Nothing Left to Lose (96 page)

He held his
hand out to me at the door; I gripped it tightly, loving the feel
of his skin on mine. “I feel a little underdressed tonight. You
look so damn hot, and I look like a bag lady,” I admitted, scowling
down at myself.

He sighed and
hooked his finger under my chin, tilting my head up. “You’re the
most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” he promised,
looking straight into my eyes. I smiled gratefully and, somehow, he
managed to make all of my insecurities fade with that one intense
look. His head dipped and his lips pressed against mine tenderly
for a second before he took my hand and led me out of the room and
down the hallway towards the dining room.

Instead of
going in though, he stopped outside and looked down at me. He
seemed a little nervous as he kicked his toes on the floor almost
shyly. “Want to come for a walk with me before dinner?”

I frowned,
confused. He’d been the one to agree to us eating with my parents
tonight at eight o’clock, so why was he now suggesting a walk
beforehand when he knew that would make us late? He never liked to
be late, especially not if it meant keeping my dad waiting – he
seemed to be making it his life’s mission to gain my dad’s
approval.

“Um… sure, I
guess,” I agreed hesitantly. “Is something wrong?”

“It’s a nice
night, that’s all. Just figured we could get some fresh air.” He
shook his head in answer, but he still looked like something was
troubling him. His eyes were tighter than usual, his hand was
gripping mine just slightly too tight to be natural. As he gave my
hand a little tug and made me start walking again, I frowned at his
back, letting him lead me along. Something was wrong. All day today
he’d been a little distant and had kept walking out of the room to
make phone calls. I’d put it down to the fact that we were
travelling and so he was making arrangements with my guards and
stuff. But was it more than that?

As we got to
the side door, one of the staff opened the door and nodded in
greeting. The cool air hit me in the face as we walked out of the
house and down the steps. By day, the White House grounds were
stunning, but by night they were spectacular. Little lights marked
the edge of the path and illuminated the bushes and plants from
underneath. The smell of the flowers was beautiful, almost as if it
was artificial. Ashton walked along the path for a way before
stepping over the little chain that lined the edge of it. He turned
back to make sure I crossed it alright too. As he smiled, the
stress on his face was easy to see. My insides clenched, wondering
what on earth this was going to be about. I prayed with every bone
in my body that he wasn’t bringing me out here to break up with
me.

“Is everything
okay?” I asked, really anxious now.

“Of course,” he
replied immediately.

I swallowed the
lump in my throat and looked in the direction that we seemed to be
heading. “So, where are we going?”

He chuckled,
squeezing my hand gently. “Damn, you hate surprises so much,” he
teased, shaking his head at me.
Surprises? What does that
mean?
He sighed. “We’re not having dinner with your parents
tonight,” he said quietly as we stopped next to a huge hedge.

I recoiled,
shocked. He was the one who had agreed to it, he had even said how
much he was looking forward to it.

His nervous
smile widened as he stepped backwards, pulling me along with him
around the corner of the hedge. My breathing faltered when I saw
what he’d done. There was a picnic set up next to the large
fountain that I knew was in the centre of the grounds. Little gas
lanterns illuminated the scene, casting romantic shadows
everywhere. I’d seen the fountain from my window last time I’d been
here but had never bothered to venture out to it. It was
incredible. Little cherubs and angels were all carved out of marble
in the centre, and the water was lit from underneath, making it
glow a pale blue.

Around the
edges of the fountain stood bunches of a dozen white roses,
probably about ten of them in total. There were rose petals
scattered over the blanket and grass and it was a clear night, so
all the stars were out. Everything was just perfect and incredibly
romantic. Tears welled in my eyes because Ashton had gone to so
much trouble, just for me.

“Ashton, this
is beautiful! You expecting someone?” I joked, wiping the tear that
fell from my eye.

He laughed and
nodded towards the blanket that had cartons of food all laid out in
the middle. “Sit down then, Baby Girl,” he instructed as he picked
up a couple of plastic glasses and poured some juice out for
us.

