Nothing Left to Lose (60 page)

“Holy shit,
Jack’s family are here,” she whispered.

My eyes widened
in surprise. No doubt, she was going to have a full scale meltdown
now, just like last time she’d seen Jack’s mother. My arm tightened
on her as she pressed her body closer to mine, peeking over my
shoulder. “They are? You want to leave?”

She gulped but
didn’t answer. Slowly, her hand loosened on mine and her shoulders
lost the tenseness to them. “Actually, I’m alright,” she replied,
seeming a little shocked about it herself. I looked down at her,
stunned. Her eyes told me that she was telling the truth, she
really was okay at being confronted by Jack’s family.
Is she
finally getting over him? Is she finally ready to move on?
I
wondered.

“Yeah?” I
asked, watching closely to see if her mask slipped.

“Yeah,” she
nodded. “Actually, I want to go say hi,” she added, as a smile
tugged at the corners of her lips.

Pride swelled
inside me. I actually wanted to jump up and down in celebration,
doing my victory dance because she was clearly making some progress
with her grief.

She pulled out
of my arms and sidestepped me, walking confidently over to a table
at the back of the room. I followed behind her with my heart still
slamming in my chest. “Hi, I didn’t realise you guys were here,
otherwise I would have come over sooner,” Anna said, smiling
happily at them as we got to their table.

I glanced
around the table quickly, taking them all in. When my eyes landed
on the blond guy, I felt sick. It was Michael, Jack’s brother. Last
time she’d lost control because he looked so much like his brother.
Maybe she hadn’t seen him yet? I flicked my eyes over to Dean,
seeing that he was watching the scene unfold with wide eyes. He was
clearly expecting her to freak out at any second too.

A blond guy,
probably in his early forties, stood and smiled at Anna
affectionately. “Hi! Oh you look beautiful, Anna,” he cooed as he
stepped forward and wrapped her into a tight hug.

She smiled as
she stepped back after a second. “Thanks, Steve, you’re looking
pretty good yourself there,” she answered, looking him over. She
turned as Jack’s mom stood too. “It’s so nice to see you again.
It’s been a while.”

The lady
engulfed her in a hug too, patting her back as she closed her eyes
and clearly cherished the affection from someone whom she cared
about deeply. “It’s been way too long,” the lady gushed. I tried
desperately to remember her name, but I couldn’t recall it. When I
was introduced to her in the café, I’d been too concerned with Anna
to listen to her name.

“This is Ashton
Taylor,” Anna smiled, motioning towards me.

The guy she’d
called Steve smiled. “Right, yeah, we’ve heard about him. He’s the
one with you at college?”

“Yeah, he is,”
Anna confirmed.

I reached out a
hand towards him. “It’s nice to meet you, sir,” I greeted
politely.

He grinned,
placing his hand in mine and shaking it firmly. “You too. You can
call me Steve,” he replied, waving a hand dismissively. I nodded.
He seemed like a nice guy.

My body
unconsciously stiffened as Michael jumped up from his chair. He
looked so much like Jack that it was scary. I was pretty used to
what Jack looked like from the photo Anna had in our bedroom – even
though it wasn’t on the bedside unit anymore. She’d moved it onto
one of the shelves, and the photo on the bedside was now of me and
her and my friends in LA at one of the bars we went to.

“Hey, Michael,”
Anna greeted, smiling.

I frowned in
confusion, again flicking my eyes over to Dean, who looked just as
stunned as I felt. I had no idea what was going on. This wasn’t how
I would have predicted that this meeting would have gone.

He pulled her
into a hug and said something in her ear which made her chuckle in
response. When the embrace broke, he stepped back and motioned
towards a young girl who was sitting at the table with him. “This
is my date, Lisa. Lisa, this is Anna,” he waved a hand between his
date and Anna in introduction.

“Hey, it’s nice
to meet you,” Anna said.

Lisa stood,
looking a little awed, probably by the ambience, the setting, the
celebrities and the sheer luxury of the party. “Hi. I love your
dress,” she replied, looking Anna over a little jealously. I wasn’t
surprised that the girl was jealous; Anna’s dress was killer and
made her look like a runway supermodel.

