Page 18 of He's The Reason Why

“It’s not my call.” He gave her a cold, go-away stare.

“Fine. When this all goes bad, just remember I tried to help.” Rachel turned and stalked off.

He watched her go, grateful that the conversation had ended.

Piper had choked today, but she had potential.

If Rachel didn’t chase her away.

Rachel wanted the lead role, and once she set her sights on something, she went after it with single-minded obsession.

But Tamar liked Piper. So did Paul.

Both Jeremy and Gina appeared to have faith in her too.

Piper just needed coaching, and Blake was an excellentteacher with a vested interest in making sure this project jumped through all the hoops as fast as possible.

He sauntered over to Piper’s group, ready to charm his way into helping Piper learn how to act.

He held out a hand to Gina Paige first. “Gina, it’s great to meet you. Blake Ryan.”

Gina shook his hand with a small laugh. “We’ve met before.”

“We have?”

“On set forWater Under the Bridge.” Gina released his hand. “I believe you were six. Your mother had us all taking turns playing babysitter.”

“Oh, sorry.” Blake grimaced. “Mom was really shameless about that kind of thing. I swear there are days when it feels like half of Hollywood’s A-list has changed my diapers.”

“You’re probably right. But don’t worry, most of us didn’t mind. You were adorable.” Gina winked.

Blake turned to Jeremy. “Good to see you, Jeremy. It’s been a while. How’s Maggie?”

“She’s in college now. Wants to be a screenwriter, God help us both.” Jeremy put his hands together as if praying. “How is your mother? I heard she was in Spain or Syria or somewhere with ans.”

“Stockholm,” Blake said. “She’s back next week. She sounded happy with the shoot. So far, nobody’s broken anything skiing so that’s good.”

They all laughed at the inside joke except for Piper, who offered a polite smile.

“Sorry, inside joke.” Blake held out his hand to Piper and put on his absolute best smile. “We haven’t officially met. I’m Blake Ryan.”

For a second, he thought she was going to refuse to shake his hand, but then her warm, firm grip closed around his. “Youintroduced yourself already. We all did. But in case you missed it, I’m Piper Bellamy. It’s nice to meet you.”

Piper Bellamy had one hell of a smile. It was open, genuine, and it reached all the way to her eyes.

“That was a table intro. This is personal.” He glanced at Gina. “Mind if I steal Piper away for a second?”

Gina looked from Blake to Piper and back again with a knowing smile. “Sure. Today’s all about getting to know each other, so have at it.”

“I could use a drink. You?” Jeremy held his arm out for Gina.

“Definitely.” Gina took his arm and let him escort her out of the room.

Blake was impressed that they both managed to hide their smirks until they left the room.

Blake led Piper away from the door so they couldn’t be overheard by anyone lurking in the hall. The rest of the room had emptied out, so aside from a few staff replenishing the break table, they were alone.

“What’s going on?” Piper asked.

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