Page 10 of Breaking Free

Not Mr. Scintillating Personality. What was she thinking?

Her curiosity made her ask. “Then why do you always seem ticked off when you see me?”

“You’re mistaken,” he replied sharply. “If that’s all...”

“It is, but I know what I see. I hate to be the one to tell you this, neighbor, but you’ve got resting pissed face,” she dared to quip.

“Goodbye, Piper.” He abruptly ended further attempts at conversation by shutting the door with a solid thud, the lock clicking noticeably a second later.

Shocked, she gazed at the shiny gold number 110 for a moment before exclaiming, “What a jerk!”

Her words were loud enough for him to hear if he was anywhere close to the door and hadn’t stormed off. She didn’t wait around to see his reaction and stomped back to her condo.

“Ooo!” Piper exclaimed as she slammed the door, which didn’t begin to vent what she felt—anger, outrage, and utter exasperation. But most of all, regret that she’d allowed him and his surliness to bait her into an uncharacteristic outburst. “If he isn’t the most infuriating man I’ve ever met, I don’t know who is!”

Looking on the bright side, which was like her, it may not have been the politest encounter, but at least she’d gotten a goodbye out of him. And he remembered her name. That was progress. Perhaps next time, he might actually do something other than grumble and snap. She might even coax a smile out of him.

That notion was so improbable she burst into laughter, the sound echoing throughout her living room and up the stairs. “Yeah, right. Like I can move mountains.”

Laughter and rationalization were helpful coping mechanisms, but she needed a teensy bit more. Heading to the kitchen, she grabbed a bowl, her ice cream scoop, and the pint of Häagen-Dazs white chocolate raspberry truffle out of the freezer. It was a terrible dinner, but it soothed the sting of getting a door shut in her face twice in one evening. As she sat in her favorite chair, enjoying every creamy, decadent bite, she acknowledged the colossal challenge she had willingly taken on.

“Grouchy McGroucherson over there is one massive, immovable mountain,” she told Jaxx, who sat on the arm of her chair watching her eat. “It will take nothing short of a miracle to change that. But I’m going to give it my best shot.”

Chapter 4

AFTER ENDURING FOURstraight mind-numbingly boring overnight shifts on surveillance that yielded zero leads on the case that had been at a standstill for almost a month, Tristan crashed and spent most of the day in bed. When the alarm he had set for late afternoon went off, he could have easily rolled over and slept another twelve hours. But he needed to reset his body clock and forced his still-tired ass out of bed. He showered, which made him feel slightly more human then rummaged through the kitchen in search of something to eat. Since shopping hadn’t made his priority list lately, he had to settle for canned soup and stale crackers. He ate his meager meal while leaning against the counter, alone in his kitchen.

Ah, the glamorous life of a perpetually single man in Los Angeles.

With the urge to do anything other than sit in a van waiting for something to happen that never did, he grabbed his keys, restocked his master’s bag, and headed out the door.

As he descended his front steps, and the fading light of evening cast elongated shadows in the courtyard, one by one, the solar lights blinked on. At the unmistakable sound of heels on the brick stairs followed by the metallic clang of the gate, he paused on his bottom step.

Piper appeared, stunning in a skirt and silk blouse, her hair up in a twist. She looked professional, and older, but still tooyoung for him. That didn’t stop his dirty mind from imagining her with glasses and turning her into a sexy librarian who would dominate his fantasies for days and weeks to come.

With her eyes glued to her phone, the soft glow from the screen illuminating her face, she walked by without saying hello, let alone glancing up. Irritated by her lack of awareness—no surprise, it didn’t take much to get under his skin these days—he could have let her pass without saying a word, but he didn’t.

“Oblivious to your surroundings,” he drawled with disapproval. “That’s a fail on the first rule of personal safety. It’s also a great way to break both your phone and your teeth when you trip.”

With a startled shriek, she jumped and nearly fulfilled his prediction. He reacted quickly, however, catching her device while slipping an arm around her waist, saving both her and her phone from a disastrous collision with the hard brick walkway.

Tristan fought the urge to pull her close and kiss her senseless then turn her over his knee and paddle her pert behind for being careless. He opted instead to release her once she was steady on her four-inch strappy heels.

“Holy crud on a cracker!” she exclaimed, clutching her chest. “You scared the life out of me.”

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