Guarding the Broken

  “Ladies appointment? Like what?” he questioned, glancing at me curiously before concentrating on the road again.

  Is he seriously going to make me spell it out? “I don’t know, a waxing or something like that,” I muttered, embarrassed. I forced myself to go for a bikini and leg wax every few weeks because sometimes the paparazzi liked to stalk our house and take shots for magazines. Especially with the election coming up, they would be all over my family soon; hopefully I would avoid all of that though being at school.

  “A waxing? Why couldn’t I come with you?” he asked, raising one eyebrow, looking like a little, confused puppy dog.

  “Ashton, seriously?” I scoffed, shooting him a warning face. There was no way I was standing for that; I drew the line at that one.

  He sighed in defeat. “Okay fine. I guess I can’t really do things a boyfriend wouldn’t do, so for things like that, you’d have to take Dean with you and get him to stand outside the door,” he explained, shrugging.

  That was what happened now, a guard waited in the car for me outside the building. “Outside the door? Well, what happens if the lady tries to kill me with hot wax?” I asked with mock horror.

  “Don’t start me worrying about that or I will come with you to your appointments,” he replied, smirking.

  “Oh shut up! Why can’t I just go on my own? Nothing will happen at a beauty salon, for goodness’ sake. I think you’re taking this job way too seriously. So what if my dad needs to beef up his security because of the election, no one’s seriously going to attack me,” I scoffed, frowning. This whole thing was just stupid. He didn’t say anything, so I looked over at him; he was frowning at something and looked a little unhappy. “What’s wrong, Pretty Boy, cat got your talented tongue?” I flirted, and then blushed at what I had said. Oh man, did I really just say that? I turned towards the window and bit my lip to stop the giggle escaping at the obvious slutty comment I’d just directed at my bodyguard.

  He burst out laughing. “Damn it, Anna, will you stop making me laugh? I’m driving!” he scolded, trying to be serious.

  “I apologise,” I said, still giggling. I glanced over at him, and he gave me a wicked grin and winked, making my face burn even more.

  Despite the GPS, we still got a little lost on the way there so it took well over an hour before we pulled into the shooting range parking lot. The anxiety and worry had been building inside me the whole ride, so by the time he cut the engine, my stomach was churning so much that my cereal was threatening to come back up.

  Dean’s car pulled in and stopped beside ours, but he didn’t bother to get out. As far guard, he was just to wait outside the building in the car and be on call to jump in and save the day if he was needed. Ashton smiled at me encouragingly as I forced myself to climb out of the car and look over at the large, and incredibly intimidating, brick building.

  As soon as the door to the place opened, the noise made me want to run. There were already a few people inside, so a gunshot sounded every couple of seconds. Each shot made me squeal and press myself against Ashton’s side as he spoke to the assistant and signed us in with the guest passes my father had arranged. Ashton was handed two black trays, and I could see a small handgun in each one as the assistant led us over to the last two lanes in the building.

  My heart was crashing in my chest, and my breathing was shallow. I didn’t take my eyes off Ashton the whole time; it felt like if I kept him in sight I would be okay. Once the assistant guy had left, Ashton turned to me and pushed some safety glasses onto my face before snapping a thick, heavy pair of headphones over my ears. Sound was instantly muffled, but I could still hear the gunshots ringing out in the background.

  He gripped my hips, guiding me to turn and face the right way. Stepping close to my back, his arms circled around my waist as he clamped my back against his chest. “It’s alright, Anna, I promise,” he said loudly so that I could hear him through the huge ear defenders.

  I pressed harder into Ashton’s body, wanting to melt into him as another shot rang out somewhere in the building. I was struggling to stay in control. Deep down, I wasn’t sure I could do this. My eyes locked on the black and white target of a body that was in front of me but about twenty feet away. There was a target on the centre with circles spreading outwards with little numbers in so you could obviously keep track of your progress.

  He gently lifted one of my ear defenders off my ear, resting it on my cheek before his hands closed over my shoulders, squeezing supportively. “Okay, Baby Girl,” he said. His voice vibrated against my head, making the hair on the back of my neck prickle.

