Grace Under Fire (Buchanan-Renard 14)

“Isabel, you brought the house down,” JoAnn said as though she were announcing the most astonishing news.

Isabel shook her head, but that only made the dizziness come back. Everything was being obscured by the fog that enveloped her. She remembered the crowd screaming but believed her friends were exaggerating.

Damon seemed the most thunderstruck of all of them. He was frowning at her like someone who had never seen her before and couldn’t quite decide who or what she was.

“Are you angry?” she asked, and when he told her no, she smiled and said, “I think I drank too much. I should go home.”

“No, not yet,” Owen argued. “It’s only a little past midnight.”

After some coaxing from the rest of the table, she decided she could stay a bit longer, and so she ordered another beer.

Her friends continued to stare at her in such an odd way, it made her uncomfortable. What was the matter with them?

“You have a dynamite voice,” Lexi blurted.

“It’s so husky and sexy,” Owen added.

Embarrassed, she said, “Thanks. Now can we talk about something else?”

That was easier said than done. People kept stopping by the booth to tell her how great she’d sounded. An older man in a sports coat—obviously not one of Finnegan’s usual patrons—handed her a card and told her not to sign any contracts without gaining legal advice first. He was an attorney, and he would be happy to represent her when all the offers started pouring in.

Offers? Offers for what?She couldn’t imagine what he was talking about, but she thanked him all the same.

For the next two hours, the friends continued to reminisce about all the fun times they had shared, but by two a.m. the crowd had thinned out, and it was time for them to separate. They hugged one another tightly and promised to stay in touch.

Damon walked Isabel to his car, taking very slow steps just to make sure she wasn’t going to throw up when he poured her into the passenger seat and clipped the seatbelt.

Once back at the tiny apartment she shared with two third-year students, he helped her climb the stairs, then kissed her on her forehead and said, “If you ever need me, all you have to do is call or just show up at my door.”

“All the way to Los Angeles?”

“Yes. All the way there. I’ll text you my code to get in. I’ll be your safety net. Okay?”

“That would be nice.”

He laughed. “I doubt you’ll remember any of this. Now get some sleep.”

And he was gone.