Page 126 of He's The Reason Why

She was ready for the scene in jeans, a thin, white blouse that showed off her assets, and her hair pulled back in a ponytail. She looked absolutely perfect for the girl next door he envisioned.

There was no way he’d cut her from this role, and no way he would tell her that’s what they wanted.

“Everybody. That was the studio accountant, John Edgerton. He’s known for slicing and dicing budgets. I held him off. Don’t worry about it.”

“You said you know it’s a lot of money.” She ran her hand over the back of the chair with her name on it in block white letters. “What’s a lot?”

He picked up his tablet to check the shot list. “We’re over twenty million. He says I have to cover it myself.”

“Ouch.” She winced. “Where will you get an extra twenty million dollars?”

“I’ll find it somewhere. I can get a mortgage on the house, or worst case I can sell it. I’ve had offers for a lot more than that.”

“You can’t sell your house,” she protested. “I love that house.”

He thought of her naked on the couch in the living room and realized there was no way he would sell the house. There were too many other places he wanted to explore with her, like the pool.

“Me too. It probably won’t come to that.”

Blake looked around at the hustle and bustle and expectant faces turned in his direction, waiting for him to yell the word action. There were a hundred and forty-six people on set at themoment. There’d be more later when they were doing the interior casino shots in the building next door.

If he didn’t pull this off, there would be a lot of disappointment, and possibly lawsuits. Everyone from his new assistant to those extras had given their time and effort here today. He couldn’t let them down.

He caught Piper watching him and tried to smooth out his expression.

“If you don’t sell the house, where else can you get that kind of cash?” Piper asked.

“Don’t worry about it. Let me worry about the finances. That’s my job.” He wanted her focused on her character today, not his budget. He gently guided her around the chairs toward the door of the partially renovated building. “You’re onthisside of the director’s chair.”

“So are you. You’reinthis scene, same as me, but okay. I’ll drop it for now, but we’re talking about this later.” She walked with him into the bar. “Where do you want me, on the stool, or standing?”

“On the stool. You’ve been in the bar for a while, having a drink and listening in to the scheming going on between Marshall and me. Remember, it’s all about facial expressions. We’ll shoot multiple angles while we’re doing our dialogue, then we’ll get some close-ups of just you.”

She looked around at the set like a kid looking in a candy store window. “This is so cool. I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

“You look great,” he said in a low voice, just for her.

“Now, now. We have a deal. Don’t break it this early.” She flashed him a look that made him want to drop everything and drag her into the nearest closet.

He cleared his throat. “I would say that to anyone.”

“Right.” The look she gave him said she didn’t believe him for a hot second.

He gave a thumbs-up to Wally. “Let’s roll.”

It was after midnight when Blake, Marshall, and Piper got back to the three-bedroom house they were renting in Round Mountain, about a thirty-minute drive north of their shooting location. It wasn’t fancy, but it was comfortable, with a pool and plenty of space for the three of them to retreat to after a long day of shooting. It was also an excellent smoke screen for any paparazzi brazen enough to brave the desert since it looked like a bunch of people sharing living quarters, not a couple having a hookup.

Blake collapsed on the couch with his laptop and opened the main spreadsheet. Somehow, he had to make these numbers look better before word got out that they couldn’t pay some of their bills.

Marshall handed him a beer, then saluted. “I’m going for a quick swim. You better both be fully dressed when I come back in.”

Piper sat so close to him she was practically in his lap. “Is that the grand total?”

“Yeah, give or take a few line items.”

She grunted. “That’s a pretty big number.”

“And yet somehow not big enough.”

---