Blurring the Lines Read online

  Judy, the reporter, put her hand over her heart and beamed. “Oh my gosh, she was so beautiful in person, and so sweet. And that boyfriend of hers is incredibly good-looking! I can see why the papers are flagging them as the new celeb couple of the year,” she answered. I couldn’t help but grin. Everyone seemed to think we made a marvellous couple, apart from Anna.

  Anna laughed awkwardly, wincing in my direction as if she was now waiting for me to run away screaming again, like she had suggested earlier. “Sorry.”

  I rolled my eyes, but didn’t get a chance to answer before they started the excited chatter on the television again. “I know the party was actually to celebrate the birthday of the President-elect, but my goodness, when Annaton stepped out of that limo, all of the attention just shifted to them. It was like some sort of eclipse. And I got the first question!” Judy gushed excitedly.

  The pair of them then went on to analyse every detail of Anna’s dress, hair and make-up, before moving on to me. They somehow even knew who made my tuxedo – even I hadn’t known who made my tux. After, they showed a clip of me helping Anna out of the car and us walking up the red carpet. They ooh’d and ahh’d when Anna turned to me and smiled as we were having our photographs taken and when I brushed her hair back. I had to admit, watching it from the outside did make us look like a loved-up couple. The next clip was me joking about meeting the parents; they slowed it down, showing Anna laughing and looking at me with a gorgeous little smile on her face. When it got to my next line about Anna being the best thing that had ever happened to me, they showed that twice, gushing about how sweet I was and how lucky Anna was to have me.

  For a further ten minutes, they somehow found more things to talk about before finally changing the subject back to what the show should have been about all along – Anna’s father. When Dean finally turned off the TV, I grimaced over at Anna. She was wincing, hiding behind her knees and just peeking over the top. I laughed before I could stop myself.

  She groaned and shook her head. “It’s not funny, Ashton! Did you not just watch the same programme as me?” she whined, pouting at me as if I could somehow make all of this better and make it disappear in a puff of smoke. “And what the hell is Nate going to say? And Rosie, and the rest of the guys at school?”

  I smiled weakly and got off of my chair, squatting in front of her and taking her hands in mine. “Anna, calm down. Everything will be fine, and we’ll get through it together. If Rosie and the guys from school want to treat you any different after this, then they’re not worth having in your life and you’ve lost nothing special anyway.” I didn’t mention Nate. I was pretty sure I was in for some mocking about the name, and a decent amount of ridicule for looking like a soppy jerk on TV, but he was my best friend, and there was no doubt in my mind that he wouldn’t treat me or Anna any differently.

  She took a deep breath and closed her eyes before nodding, seeming to visibly calm herself. “Okay, fine. Let’s just go pack or something. I want to go home. I’m done with all this stuff.”

  Leaning forward, I wrapped my arms around her tightly and hugged her, letting her delicious smell waft over me. Her arms wrapped around my neck too, hugging me back. Not ready to let go of her yet, I slid my arms down her back and under her ass as I leant back and pushed myself to my feet, lifting her with me and holding her tightly against me.

  She giggled, and her legs automatically wrapped around my waist, clamping herself to me as she buried her face into the side of my neck and finally seemed to relax. A contented sigh left my lips because she was back in my arms again, right where she belonged.

  As I carried her through the foyer and headed towards the elevator, someone shouted our names from my left. I turned my head in that direction, seeing a photographer on his knees snapping shot after shot of me carrying her before Dean and Mike both rushed forward and intercepted him, blocking his view.

  Anna gasped and I quickly set her down onto her feet, ushering her towards the now open elevator. Not waiting for Dean, I pressed the button for her floor and looked out, seeing them guiding the photographer out of the front door without actually touching him.

  “Shit,” I growled under my breath as the doors closed and left us alone. “Sorry. Hopefully they were able to intercept before he got a decent shot?” I offered weakly.

