Page 77 of He's The Reason Why

Marshall repeated his question without any hint of embarrassment.

“That song was a celebration of the spirit of freedom. And yes, I looked like a disco ball. I was supposed to. That’s not the point.She also did the wardrobe for ‘Wildest Night.’ Pull up the video on your phone. Go ahead. We’ll wait.”

Piper turned her phone around to show Blake the video. It took place in a casino, and Piper wore a sequined black gown that would look at home on any red carpet. “Orry does all our red carpet gowns and Lizzie’s wedding dress. Trust me. After people see her work onConnedyou won’t be able to get her anywhere near this price.”

“Can she show us sketches before we agree to anything?” Blake asked.

“Of course.” Piper nodded. “She’ll have some ideas to us next week.”

“That fast?” Marshall asked. “Damn. Nobody moves that fast around here except maybe the paparazzi.”

Piper tapped the list of things she’d made. “Why are you sticking with this caterer again?”

“They’re the best,” Blake said. “Plus, I know them. They’ll give me a good discount.”

“Plus, she has a crush on him,” Marshall said.

She grabbed a chip from the pile on the desk as she considered that. “You’ve budgeted eighty grand. Is that with the discount?”

“Not sure,” Blake said. “I based it on Mom’s current project, but it could be a little less or a little more.”

“Bet I can get it for half that,” Piper said looking thoughtful.

“Yes but will the food be edible?” Marshall asked. “People get cranky if you feed them ration bars and water.”

“Trust me,” Piper said in a patient, please-stop-giving-me-a-hassle tone. “I know people who will do a fantastic job, and you won’t have to worry about bad publicity. Want me to check it out?”

Blake gave her a thumbs-up. “Okay. Get a bid, but don’t agreeto anything yet. I want to give Big Screen Catering a chance to counter. I owe them that.”

“Okay.” Piper dialed her next contact on her way out the door. She liked to walk while she talked, apparently.

“You seriously aren’t sleeping with her?” Marshall asked. “Hell, I sure would be. She’s great.”

Blake snatched up his phone and took it off speaker. He hoped like hell she hadn’t heard that. “Can we get on with the update?”

“Just remember what happens if…when…you slip. That’s all I’m saying. Rachel’s waiting for you with open arms.” Marshall sounded way too smug.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you.”

“Immensely.”

“Do you actually have suggestions, or did you just call to harass me?”

“Oh I have suggestions, but now’s not the time. Marissa’s giving me side-eye.” There was the sound of paper being flipped. “The way I see it is we have two options. Option A, find an all-in-one replacement for the ranch. So far, I’ve come up with two possibilities, both problematic. There’s Virginia City, which I’m in right now, and Prop City.”

“Prop City?” Blake frowned and made a note of it. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“It’s not actually a city. The locals have been gathering leftover movie props for years and slowly building this little town with them. They even have the shell of a real World War II plane. It’s actually pretty cool.”

“Sounds like a tourist trap.” He pictured a graveyard filled with old casino signs and tumbleweeds—but with a gift shop. Because everything in and around Vegas came with a gift shop.

“It totally is. But think about it. Props from other movies could mean less work for us.”

“Hmm. What’s it look like?”

“There’s a main street, and they’ve starting to define a couple of neighborhoods, but there’s only two housefronts, a few storefronts, but no actual buildings.”

“Sounds like a lot of construction costs.”

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