Guarding the Broken

  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.

  Chapter Fourteen

  ~ Anna ~

  After about an hour of wandering around picking up menus for the local takeout places, I decided we had enough. I really needed a drink. My eyes landed on a bar across the street, and I guided Ashton in that direction. I ignored the peeling paint on the sign and the broken glass panel on one side. They served alcohol, and that was all I cared about. I looked up at Ashton hopefully.

  He frowned, his eyes flicking between me and the crappy bar. “You wanna go in here?” he asked, looking at it distastefully.

  I laughed at his expression. “Snob.”

  “Anna, this doesn’t look like a nice bar,” he protested, narrowing his eyes at the door.

  “Please?” I whined, pouting.

  He sighed in defeat and pulled out his cell phone, calling Dean to tell him because he was standing at the end of the street, waiting for us. “Come on then, but stay with me, no bathroom breaks,” he said sternly.

  I nodded excitedly. I hadn’t been to a bar for ages. I went through a stage when I first got away from Carter of sneaking out and going to bars and getting drunk, but that had been well over two years ago now. Lately, I’d pretty much been a recluse.

  The bar was an absolute dive, but the drinks were cheap. There was a load of people that looked like students, so they were probably from my college because the campus was only a couple of minutes’ walk from here. The owner obviously didn’t think twice about serving underage people.

  “So, what do you drink?” Ashton asked, dragging me to the bar.

  “Whatever’s on offer.”

  “Orange juice?” he suggested.

  I laughed and shook my head. “I want a real drink.”

  A disapproving frown settled on his forehead. “You’re not old enough,” he whispered, tracing his hand down my back. “I could get into trouble for buying you alcohol.”

  I pouted, begging him with my eyes. “Please? I have a fake ID. I always drink. Please?”

  He rolled his eyes. “One drink,” he conceded. “Want wine or something?”

  I smiled and shrugged, but when the barman came over, I ordered two double Jack Daniels and cokes. Ashton looked at me shocked and then ordered an orange juice too. “Who’s the orange juice for?” I asked, pushing one of the drinks towards him.

  “For me. I can’t drink while I’m on duty, so it looks like I’m t-total for the next few months,” he replied, shrugging and pushing the drink back towards me.

  I gasped. That wasn’t fair at all.
“Aww, come on, you can drink. Nothing’s gonna happen. This whole freaking guard idea is just stupid anyway!” I ranted, feeling like a spoiled brat.

  He looked a little pained about something before he rearranged his expression. “No, Anna, you need guards so you don’t get expelled,” he joked, chinking his glass against mine, grinning. “Cheers.” I sighed and downed one of the drinks straight away; I didn’t want to be carrying two glasses around with me. “Oh man, you’re not one of those drinkers, are you?” he asked, looking a little horrified.

  “One of what drinkers?” I grimaced from the alcohol after-burn.

  He grinned, winking at me. “The ones that really can’t handle their drink and throw up over their boyfriends when they carry them home.”

  I chuckled at his joke. “You never know, there’s a first time for everything. Oh and, by the way, if you see anyone you like and want to go for a quickie in the bathroom then let me know first so I’m not wandering around looking for you,” I said seriously, downing my next drink. We definitely needed to make that rule clear before it happened, because I didn’t want to be looking for him all night long. His mouth dropped open, making a pop sound as he looked at me, stunned. I frowned. The two drinks in quick succession were already making me feel slightly tipsy. “Jeez Ashton, I won’t throw up on you, I promise,” I vowed, laughing.

  “I wasn’t thinking about that,” he retorted, frowning at me, looking annoyed about something.

  “Well, what then, Pretty Boy?” I asked, waving to get the barman’s attention again as I ordered two more doubles and slid a twenty dollar bill across the bar.

  Ashton shook his head in annoyance. “Anna, I’m not gonna leave you to go have sex with some girl at a bar! Is that what you really think of me?” he asked, looking a little hurt.