  She sighed and nodded, gripping my waist and pulling me towards her as she pressed herself against my chest. As the elevator travelled upwards, I dipped my head and captured her soft lips in a gentle kiss. She seemed to melt against me as her grip tightened on my waist. A small moan escaped her lips as she kissed me back. When the doors to the elevator slid open, I reluctantly pulled my mouth away from hers, smiling when her eyes took a few seconds to open again. When they did open, they latched onto mine and seemed to burn with a passion that made the hairs on my arms stand on end. An agent stuck his head around the door, seeing that it was us before nodding in acknowledgement and going back to his lookout post.

  Gripping her hand tightly, I gave her a little tug towards her hotel room door. “Let’s pack your stuff and then you can come to my room while I do mine.”

  There wasn’t much to collect really. All of the party clothes had been provided for us, so it was only what we travelled in yesterday and our sleepwear that needed to be packed. She was done within three minutes and then we headed down a floor to pack my belongings.

  She lay on my bed while I threw my clothes into a bag. When I was done, the need to hold her was just too great, so I gave in. I crawled up the bed, hovering over her as I smiled down at her underneath me. I didn’t touch her as her gaze came up to meet mine. I searched her eyes, desperately trying to see if what the papers had printed was true. Her full lips curved up into a smile as she reached up and traced the line of my jaw with one delicate finger.

  I was almost so lost in the moment that I missed the click of the door as the handle twisted, but thankfully, I still had some degree of control over myself. I rolled off her quickly, tensing, watching the door, but relaxing when I saw Dean saunter in.

  By his tight jaw alone, I knew something was wrong. “Car’s here when you’re ready to leave. But, there’s a slight problem.”

  I raised one eyebrow in question as I stood. “Problem?”

  He nodded, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah, there are some reporters out front waiting for you two. Probably a good fifteen or twenty of them all crowded out there. There’s probably about the same amount out the back too. There’s no way to get out of the building without going past them,” he stated.

  Anna groaned behind me. I nodded, this was just something we had to deal with, it’d be over soon and then we’d be away from it all. “It’ll be fine.” I put my hand on top of Anna’s head, stroking her hair as I kept my eyes firmly on Dean. “We’ll go out the front, just make sure the car is parked there waiting. Also, ask that Mike guy to follow us to the airport, just in case.”

  Dean nodded in acknowledgment before picking up his overnight bag from his bed and sauntering out of the room to get to work. I turned back to Anna. “Once we get back to campus, everything will settle down and they’ll lose interest. It’s only because we’re still in the hotel.” At least, I hope it is! “Come on.” I picked up her bag and mine, and waved for her to follow behind me.

  By the time we got down to the lobby and had checked out, passing our luggage to one of the concierges to take to the car, Dean had arranged the cars and had rounded up two extra guards along with Mike. They were all standing by the door waiting for departure.

  My hand closed around Anna’s as I pulled her close to my side. “Don’t leave my side. If anyone grabs you or anything, I’ll handle it, or Dean. You just smile and we’ll get to the car.”

  She nodded in understanding, chewing on her bottom lip furiously. We walked over to Dean, and I nodded discreetly, watching as they pulled the doors open for us to exit.

  As soon as we stepped out, the fifteen or so people started shouting our names and camer
as started whirling. Dean and Mike stepped to our sides, arms outstretched, keeping the crowd back as they surged forwards, trying to get the best pictures. My eyes scanned the crowd, looking for anything untoward or suspicious, but they were all just reporters after a scoop.

  One of the reporters quickly shoved a Dictaphone towards us, leaning in as close as she could even though Dean was holding her back. “Annabelle, Ashton, what do you think about what the papers are saying about you two this morning?”

  Anna looked up at me quickly as if she wasn’t sure she should answer. I shrugged. I had no idea what the protocol was for it, she should probably have had a press agent here with her or support, but that was too late now. No one predicted anything like this would happen.

  She cleared her throat and smiled. “It’s crazy, this is all just crazy,” she answered, waving her hand around at all the people as her hand tightened on mine.

