Page 17 of He's The Reason Why

Rachel put a hand on her chest. “The poor thing. She just doesn’t have the background like you and I do. I’m glad someone so inexperienced managed to get an opportunity like this, but what if today’s, um, performance is the best she can do?”

Blake pictured the final animated movie with Piper’s stilted, choppy delivery and shuddered. There was no way PaulorTamar would let something like that out into the world, which meant they’d do take after take after take until she got it right—or worse.

He’d seen movies go through complete rewrites, launch dates get shifted back by years, or even permanently shelved. How would he ever get his own project funded if this one didn’t get off the ground?

“Jesus Christ, it’ll be like animated purgatory.”

He shouldn’t have said that out loud. He glanced around, but Piper was talking with Gina and Jeremy. He didn’t think she could have heard.

Rachel looked thoughtful. “We could teach her, maybe. Help her see where she’s going wrong. How long do you think that would take?”

“Too damn long.”

It looked like the veteran actors were giving Piper a pep talk, but she needed a lot more than that. She needed to be told the truth about her performance, and then she needed a crash course in acting.

“I suppose they chose her for the sweet, simple way she sings. Or maybe her popularity? Wouldyouhave picked her for the role of Princess Jewel?”

Blake thought about what he’d seen of his costar so far. She came in late. There was clearly some family drama going on that had her completely distracted, and who knew how long that would last. Then there was the reading.

Holy hell, the reading.

She sang like an angel, but the movie was mostly dialogue, and she really sucked at that.

“Hell no. Piper Bellamy is definitelynotmy first choice, but you have to admit she has a great voice.”

Rachel put a hand on his arm. “Do we have a responsibility to bring this up to Tamar and tell her that we’re worried, or do we just let this car crash happen?”

Blake stilled. This was the lead-up to her real game plan, but he wasn’t exactly sure where she was going. Tamar had suffered through the read with the rest of them and hadn’t said a word. “Bring up what, exactly?”

She leaned in and spoke in a low, conspiratorial stage whisper. “If we say something now, it’s not too late to get someone else into the role.”

The ah-ha lightbulb clicked on over his head.

Rachel was stuck playing the sister while someone she thought was a one-note pop princess took the starring role.

“I suppose you have an idea of who that someone should be?”

Rachel’s smile was far from innocent. “I haven’t given it much thought. I’m just worried that if we don’t say something, we’ll all regret it in the long run. All of our names are attached to this project, after all. If one of us fails, weallfail.”

“It’s not going to fail,” he said with absolute conviction. “It can’t. I won’t let it.”

“Of course you won’t. You’re a professional. So am I. And Tamar loves you. She’ll fix this if we talk with her about it together.” She stressed the word together in a way that sent a chill right up his spine.

If Rachel had her way, she’d take the lead right out from under Piper. The last thing he wanted was to be forced to play the hero to Rachel’s heroine. He’d been down that road before, and he knew where it ended.

He’d rather work with an unknown like Piper Bellamy. She at least didn’t make him want to haul ass to the nearest airport.

“Should we go to Tamar now?” Rachel prompted.

It wasn’t a question, it was a command. She’d learned how to deliver those with just the right amount of honey in her voice by the time she was out of diapers, but he knew better than to blindly go where she pointed.

Every particle of his body rejected the very idea of doinganythingwith Rachel, let alone undercut a costar. “No.”

“If we wait, it will just get worse—”

He held up a hand. “I’m not starting a project by trying to get the lead fired, Rachel. That’s cold, even for you.”

“No.” Rachel clenched her jaw, and all pretense of innocence and concern vanished. “What’s cold is letting someone you think is not qualified kill a project like this. What’s cold is pretending like you don’t give a shit when I know you do. You have the power to fix this.”

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