Page 5 of Breaking Free

Tristan set the carrier down next to the couch and laid the clothes over its back. Then, with a scowl on his handsome face, he turned to her. “You’re in my parking spot. Yours is two downto the left. If someone takes yours, don’t take someone else’s. Use a guest space across the street, like I had to do.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know...” But she was talking to his back, and he was gone before she could finish her sentence.

Piper looked at Josie and repeated, “I didn’t know.”

She waved it off. “It’s a common mistake.”

“But he seemed ticked off. I don’t want to start on the wrong foot.” She glanced back to the empty doorway. “He mentioned he lives next door.”

Josie nodded, gesturing with her thumb to the adjoining wall behind her. “Tristan is in 110.”

“Great,” she drawled. “It was kind of him to help me, but is he always such a grump?”

“Pretty much,” she said with a sympathetic smile. “He was extra grouchy today, but under that sandpaper exterior is a decent guy.”

“Hm, a tepid review at best.” When Josie’s auburn brows rose in question, she explained. “I’m an actress. Well. A wannabe one, at least. My world revolves around critiques and reviews.”

“Mine too. I run my own business, and a one-star review on Yelp can kill it.”

“What kind of business?” Piper asked as she peeled the tape off the next box to be unpacked.

“I make leather goods and sell them online.”

“Cool.” Piper peered into the box at a jumble of kitchen utensils and supplies then kept up her side of the conversation as she hefted it to take it into the next room. “You mean like handbags and belts?”

“Sometimes, but mostly dresses, skirts, vests, and fetish wear.”

Piper couldn’t believe what she’d just heard and tripped over her feet, barely hanging on to the box as she caught herself. “Oh. That’s...um...interesting.”

Josie laughed. “Yeah, that’s the reaction I usually get when I tack on that last part.”

“How does one get into that line of work? Are you...into that?” As soon as she asked, she realized how intrusive her question was. She would have covered her face and suddenly burning cheeks if her hands weren’t full. “I’m sorry. That’s personal.”

“No worries. I’m an open book,” she said, carrying the hangers Tristan had dropped off, jackets and coats Piper probably wouldn’t ever need in LA, to the front closet. “I’m not in the lifestyle, but I have friends who are. They complained about how hard it was to find quality fetwear, especially in leather. One brought me a design that was surprisingly easy to make. When everyone at her club saw it, they asked for my business card. Now, those specialty items are the most lucrative part of my line.”

“Josie.” One of the guys who helped her move, older, closing in on forty by her guess, and very good-looking, stood in the doorway. “Don’t you have a booth to set up?”

“Oh shoot!” She pulled out her phone and glanced at the screen. “Time got away from me. Be there in two secs, Hunter.”

“I’ll be in the car,” he said, his brown eyes laser-focused on Piper. “Hi, neighbor. We didn’t have time for an introduction.”

“Hunter Ainsley meet Piper Emory,” Josie supplied.

He moved in uninvited. “That’s a lovely name for a lovely woman. Has anyone told you you’ve got a face for modeling? Your bone structure is exquisite.”

Flattered but also taken aback by his directness, she blinked, unsure how to respond without coming across as conceited because she had heard it before. Thus, in part, why she moved to LA to make it big in the industry.

“Hunter is the king of bad pickup lines,” Josie teased him, which earned her an offended look. “He’s also a director, always on the lookout for the newest shining star.”

Piper paid the first part of what she said no mind, too interested in the last part. “Well, here’s a coincidence. I’m an actress looking to become one.”

“Really?” Hunter smiled at her, appearing intrigued.

Once again, Josie stepped in, shooing him toward the door before he could say more. “The car, remember? You can impress her with your directorial resume later.”

“Right...” he drawled, giving Piper an outrageous wink before he disappeared.

Tall and lean, with a thick mane of auburn hair, his cleanly shaved jaw enhanced his patrician features. Unlike Tristan, he wasn’t what she’d call rugged, but she found him equally attractive and not at all grumpy. “My, my,” Piper exclaimed, fanning her face with her hand. “The scenery around here is breathtaking. Please tell me that wasn’t your husband.”

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