Page 93 of He's The Reason Why

“I hope you’re right. I’m looking forward to wrapping up this project so I can see you somewhere other than here.”

The corners of her mouth crooked up enough to make the dimple appear. “You can always join me for coffee on Wednesdays.”

He laughed and shut her door, then waved as she reversed out of the parking spot.

Watching her drive away was harder than he thought it should be. It was like he’d told Marshall, it wasn’t that he couldn’t have a woman, it was that he couldn’t have this particular woman until the project was finished.

He had to wait untilScorchedpremiered in February. Four months wasn’t that big of a deal. He just had to be patient.

He scowled as he got into his car.

Patience had never tasted so bitter.

Chapter Fifteen

Rachel Morris was a lipstick-coated devil, Piper decided. She was satan in stilettos. A deranged demon capable of crafting a purgatory filled with innuendos, subtle insults, and gaslighting.

Blake had been right about Rachel’s need to be a royal pain. Her fake sister managed to stretch minor voice work out for over a week. The excuses were always plausible, believable, and complete bullshit. She had a family emergency that lasted two days, her dog was sick, her throat was sore, the air was too dry, the sun was too hot, and the sea was too wet.

Once they finally had all of the voice tracks done, Piper got the unwelcome news that they had to wait another week to re-record the songs because the soundboard was taking longer to repair than anticipated.

Rachel suggested they use her friend’s studio, but Tamar politely turned her down. Piper was relieved to have a week away from the she-devil, but at the same time, she really wanted to get it done so she wouldn’t have to ever be in the same room with Rachel again.

When the soundboard was finally in working order, they had to pause for another three days due to Rachel’s scheduling conflicts, after which she turned recording the opening song into a six-day session of mind-numbing, complaint-filled do-overs.

At long last, Tamar declared her time with Rachel finished a week before Thanksgiving.

Piper crawled out of the studio that day feeling exhausted and questioning every decision she’d made that led to this point in her life.

Through all of the crap, the only bright spot had been knowing she’d see Blake when she and Rachel were done.

She liked being around him. A lot.

The last guy she’d dated, a redhead with punk vibes named Radish, of all things, had been a fun one-week fling followed by six months of public speculation. She didn’t have nearly as much sex as the internet seemed to think she had, and why they only cared abouthersex life and not his was annoying. Since they’d split, he’d gone on to three other women while she spent her nights alone, but she supposed that wasn’t nearly as much fun to talk about.

Piper arrived at Day Dreams Studios the Monday before Thanksgiving an hour early, amped up on caffeine and her desire to see Blake again. She really had to tamp down on the excitement before she went inside; people would know something was up between them, and she didn’t want that right now.

She sat in her car and drained the last drop of coffee out of her travel mug. She should have brought two or stopped for Starbucks on the way over. Maybe if she overdosed on caffeine it would get the image of him lying next to her in bed out of her mind.

It was nerve-wracking enough trying to navigate a new career without adding pressure to the process by pouncing on her costar like a teenager in heat. She could only imagine what Rachelwould do if she found out they’d slept together even once, much less if they made it a regular habit.

This was ridiculous.

“Get out of the car, Piper. Time to go be an adult and get to work on a kids’ movie.”

She obeyed her own command and forced herself to walk into the studio with her head held high just in case Rachel had snuck back in there like a snake.

Jeanette was already in the booth, as she’d expected, but there was no one else in sight.

Piper breathed a little sigh of relief and handed over the two dozen cookies she’d bought with an apologetic smile for last week’s torture.

They chatted for a few minutes, and then Piper went into the studio. Her throat was a little dry, and last week had been rough on her vocal cords. She popped a lozenge into her mouth then started warming up.

Blake strolled in thirty minutes later carrying two venti Pumpkin Spice Lattes like an angel of mercy.

“You’re a true prince, don’t let anyone tell you different.” She took a cup from him with a happy sigh and sipped.

He looked good. Really good.

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