  Wait, did he just call me baby girl?

  Reaching out, he gripped one of the hand guns, holding it out in front of me. I groaned and shied away from it, pressing back into him further. “It’s fine,” he promised. With his other hand, he took mine and placed the cold metal into my hand before forcing my other hand around it too so that I was holding it. His hands stayed firmly wrapped around mine. A pitiful whimper left my lips. “Do you know where the safety is?” he asked. Forcing myself to look at the killing machine in my hands, I spotted a small button on the side of it. I pointed it out with my thumb, taking a wild guess. I didn’t bother trying to talk, my mouth was too dry; I knew nothing would come out if I tried to speak. “That’s great, Anna,” he purred in my ear. His praising, sexy voice almost distracted from the deep down terror that had practically consumed me – almost, but not quite.

  Ashton then proceeded to give me a brief overview of how to line up my target and sight it properly; he went on and on about how I was supposed to squeeze the trigger, not pull it – which actually made no sense to me at all. Apparently, the gun would jerk in my hand a little when I shot it, so I had to expect that.

  By the time I was ready to start, my breathing was coming too fast, and my heart was racing. He put my headphones back into place and then guided my hands out straight in front of me, still pressing into me from behind.

  “Okay, click the safety off when you’re ready, and then go,” he instructed, holding my hands tightly on the gun. A long groan escaped my lips, but I moved my thumb regardless and clicked off the safety. When I squeezed the trigger, the gun did indeed jerk in my hand. I squealed and jumped at the sound and the fact that I’d just shot a gun. “That was fantastic. Go again,” he encouraged.

  As I squeezed off another shot, it dawned on me that it wasn’t quite as bad as what I had been envisioning. After a couple more shots, Ashton took the gun from my hands, prising it from my stiff fingers as he clicked the safety back on.

  I turned to look at him over my shoulder, chewing on my lip.

  “That was great!” he cried excitedly. “You wanna have a go on your own?” he offered, raising one eyebrow.

  “Okay,” I agreed hesitantly. “But don’t leave me.”

  He shook his head, raising his hand and crossing one finger over his heart. “I won’t, I promise.” He nodded back towards the target and held the gun out to me again. I gripped the gun, turning towards the target, trying not to notice that my hands were shaking. Once his arms encircled my waist, I closed my eyes, taking deep breaths. “Whenever you’re ready, aim, take the safety off, and then go.”

  I concentrated on the safe feeling I felt with his arms around me like that; I focussed on the heat and hardness of his body as he held me tightly. Finally, my nerves subsided, so I took a deep breath and pointed the gun.

  After four shots the gun was empty so he took it from my hands. I breathed a sigh of relief and felt my shoulders sag forward as I smiled, more than a little proud of myself for overcoming my fear like that. It was all because of Ashton though. I knew there was no way I would have even set foot in this place if he weren’t with me.

  “I am really proud of you for doing that,” he said, bending forward and planting a soft kiss on my forehead. I gulped, feeling my smile grow even bigger because of his praise. “Want to see how you did?” he offered, pointing to a button labelled target re
call on the side of the booth we were in. I nodded eagerly and pressed it, watching as the paper target slowly made its way to us, on the little overhead track. Ashton smiled at it happily as it stopped next to him. I’d shot twelve shots in total. Nine of them had actually hit the paper, three of them were even on the shape of the body which I was surprised about. I hadn’t thought I’d even hit the paper with my hands shaking like they were. “A few more times and you’ll be a pro,” Ashton joked.

  “Are you going to have a go? Or are you scared you can’t match my awesome skills?” I teased. I would actually quite like to see him fire a gun for some reason, maybe the horrible images would be replaced if I saw him do it.

  He shook his head quickly. “Not today. Another time I will. I think you’ve been in here long enough already,” he answered, picking up the gun and setting it, along with the extra clips we’d been given, into the black tray. “We should probably get going.”