  I raised an eyebrow. Honestly? Yes. He’d slept with me after three days and, technically, I was his boss, my guess was that he’d sleep with a girl he met in a bar – or wherever the hell else he met her.

  “Oh come on, Ashton, we both know that you’re a player. You’re too damn pretty not to sleep around,” I teased. “I mean, damn, you got me into bed after three days, and I can’t even give out a handshake without flinching. You must be kick-ass at the art of seduction.” I giggled and downed my next drink.

  “Did you ever think that maybe that means something? That maybe we’re meant to be together and that’s why you let me touch you the first time I ever met you?” he asked, looking at me intently.

  He looked so serious; a dark, sexy, brooding look was etched on his face. I smiled and stepped forward, putting my hand up to his face and smoothing out his forehead with my fingertips. “Careful, you’ll get wrinkles on your pretty face,” I teased, going up on tiptoes and kissing his cheek. “Pool?” I offered, walking off towards the back where the pool cues were mounted on the wall.

  He laughed quietly. “You play pool?” he asked, wrapping his arm around my waist as I walked up the stairs unsteadily.

  “Nope,” I replied, popping the p and grinning. “Wanna give me a lesson on how to handle a stick?” I purred, holding it suggestively.

  He smiled weakly. “Anna, please don’t be getting all drunk and flirting with me, that’s not on,” he warned, grinning and shaking his head.

  “You shouldn’t be so sexy then, and then I wouldn’t want to flirt with you.”

  He chuckled, smirking in my direction. “Right, I’ll get to work on that and solve any issues you have with my sexiness.”

  I grinned. “Okay, if I’m not allowed to flirt with you, who should I flirt with? You scope out the bar and find me a suitable candidate,” I joked, stepping to his side.

  “Okay.” He tapped his chin and looked around the bar. His eyes settled on an old man who was sitting in the corner playing chess with a friend. “Oh, old guy, three o’clock. He looks like he’d enjoy a bit of flirting from a pretty, young thing,” he teased, grinning at me.

  “Hmm, I do like an older man, but maybe I should go for someone younger than my dad? He does like to call people ‘son’, so I don’t think it would go down terribly well if I brought home someone old enough to be his dad.”

  Ashton laughed and collected all of the balls, putting them inside a black, plastic triangle. “How about these guys right here, coming up to talk to you,” he suggested, looking over my shoulder. I glanced around and, sure enough, two guys were coming over to us, both smiling. They were both about our age and judging by their ripped jeans and T-shirts, I would say they were college students too. One of them had strawberry blond hair and brown eyes, and the other was slightly taller than the first and darker in complexion, with brown hair and dark brown eyes. As they approached, I quickly moved to Ashton’s side and he stood up straighter, a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

  “Hey, wanna play doubles?” the strawberry blond asked, smiling and nodding towards the pool table.

  Ashton smiled politely. “Anna? Wanna play doubles?” he asked, wrapping his arm around me. His touch made me feel better instantly.

  “Um, yeah okay,” I agreed, shrugging.

  “Great, I’m Tim. This is Rich,” the blond said, grabbing a cue.

  “I’m Ashton. This is my girlfriend, Anna,” Ashton replied, smiling and nodding.

  The guy called Rich stepped forward. “How about loser buys the next drink?” he suggested.

  I laughed. “Are you guys trying to hustle us for drinks?”

  Rich laughed. “No way, babe. All the tables are taken, that’s all. If you don’t want to play, we’ll wait until you’re done. I was just trying to make the game more interesting.”

  “I don’t think we should play for drinks, I’ve never played pool in my life,” I admitted, downing my drink and pushing the glass onto the side.

  Rich laughed. “You haven’t? Then I think we should definitely be playing for drinks,” he joked. “Or phone numbers?” he offered, raising one eyebrow.

