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Chapter2
HARPER
Harper glared at a life-sized cardboard cutout of the man who’d wrecked her six years ago.
She’d spent night after night with this douchebag, composing music, writing lyrics, and dreaming about bright lights and packed stadiums.
And…love.
She’d fallen head over heels. The sweet nothings the real version of this cardboard cutout had whispered into her ear had turned out to be a boatload of broken promises and twisted lies.
She studied his image. It was hard to believe she’d once cared for the creep. In the cardboard rendering, he didn’t look like the sloppy musician who’d skipped out on her in the dead of night. With his highlights and trendy rocker apparel, the cutout of Vance Vibe, formerly Vance Viberenski, smirked at her like she was nothing, like she was another one of his fans swooning in his presence.
The total douche nozzle!
“Vance,” she hissed into her cell phone, the syllable dripping with contempt.
But her anger couldn’t compete with the blistering humiliation that burned her cheeks at the sight of him. An emotional hurricane threatened to destroy her resolve as a homicidal urge to kick this cutout in his cardboard balls prickled through her.
“We saw that he was performing at some hotel and event center called the Luxe Grandiose. Where is your conference being held?” Libby pressed.
“Not that one,” she lied. She didn’t need her friends worrying about her. And her brain was too busy thinking of ways to deface Vance’s stupid cardboard smirk to muster up the name of another hotel.
She did have a rainbow assortment of markers and highlighters in her tote.
A pair of devil horns and some nose hair would improve his appearance.
She looked away, reining in her fury, when another cardboard face caught her eye. She peered down the glittering hallway. Vance’s body wasn’t the only life-sized cutout adorning the space. A cascade of corrugated cardboard celebrities lined the shiny marble floor, and another familiar face appeared.
“Holy shit, it’s him,” she whispered.
“H, are you okay, honey?” Charlotte asked.
That was a great question.
And the answer?
Hell to the no!
She flicked her gaze from the second cardboard cutout to throw her for a loop.
She had a contest to win.
She glanced at her watch.
She wasn’t late…yet.
She had to get off the phone.
“Hey, girls, thanks for checking in,” she said, her voice rising an octave. “I’m good. You don’t have to worry about me. Another session is starting. Treble clef versus bass clef. It’s a real controversy in the piano teacher world. I have to go.”
“H, one last thing,” Penny said.
“Yeah?”
“Landon is in Las Vegas, too.”
Landon Paige.
