Nothing Left to Lose (66 page)

He frowned,
looking a little angry at my answer. “I’m not going without
you.”

I raised one
eyebrow in question, confused by the turn in the conversation.
“What are you going on about? I’m totally lost, Pretty Boy,” I
admitted.

He sighed
dramatically, as if I was missing something that was obvious. “What
exactly do you think is happening at Christmas?”

I frowned,
setting my cup down and tucking my legs up underneath me. “Well,
I’m going to the Lake House with my parents and the house guards,
and you’re going home...”

He shook his
head. “Not happening, Baby Girl.”

“What’s not?
I’m freaking confused! Ashton, will you just spit out what you’re
trying to say already?” I grumbled, starting to get annoyed because
I didn’t like being confused.

He laughed
wickedly at my outburst. “I love it when you’re feisty,” he teased,
smirking at me. I rolled my eyes and waited for him to explain what
on earth he was getting at. “Okay, so I’ll put it simply. I want to
spend the school break with you. If you want to spend the time with
me, then we just need to figure out what we’re doing,” he
explained, shrugging.

I gasped as it
clicked into place.
Mr Overprotective strikes again! He doesn’t
even trust his job to anyone for two weeks.
“You’ve got two
weeks off, Ashton. Stop worrying about me, I’ll be fine!” I
snapped, frowning.

He laughed and
shook his head at me. “Anna, I’m not talking about my job. I’m
talking about wanting to spend Christmas with you,” he said simply.
I recoiled at the honest revelations, too shocked to speak. His
smile fell from his face. “You don’t want to spend Christmas with
me?” he asked, looking hurt and embarrassed.

“I… I, Ashton,
of course I do, but…” I shook my head because that couldn’t happen.
They wouldn’t let me go with him, not now that my dad was
President-elect. Dean and Peter would have time off so we couldn’t
stay here, and I couldn’t very well invite him to spend Christmas
with my parents because they would certainly read something into
that.

His hand
brushed across my cheek as I stared at him, lost for words. “Anna,
just forget everything else for a minute, okay? If you could, would
you want to spend your winter break with me?” he asked, looking at
me a little pleadingly.

Damn, I
would love that.
“Yes,” I managed to get out; I was still
shocked that he even wanted to do that in the first place. This was
his first scheduled break away from me; he could hang out with his
friends, laugh and joke around. Yet, he was telling me that he’d
rather spend time with me. My heart was aching in my chest because
of how much that meant to me.

A dazzling grin
stretched across his face. “Okay, great. Well, I want to spend my
two weeks off with you too. So now we just need to figure out what
to do.” He took my hand, playing with my fingers gently. “So would
you prefer to go to LA or stay with your parents?”

I frowned. “Um…
I don’t really think either one is possible, is it?”

He sighed. “I
know it’ll be hard to convince your father to let me take you to LA
again, but maybe he’ll go for it. Or I could come home with you,”
he shrugged as if the thought of spending Christmas with the next
President of the United States was something he did every day. I
closed my eyes and thought about it; I honestly didn’t care where I
spent Christmas. If I could spend it with Ashton I’d go anywhere.
“There’s a third option,” he added, sounding a little excited.

I opened my
eyes. “What’s the third option? Because LA doesn’t seem likely, and
going home sounds like it would be uncomfortable with my parents
watching our every move and smiling at us all the time,” I
admitted.

He pursed his
lips before speaking. “Well, how about we go away?”

“Like a
vacation?” I asked, a little confused.

“Yeah, like a
vacation. Somewhere where people don’t know you. Maybe I’d be able
to convince your father to let me take somewhere where there’s no
risk to you and no one knows who you are.”

Excitement
suddenly bubbled up inside me, but I tried hard to contain it. A
vacation didn’t sound like something my father would consent to. “I
like option three,” I admitted quietly.

“Hmm, what a
coincidence, I like option three too,” he grinned, tucking a loose
strand of my hair behind my ear. “Hot or cold then? What’s your
preference?” he asked, smirking at me excitedly. “Beach or
snow?”

“I don’t care.
What do you want?” In all honestly I would follow him anywhere he
wanted, it didn’t really matter.