  I nodded in agreement. That was probably a good idea. I didn’t want to push it too far today and end up suffering the consequences tonight when my nightmares took over. Taking off my ear defenders and goggles, I dropped them into the tray too.

  “I’ll have you shooting like a pro by the end of my eight month assignment,” he said as we walked to the reception desk to sign out.

  I scoffed and shook my head. “I’d be happy just to get all of my shots on the paper by the time you leave.” Actually, I’d be happy just to be able to hold a gun without my hands trembling dangerously.

  As we walked out of the building and got in the car, I spotted Dean still sitting in the same spot. The boredom was easy to see on his face. Ashton nodded at him as he held my door open for me to get in. “It must be a really tedious job, being a far guard. I mean, he’s always on his own, sitting around waiting for me,” I mused once Ashton climbed into the driver’s side and started the car. I actually felt a little sorry for Dean; he must be bored senseless watching me all day.

  Ashton shrugged, pulling out of the parking lot. “That’s his job. He gets paid for it.”

  A sudden thought occurred to me. “Do you get any extra money for looking after me? I mean, you’re basically on duty for twenty-four hours a day, right? So are you getting double pay or something?”

  A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth as he drove. “Nope, but I get the pleasure of your company, which is something I would gladly pay for. I actually think I’m doing them out of something,” he answered. I blushed and shook my head, not knowing what to say to that. Thankfully, conversation flowed easily after that as he started telling me about his best friend, Nate Peters, who was apparently a bit of a ladies’ man. Ashton assured me that if I ever met him that he’d try to get me into bed.

  “So how does he get all of these women then?” I asked, grinning after hearing a tale of Nate scoring with three women in one night – and then it turned out that two of them were sisters, so he gotten a drink poured over his head.

  He smirked in my direction. “It’s the uniform. Girls like the uniform.”

  “Ahh.” His meaning was clear. “So you score in yours too then I bet.” My mind flicked back to the photo I’d seen of him in his uniform. He was right; the uniform was a definite pantie-moistener.

  He shrugged awkwardly. “Sometimes I guess,” he admitted.

  “Did you bring it with you?” I asked. Immediately my face flooded with heat as my insides squirmed with embarrassment at asking that question. Holy shit, Anna, you are on fire today!

  He grinned. “Why, do you want to see it?” he flirted.

  I gulped; the answer to that question was ‘heck yeah’, but I refused to admit it. “Sure, why not. I can handle it, I have considerable self-control,” I lied, shrugging.

  He chuckled, grinning wickedly. “Yeah, much to my disappointment.” He shook his head. “I didn’t bring it. I’m undercover, remember? I’ll show you some other time if you want,” he offered, turning back to watch the road. Oh heck yeah, I would certainly like to see him in that uniform! I didn’t say that though, and quickly changed the subject to his shooting.

  Chapter Thirteen

  When we pulled up at the house, I was a little disappointed. I genuinely liked spending time with him, but there was just too much pressure here.

  “So, you wanna go do something? Swimming maybe?” he offered as we climbed out of the car. “In the indoor heated pool, I meant, not the ice water again,” he added quickly, shuddering.

  I laughed at that. “Er… there’s something I really want to do first, so maybe in like an hour or something?” I suggested, raising my eyebrows. Yesterday, while shopping, I’d seen the Apple store and realised that Ashton needed an iPod if he was going to survive college. I was pretty sure he didn’t have one, and I had a spare, brand new one that I’d bought for myself a few months ago when I thought I’d lost mine. Music was a college attendee’s survival essential; he’d need that to keep himself sane.

  He looked at me sceptically. “You’re not leaving the house though, are you?”

  “No, I’ll be in my bedroom.” I rolled my eyes at his assumption. He obviously took this guard thing way too seriously.

  “Okay good. An hour’s fine then, I’ll go finish that book.” He shrugged, smiling a half smile.

  “I’ll have to make sure to pack the other three for you if you’re that into them,” I teased.