  Ashton’s hand closed over mine, pulling me closer to him. “She has enough numbers,” he answered for me. “Want to play or not because if you’ve just come over here to hit on my girlfriend, then you’re shit out of luck because she’s not interested.” His voice was stern and warning. You could almost hear the cop in his tone, or maybe that was just me because I knew that’s what he was.

  Tim held up his hands innocently and shook his head. “Hey, no problem, we only want to play pool,” he assured Ashton, jabbing an elbow into Rich’s stomach in warning. “Ignore him, he can’t help himself. When he drinks he gets verbal diarrhoea and tries to chat up anything that moves.”

  “I’ll stay still then,” I joked, which seemed to diffuse some of the tension in Ashton. He smiled and laughed, his shoulders loosening as he rolled his eyes.

  Tim and Rich were actually quite likeable guys; after the flirting incident, things settled down and we all played pool, laughing and joking around. As it turned out, I wasn’t very proficient at pool at all. In fact, I barely hit a ball, and all I kept doing was sinking the white. It was pretty good thing that we didn’t agree to play for drinks because my lack of skills would have put a serious dent in Daddy’s credit card.

  Ashton had tried to teach me at first, showing me how to hold the cue, how to line up and where to angle it, but as soon as he leant over me and put his hands on mine, my mind was on other things. I couldn’t keep my mouth in check and at one point pondered out loud if it would be comfortable to have sex on a pool table or if you’d get carpet burn on your butt. That had made the boys howl with laughter and Ashton look at me with a lustful twinkle in his eye that made my stomach flutter and my body temperature rise a few degrees.

  After about an hour, a couple of girls joined us. Apparently they knew Tim from school. The girls were called Serena and Monica. I didn’t like Monica. It wasn’t that she didn’t seem like a nice person, in fact, she did seem nice and friendly and funny… it was just that she couldn’t keep her eyes off my bodyguard. Since she walked up the stairs to where th
e pool tables were, she had been eyeing him like a vulture waiting to pick his bones.

  The more I drank, the more annoyed with her flirting I became. So when she put her hand on his arm, giggling profusely, I downed my drink and scowled. He was talking back to her but didn’t really seem interested. In fact, mostly he didn’t take his deep green, sexy eyes off me or the surrounding area, doing his job perfectly, but that didn’t help with the annoyance I felt towards the large-breasted blonde that was hitting on him right in front of me.

  Deep down, I knew that I had no right to be jealous of him, but I just couldn’t rein it in. The alcohol in my system told me that what I was about to do was a terrific idea. Pushing myself up off my stool that I was perched on, I sauntered the three steps over to where Ashton was and smiled as I stopped in front of him.

  His head cocked to the side, regarding me curiously. “Okay?” he inquired. I gulped and nodded, taking the final step towards him so that our chests were touching. His shoulders stiffened as I raised my arms and looped them around his neck. “Anna?”

  I grinned and went up on tiptoes, pulling his head forward at the same time so that our lips connected softly. He made a small, startled grunt before he kissed me back enthusiastically, wrapping one arm around my waist and holding me securely against him.

  I smiled against his lips, gripping my hand into the back of his hair as the kiss deepened and his tongue touched mine. I moaned into his mouth because of how nice it felt. Everywhere he touched on my body, little shots of electricity were sent into my system, and I actually forgot where I was. My whole body was burning for him; I couldn’t get enough. The kiss wasn’t nearly enough for me. I was so aroused that it was actually making my body ache.

  He pulled back, making a moaning sound in the back of his throat. “Anna, stop it. Come on,” he whispered, pleadingly. But I couldn’t stop. I shook my head adamantly and pulled his face back down to mine again with such a force that I stumbled back on my drunken legs, pulling him with me as we bumped into the wall. The kiss didn’t break though; instead, he pushed me tightly against the wall as he kissed me urgently. He kissed me as if he could devour my soul, making my knees weak. It was probably lucky that I had the wall behind me; otherwise he would have made me swoon like they did in the olden days.