  Another reporter tried to bustle forward. “Ashton, what do you think of the body language expert saying that the President-elect liked you and trusted you with his daughter?” he shouted.

  I shrugged awkwardly. I didn’t want to answer any questions; all I wanted was her safely away from this crowd. “I’m glad, of course. What boyfriend wouldn’t like to hear that his girlfriend’s dad likes him?”

  Anna laughed at my answer, and we carried on walking, but it was a slow feat because they were all crowded around the path to the car. We were about half way to the car now.

  “Annabelle, now your father has been elected, do you think your relationship with Ashton will change?” another asked.

  Anna smiled. “I hope not, I don’t want it too. Hopefully he won’t see me as a different person now. What do you think, Pretty Boy, you gonna see me any different?” she asked, turning to look at me, smiling affectionately.

  I grinned and pulled her closer to me. “I won’t see you any different, Baby Girl,” I promised.

  “Can you two kiss so we can get a photo?” one of the reporters pleaded.

  I groaned inwardly. She wouldn’t want to do that. If we were to kiss, then her parents would find out and she would hate that. I looked down at her and was just about to tell the reporters that that kind of thing was private, when Anna gripped the front of my T-shirt and pulled my mouth down to hers.

  My whole body stiffened from shock, but I kissed her back immediately, very aware that the cameras were clicking like crazy around us as they took their shots. As she tried to deepen the kiss, I pulled back and shook my head discreetly. Clearly, she had forgotten where we were and that everyone was watching. She whimpered as I pulled away, but then blushed as she seemed to come back to reality. I smiled and brushed my finger across her pink cheek as I nodded my head in the direction of the car, signalling for her to start walking again.

  “Do you think you two will get married?” someone questioned.

  I grinned sheepishly. I would marry her right now if I could! I squeezed her waist, she probably knew what my answer would be to that because I’d made a couple of little marriage jokes to her already. Anna winced, recoiling slightly at the question. “We’re pretty young to be thinking about marriage,” she answered weakly, shaking her head in rejection.

  “Ashton, what do you think?” the same guy probed.

  I laughed and shrugged, deciding to answer honestly. “Well, I don’t think we’re too young, let’s leave it at that.”

  Anna gasped, slapping me on the shoulder playfully before pushing me towards the car. “What the? Seriously, Ashton, you should get in the car before you drop us in anything!” she scolded nervously, blushing profusely. The reporters around us laughed too at her embarrassed outburst.

  I grinned and grabbed her hand, pulling her forwards the last couple of steps as the cameras started up again. Dean opened the back door of the car, so I manoeuvred behind Anna so that she had to get in first, discreetly positioning my body so that I was between her and the reporters. Once she was safely in, I slipped in behind her and Dean slammed the door before climbing in the driver’s seat. Twisting to look out of the back window, I saw Mike and the other guard climb into the car behind us and follow as Dean pulled out and sped off down the road.

  Anna slapped me on the shoulder again. The blush was still prominent on her cheeks. “What the hell was that?” she asked, shaking her head in disbelief. A small smile twitched at the corners of her mouth though, so I knew I wasn’t in too much trouble.

  I smirked at her. “Oh come on, if I asked you flat out, you’d say no. Maybe I need to trap you into it,” I joked, winking at her.

  The smile faded from her face instantly. “Don’t ever trap me into anything, Ashton. I don’t like being forced into things,” she mumbled. Her chin trembled as she spoke and I suddenly realised this wasn’t just about me making a joke, this was something deep-rooted to do with Carter and her not having control of her life.

  I cupped my hands around her face, making her look at me as I smiled apologetically. “I was playing around. I would never do that to you,” I promised.

  “Good,” she sighed and nodded. Her heavily lidded eyes met mine and she scooted closer to my side, setting her head on my shoulder. “Let’s go home,” she whispered.