“Well, I like
the idea of snow for Christmas and maybe you’d get cold and would
cuddle up to me,” he mused, smirking at me.

I rolled my
eyes at his train of thought. “Right, Pretty Boy, because otherwise
that wouldn’t happen,” I stated sarcastically. We hugged all the
time; it didn’t need to be cold for that.

“I also like
the idea of the beach, because you’d be wearing a bikini a lot,” he
continued, waggling his eyebrows at me.

I raised one
eyebrow teasingly. “I guess… unless I went topless.”

His back
stiffened as he nodded eagerly. “Beach then, definitely.”

I laughed and
slapped his arm playfully. “Pervert!”

“Only around
you,” he replied, winking at me. He stood up quickly, fumbling in
his pocket and producing a cell phone. “So that’s what we’ll try
for first then? I’ll ask to take you away somewhere hot,” he said,
looking at me hopefully.

I frowned,
wanting to check he wasn’t doing this for the wrong reasons. “Are
you sure you don’t just want to go hang out with your friends on
your own and get drunk every night? I’ll be fine with the temporary
guards if that’s what you’re worried about,” I protested.

He sighed
deeply and bent, pressing a soft lingering kiss on my forehead
before standing up again. “I want to spend the holidays with you.
It’s nothing to do with work, trust me.” The way he looked so
deeply into my eyes made me feel like I was the only girl in the
world.

“Okay,” I
replied breathlessly.

He smiled,
already thumbing through his contact list. “I’ll see what I can do
then, okay?” He turned and headed into our bedroom, closing the
door tightly behind him so that he could speak to my father about
it and reason out his case for wanting to take me away.

I smiled
broadly. Worst case scenario, he would come and spend the holidays
at the Lake House. At least then I would still get to see him every
day. The thought of seeing him open his gifts on Christmas morning
made my stomach quiver with excitement.

Once in the
solitude of the bedroom, I closed the door tightly behind me. I
didn’t want to make this call near Anna in case I had to bring up
Carter in the conversation. As I pressed the connect button and put
the phone to my ear, I silently prayed that he would go for one of
the three options because I didn’t want to spend two weeks pining
for her.

Maddy answered
on the third ring. “Hi, ma’am, it’s Agent Taylor. How are you
today?” I asked politely.

“Oh, Agent
Taylor, I’m good. How are you and Annabelle?” she asked
happily.

“We’re great,
thanks. Is it possible for me to speak to Senator Spencer?”

“Sure. He’s
free right now, I’ll buzz you through.”

The line
beeped, and he answered a few seconds later. “Agent Taylor, is
everything alright?” he asked quickly.

“Yes, sir,
everything’s fine. I just wondered if I could talk something
through with you. It’s about Anna’s winter break.” I tried to sound
confident when all I wanted to do was beg this man to let me spend
Christmas with his daughter.

“Okay, I’m
listening.”

“Well, sir,
Anna has just asked me if it would be possible for her to go away
for winter break. She said she wanted to get away and have a break
somewhere hot,” I lied, blaming the whole thing on her. Hopefully,
if he thought it was her idea and something she really wanted, he
would be more likely to accept it. This was one of the reasons why
I wanted to speak to him in private.

“She wants to
go on vacation?”

“Yes, sir, she
said she’d like to,” I confirmed, trying to sound casual.

“I’m not sure
that’s possible, I mean, with the whole guard situation…” he
trailed off, sounding like he was thinking about it.

Okay,
Ashton, now sell it.
“I’d be happy to take her. We could go
somewhere where she’s not going to be recognised. The risk will be
minimal to her. Less than here actually,” I countered, trying to
convince him.

“You would take
her? What about your time off?” I could clearly hear the shock in
his voice.

I smiled.
“That’s fine, I don’t need time off. I’d be happy to take
Anna.”

He was quiet
for a while, obviously thinking about it. “Well, where were you
thinking?” he asked.

I smiled.
Okay, I’m half way there, he hasn’t said no!
“I’m not sure
where she would want to go, sir. Somewhere far enough away that she
wouldn’t be recognised, somewhere quite remote,” I suggested,
thinking of lying on a quiet beach with her.

