The Game (Wagered Hearts Series, #3)(20)

"You have nothing to apologize for. It's not like any of this is real anyway," she said. "Don't worry, I won't run off with your ring."

"I didn't think you would. Listen, I didn't mean--I don't think you'd actually run off--"

"Forget about it," she said, cutting me off with a wave of her hand.

We sat in awkward silence until the waiter came by with our check. Just before we stood up to leave, we were stopped by a woman who I recognized was an entertainment reporter with the local CBS news station. Since coming out to LA and entering into this fake relationship, I'd had a crash course about the celebrity culture here. She looked at us with that calculating, sly look I'd come to associate anyone in her field.

"Emilia! I just had to stop by and congratulate you!" she said, her eyes shifting from me to Emilia's left hand.

"Thank you, Sharice!" Emilia said. "You're the first one."

"Excellent! So, I take it you'll be announcing the engagement soon?"

"Oh, I'm sure you'll have the story out before we even make it home tonight," Emilia said jokingly.




She laughed loudly and grabbed Emilia's arm as if they were the best of friends. "Ha-ha! Good one."

Emilia managed to disentangle herself from Sharice, and we finally exited the restaurant together. We waited in silence while the valet got my car. I was grateful we'd decided not to go to a more well-known and populated restaurant, as we were spared from being harassed by the paparazzi.

The silence continued on the car ride back to Emilia's place. Her whole demeanor had changed at the restaurant after I had mentioned returning the ring. She seemed moody and unresponsive. At first I thought I had offended her, but maybe there was more to it. Could it be that she was developing feelings for me? A small part of me couldn't help feel a jab of pleasure at the thought, but mostly, I felt dread. This was not good at all. I had no intentions of committing to anyone. That's why I'd entered into this scheme in the first place. It was a safe way for me to get my mother off my back without raising false hopes in anyone. I thought Emilia and I were on the same page, but if she was falling for me, then I had to put a stop to it.

I had to admit that I'd grown fond of her as well--hell, more than fond if I was being honest. I found her damn near irresistible. And there was the problem. Things were getting much too complicated for my liking. It would only continue to get more complicated since we were now officially engaged.

I pulled up into her long driveway and drove up to her door.

"Are you coming in?" she asked.

"Not tonight. I've got some things to take care of," I said.

It wasn't exactly a lie, but it would be better for the both of us if we had some distance. I couldn't tell if she was relieved or disappointed, but she gave me a quick nod, slipped off her seat belt and got out of the car. I waited for her to enter her house before backing out.

Something needed to change. Things were getting a bit too serious, and I needed some space. I decided to fly back to New York tonight. I could catch the red eye and be back in my apartment in less than 24 hours.

Since coming out to LA, I'd been neglecting my work, and even though I wasn't strictly chained to my office, I did need to make an appearance once in a while. Plus, right now, I needed something familiar in my life. The past couple of months had been a whirlwind, and it was all finally catching up to me. I needed to go back and ground myself in reality again. I'd call Emilia tomorrow to let her know that I'd be spending a couple of weeks in New York.

She'd probably be relieved to have some time to herself anyway. Since starting this relationship, we'd been thrown in each other's company constantly. It would give her a chance to just relax and not have to worry about pretending or putting on a show for the public. Yes, the more I thought about it, the better my plan sounded. Some time apart was just what we both needed.





Chapter 10: Emilia



I could kill Rob. He'd been seen again in New York with another woman, and here I was sitting in some frigid studio out in LA trying to pretend like I was the luckiest woman in the world.

"There's been some rumors about your relationship?" the journalist prompted. "People are saying there's been some trouble on the home front."

I used the term "journalist" lightly. Candy Perkins was a glorified gossipmonger. She had somehow managed to parlay her blog into television appearances covering the red carpet, and ultimately a daily talk show. Arnie had booked this appearance weeks ago when we were still on the offensive about the cheating scandal. Since Rob and I got together though, those rumors seemed to have died off, or at the very least remained dormant. But now, I had other problems to deal with.

As expected, after word of our engagement hit the news, there was a renewed frenzy surrounding Rob and me. We made the front page of all the tabloids and gossip blogs. I'd gotten interview requests from US and People as well as The View.

Things should have been looking up for me, but they weren't. Instead I was miserable and annoyed. Rob had high tailed it out of LA almost immediately after our proposal, saying he had business matters to take care of. That had been weeks ago. I was forced to attend several events without him, and endured the endless questions about where he was, as well as plans for our wedding.