“What’s the
occasion?” I asked, looking around at all the food that was here.
Everything was my favourite: chicken; quiche; pasta; chocolate
fudge cake; strawberries; peanut M&Ms; marshmallows and every
other weird thing I liked.

He smiled. “No
occasion, I just wanted to do something nice for you.”

There was still
something up with him, his body was still tense so it couldn’t have
just been the secret of the picnic that was troubling him. “But
something’s wrong, I can tell. Can you just please tell me? You’re
making me nervous.” I bit my lip, silently pleading with my eyes
for him just to blurt it out and get it over with.

He sighed
deeply, shaking his head. “Damn it, woman, I wanted to wait until
after we’d eaten,” he scolded playfully.

I gulped,
having no idea what he was talking about as he stood up and held
his hand down to me. Hesitantly, I put my hand in his and pushed
myself up awkwardly, wincing at the tug in my stomach as the wound
protested against the movement.

When he shoved
his hand in his pocket and then got down on one knee, my breath
caught in my throat. The reason for his nervousness now hit me full
force. It wasn’t something bad, he wasn’t going to break up with me
and he hadn’t been transferred to some random place and didn’t want
me to come. No, Ashton Taylor was about to propose to me again.

A little squeal
left my lips as my free hand flew to my mouth, grinning behind my
hand as he took a deep breath, clearly still nervous, and produced
a little, black, leather ring box. He shifted awkwardly on his
knee, obviously hurting himself because of his injuries, but it
didn’t show on his face as he looked up at me. I could see the love
and tenderness in his eyes, and my insides trembled with happiness
at the sight of it.

“Annabelle
Spencer, I fell in love with you the very first second I saw you. I
would do anything for you; I’m going to love you until the day I
die. Please will you make me the luckiest man in the world and
marry me?” he asked, his voice sounding thick with emotion.

My eyes were
blurry with happy tears as his words sank in. “Yes,” I managed to
choke out.

His shoulders
relaxed as his smile grew wider and his eyes twinkled with
happiness. His hand left mine and he popped open the ring box,
exposing the most beautiful ring I had ever seen in my life. “This
was my mom’s engagement ring. It’s the only thing I have of hers.
I’d love for you to have it, but if you’d rather me buy you
something new instead, then I totally understand.”

His mother’s
ring? I whimpered because of how special it was. Not only did I
love it because it was a symbol of his love for me, I also loved it
because he was giving me something that obviously meant a lot to
him because he’d lost his mother so young. My heart swelled in my
chest as my emotion threatened to bubble over and leave me a
blubbering wreck.

“I love it,” I
whispered. And I did. It was the most beautiful ring I had ever
seen, classy, not overstated, just perfect and something I would
have chosen for myself. It was white gold, with three diamonds set
into it – one bigger one in the centre and a smaller one either
side.

“You do,
honestly?”

I nodded,
chewing on my lip, grinning down at him as I offered my shaky left
hand to him. “It’s perfect. I’d love to wear it. Thank you.”

He grinned as
he plucked the ring from the box before sliding it onto my finger.
As he got to his feet again, he took my face in his hands and
brushed my tears away with his thumbs. “Thank you, Baby Girl. I
promise that I’ll do everything in my power to make you happy every
day of your life,” he whispered against my lips just before he
kissed me, stealing my breath and making my heart speed up
uncontrollably.

I gulped. I
just couldn’t speak. So much happiness was swelling inside me that
I could barely cope with it all. It was too much. “I love you,
Ashton Taylor,” I whispered, looking into his beautiful green
eyes.

“And I love
you, Annabelle Spencer.” He pulled me closer so that my body was
pressed against his gently, as he ran his hands down my back with
his forehead still pressed to mine. “I can’t believe you couldn’t
wait though,” he said suddenly, shaking his head and laughing.

A blush heated
my cheeks as I smiled apologetically. “You looked nervous; I
thought it was something bad.”

He sighed.
“Don’t assume the worst all the time. The worst is over. There are
only good times for us now,” he said tenderly.

I smiled at his
beautiful words. “Get that from a how to propose to a girl book?” I
teased.