  Chapter Four

  The trip home was uneventful; no one was waiting for us at our end of the airport. I was hopeful that no one would know where we lived or even which state we were in. Her father was still going to limit press access to her as much as possible.

  By the time we got back to our apartment, it was after two in the afternoon. Anna immediately headed off saying she wanted a nice, long soak in the bath, and I headed to the lounge and flopped on the sofa, exhausted. I hadn’t slept well at all in the last couple of days, and my body was definitely feeling the ill effects of that now. My nerves finally settled, and I relaxed now that we were home. It was so much easier when we were on our own and could behave like ourselves rather than putting on an act for her parents so that they wouldn’t look at us strangely. As far as they were concerned, they thought I was doing my job and playing the role of attentive loving boyfriend, no one knew that it carried on when we were alone. Dean had some idea. He’d certainly shot me a couple of looks that suggested he knew how I felt about her. That didn’t matter though; the only one I wanted to know how I felt was still entirely oblivious.

  After ten minutes of me sitting in silence and fighting my stinging eyes, my cell phone started to buzz in my pocket. As I pulled it out and looked at the screen, I groaned. I was too tired to be dealing with this already.

  “Hey, Nate,” I greeted, putting it to my ear. “I know what you’re gonna say.”

  He laughed excitedly in response. “Fuck me, Taylor; you’re dating the President’s daughter? I met the President’s daughter and saw her semi-naked! I drank and flirted with the President’s daughter!” he chirped.

  “He’s not President yet, but yep,” I agreed tiredly.

  “You’re all over the papers. Every channel I put on the TV, the two of you are on there.” I could just imagine his face, shocked and amused, one eyebrow raised like he did when he tried to tease the life out of me.

  “I know, man, weird huh?”

  “So seriously, what’s he like? Is he a nice guy? Did you know who Anna was when you met her? How come the papers said you had been together for a year and three months?” he fired off the questions, one after the other.

  My breath caught in my throat at the last one. Nate knew we hadn’t been together that long, but we had to say that because of her college. “I don’t know, that must be a misprint, it’s three months,” I lied. “And no, I didn’t know who she was when I met her. She didn’t tell me at first. But yes, I have met the President-elect. He’s a good guy,” I said, trying to answer all of his questions briefly.

  “Why didn’t you tell me who she was? Her dad was Senator when I met her, you could have told me.”

  I sighed. He was such a good guy, he wouldn’t even mind when this was over and I told him about
my assignment. He’d understand, I knew that, but I still didn’t like lying to him. “Nate, I couldn’t. I wanted too, but she had to try and blend in for her security and stuff. I’m not allowed to do anything without her bodyguards say so.”

  “Yeah, I get it, bud, don’t worry, I thought it was something like that,” he admitted. He made a strangled laugh. “You do know that if you screw up and hurt her, he has the power to have you killed,” he joked.

  A tired grin covered my face. Trust Nate to think of it that way! “Lucky I’m not gonna screw up and hurt her then.”

  “I saw you two getting interviewed outside the hotel. I didn’t realise you were so serious about her. I knew you were in love with her, that much was pretty damn obvious by the love-sick puppy eyes you shoot her, but I didn’t realise that you wanted to marry her. It came across on TV like you were trying to make a joke, but I know you too well, Taylor. You were serious, weren’t you?” he asked.

  I smiled. Nate always had known me well. “Yeah, but I don’t think she’s up for it yet. I’m working on it though. Listen, Nate, I need to go, I haven’t slept in forever and my head is killing me.”

  “Sure, I’ll speak to you in the week, say hi to Anna for me when you see her, okay?” he instructed.

  “I will. See ya,” I disconnected the call and switched on the TV, flicking onto the news channel, only to see me and Anna plastered all over the screen. There were clips of us leaving the hotel and answering questions. They still loved us as a couple and were talking about our nicknames for each other. A proud grin slipped onto my face when they played the bit of her pulling me in for a kiss. Admittedly, it looked just as hot as it had felt.