Page 101 of Dream Girl Drama

Of course, he was. They both were, just being in the same room together.

Chloe gulped down a breath and tried to focus.

Focus.

And she did, because her soul had returned. He was right there, in the room.

Throughout the course of the next ninety minutes, she played every note for him, delivering them with imaginary kisses, closing her eyes, and reliving, relishing, memorizing every moment of their acquaintance from start to finish, even the hard parts. She let them bleed into her performance, her fingers moving over the strings unbidden.

When it ended, she stood up and bowed with the rest of her company, her skin turning clammy and cold when she found Sig’s chair empty. Had he left? When?

As soon as the curtain came down, she walked offstage in a trance, surrounded by her fellow musicians, but not absorbing any of their praise or congratulations, barely aware of her own voice as she returned those compliments. She just needed to get somewhere quiet so she could think and cry and bolster herself for the next day. And the day after that.

There was a costuming room in the depths of the backstage area that no member of the ensemble used, because musicians came and went in the same clothing—and she moved toward it now, closing herself inside the cool darkness, falling back against the door and pressing her palms to the surface. Leaning her head back and inhaling, exhaling.

A knock sounded behind Chloe and her inclination was to ignore it.

To take her moment.

But the knock grew more insistent. Had someone left their purse in the room and needed to retrieve it? Why was this the one time someone needed access?

“Sorry,” she said, forcing her wobbly voice to firm, while turning around and opening the door. “I was just taking a second...”

Sig.

Sig was there. Holding a bouquet of lipstick pink roses.

Her heart went into a sprint.

“Hi,” she whispered.

“Hi.” His gaze covered every inch of her face. “I couldn’t stand the idea of not having flowers after watching you be so incredible up there.”

“Thank you.”

He shook his head slowly. “I wish I could watch you do it another ten thousand times.”

“But you can’t,” she finished for him. “I know.”

“I can, actually. And I will. Do you think they’ll give me the same seat every time? It’s the perfect angle to watch your lips move with the notes.”

Confusion clashed with her joyfulness over seeing him. “I don’t understand.”

Briefly, Sig looked over his shoulder to find the crowd thinning backstage. Then he let the roses drop to his side and shuffled her forward, into the room, clicking it shut behind them. The sudden muffling of sound, the dimness of the room was so intimate, she felt a sob well in her chest. “We can’t keep doing this.” She was already twisting her fingers in the collar of his hoodie. “We’re setting ourselves back—”

“Chloe.” Without looking, he set the roses on a nearby vanity,quickly taking her face in his hands. “The private investigator I hired... he sent me a report days ago and I didn’t think there was any point in looking at it, but, Jesus, there was. He caught me right before I took off for LA. I almost... oh God, I almost signed with another team. Away from you.”

It took him several moments to keep going.

“Remember I told you my mother’s family never approved of Harvey? It turns out, they paid him off to leave us. They bribed him. He took it because he wanted the money, yeah, but there was more. A paternity test done when I was born. I guess this is why it has been so hard for my mother to talk about what happened back then, but...” He choked on a laugh, before sobering. Stroking her cheekbones with his thumbs. “Chloe, Harvey isn’t my father. He isn’t even related to me by marriage, Chlo. We can be together.”

“But...” The world had turned into a choppy ocean beneath her feet, wind whooshing in her ears. No. No... what? Was she imagining this? “Really?Really?”

“Cleared it with the team. I can’t imagine you’ll have any problems with the symphony...” A line formed between his brows. “If you want to wait until you speak to them, until you know for sure they won’t—”

“No waiting. No.” She was already midlaunch, her body colliding with Sig’s so hard, his back slammed into the door. He was laughing, though. They were both laughing as they embraced, his powerful arms lifting her off the floor and squeezing tight as a vise, and it was the most beautiful sound she’d ever heard in her life. There were no reservations, their joy totally unfettered. And when his mouth found hers and the hunger came roaring in, they did nothing to stop it. They couldn’t.

Sig reversed their positions, flattening Chloe to the door, his hands already rucking up her dress to her waist, unzipping hisjeans while he looked her right in the eye, letting her see the love that ran wild there. Love that was no longer hesitant or worried or penned in. It would grow until it took up every corner of the universe.

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