream extremely
amusing. After, he led me to a hot dog vendor.

“Hungry?” he
asked.

“Yeah, they
have a Denny’s chilli cheese dog here?” I joked, slipping my arm
around his waist.

He just laughed
and kissed the top of my head. “I wish.”

Taking our food
into one of the large marquees, we ate and chatted at the same
time, joking around and flirting. A brass band was sitting in the
corner, playing old fashioned show tunes and people were dancing on
the grass. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. Every date night
seemed to get better and better. Ashton surpassed himself on the
thoughtful, romantic stakes every week. I knew he was still doing
his job perfectly but, even so, he always managed to make me feel
as though I was the most important girl on the planet.

When we’d
finished eating, he took my hand and gave me a little tug in the
direction of the makeshift dance floor. We danced for a couple of
songs, fooling around and laughing the whole time before I stopped
and nodded over my shoulder towards the exit.

“Let’s go do
some other stuff. I want to make sure we do everything before we
leave.”

As we stepped
out of the marquee, the Ferris wheel caught my eye, so I dragged
him over to it. Sitting on the Ferris wheel with him was extremely
romantic. The fairy lights twinkled, the stars were out in force
tonight and the music could still be heard from the marquee. I
sighed in contentment and sagged against him. He grinned down at me
before placing his lips over mine softly. I whimpered against his
lips and kissed him back, reaching up and tangling my hand into the
back of his hair. I hadn’t kissed him like this since LA; we’d
toned it down a little at school this week because people already
knew we were together, so we didn’t have anything to prove now.
When he nibbled gently on my bottom lip, I gladly deepened the
kiss. Our tongues danced together in perfect unison, and I moaned
at the taste of him. I’d missed this more than I realised.

The moment was
perfect, and I actually didn’t want it to end. When the ride
stopped, I looked up at the operator and pouted. “Can we go
again?”

The guy laughed
and flicked the switch, starting the ride again. Ashton moaned in
the back of his throat and instantly crashed his lips back to mine.
After a further two rides, we finally climbed out, and Ashton
bought me a pink cotton candy. As I bit into it, he looked over my
shoulder and laughed as he gripped my hand and tugged me over to a
shooting stall. A wicked grin stretched across his face as he
handed the guy five bucks and picked up the gun.

The old man
that ran the stall smiled, tipping the brim of his cap. “Five
shots. Get three on the target to win a small prize, get five on
the target and you get one of the big ones. You ever done this
before, son?” he asked Ashton.

“Nope,” he
lied, grinning.

“That’s
cheating,” I whispered, giggling.

He laughed.
“Mmm,” he winked slyly at me before looking at the target and
shooting his five shots – only getting one in. “Damn it,” he
mumbled, smiling.

The guy
laughed. “Aw, never mind, son. I’m sure your girlfriend’s not too
disappointed, are you, darlin’?” he mocked, winking at me
jokingly.

I smiled.
“Never mind, Pretty Boy, you can’t be good at everything,” I
teased.

Ashton laughed
and slid another five bucks across the counter. “Let’s win her one
of these damn things then,” he stated as he raised the gun again
and shot all five directly into the centre of the target. The guy’s
mouth dropped open as his eyes widened. Ashton shrugged innocently.
“Beginners luck?”

I burst out
laughing and the guy shook his head, looking a little bemused.
“What’ll it be then, darlin’?” he asked, smiling kindly at me.

Glancing at the
prizes that hung from the sides of the stall, I spotted what I
wanted and pointed to a green monkey. The guy pulled it down and
handed it to Ashton, who immediately passed it to me.

I smiled
gratefully; hugging it to my chest and feeling the soft fur of it
tickle my skin. “Thanks.”

Ashton looked
down at his watch and frowned. “It’s getting pretty late. We’ve
probably got time for another ride before we go if you want,” he
offered, pushing a stray hair behind my ear.

I looked around
to see if we had missed anything. “We haven’t been on the ghost
train or the swan boats yet, so you choose.”

“Hmm, well I
like the sound of both,” he replied, wrapping his arm around my
waist and guiding me to the ghost train first. After the ghost
train we went to the swan boats. It was a slow, lazy ride.
Basically, you just floated around a shallow canal with the
current. Ashton’s arm was wrapped around me, so I twisted in my
seat, swinging my legs over his lap, just enjoying being close to
him. After a minute or so, we started heading towards a makeshift
plastic cave. I giggled as I read the sign that was over the
top.

“Tunnel of
Love?” I giggled.

“I didn’t know
that’s what it was, I swear,” he replied, holding his hands up
innocently, looking a little uncomfortable.

I laughed as
our boat floated in. It was dark inside, and the only light was
coming from the water that was illuminated underneath. Soft music
was playing. I sighed and pulled him closer to me by his shirt. You
couldn’t really go into a tunnel of love without making out, there
had to be some law against that, surely.

“Well, it is
supposed to be romantic, after all,” I mumbled as I pulled his lips
to mine.

I kissed him
hungrily. It wasn’t sweet like the Ferris wheel, I think it was the
darkness; it made it hot as hell. As he kissed me back, it was
almost frantic and desperate. My desire spiked as he moaned into my
mouth. I pushed myself up and sat on his lap, straddling him as he
kissed down my neck. When his hands slid up the back of my shirt, I
moaned and pressed myself closer to him. Underneath me, I could
feel how excited he was getting, and the feel of it was driving me
into a state of wild abandon. My body ached for relief that I knew
wouldn’t come.

“I hope they
don’t have cameras in here,” I breathed as he bit my neck gently. I
felt him smile against my skin as he pulled the hood up on my
sweater, shielding my face. I giggled, closing my mouth over his
again as he pinned me onto his lap and kissed me as if he could
devour my soul.

The tunnel was
getting lighter now as we neared the exit. I sighed, frowning
because the ride was over, and so was our intense make out session.
He slid one hand up and cupped my cheek, just looking at me
adoringly before bending forward and kissing me again softly. His
eyes sparkled in the semi-darkness and my heart stuttered in my
chest. The way he looked at me sometimes made me feel as if I was
flying. It was incredible how one look from him made me feel so
free and unshackled. I had no idea that people like him even
existed in the world.

As we got out
of the boat, he grabbed my stuffed monkey from the seat, handing
him to me. “I think he saw more than he bargained for,” he joked,
grinning. “We should probably get going. It’s after midnight.”