Anna nodded
quickly in agreement. “I know it’s hot, right? Did you see my
shoes? I
love
my shoes,” she gushed, lifting her dress up
past her knees. I looked down at her perfect legs and groaned
internally because dirty thoughts immediately clouded my mind.
Jack’s mom and the girl gasped as they both stared at her shoes
longingly. I noticed Michael was looking too, but I didn’t think he
could even tell you what colour the shoes were – he was looking at
her legs the same way I was.

“Oh goodness,
those are beautiful,” Jack’s mom gasped.

“I know. I have
to return the dress and shoes, but I’m going to accidentally lose
the shoes in my suitcase,” Anna stated. I grinned at that. She was
totally serious – I could tell by her voice.

“I’d lose them
too,” Lisa chirped, laughing.

Anna nodded,
dropping her dress back to the floor again. “Well, it really is
great to see you. I’m going to go dance some more, but I’ll come
and see you again before you leave.”

Jack’s mom
reached out and touched Anna’s face adoringly. “I’d like that,
honey. I’ve missed you.”

Anna nodded
sadly, before slipping her hand into mine and giving me a little
tug in the direction of the dance floor as she waved over her
shoulder to Jack’s family.

I watched her
warily as she wrapped her arms around me. She looked happy though,
and I just couldn’t comprehend it. “You really okay?” I asked.

Her lips pursed
as she seemed to think about it for a few seconds. Finally, she
nodded, seeming a little shocked about her own feelings. “Actually,
I’m fine. Strange as it may seem, I really do feel fine.”

Happiness
exploded within me, because maybe, just maybe, she really was
getting over him… maybe I did have a shot after all. “Great. That’s
really great, Baby Girl,” I said, rubbing my hand across her skin
on her back, sending little tingles of pleasure through my hand. I
was so proud of her, I could barely stop myself from grabbing her
and spinning her around in a circle. She truly was getting over
him, and I didn’t even think that she realised it.

We danced for
another couple of songs in silence before she set her head on my
shoulder and sighed deeply. Tracing my hands up her back, I gripped
the back of her head, feeling her soft silky hair under my
fingertips. My heart sank, knowing what this would be about. The
Jack thing was finally catching up to her. “What’s wrong?” I
whispered, bending and resting my head on the top of hers.

Her arms
tightened around me as she spoke with her face pressed into the
side of my neck. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m just having a nice time with
you tonight.”

It hadn’t been
a sad sigh. It was a sigh of contentment. My heart started back up
in double-time. “I’m having a nice time here with you too,” I
replied, pressing my nose into her hair, breathing her in.

It wasn’t too
much longer before the party started to wind down. I followed
behind Anna as she said goodbye to Jack’s parents, promising to
stay in touch and visit next time she was in town, before seeking
out her own parents and bidding them farewell too.

I nodded to
Dean who immediately headed to the door and stopped, waiting for
us. As we stepped out of the hotel ball room, we made our way
across the foyer and over to the elevators. Two secret service
agents that I recognised from the lake house were waiting outside
it, they waved us through quickly.

As the elevator
sped us up to our desired floor, I felt slightly sick. I wasn’t
staying in with Anna tonight. The accommodation was prearranged,
and it would look weird if we changed them, so the agents were to
be sleeping two floors below the family tonight. The night guards
would take over their protection duty. I’d been dreading this part
all day. I hated being separated from her; I worried about her like
crazy when she wasn’t at my side. Thoughts of Carter haunted me
when she wasn’t with me, but spending the night away from her would
be even worse because I knew she would dream about him and there
would be nothing I could do to prevent it.

I tried not to
show Anna how worried I was as we walked to her hotel room. “Can I
come in and check your room?” I asked, needing to make sure that
she was safe. I knew that her room was okay because there had been
guards outside it all day, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to settle
if I didn’t look for myself. Realisation hit me that maybe I really
was too overprotective, just like she always said I was.

“Sure,” she
agreed, looking amused as she gave me a little tug into her
suite.

