His eyes narrowed. “What about the other side of the building?”
The other side, which faced a tiny, narrow alley, a patch of land separating this building from the one next to it. “There’s no door there. Just a fire escape.” At his questioning look, she shook her head. “We are not taking the fire escape.”
“Did you not hear me say we’re not doing this?”
“It’ll be fine,” he assured her, as he held his hand out. Her pencil skirt wasn’t designed for crawling out second-story windows. The fire escape was rickety metal under her feet. She swallowed, looking down from the platform. “There’s no stairs leading down from here. It’s a drop.”
“Yeah, that’s how they are on some of these older buildings. Keeps burglars from accessing the windows. It’s only ten feet.”
Only ten feet. She supposed that wasn’t a problem for him because he was roughly nine feet tall. The man was insane.
“I’ll jump down, catch you. Then we’ll sneak out of the alley. My car is parked about a block away. The reporters are so busy crowding around the door, they probably won’t even notice us coming out of the alley.”
He glanced over his shoulder, his face flushed. Had she ever seen that particular light in his eyes? Maybe when he had snuck into that storage closet with her, but then it had been overshadowed by shame.
No shame here. He looked young. Full of life and adventure.
It looked good on him. “You’re enjoying this,” she ventured. “Aren’t you?”
He hesitated, but the smile he gave her was tinged with guilty pleasure. “I write about spies for a living. What do you think?” He hauled himself over the railing and got down on his hands and knees to slip off the edge of the platform. He dangled in midair for a moment, holding on to the landing with one hand. Her breath caught when he let go, but then it was over.
He only stumbled a couple of steps when his feet hit the ground, and he rose from his crouch. He lifted his arms. “Come on. Now you.”
Jesus Christ. Talk about a trust fall. “Wait.” She reached down and removed her shoes. “Take these first.”
“Your shoes?”
“I don’t want them to fall off my feet when I jump. They might get scratched. They’re my favorite.”
“Your shoes.”
“Do you want me to tell you how much they cost?” she snapped.
“No, let me stay ignorant, please.”
Unease roiling in her belly, she gently eased the shoes off the railing, holding her breath as they freefell. He caught them and carefully placed them on the ground. “Okay. Your shoes are fine.” He looked up at her expectantly. “Now you.”
Akira glanced back at the window, where safety and warmth awaited. Really, was she willing to fling herself off a building so she wouldn’t deal with paparazzi? “Maybe I should leave the old-fashioned way,” she hedged. “Now that you’re outside already, you can easily sneak away.”
“Hmm. Sure. If you want to give your father that satisfaction.”
She turned to face him sharply. “What?”
Jacob patiently gazed up at her, the light from the street and the halogen bulb mounted on the building giving off enough illumination for her to see him clearly. “I’m sure he’ll see you on one of those entertainment news shows. Even if you sayno comment, he seems like the type of jerk who would be happy you’re harassed at all. If people are talking about your reaction, they’re talking about him. More ratings, right?”
Akira narrowed her eyes. “You’re surprisingly manipulative, Campbell.” What was even more surprising was how tickled she was by that manipulation. So perverse.
“I’m only being logical.” He looked down, nudged her heels. “Plus, there’s the fact you’ll be shoeless.”
Her snarl was low. “Fine. Fine. Let’s get this over with.”
She had to work her skirt up almost to her bottom in order to get down on her knees. She cast him a glare over the strangled noise he emitted. “I can’t help it,” she muttered.
“I don’t want you to.”
Surprised at his murmur, she glanced over her shoulder, but his eyes were all over the bare expanse of her legs. He met her gaze and grinned, the charm and mischief in it making him appear ten years younger.
Had she thought he was surly and uncommunicative once upon a time? It was hard to remember that when he was looking at her like this. “Come on.” He raised his hands. “Jump.”
