Page 45 of Dream Girl Drama

Pressure built in Chloe’s chest, but she smiled through it. “How was the piece?”

“Decent. But you could be a bit more technical. I’m all for your weird, loopy dream state, but you dropped three notes. That won’t fly when you have an orchestra behind you. We’re going to need a higher level of concentration.”

Wow. Three notes?

Breathe. Breathe.

She didn’t have to do this. Her instructors at Berklee rarely pointed out errors.

“You don’t like hearing you made mistakes.”

“I’m just not used to it.”

“Can yougetused to it?”

“If I can’t, what does that say about me?” Grace shrugged at her, paced to the window, and stared out at Boston, arms crossed. “Have you seenWhiplash?” Chloe asked.

Grace cast her an exasperated, sideways look. “You don’t think I’m as scary as Terence Fletcher, do you? I’m not.” She fluttered her eyelashes. “Or am I?”

Chloe gulped. “I—”

The dog barked—and kept right on barking. “You wouldn’t happen to want a side gig as a dog sitter, would you?” Grace asked. “I can pay you in eye cream or cash, your choice.”

Dog sitter.Her?

In her mind’s eye, she could see Sig shaking his head.No way, Chlo. Absolutely not.

Was she responsible enough to care for an animal?

God no.

But maybe caring for a living, breathing creature would be a crash course on learning how to be a responsible adult. Maybe if she could keep a dog happy, walked, and fed, she’d feel more capable of being a mentee of this dynamic, motivated woman. Maybe she’d be able to envision herself as first chair for one of the country’s most illustrious orchestras.

Because right now, she couldn’t.

“Sure. I’ll take the pup.” Chloe forced a smile. “How hard can dog parenting be?”

Famous last words.

Chapter Eleven

Sig used his teeth to rip a piece of tape, smoothing the clear adhesive over the opening of a cardboard box containing a signed game jersey. His dining room table was covered in autographed pucks, Bearcats pennants, and one broken stick, made famous by Sir Savage snapping it in half over his leg after a loss to the Rangers. When sold, that stick would catch a decent price. So decent, Sig might have to encourage the captain to break a few more before he officially retired.

Thank God he had this shit to keep him busy, because he hadn’t spoken to Chloe all day and he had a constant sense of something being undone. Like he’d woken up late and missed practice, only worse. Much worse. Did she...likethe space he was trying to give her?

Disturbed by the possibility, Sig snatched up his phone and called the private investigator for a second time. On his first attempt, he’d left a voicemail, but hours had passed, and he was eager for an update. Way too eager to wait hours for a call back.

Luckily, the guy answered on the second ring. “Mr. Gauthier.”

“Like I said, Sig is fine.”

“That’s right. Sig.” Fingers tapped a keyboard in the background. “I was just getting ready to call you. We might not have the kind of progress you wanted, but we have some answers. Give me a moment to put my notes together.”

Sig tried to swallow the sudden dryness. “Sure.”

He blew out a silent breath at the ceiling. Not for the first time, he experienced a wave of guilt over siccing an investigator on his own father. And by association, his mother, because Niko’s research could inevitably turn up information about her, too. Reminding himself that Harvey had been absent the first eighteen years of his life and that his mother was withholding important details about his past didn’t do much to assuage the unwanted discomfort.

Just because Sofia was a controlling mother and Harvey was a status chaser didn’t make them bad people, did it? If Sig uncovered the means to stop this wedding, would he be able to pull the trigger so easily? Harvey and Sofia seemed genuinely happy with each other. Chloe remarked on it constantly. “My mom is on cloud nine.” If he found something that proved his suspicions that Harvey was a serial swindler, however, he’d be honor bound to bring it to Sofia. Not only to protect Sofia—and Chloe—from financial harm... but to stop this marriage from happening.

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