I raised my chin as I faked a confident smile, dragging my eyes over him from his head down to his toes. “Well, Ashton, you don’t look like the normal guys I get assigned. I’m gonna be generous and say that you’ll last a week, maybe even ten days, before you request a reassignment,” I teased cockily.

One side of his full lips pulled up as he shook his head. “Actually, Miss Spencer, I’m here for eight months, and I don’t quit,” he replied confidently, folding his arms across his chest too, mirroring me.

The arrogance he was exuding made one of my eyebrows rise, but I fought desperately to hold back any reaction to him. “You can call me Anna.” I waved my hand dismissively, ignoring his attitude.

“Anna it is then.” His answering smile was gorgeous and seemed to light his whole face.

My mother cleared her throat obviously. “Why don’t you show Agent Taylor to his room, Annabelle? Maybe you could give him a tour of the house and grounds too. Show him where the lake is.”

I frowned at that. They always expected me to play nicely with these agents. I had no idea why though, because they never lasted long and then the whole routine would start all over again. “I’ll show him to his room, but he’s a big boy, I’m sure he can find the lake himself. I mean, you can’t miss the damn thing, it’s right there.” I turned and stalked out of the room, ignoring Ashton exchanging pleasantries with my parents behind me.

As I stalked up the hallway, fast footsteps sounded as he ran to catch me up. “Thanks for waiting,” he muttered sarcastically.

I scowled over at him. In all honesty, I was a little surprised at his attitude. Usually the guards were all ‘Yes, Miss Spencer. No, Miss Spencer’. Clearly this guy had some balls. “Whatever, pretty boy. You want me to show you to your room or not?” I snapped. My body still hurt and I wanted to take a nap before dinner.

“Sure, that’d be great.” His arm slipped around my shoulder. My heart seemed to stop before my body reacted immediately. I ducked under his arm and put both hands on his chest, shoving him as hard as I could. Because I’d caught him off guard, he stumbled back a step and looked at me with wide, horrified eyes. My teeth clenched together as I pulled back my right arm, throwing a punch in the general direction of his face. But he was too fast for me and threw his arm up to block my hit before holding both hands up innocently.

“I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have done that, I’m sorry,” he apologised quickly, shaking his head.

Tears welled in my eyes as my body shook from the shock of it. Male attention wasn’t something I could deal with anymore. It brought back too many memories that I could barely even cope with.

“That’s it, you’re gone,” I growled, spinning on my heel, about to march back to my father’s office and demand that he be transferred.

“Oh shit, come on, no, please? I promise that won’t ever happen again, I just forgot myself, that’s all. Please? I need this job,” he begged, as I marched down the hallway.

The pleading tone to his voice seemed to strike a chord inside me and I stopped, gritting my teeth, considering. I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat and turned to face him. I could see how sorry he was just by his slumped shoulders.

“You’re an ass**le,” I spat venomously. These men had no idea of the power they held over me and how much even just a casual touch could affect me for days afterwards.

He nodded, holding up his hands innocently.

“Don’t ever touch me again. You’re already hanging by a thread,” I muttered, shaking my head angrily. I had no idea why I was giving him another chance. Usually I would have strutted into my father’s office and demanded they send him away, but the sorrow in his eyes was evident, so I knew it was just an innocent move that wouldn’t occur again anytime soon.

He nodded in agreement, so I resumed the tour. As we walked past doors in the hallway, I said the names of the rooms but didn’t give him a chance to look in them. He could find his own way around; I didn’t owe him anything.

“Kitchen. Dining room. Games room. Lounge. Den. The gym’s down there,” I said, pointing to my favourite part of the whole house.

“Wait, you have your own gym? Can I see it?” he asked excitedly. I risked a sideways glance at him. He was grinning happily; he obviously liked to exercise, which was actually pretty apparent by his toned physique.

“Sure, go ahead.” I smiled and waved him into the gym. As soon as he was out of sight, I abandoned my tour and walked up to my room, slamming the door behind me. I threw myself down on the bed, sighing deeply. Eight months I’d been told he was here for. He definitely wouldn’t last more than a month, tops.

After about half an hour, there was a knock on my bedroom door. I groaned at the interruption, shoving my sketch pad under my pillow. “What do you want?” I called, not in the mood to socialise any more today.

“Can I come in?” Ashton retorted. I pushed myself up from the bed, chuckling wickedly because he was clearly annoyed with me for running off and leaving him. As I pulled open the door, his annoyed face greeted me. “Yeah, that was funny,” he said sarcastically. I full on laughed and cocked my head to the side, not caring that he was annoyed with me. His frown deepened. “I need to come in and pace your room.”

My grip on my door handle tightened as I pulled it close to my side, blocking his entry. “What? Go pace in your own room, it’s right next door,” I scoffed, nodding towards the door next to mine.