My eyes widened
at the luxury of the place as we stepped inside. She had a separate
living area with a ginormous flat screen TV on the wall, sofas, and
even what looked like a little kitchen area. She plopped down on
the sofa as I headed to the bedroom and checked under the bed and
in the closet and bathroom to make sure nothing or nobody was
hiding in her room. When I had satisfied myself, I sat down next to
her on the plush sofa. This situation was killing me. I knew she
was going to be annoyed with me if I didn’t stop stressing out, but
I couldn’t calm my jangled nerves.

One of her
perfectly plucked eyebrows rose in question. Silently, I waited for
her to scold me for treating her like a child or something, but she
didn’t. Instead, she looked like she understood. “Ashton, I’ll be
fine, will you stop worrying?”

I sighed. I
really wished I could. My life would be so much easier if I’d never
met her and didn’t have her to worry about. “I know you’ll be fine,
I’m just worried about how many bad dreams you’re gonna have
without me there,” I admitted. “And also, I’m gonna miss you in the
bed,” I added, smiling weakly.

She laughed
quietly. “I’m gonna miss you in the bed too,” she shrugged before
continuing, “And maybe I won’t even dream, you never know. I
haven’t had any nightmares for three months. Maybe they’ve
stopped?” She looked like she didn’t believe a word of that
statement at all.

“Yeah, I hope
so. If it gets bad, then please call me,” I begged. “I’ll come up
if you need me.” I took her hand, just needing to touch her before
I left her.

A reassuring
smile graced her lips. “I’ll be fine, but if I’m not, then I’ll
call you,” she agreed.

I sighed,
knowing that it was time to go. “Well, I guess I should let you get
some sleep then. I’ll see you for breakfast, yeah?” I asked
hopefully.

She nodded.
“Yep,” she agreed and I kissed the back of her hand as she walked
me to the door. She nodded tersely at the guy who was sitting in
the chair outside her bedroom door. By her tight and defensive
posture alone, I could tell she didn’t like him. I smiled and shook
my head; she really had a problem with guards.

“Goodnight
then, Anna,” I whispered, watching her face, silently wishing she
would beg me to stay with her, screw the guards and her parents and
their opinions.

“Night,
Ashton.” She shook her head, and an amused smile pulled at the
corner of her mouth. Probably because of me and how pathetic I was.
I sighed as I stepped out of the door and closed it behind me.
Every muscle in my body was tight, wanting to run into her room and
throw her on the bed and never let go. I pushed the thought away
and turned back to the agent outside her door as I reached into my
pocket, fumbling for the scrap of paper that I’d written my cell
phone number on.

“Hey, here’s my
number. If there’s any trouble with Anna tonight, then give me a
call. Any time, I don’t care,” I instructed, holding out the paper
to him.

He grinned. “I
think I can handle Annabelle’s trouble,” he replied sarcastically,
sneering at me like I was a three year old.

I bit back my
angry retort. “Look, I’m sure you think you can handle her, but
I’ve been working with her for the last three months, if she freaks
out or has a nightmare or something, then call me, okay?” My anger
was growing by the second.

“Screw it, man.
If she has a nightmare, then that’s down to her. You’ve got the
night off, go enjoy yourself, you don’t get paid enough for her
shit,” he said, shrugging arrogantly.

Fucking
asshole!
My hand was itching to punch the smirk off of his
face, but I swallowed my anger and tried to keep my voice normal.
“What’s your name?” I asked politely.

His smile
faded. “Mike.”

Clearly, my
tone hadn’t been as polite as I’d intended. “Well, Mike, if I find
out tomorrow that she had a bad night and you didn’t call me, you
and I are going to have a big fucking problem. You understand what
I’m saying?” I growled, looking at him warningly.

He flinched, so
he obviously got the point. “Right, whatever you want,” he answered
as he snatched the note from my hand and shoved it into his
pocket.

“Thanks, I’m
glad we understand each other,” I replied, staring him down for a
couple of seconds before I left for my floor. My rage was simmering
on a slow boil, and I knew I wouldn’t be getting much sleep as I
stewed on what an uncompassionate jerk Mike was. When I got to my
own room that I was sharing with Dean, I noticed that he was
already in his bed and sound asleep.

As I shrugged
out of my clothes and slipped into my own bed, I knew then that I
was in for a sleepless night as I worried about the girl I was
hopelessly in love with.