Page 99 of He's The Reason Why

All he could think about was getting her back to his house and into his bed as fast as possible so he could strip that sequined black thing off her.

Piper caught his eye, and her smile deepened, becoming more intimate. Her dimple appeared to wink a secret at him.

God, he wanted her.

She turned on the microphone and strode back to the center of the stage. “Thank you so much.”

The beat picked up, the band began to play, and Piper started singing one of the most popular Bellamy hits. The noise in this outdoor arena reached a level that could have been heard on a space station. Everyone knew the words, including him, and everyone sang them loud and proud, in between the cheering and the shouting and the crying.

When the song ended she bowed, waved, and waited for the din to die down a little. Then she beamed at the crowd and said, “Thank you! Thank you for coming. You know, I’ve been doing these little shows for years now, but every single time is like the first. You all make me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world.”

A roar went up from the crowd as they recognized which song she was about to do next.

Blake lost himself in the chaos and whistled and cheered along with everyone else, until the break.

Someone touched his elbow. Jeanette grinned at him and pointed to the side of the stage. “They’re ready for you. Go get ’em!”

Blake made his way past the people milling around during intermission toward the young girl in black waiting for him. He felt like a man about to walk off a cliff.

Now that he’d seen Piper on stage and felt how the crowdresponded, he wasn’t at all sure he could do this without making a complete fool of himself. Had he ever played a part like this?

The stagehand touched his arm. “Hi, I’m Tiffany. Come with me.”

She led him to a small dressing room where Piper and two women armed with makeup brushes and hair dryers were waiting.

Piper’s smile when she saw him wrapped around his heart and kicked his pulse up a notch or three. “What do you think? So far so good?”

“I think I’m out of my league here,” Blake said truthfully. “I doubt they’ll be happy to see me out there. Pretty sure they might riot if I take time away from you.”

“No they won’t. Trust me, they are going to eat you up. Especially looking like that.” She gave him an appreciative once-over. “I like the jeans and black shirt combo.”

A frizzy blonde with a brush ushered him into a chair and went to work on him.

“Remember,” Piper said with a hint of amusement, “the band will riff while I intro the song and prime them to see someone special. Then I’ll start, and you saunter out on stage before your opening line, okay? Do your best Jesse impersonation. They’ll love it.”

“Sure. No problem.” He was embarrassed that his voice almost squeaked. He wasn’t shy, dammit. This wasn’t going to be a big deal.

“Relax.” She laughed and massaged his shoulders while she looked at him in the mirror. “Just wait until those young things in the front row get a look at you. I’m going to be jealous. They’ll forget all about me.”

“That’s not possible.”

“Trust me, it is.” She sounded resigned. “They like me because they can’t have Della. I’ve always been second on the list of Bellamy Babes.”

He frowned at that. Was she not listening when they’d screamed for her all through the songs? That crowd was in love with her. They would remember this night for their entire lives. They’d tell their kids they once stood this close to Piper Bellamy. Six thousand people out there were creating family legends tonight, starring her.

“Do me a favor. When you go back out there, really listen to what they’re saying.”

“What do you mean?”

“No one out there is screaming for Della.” He caught her gaze. He wanted to make sure she understood what he was trying to say. “They wantyou.”

She did a double take, then looked away.

“I…I have to get back out there.” She patted him on the shoulders. “You have about thirty minutes, give or take a few.”

He watched her leave with a circle of stagehands and band members in her wake. She was a force of nature, a whirlwind that shifted the world around her without even noticing, and he was as caught up in it.

Yet he didn’t feel trapped like he had with Rachel. Piper didn’t make him want to run. She made him want to get her alone and see how many kisses it took to get rid of that lipstick.

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