Mr. Bad Influence

Chapter 23

Kerri sighed heavily. "Looks like it won't be one-on-one." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Lord, help us.

"We need to keep moving."

"But our footprints will give us away anyway."

"I have a crazy idea."

Kerri moved along as Nick ran. He was a step ahead of her, but he never let go of her hand. They went up the remaining steps, emerging onto the roof. She inhaled and exhaled heavily. The feeling of fresh air against her face had never felt this good.

"Run, jump, drop, and roll."

"What?" She frowned and looked over at Nick.

"You were practicing it."

She had told him about a scene where she had to jump from one building to another. She followed Nick's gaze and saw the opposite building he was staring at. "That scene will be shot in the studio. I can't do this."

"It isn't that far."

"Nick ... no."

But Nick continued pulling her forward. "We'll do it together."

"Nick." Jesus. She took a step back. "This is crazy." But she could hear the commotion in the stairway.

"Run, jump, drop, and roll. Then we keep on running. They are all in there. We'll have time to get to the cars." Nick cupped his hand against her face. "We can do this. Trust me."

It was crazy. There was no way they would make it across. But as she gazed into Nick's eyes that were boring into hers, she nodded.

It wasn't as if they had much choice either.

She kicked off her heels.

Nick tightened his grip on her hand and moved back against the door they came out from. "No hesitation."

She nodded. "Run, jump, drop, and roll." She had done that at least a thousand times.

"Ready?"

She looked over at Nick and nodded. Before she could look away, Nick pulled her against him and kissed her.

His hand gripped firmly over the back of her neck, and he deepened his kiss. "Marry me," he suddenly blurted. "I was going to ask after everything. I had everything planned. I—"

"Nick," she said when she found her voice.

"The ring is in—"

"No."

He looked back at her.

"Not now. You'll have your chance." She looked over at the other building. "I love you."

He nodded. "I love you, too." The muscles along his jaws twitched, and he turned to stare ahead. "On three."

He counted while she prayed, "Lord, you said you would guard our paths. I'm trusting you to bring us over."

"Three."

They sprinted ahead, their pace in sync with each other. She took a deep breath before leaping. She didn't look down; there wasn't time. All she saw was the building ahead. All she saw was the spot she was supposed to land on.

She wasn't sure where the next few seconds went, but the next thing she registered was Nick staring into her eyes.

"Kerri, are you all right?"

She couldn't quite understand the grin he was giving her.

"We did it."

She looked around and laughed. "We did it."