Running Towards Love (2 page)

None of that mattered. The only thing that was important to her was kissing Jason, because she was positive it would be absolutely amazing and it certainly would not be the last time.

Walking further into the studio, Nikki found the object of her affection sitting on the couch in one of their sets. “Hey,” she called as she sauntered over to join him.

“Nikki,” Jason replied, a soft smile on his lips.

Moving behind the couch, she leaned forward, draping her arms around his neck and offered a small squeeze. “You ready for today, Sugar Lips.”

Turning his head slightly, he raised an eyebrow studying her cobalt eyes. “Um, yeah?” She could feel his shoulders tense and knew he was as nervous about today as she was excited.

“Don’t be nervous, Jase. Today is going to be fantastic.” She grinned at him. “In fact, I think today is going to be so extraordinary we should plan a celebratory dinner.” She sensed more than saw him begin to shake his head and immediately continued. “I know you have always said no in the past, but that was before I was eighteen. I crossed that bridge two months ago and waited for you to ask me out. Now, I’m done waiting.”

Jason stood from the couch, taking a few moments to pace around the room. It was times like this that Nikki wished she could read his mind. Surely he had been waiting for this moment as long as she had. Finally he turned to face her, the familiar twinkle she saw everyday on camera lighting his eyes. “I’ll tell you what Nikki. You actually get all your lines correct today, on the first try, and I’ll take you out.”

“Really?” She squealed.

“Yes,” he grinned back, his shoulders finally relaxed as he smirked at her reaction to his proposal.

“You’re on!” She rushed forward and wrapped her arms around his torso, relishing in the strength of his hug.

Several hours later, Nikki was dressed and ready to go on their first date. Several of their other coworkers had stopped by to congratulate her on the fantastic day of filming. Notorious for forgetting her lines, Nikki had an almost perfect day. The only blemish on the afternoon was the kissing scene she taped with Jason. The magic she anticipated simply did not filter through to her. Instead, their kiss was broken multiple times by the directors who wanted different angles or to change where their hands were positioned. But, she supposed that would change this evening. There would be no distractions tonight and that was exactly the way she wanted it.

Smoothing on a last dab of lip gloss, she headed towards Jason’s dressing room. “You ready to follow through on your promise of an unbelievable evening?” She pushed his door open surprised to find him staring in his mirror almost as if he was psyching himself up for their date. But she knew that couldn’t be right. Maybe something else had happened after she left the set. “Jase?”

He shook his head and met her gaze in the mirror with a soft smile. “You ready?” he replied.

“Of course,” she offered him a warm smile as she took his arm. “I’ve only been waiting for this date for two years!”

That broke the ice between the two of them. “Yeah, like I was going to date you when I was 18 and you were 16. Can we say jailbait?” Jason said as they entered the elevator together.

“Please,” Nikki laughed, “like there would have been any issues at all. You know my family’s virtually non-existent and doesn’t care at all about me or what I do.”

“Better than my family. They worry entirely too much about each other.” He caught the surprised look on her face before he continued. “Don’t get me wrong. I love every member of my family and really love that we are all there for each other. But my Dad spends too much of his energy trying to manipulate all of us instead of getting to know us. It makes family time quite difficult at our house.”

They exited the front of the building and Nikki was pleasantly surprised to see Jason hold the door for her; she didn’t think guys like him existed anywhere except in romance novels. “How often do you see them?”

“My family?” Jason hailed a taxi for them and rattled off instructions to the driver once they were inside. “I see my mother, sisters, and grandmother as often as possible and work hard to avoid my father just as much.”

Silence descended on the couple in the cab as they watched the New York skyline drift by quickly, each lost in their own thoughts. Nikki was completely surprised. She was positive their first date would leave them both completely wrapped up in each other and there would be no time for quiet moments. “Where are we headed?” She asked simply to break the monotony of quiet.

“I was thinking we could have Italian. I know this great out of the way restaurant.”

“Uh, sure,” Nikki replied, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice. They were finally going out on a date where they could be seen by the world, and he wanted to spend the time shut away in a small restaurant.

“Did you want to try something else?” Even though she was a great actress, apparently Nikki hadn’t been able to hide her thoughts from Jason.

She looked wistfully outside. “I absolutely love December in New York. We could go ice skating!” Nikki was so lost in the excitement of the idea she completely missed the hesitancy on Jason’s face.

Thirty minutes later, Jason was sitting on the ice after falling once again. Women crowded him from every side, each of them desperate for a quick autograph or picture. Nikki watched the scene with laughter in her eyes. “I’m so glad you are finding this amusing, Nikki,” Jason ground out as he rubbed the temples of his forehead.

“Oh, don’t be a spoiled sport,” she called back as she watched him haul himself to a semi-standing position. “They just want their five minutes of fame with you. It’s one of the perks of acting.” She loved being in crowds like this. Sure, it was exhausting some of the time, but these fans were the only reason she had a job. She skated closer to Jason. “Come on,” she reached out her hand. “We’ll skate together.”

