“Michael, what are you talking about?” Isabel asked.
Michael looked relieved to see her. He almost smiled, but then remembered he was angry. No doubt about it, Isabel had made him crazy. “For the love of God, Isabel, what were you thinking?” He tilted his head toward Damon. “This guy says he’s going to propose, and you drop everything and fly out here so he can ask you? He can’t even come to you? And keep your damn phone turned on.”
“What . . . ,” Isabel began. She was so discombobulated she didn’t know what to say.
Michael glared at her. “You belong with me.” He was going to add, And I belong with you, but Damon demanded his attention.
“Listen here,” Damon said. “I don’t know what your problem is—”
Michael resisted the urge to grab Damon by the neck. “I told you what my problem is. You’re not going to marry her. Understand?”
Isabel moved to stand in front of Michael, and he immediately put his arm around her. His whole body relaxed. He had her now and he wasn’t going to let go.
“Damon, he thinks you proposed to me,” Isabel explained.
Mia chose that moment to join them. “Is everything all right? Damon, your face is red. Is it too warm in here?”
Damon shook his head and then laughed. Mia moved into his arms.
“Let me make the introductions,” Isabel said. “Mia and Damon, I’d like you to meet the usually intelligent Michael Buchanan. Michael, these are my friends Damon and Mia. Damon asked Mia to marry him, and she said yes.”
Michael let out a long sigh before he spoke again. “Yeah, I got that.” He kept his left arm around Isabel but put his right hand out to shake Damon’s. “I guess I owe you an apology.”
“You guess?” Isabel whispered.
Michael wasn’t used to apologizing, and it was difficult for him, but he managed a sincere one.
His behavior had been appalling. It was unlike him to turn into a hothead. When Dylan had told him that Damon was going to propose, Michael instantly remembered the look on Damon’s face in that video when he was watching Isabel sing. He’d looked entranced. Now Michael realized pretty much every man who watched her perform wore a similar expression.
He also thought that, as soon as he had time, he was going to kill Dylan. His brother had deliberately left out an important bit of information.
Damon’s gaze bounced back and forth between Michael and Isabel. “Michael, did you tell me that Isabel loves you?”
“Yes.”
“And did you also tell me that you love her?”
“Yes.”
Damon laughed. The look on Isabel’s face was priceless.
Isabel was immediately angry . . . and ecstatic at the same time. It was going to take an auditorium full of therapists to figure this one out. She pushed Michael’s arm away, but then he took hold of her hand and wouldn’t let go. Ignoring him, she thanked Damon and Mia.
“It was a great party. Thank you for inviting me. I’ll call both of you tomorrow.”
Since Michael was holding on to her, she couldn’t hug Damon and Mia. She kissed both of them on their cheeks and said, “Tell everyone good-bye for me,” before pushing Michael out the door.
Jones was waiting for her outside the ballroom. He barely glanced at Michael, his attention fully directed on a large group of teenagers running down the escalator. Another group was rushing toward Isabel from the corridor. Their number was growing exponentially.
“I’ll go first,” Jones said. “Isabel, you’re right behind me, and Michael, you protect her back.
Okay, let’s move. Fast.”
The men’s long-legged strides were difficult for Isabel to keep up with, but Michael put his hands on her waist and all but lifted her through the door Jones held open. Fans screaming for attention were gaining on them. The car was right there waiting for them, and they were on their way seconds later.
Isabel sat in the backseat with Michael. “How do you know Mr. Jones?” she asked.
“Just Jones,” the bodyguard corrected, looking over his shoulder. “Michael introduced himself on his way into the ballroom.”
“I feel guilty I ran from those kids. I should have talked to them. There were just so many of them . . .”
“A crowd can soon become a mob, Isabel,” Jones said. “And they could swallow you up.”
“Yes, I know.”
The rest of the ride back to the Hamilton was quiet. Isabel used the time to gather her thoughts.
Michael showing up had certainly been a shock. She was so happy to see him, and yet she couldn’t wait to shout at him for being thoughtless and insensitive. How could he ignore her for such a long time? Four weeks and six days? Come on. She had been miserable and wondered if he had given her a single thought in all that while.