He nodded,
smiling. “Yeah, you know I like those
how to
books,” he
joked.

He pulled away
and sat down, spreading his legs and patting the ground for me to
sit between them. I sat obediently, leaning against him carefully
because he was still covered in bruises. When his lips touched the
back of my neck, I felt a little shiver of desire tickle down my
spine.

I sighed
contentedly and looked down at the ring that was now mine, tracing
my thumb over the stones. “This ring is so beautiful,” I gushed.
I’d never owned anything so special.

His arms
wrapped around me so gently, it was as if he thought I was made of
glass. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather me buy you something new?
I have money saved,” he stated.

I shook my head
adamantly and twisted so I could see him. “It means so much to me
that you’ve given me your mom’s ring. Honestly, I feel so
special.”

He grinned and
kissed the tip of my nose. “You are special.” I chuckled and sat
back down, reaching for two plates before scooping up a few
M&Ms. “You do know that I won’t ever be able to give you
everything you want, and I’ll never have the kind of money that
your parents have, but I promise I’ll give you everything I can. I
just hope it’s enough to make you happy,” he said quietly, sounding
a little sad about it.

I turned to
look at him and frowned. “You really think I care how much money
you earn, or where we live, or what car we drive?” I asked. I was a
little disappointed that he would think that of me.

“No, Baby Girl,
I know you don’t. I just wish I could give you everything in the
world,” he explained, his voice apologetic.

Now he was just
being silly. “Ashton, all that stuff is nothing without this.” I
pointed to his heart. “I don’t want anything else from you, apart
from you to love me and be happy. I would live in a cardboard box
with you, blissfully happy. It’d be a bit of a pain in the butt
when it rained, but I’d do it,” I joked, trying to lighten his
mood. It worked, he laughed.

“Right, I guess
soggy cardboard walls wouldn’t be too good.”

I smiled,
leaning in closer to him. “But I’d love that box if you came home
to me safely every night. That’s the
only
thing I need from
you,” I said honestly.

“Well then,
that I can do,” he replied, smiling now.

I nodded,
satisfied that he was happy, and then turned my attention back to
the food that was laid out before me. “So, I guess I’ll be needing
to find a new school soon,” I said casually, as I popped a couple
of grapes into my mouth.

“A new school?
Why’s that?” he asked, sounding confused.

“Well, I’m not
staying at ASU if you’re in LA.” I frowned, horrified at the
thought.

“LA? Where did
that come from?”

“Well, you’ll
go back to LA once your sick leave finishes. I figured you’d ask me
to come…” I swallowed awkwardly as panic gripped my chest at the
thought of being without him. Was he expecting us to have a long
distance relationship until my schooling was finished? I couldn’t
do that. “Oh God, you do want me to come, right?”

He scoffed and
stroked the side of my face soothingly. “Anna, calm down! Jeez, I
can almost hear your heart speeding up,” he scolded. “I’m not going
to LA; I’ve asked your father to find me a position that’s closer
to you. He’s found me a great placement in Arizona so I’ll still
get to live with you while you’re at school, just like I always
planned.”

He was staying
with me? But what about his friends? His dream job? “Ashton, no!
I’ll come to LA with you. Your friends are there, you’ve been
living your dream job; I can’t take that away from you. I can’t ask
you to give up your life for me,” I argued desperately.

He smiled.
“
You’re
my life, Baby Girl, and there’s no way I’m giving
you up,” he smiled at me wickedly.

My heart melted
into a puddle. He truly was incredible. “But I have nothing tying
me to ASU,” I countered, trying not to think of the friends I’d
made, or the year I was almost through this time, or the way that
people treated me like I was a normal person even though my father
was the President. I didn’t care about any of that; I just wanted
him to be happy.

“Anna, it’s
done. I want to stay with you and I want you to finish your course
with people that have been good friends with you since before your
father’s election,” he said seriously.

“You really are
the sweetest, most thoughtful, romantic, special boy in the world.”
I looked at him in awe. I had never met anyone like him in my life,
and I was honestly the luckiest girl alive to have him love me like
he did.