Running Towards Love (3 page)

Danny sighed. “I didn’t say she couldn’t handle making the trip, Jason. I simply meant this is completely unlike her. You know Nikki hates dealing with making travel arrangements, let alone heading into the city. She can’t stand a single aspect of it and you’re telling me she did it voluntarily!”

He paced the floor anxiously waiting for a response, waiting for any sort of explanation for Nikki’s behavior. She loved surprises and he wouldn’t put it past her to plan a quick last minute vacation to visit the friends they thought of as family. But, not like this. She would never take off without telling him, especially not after what happened to his family.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Dan. She showed up here a couple of hours ago and has been visiting with Rebekah.”

“Well, what are they talking about?” Danny practically growled.

“Nothing, man. The girls. Reliving the holidays. Plans for Spring break…”

“And, she hasn’t mentioned at all why she is there?”
 

“Nothing, but I’m headed back out there now. I’ll let you know what I hear. I just wanted to touch base and let you know where she was and that she’s okay.”

Pacing in their bedroom, Danny glanced towards the picture of her that was perched on his night table. “Thanks, Jason. I do appreciate the call. Let me know what you find out.”

“Will do.”

“And Jason?” emotion trickled through Danny’s whispered words.

“Yeah?”

“Make sure and tell her,” he sighed as he tried to decide the best message to convey to his wife. But without knowing what kind of mood she was in or why she was there in the first place he knew no message would w
ork, “just tell her you told me she’s there. You know how she feels about lying.”

“You know I will.”

“Thanks for the call,” he attempted to say but Jason had already hung up the phone. Danny shook his head, completely unsure of how to respond or even what to think.

Slowly he made his way down the stairs and could not help but stop in the middle of their living area. Nikki’s touch was everywhere in this room, in their home. Her fleeing to Texas made no sense at all. He thought of every conversation from the past few days. Nothing should have made Nikki run. She had not done anything like this since right after they met on the set of the show and he was certain there was something odd going on in her mind.

She didn’t know it but he had actually been on the set for two weeks before they ever saw each other. It certainly was not for lack of trying on his part. Unfortunately their taping schedules never seemed to line up and they were rarely even on the set together. But that did not mean he had not taken the time to learn everything he could possibly find out about the blonde beauty. Of course, he had known her before he ever stepped foot on the set of the show, but now that he had seen her again in person, heard the husky tone to her voice through his own ears, there was no way he was not going to pursue her.

She was gorgeous and he had no doubt they would hit it off. As soon as he could find two minutes to be alone with the damn woman!

Moving through the corridor he turned the corner and was barely able to hold himself upright as his shoulder was rammed. “Watch it!” he forced out through clenched teeth.

A shocked face glanced toward his own and recognition barely flickered through the blue eyes. “I’m sorry, man. You alright?”

“Yeah. I’m good.” He glanced at his new co-worker and decided there was no better time than the present to begin getting to know people. “I’m Danny Camarelli,” he offered his hand in greeting.

“I thought you looked familiar. I’m Jason Taylor,” the young man replied reaching out his own hand. “You’re the new guy, right?”

Danny nodded his head in reply. “I came on two weeks ago.” He smirked and silently cursed the dimple he knew automatically appeared. “I’m the cop they brought on to handle you and your trouble-making girlfriend.”

“On-screen girlfriend,” Jason quickly clarified and Danny simply raised an eyebrow at the younger man forcing him to explain without ever saying a word. Jason quickly sized the man up straightened his shoulders and continued. “We went on a date. Singular. One. And now I’m pretty sure she thinks we’re dating.”

“Sounds like she has you completely twisted in knots!” Danny chuckled.

The two men turned towards Jason’s dressing room. “You have no idea,” Jason replied while shaking his head. “And, I have no idea why the hell I’m telling you about her.”

“Call it throwing a bone to the new guy.” Danny replied. The two men shared a laugh together as Jason grabbed his notes for the scene today.

“You have to understand Nikki Johnson. She is a whirlwind and a half if there ever was one.” Danny shot Jason a look of disbelief but the younger man just continued. “I’m not kidding. She has more energy than anyone I know and is not afraid to turn it on. All. Of. The. Time.”

Danny broke in to Jason’s rant. “She’s passionate.”

“Uh, okay. That’s one way to look at it.” Jason raised his eyebrow, casting a suspicious glance in Danny’s direction. “Have you actually met Nikki, or are you one of those crazies that are so excited to finally be on a set next to your dream girl from TV that you have lost all sense of reality?”

Deep, heartfelt laughter filled the stairwell as Danny’s shoulders shook and they reached the top of the stairs. He pushed open the door leading to the portion of the set they would be using today. “I’ve met her, twice actually. Both times were at least two years ago. I doubt she even remembers me but I bet she is still just as…” he tried to continue.

“Hey, Jase,” Nikki called as the two walked onto the set.

“…stunning,” Danny finished.

Jason smirked as he looked at his new co-worker and mumbled. “Oh yeah. This is about to get very interesting.” He jerked his head towards Nikki. “Let’s go Danny-boy.”

