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FORTY-ONE

Friday morning Isabel met with her attorney, Jason, to discuss her contract, then spent the afternoon being pampered at the spa. She was massaged, plucked and waxed, and slathered with wonderful scented lotion. She got a pedicure and manicure, and while her nails were drying, her hair was washed and dried. When the stylist was finished, her hair fell in soft curls just below her shoulders. It all was completely indulgent, but after the last few depressing weeks, she was ready for a makeover and a brand-new outlook on life.

She paid for all the treatments then and there so it wouldn’t go on the hotel charge and disappear. Regan had already been so generous. Isabel didn’t want to take advantage.

Isabel was still in her robe when Damon called.

“We might have a problem.”

“Uh-oh. Did Mia say no?”

Damon laughed. “She said yes.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“I didn’t tell Mia you were coming until a couple of hours ago. I wanted it to be a surprise,” he explained.

“Okay,” she said, wondering why he was dragging this out. “Get to the problem already.”

“Mia has four younger sisters. Brigit, the youngest, heard us talking. Mia grabbed her and made her promise not to tell anyone so the guests attending the party will be surprised. Brigit promised, but she told one friend, then another and another. You get where this is going?”

“Yes.”

“It didn’t stop there. Brigit, wanting to be the first with such big news...”

“Why is it big news?” Isabel wanted to know.

“Brigit might have implied that XO was going to stop by.”

“He’s in Europe. His fans know that.”

“I know,” he agreed. “But as I was explaining, Brigit, wanting to be the first with big news, posted it.”

“Where?”

“Everywhere.”

The picture of overzealous fans crushing her in an attempt to get close to Xavier came to mind and she shuddered. She’d seen firsthand how wild and uncontrolled fans could get. They’d wanted Xavier. Now, apparently, they wanted her and Xavier.

“There’s more.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Brigit promised she would find out if you were going to ask Xavier to marry you. Then she planned to post the answer.”

Isabel laughed. Xavier’s fans were obviously getting worked up because of what he had said in the interview. The next time she saw him she just might put a gag in his mouth.

“How old is Brigit?”

“She just turned thirteen. The girl knows her way around a computer. She used Mia’s laptop to post.”

“I can’t wait to meet her.”

“You won’t meet her tonight. She’s been banned from the party.”

Isabel remembered what it had been like when she was thirteen. Everything was monumental. “Damon, let her come to the party.”

“But she posted...”


Tags: Julie Garwood Buchanan-Renard Romance