  He just rolled his eyes and didn’t bother to answer me. On the way through the house, we stopped by the kitchen to grab a drink and sandwich for lunch. I said goodbye to Ashton for the hour, taking my food to my room. As soon as I was alone, I pulled out my laptop and started to sync my spare iPod to my iTunes, copying all of my music over to it for him. Having no idea what kind of music he liked, I had no clue if there was anything in my collection that he would like – it would be a start for him though, at least.

  After exactly an hour, he knocked on my door. I winced and looked up worriedly because the music was still syncing. “Ashton, I’m not done, I’ll be a bit longer then I’ll come get you, okay?” I called, hoping he wouldn’t just walk in and see me doing it. I wanted to give it to him tomorrow on the plane so he could listen to it during the flight if he wanted to.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, sounding a little concerned.

  “Fine,” I answered, chewing on my lip, watching the grey bar at the top as it copied all of the music over.

  “Anna, can I come in?” he asked, still sounding unsure.

  I ran to the door and yanked it open before he just walked in and ruined my surprise. “What’s up?” I asked, pulling the door close to my side so that he couldn’t see into my room.

  “Are you really alright? You’re not freaking out because of the guns, are you?” he asked, reaching for my hand.

  I smiled at his concern. I appreciated the thought actually. “No, I’m not freaking out. I just had something I wanted to do on my laptop before we leave tomorrow,” I promised, shrugging.

  His face brightened, and he seemed to visibly relax. “Oh, that’s good, I was worried,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

  “Thank you for being worried, but I’m honestly fine.” I shrugged.

  “Okay, well, let me know when you’re ready.” He raised my hand to his lips, planting a soft kiss on my knuckle before turning and walking to his room next door.

  While my laptop finished its task, I dug out another swimsuit and shrugged out of my clothes. By the time I had my clothes back on top of it, the sync was finished. As I walked to his room, I scraped my hair back into a bun before knocking politely on his door. He pulled it open as I was mid-knock so he must have been keen to go.

  “Hey, I’m done,” I greeted.

  “Okay, great,” he smiled and stepped out of the room, slinging a towel over his shoulder. As we stepped into the pool that we had at the back of the house, he raised one eyebrow in appreciation. “This is nice, I didn’t even realise this was here.”

  “Yeah, I guess I should’ve shown you t
his on my tour of the house, huh?” I teased, grinning, remembering how I ditched him on his first day.

  “Yeah, I still owe you for that,” he warned, narrowing his eyes at me.

  “I’m so scared,” I mocked, stripping out of my clothes.

  “You should be.” His arms closed around me quickly, lifting me off my feet as he stalked towards the pool.

  “No!” I shouted, just as he threw me into the water. I came up laughing and spluttering. “Asshole!” I cried, wiping the water out of my eyes. He did a cannonball into the pool, sending water everywhere. “Wow, you’re such a child,” I scoffed, trying to hide my grin.

  We swam a few lengths, bantering back and forth. Ashton was a strong swimmer; apparently they had to swim a lot for training. He said that once, as a punishment for letting a chicken loose in the officers’ lounge, he and Nate had to spend the whole night in the pool, swimming lengths and picking bricks up from the bottom.

  “Wow, and you liked this place?” I asked, turning my nose up.

  “Sure, it kinda saved me, I guess. When I was seventeen I didn’t get many opportunities and I started hanging around with the wrong people. It was a toss-up for me between joining up with the force, or carrying on being that person who I was becoming. Thankfully I chose the academy.”

  I swam over to him and held onto the edge so we could talk. He grabbed my waist and pulled me to him. He was so close to me that the heat started up again. I had no idea how he did it to me. I moved closer to him, trailing my finger across his shoulder, looking at his tanned skin as lustful thoughts crashed over me in droves.

  “You’re looking like a prune,” he teased, looking at my wrinkly fingers.

  “You do too,” I muttered, chewing on my lip. I knew I needed to get out of the pool, this was just plain wrong, and I shouldn’t let this guy affect me so much. “Maybe we should get out.” I didn’t wait for an answer, just swam to the ladder and pulled myself out, grabbing my towel and drying my face.