Page 88 of He's The Reason Why

He was in trouble the second his lips had touched Piper’s. If it had been just one kiss, never mind the rest of that night and the following day, he could have sucked it up, done the scenes with Rachel in Marshall’s stupid little rom-com, and then had a good laugh over it while he dreamed up a way to get even with his best friend.

The second she said they could only have one night together, he’d felt a surge of disappointment and longing that merged into irrational irritation.

He wanted more than that, dammit.

More laughs, more sex, more everything.

He shouldn’t. He knew he shouldn’t. He didn’t have time for this kind of distraction, or the entanglement, but damn he wanted her in his bed again.

They were just friends blowing off steam. It was just one night. It didn’t mean anything.

But every time he told himself that, he heard Marshall’s mocking voice in his head.

I think you are a hell of a lot more into her than you’re letting on.

WithScorchedon hold, he couldn’t come up with a plausible excuse to even text Piper without feeling like it would cross some sort of invisible line, so he buried himself inConned.

He spent the three days doing casting calls for the minor roles before he joined Marshall in Vegas the rest of the week to check out locations. The ghost town was a no-go. The ranch would have worked if they were shooting a post-apocalyptic dystopian, but there was no way it would be used for anything else for quite a while.

The abandoned casino checked all the boxes, but the bar scene wouldn’t work in that space. They’d have to create something or keep searching for the right spot.

He kept wishing Piper were in Vegas with them.

He still believed it was a bad idea to take a good friendship and a great work relationship and try to turn it into something romantic. His parents’ disastrous marriage and long, ugly breakup were proof of that, but he almost texted her a photo of the casino several times, and once he’d dialed half her number before he stopped himself.

He didn’t tell Marshall about his broken deal, and dread was starting to build along with the knowledge that he had to come clean soon. He’d never kept a secret like this from his best friend before, but if he admitted what he’d done, it would involve a dump truck of mockery and hours of requests for a play-by-play, and he wasn’t ready for that.

He had a feeling Marshall knew something was up, but since Marshall didn’t outright ask, Blake didn’t have to answer the unspoken question. But he knew the day was coming.

As the wait forScorchedrevisions stretched into the second week, he found himself watching Piper’sWednesday Morning Coffee Chatsin his hotel room, just to see her face and hear her voice.

“We’re still on hold withScorched, so there’s not a lot going on in my neck of the woods. I’ve been gearing up for the next VIP concert. Check your calendars, because it’s almost sold out. There’s still room left on the lawn, though, and I’d love to see you.”

Why did it feel like she’d spoken directly to him with that last line? Wishful thinking, or had he lost his mind?

When the call came to pull them back to the studio, Blake was so conflicted he almost didn’t answer the phone. The entire main cast was scheduled to report first thing Tuesday morning, which meant he’d have an excuse to see Piper again.

It was what he’d been waiting for, yet now that it was here, he was feeling uncharacteristically unsure of himself.

He had to act like nothing had happened between them, for now. They were just friends. Nothing more. But he found himself in the drive-through at Starbucks in spite of himself.

Surely, a friend would bring a venti Pumpkin Spice Latte to another friend on the first day back at the studio. No big deal. Nothing to see here.

He bought two, just to make it seem more believable.

Blake carried them into the studio with practiced nonchalance, which worked fine until he met up with Gina in the hallway.

“Good morning, Blake. Good to see you.” Gina eyed the two cups with a sly smile as she fell into step beside him. “Did you bring enough for everybody, or just one particular person?”

“Would you like one?”

“Oh no.” She waved the thought away. “I’d hate to get inbetween a woman and her coffee, or between two women and themanholding coffee.”

He suppressed the urge to groan. He’d been so focused on Piper that he’d completely forgotten Rachel would be here today. “I don’t need that kind of drama. Seriously, take one. Please?”

She laughed and took one off his hands. “Because it’s you, and because I’d hate to see a cat fight so early in the morning.”

The studio was already full of people milling around, waiting for the day to start. He slipped into the room behind Gina and found Piper. She paced slowly back and forth as she studied the tablet in her hands. She wore the black leggings and T-shirt he’d come to realize was her work uniform, but today her hair was down in loose waves.

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