Page 76 of He's The Reason Why

“You won’t have to. Let’s deal with one thing at a time, okay?We’re not broke yet.” Blake looked for patience on the ceiling but didn’t find any. “You mentioned you have something better than the ghost town. What is it?”

“Yeah, hang on. It’s noisy as hell out here.”

A car door shut, and the background noise cut off abruptly.

Piper walked back in looking excited and talking in a perky, upbeat voice. “Okay. We’ll get that list over to you. Think you can bring it in under twenty grand? He says part of it has to look Vegas swank, but the other part is small town.”

Blake stared at her. She’d named a figure that was a third of his intended budget. He knew from experience and research that the dollar amount he had in mind might not be enough if they went really high-end or designer label, especially for the suits.

Surely, nobody could get it done that cheap.

“Did she just say twenty grand?” Marshall asked. “What’s she negotiating?”

“Costume design,” Blake said. “Some woman named Orry.”

“Never heard of her. Sure she’s legit? Never mind, I don’t care. As long as we aren’t naked, it’s all good.”

His lips twitched, and he couldn’t stop himself from pushing the button since Marshall had set it up like that. “I guess we’ll find out if someone is naked if they can’t keep their hands to themselves.”

“Oh, it’s on!” Marshall said. “I hope you know we’re having a long,longtalk when I get back about how deals work. This isn’t over.”

Something whirred in the background. By the amount of ambient noise that suddenly appeared, he guessed Marshall had rolled the window down.

“I’m sure it’s not.” Blake glanced up at Piper, hoping like hell she wasn’t paying attention to his conversation.

Piper winked at him. Did that mean she was listening to him,or was she just excited at the deal she was brokering? “Great. I’m so excited, Orry, I can’t wait to see you.”

“Can I have that list, Marissa?” Marshall called out.

“Yes,” Piper said, “I’ll send it tonight, and we can work out the details next week. The sooner the better.”

“There’s two more to see this afternoon,” Marissa said. “Tell Blake I’m sorry he couldn’t be here for this.”

“Not nearly as sorry as he’s going to be,” Marshall said.

The window whirred, and the noise cut off again.

“Perfect,” Piper said. “I’ll see you soon. Thanks, Orry.”

Piper ended the call and fell onto the chair looking smug. “Am I good or what?”

“Is she good at what?” Marshall asked.

“I think she just made a deal for budget costume design,” Blake said.

“Hey,” Piper sounded offended. “She’s worth triple what you’ll be paying. She just doesn’t have her foot in the door in LA so she’s not demanding Hollywood rates yet.”

Piper narrowed her eyes at him. “Who are you talking to? Marshall?”

“Is this Orry someone she knows from touring?” Marshall asked in his ear. “We won’t look like throwbacks to the seventies, will we? I saw her last video.”

“I’m not asking her that,” Blake told him.

“Ask me what?” Piper asked.

“Why not?” Marshall demanded.

Blake put the call on speaker and set the phone down on the desk. “You’re on speaker. Ask her yourself.”

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