Holding hands, they tentatively made their way around the outdoor rink several times. She inhaled the cool, crisp air, feeling it settle deep into her lungs. The setting was wonderful; she could not have staged a more perfect night. The only difficulty she was facing was the lack of connection with Jason. She had assumed once they were alone things would magically fall into place. So far, that had not happened.

Glancing towards the vine covered archway, Nikki found her answer. “Let’s skate this way and you can rest for a minute.”

Jason grimaced slightly and Nikki bit her lip to hold back a smile as he answered. “Sorry. It’s been a long time since I’ve been ice skating.”

“Not too steady on your feet?”

“Uh, no. Not at all.” Jason leaned against the edge of the arbor. “I think this brings my ice skating experience to a sum total of three times. I can honestly say ice skating has never been high on my list of things to do.”

Nikki quickly closed the distance between the two of them. “I bet I can help make this night hit the top of that list.”

Pausing mid-sentence, Jason immediately picked up the innuendo in Nikki’s voice and raised a hand between them. Sensing his protest, she whispered, “shhhhh,” as she pointed upwards. Both of his eyebrows raised in surprise as he recognized the mistletoe hanging above them. Before he could respond she was pressing her lips against his; the heat warming each of their lips but never spreading further.

Reaching for another hug she lost her balance and pulled both of them down to the ice, laughing as they tangled up with each other. Sighing against his lips, Nikki whispered, “I love mistletoe.”  Maybe if she said it enough she could convince herself.

Rebekah was practically rolling with laughter by the time Nikki finished her story. “Seriously,” Nikki rolled up a napkin and threw it at her friend. “It’s not that funny!”

Taking several breaths to calm herself down, Rebekah finally felt capable of stringing several words together. “I can’t believe you called him Sugar Lips!” She wiped the tears slipping from her eyes using the napkin Nikki had thrown.

“Oh, come on! Out of that entire story, Sugar Lips is the part you remember the most! Really?” Nikki was even laughing now. “Besides, you can’t deny his lips look extremely kissable!”

Rebekah nodded her head. “I can’t deny that at all. But, they don’t just look kissable, they are extremely delectable!”

“Who has kissable lips?” Jason asked as he leaned against the frame of the kitchen doorway only to find both women dissolving into laughter.

Nikki watched as Rebekah practically danced over to him, standing on her tiptoes and wrapping her arms around his neck. “You do,” she pressed her lips against his for a whisper of a kiss before pulling back and continuing, “Sugar Lips!”

Jason narrowed his gaze on the only person who had ever called him that. “I can’t believe you told her about that!”

“Hey, don’t blame me!” Nikki smirked back. “I just call ‘em like I see ‘em.”

“Of course I blame you,” he retorted. “It’s what I do.” Nikki could hear the double meaning in his words and knew an apology was coming. Seconds later he met her gaze. “I really am sorry, Nik. You came here for support and the first thing I do is question you.”

Immediately the warmth of the moment faded away leaving an empty black hole in its place. “It’s okay, Jase. It is what it is.”

“It’s not okay, but it will be. Whatever you need from us, you only have to ask.”

“I appreciate that,” Nikki replied softly.

“And while I don’t want to tell you what to do, I have to insist you text him to let him know where you are.” Nikki started emphatically shaking her head having no desire to talk to Danny, so Jason simply continued. “Or, you can let me do it. But, he has to know you are okay Nik. I’d be going out of my mind if I couldn’t get in touch with Rebekah. I know you remember how worried I was when she disappeared while we were dating.”

“You text.” Nikki felt childish but she did not really care. Danny’s words this morning decimated her and she was nowhere near ready to talk to him or hear his voice again.

“I wish you would tell us what you know, Nikki. Let’s hear everything so we can see how we can help.” Rebekah softly prodded from her place in Jason’s arms. For a moment, Nikki was lost in the view of them. They seemed to be one of the most unlikely couples, yet they were able to make everything work despite all the odds against them.

“Can we talk tomorrow? I’m exhausted and we all know those girls are going to be up early in the morning.”

“Sure, Nikki.” Jason answered. “I put your bag in the room where you usually stay. We’ll try to keep the girls quiet in the morning but I can’t make any promises once they find out you are here.”

“Don’t.” Nikki stood and pushed the chair under the table, longing for the solitude of the bedroom and her thoughts. “I don’t see them often enough and I can’t wait to hold them again.”

“Okay.” Jason drew her into a hug as she reached the doorway. “I love you, Nikki. We both do. You have to know that.”

She sighed into his warm embrace, completely thankful she had these two as her family. “I do Jason and I love both of you too.”

“What do you mean, ‘she’s in Texas’?” Danny grumbled through the phone, his voice filled with frustration. “Are you telling me my wife got in a plane and flew halfway around the country without telling me?”

“Well, she is quite capable of doing that, man,” Jason answered and Danny could practically hear the contained laughter in his friend’s voice. “That’s one of the joys of being married to independent women.”