Danny could not take his eyes off of Nikki as they approached. She was breathtakingly beautiful. Honey blonde hair fell between her shoulders and the studio lights cast her in an ethereal glow.

“Well, well,” Nikki began as the two joined her. “If it isn’t Danny Camarelli. I heard you joined the show.” Although her voice sounded ice cold, Danny was pleased to see heat dance through her eyes.

“It’s good to see you, Nicole,” he replied.

“It’s Nikki.”

“Uh huh.” He reached forward, and tugged her into a welcome hug, warmth flooding his entire body the moment her body came into contact with his. Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply, letting the scent, the essence of Nicole, flood his entire being. She stiffened in his embrace and he let her push him back slightly.

“When did you start taping, Danny?” she asked.

He leaned against the wall, resting one foot across the other and drank in the sight of her. Two years had done nothing but completely enhance her beauty. Gone was the youthful body he remembered; in its place was a curvaceous, exquisite young woman. “Two weeks ago.”

“I didn’t think you were interested in New York.”

“The idea of New York didn’t interest me. Some of the people on the other hand…” he glanced at her with a shrug and was surprised to see her stifle a grin at his meaning. She was one of the primary reasons he wanted to work so badly on this show.

Nikki gave him a smirk of her own as Jason wandered towards the center of the set, leaving the two of them alone. “Well, we move at a pretty fast pace around here. Sure hope you can keep up.”

As Nikki turned to walk away, Danny grabbed her hand and tugged her towards him, bringing her back close to his chest. He pinned her hands behind her back, pressing them between the two of them. One hand encircled both wrists as he held her captive and leaned forward to whisper in her ear. “I don’t think me keeping up will be a problem, Nicole. Not when I have such excellent incentive to stick around.”

“Hey,” Jason broke in as he joined them off the side of the set. “What’s going on?” He raised an eyebrow at their current position.

Danny reached his free hand to clasp the handcuffs attached to his belt. “Just double checking to see if Nicole was comfortable with this position when I have to arrest her character later in the scene.” He gently tugged her closer, smiling when she shivered slightly. “I hope the cuffs aren’t too cold, Nicole.”

Nikki simply nodded her head as Danny released her hands. Tracing the edges of her wrist, she glanced over her shoulder at him one last time before walking away.

“Who the hell are you and what have you done with Nikki?” Jason immediately asked. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen her speechless before.”

Clipping the handcuffs back into the holster on his uniform, Danny simply shrugged. “Maybe she never had the right motivation before.”

“Well, whatever it is, I hope you stick around. It might be fun to see her riled up into silence every now and then.”

“Oh, make no mistake Jason. She won’t stay quiet long. In fact, she’ll be arguing up a storm in just a few minutes. But what fun it will be for me to find a way to get her quiet again.” He jerked his head to the other side of the set. “I may have to make use of that mistletoe hanging in the doorway over there.”

Jason followed his gaze and couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m assuming you two have a little more of a past than you initially indicated.”

Danny simply grinned. “Can’t let all my secrets out of the bag too early. We did actually meet a couple of years ago like I mentioned. There were more than a few sparks between us and I was more than disappointed when I found out she was leaving for New York. Besides, I had to make sure she wasn’t dating you.”

“Oh no.” Jason placed his palms up in front of his chest. “She’s all yours.”

“Hopefully, yes.”

The next several hours were some of the longest in Danny’s life. He had no doubt moving to this show was one of the best decisions he had made for his career. His new agent, Allison, had originally been against the move, wanting him instead to stay in Los Angeles for several new blockbuster roles. But Danny had been putting her off in that regard. He was only interested in New York and it took several arguments as well as his threatening to fire her, before she worked to secure his spot here. He had enjoyed his first few weeks considerably but today finally brought the whole experience together.

Although he had only taped one small scene with Nicole, he knew he would do almost anything to act alongside her again. They were dynamite together; the scenes simply swam with energy and delicious tension. The moment he pulled here against him, slipping the cuffs onto her tiny wrists was electric. Their characters were on tape for less than five minutes but the entire session had been so rich with a variety of emotions he could practically hear the sigh of pleasure come from the direction of the main director and producer.

He had worked Nicole up though and was waiting for her to lose her cool. So far, she simply seemed to ignore him unless they were taping but he knew that would not last any time at all. Sure enough, ten minutes after wrapping the final shot for the day, she turned and headed in his direction with fire brimming in her eyes. He grinned in anticipation.

“I don’t know what you
have to be so smug about Danny,” Nikki glanced quickly over both of her shoulders, searching for anyone else who might be nearby.

“I’m simply admiring the view,” Danny replied with a smirk. He let his eyes slowly move over her lovely form once more, exactly as he had all afternoon. “It’s been a fantastic day of taping and working with you again. I’m just soaking it all in.”

Nikki sighed and took a small step closer. “I certainly hope you didn’t come to New York for me.”

Danny couldn’t resist not touching her any longer so with a sigh, he wrapped a finger around her wrist and drew her closer to him. “Would that be such a bad thing, Nicole?”