Page 92 of He's The Reason Why

He shouldn’t have said it, especially where other people might hear. Rachel managed to push a button he didn’t even know he had, and now that button was staring back at him like he’d just grown a third eye.

Dammit. He knew better. He’d been around this crap all of his life. He knew how to handle the petty backstabbers and the kiss-assers and every flavor of bully that existed.

He could hear his mother’s voice in his ear right now.

Was that smart, Blake? You don’t want to be the guy nobody wants to work with. You want to be the cool guy. He’s the one who gets the parts.

Crap. She was right, too.

Piper still had to work with Rachel, and he’d probably just destroyed the hornet’s nest, but there was no taking it back now. He’d meant what he said, and he had a feeling Piper could handle Rachel just fine.

All the same, he needed to apologize to Piper and do some damage control. Fast.

“Blake—” Rachel said.

He held up a hand to stop whatever bullshit she was about to spew. “Let’s just drop it, okay? It’s been a long day.”

Rachel stared at him. “Sure. You’re tired, I get it. Okay. I’ll see you around?”

Not if he saw her first, he wanted to say. Instead, he managed a nonchalant “See ya” and left before he said anything to make it worse.

Piper came out of the booth and walked down the hall with him in silence. Neither one of them said anything until they were almost to the parking lot.

“You really think I could get a star on the Walk of Fame?” Piper asked.

He glanced at her. She had a delightfully soft smile, like he’d just offered her a treasure she’d been seeking. “Absolutely.”

They’d almost reached her SUV when she spoke again. “Do you have one?”

“It’s between Argyle and Vine, next to Michael Douglas.Don’t go look for it though, it makes it look like I have tiny hands. I was young and I hadn’t finished growing.”

She laughed.

He wanted to kiss her right here in the parking lot. He wanted to take her home and spend the rest of the night with her.

He couldn’t do that. They’d agreed. Besides, the last thing they needed was Rachel stumbling onto them doing something like that in the parking lot.

He couldn’t see the harm in walking Piper to her car, though.

“Sorry about what happened back there.”

“What are you sorry about?” Piper pulled her keys out of her bag. “You weren’t the one talking smack.”

“I made it worse for you. She’ll be a royal pain to deal with tomorrow.” He glanced back at the building. Rachel lingered on the sidewalk in front of the parking lot, staring at her phone. She was probably waiting for her ride, since he’d never known her to drive herself anywhere.

“You stood up for me. Don’t ever apologize for being the good guy.” Piper followed his gaze, and her expression hardened. “Besides, I’ve had a lifetime of dealing with divas. I can handle one more.”

“Seriously, watch your back. You don’t know her like I do.”

“Trust me, in the music business you get used to checking for snakes in the weeds.” Piper bared her teeth. “Southern girls know how to fake polite and get the job done. Don’t worry.”

An invitation for her to follow him back to his place lingered on the tip of his tongue, but he bit it back.

She gave him a look that he thought might be regret before she opened her door. “See you next week?”

“I doubt it.” He dipped his chin at Rachel as she climbed into her ride. He stayed in the shadow of Piper’s SUV until Rachel was gone. “She drags her feet when she’s pissed. She’ll probably take at least a week on the song.”

“I’m not spending that kind of time in the studio with her. We’ll get it all done by Tuesday,” Piper said firmly.

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