Page 91 of Breaking Free

Sherry’s hand flew to her mouth as she smothered a laugh. “The pompous ass is going to love that, but I’m on it.” Then she blinked again. “Oh dear. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“It goes no further,” Piper promised. “I can better ignore the lousy kissing if he has minty fresh breath.”

Before departing on her mission, Sherry gave her shoulder another squeeze. “You’re taking this so well. Others would... Well, never mind that. You make the other, um, challenges less of a pain in the butt.” She angled her head her costar’s way, although it wasn’t necessary; Piper caught her drift.

Dirk required three more sidebars before Hunter was satisfied with the scene. It was after 8 p.m. when he called it a day. When Piper entered her dressing room, she leaned against the door and closed her eyes. She couldn’t help but second-guess her career. Did she really want to do this for the rest of her life? Long hours, skimpy-wardrobe issues, dealing with stuck-up costars, and awkward love scenes? Where was the rush of excitement she felt when she first stepped onto the stage back in high school? Or while doing little theater during the summer when she could barely contain her thrill of bringing a character to life.

With a sigh, she mustered the energy to move and made her way to the makeup chair at her vanity. Thankfully, it wasn’t far.

“Maybe Broadway is more your thing,” she told her reflection.

It took a half dozen remover wipes to scrub off the heavy stage makeup. Then she threw her hair up in a messy bun and got into her street clothes. She’d gone for comfort when she left home before daylight with bike shorts and a T-shirt. When she glanced in the mirror one last time before leaving, the woman she saw was a far cry from the sexy blonde sleuth she was playing. But it wasn’t like she’d have photographers waiting outside the door. Dirk wasn’t wrong; she was a nobody.

Piper slung her bag over her shoulder, more than ready to head out. “A predictable career with regular hours and regular pay is sounding better by the minute.”

The set was dark when she opened her door. A few overhead lights were still on, so she could find the sound stage exit, but she had to pick her way carefully around equipment and over cords so she didn’t trip and break her neck.

The area was deserted and eerily quiet. Suddenly, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. She turned, squinting into the darkness. When a hulking figure moved in the shadows, she let out a scream and spun around, ready to bolt.

“Piper. It’s just me,” Axyl said, moving closer.

Taking several deep breaths to calm her racing heart, she replied, “I didn’t notice you there.”

“It’s no wonder. There are no windows, and it’s pitch black in here. They must be on a tight budget the way they were flipping off lights left and right. I had to ask them to leave a few on for us so we could get out without killing ourselves.”

Her pulse might have slowed, but the feeling there was something, or someone out there hadn’t gone away. Once again, she peered into the shadows.

Axyl, keenly observant like all Rossi men, turned and looked, too. “What’s wrong?”

“I think I’m just tired. It’s been a long day.”

“I know.”

“That’s right. You were here the whole time. That must have been mind numbingly boring.”

“Actually, I found it interesting. I haven’t lived in LA long, and, while Rossi gets celebrity security cases all the time, this is my first. It’s my first taping and the first time on a sound stage, too.”

“What did you think?”

“Honestly, you were great, but your costar, Dirk, is a tool. And he acted like he’d never kissed a woman before.”

“I know,” she replied, echoing his line.

“Could he be your stalker? What do you know about him?”

“Nothing. I never knew he existed before getting this part, and first the note in my mailbox came well before that.”

“What about someone else in the cast or crew?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “The only person I’d met before this was Hunter. For Josie’s sake, I really hope it’s not him.”

“Hope for his sake,” Axyl stressed. “If it is, Tristan will rip his head off.”

She feigned ignorance. “Why? We’re just neighbors.”

He snorted, a mix of disbelief and amusement.

“It’s true!”

---