Free Womanizer (Spoilt) by Joanne Ellis Page B

all at once. When she’d heard him laugh after their whispered exchange she felt like someone had taken a spoon and shoveled out her heart with it.
    “I’m glad Mitch is here today,” Amber prattled on. “I so want to go out with him again. I might have got him too, then you turned up and now it is so obvious.” Amber offered an apologetic gaze.
    Isabelle wondered what it was she was sorry for exactly. “It has nothing to do with me. I’m sure he’ll come around,” Isabelle managed to reply between calming breaths.
    “I don’t think so. He said he is se eing someone and I think I know -”
    “He sees lots of people from what I’ve heard,” she said, cutting her off and not wanting to hear anymore.  “It’s probably why he didn’t turn up last night. I think I know what came up.”
    “He seemed pretty sure.”
    “He looked like he was enjoying your company to me.” Isabelle knew her voice sounded sharp and that she wasn’t hiding her displeasure well.
    “No, he was just being nice. He wasn’t interested. Trust me, I know.”
    Isabelle shrugged. It still didn’t explain where he’d been last night. Anger rose up and threatened to choke her, at him, at herself, and even at Amber who hadn’t done anything wrong. With great effort she pushed all her hurt and anger aside and changed the subject. Best get through the shoot as fast as possible and leave. The sooner she distanced herself from him the better.
    Once Amber and a hair stylist she didn’t know had finished , she walked out onto the set to find Mitch checking his equipment and lighting. Her heart jumped at the sight of him. As he concentrated, a little crease formed between his eyes and this intensified his gorgeous face. Images from their night together flashed through her mind and the emptiness in her chest deepened. Her humiliation burned.
    His treachery h ad hurt her more than she realized and it assaulted her now as she watched him. How would she get through today or any other shoots they might have together in the future? This is ridiculous , she chastised herself. It was one night. It isn’t like he’d made any sort of commitment to her. What had she actually expected?
    Yet she couldn’t deny the feelings he evoked in her and the connection between them. Had it all been in her mind?  This was why she never got involved at work.
    With resolution, she closed her mind and stood waiting on the set, ready to work and get it over with.
     
    To kill time waiting for her to emerge, Mitch rechecked his equipment and lighting. Why had she been so cold earlier? This caused him to frown. How could she be so upset over one missed call and shoot?  No benefit of the doubt for him, it would seem. She’d already tried and convicted him. Didn’t their night together mean anything to her?
    H e understood why she would be skeptical but he thought he’d shown her she was different. Their night together meant more to him than any other before it and he thought that would be enough to convince her and alleviate any doubt.  It seemed he’d been wrong.  Still frowning in confusion, he looked up to discover her waiting on set.  It was time to straighten things out. There was no way a misunderstanding would keep them apart, especially now he was falling in love with her.
    “ Izzy,” he began. Her stony stare made his heart leap and stomach roll. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you last night but something came up and -”
    “I’m sure it did,” she replied with eyebrows raised , repeating her previous response to his excuse.
    “It’s not what you think. I was with Charlotte at -”
    “What? She’s your brother’s fiancé e, how could you -?”
    “We were at the hospital. Her sister had her baby and there were complications. Jared had to go to work , so he asked me to stay with her until they knew Chelsea would be alright, which she is by the way. I got in late and didn’t want to disturb you. I thought about calling you on the way to the