He sighed. “Can
I call you back? I’ll speak to Melissa about it; she was looking
forward to having Annabelle home for Christmas as much as I was.”
The disappointment in his tone was obvious.

“Okay, sir.” I
closed my eyes and prayed that her mother would say yes.

“You think she
would like that? It would make her happy?” he asked quietly.

“Yes, I’m
positive it would.”

“I’ll call you
back in a bit.” He disconnected the call.

I physically
crossed my fingers, just hoping that he’d agree to it. My mind
wandered to all of the places we could go. Of course, I couldn’t
afford five star luxury, but since I’d been guarding Anna I’d had
nothing to pay out for because they paid my rent and expenses. I
had some money saved, so we could certainly go somewhere nice.

About fifteen
minutes later, my cell phone rang. I was still in the bedroom
because I didn’t want to go out and get Anna’s hopes up by saying
he was thinking about it, just in case it didn’t happen. If he said
no, then I would move onto option two of her coming to LA with me.
I didn’t think she’d actually want me to go to her parents’ house
with her, they would be cooing over our ‘relationship’ and she
hated that, it would make her feel uncomfortable.

“Agent Taylor,”
I answered, knowing it was Maddy’s number.

“Agent Taylor,
please hold,” Maddy instructed.

The phone
clicked, and he came on. “Agent Taylor, I’ve spoken to Melissa, and
we’ve agreed to her going on vacation if you’re sure that you don’t
mind taking her,” he said casually, as if we were discussing the
weather. My breath caught in my throat because I was seriously
expecting him to say no.

“Absolutely,” I
confirmed, grinning from ear to ear.

“Okay, great.
We were thinking that Melissa and I would book the trip as her
Christmas present.”

My mouth popped
open in shock. “Sir, that’s nice of you, but I can cover it.”

He laughed a
booming hearty laugh. “That’s not in your job description,
son.”

“I know that,
sir, but Anna and I have become friends, it wouldn’t really be like
working. I guess it would kind of be a vacation for me too, so I’m
more than happy to pay for us,” I explained.

He laughed
again. “Agent Taylor, it’s terrific that you two are friends, but
you’re not paying for the trip. Melissa and I will book it for the
two of you.”

“Sir, honestly.
I can’t let you do that-”

“Son, I
appreciate your position, but at the end of the day, you’re going
to be working, aren’t you? You
do
plan on protecting my
daughter, don’t you?” he asked, amused.

“Of
course.”

“Well then,
it’s settled. As part of your job, you’ll be accompanying my
daughter on vacation. You won’t be paying for it,” he stated,
ending the discussion.

“Thank you,
sir,” I replied, frowning. I felt a little deflated now because I’d
actually wanted to book it and take her. I didn’t want it to be
like I was working, even though I would be.

“You’re
welcome, son. Thank you for doing this for Annabelle; if it wasn’t
for you, then she wouldn’t even be thinking about a vacation. We
really appreciate what you’re doing for her,” he said
gratefully.

I smiled.
“You’re very welcome. Like I said, Anna and I have become
friends.”

“Well, is there
anywhere you two would like to go? Did she mention anywhere?” he
asked curiously.

“Not really,
she just said somewhere hot. Are you planning on sending a far
guard with us?” I asked curiously.
Please say no, I want her to
feel completely comfortable…

“I was under
the impression that you meant just the two of you,” he
answered.

I grinned, fist
pumping the air. “Yes, sir, I did mean just the two of us. I just
wondered if that was alright with you.” My insides were going crazy
as I thought about rubbing lotion on her body with no one else
watching, and no act to keep up.

“Son, can you
protect my daughter on your own?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” I
answered confidently.

“Well then,
that’s good enough for me. I trust you, Agent Taylor. If you say
you can protect her then I believe you,” he replied just as
confidently.

Wow, he
genuinely does trust me with his daughter!
“Thank you, I
appreciate your confidence.”

“Like I said
when you took her to LA, if it were any other agent then I would
say no.” The hair on the back of my neck prickled at his proud
tone. I’d never had a father figure in my life, so I really
appreciated that this man was so confident in my ability.