The Game (Wagered Hearts Series, #3)(22)

"Are you sure about that?" she asked, eyeing me shrewdly.

"Of course!" I said, my voice rising again.

Charlotte had hit a little too close to home. It was already bad enough that I'd admitted to myself I'd begun to have feelings for Rob, but I didn't need anyone else knowing about it. Sometimes Charlotte was too observant for her own good. Thankfully, she let the subject drop, and I had finally managed to get control over my initial anger.

"Why don't I call Rob and set up a meeting? I'm sure we have a lot to discuss," she suggested.

"Fine," I said.

She handed me back my phone while she picked hers up to dial Rob's number. I waited while Charlotte made the call. She was on speakerphone so I could hear the whole conversation. The phone rang five times and I thought he wouldn't answer, but at the last second he picked up.

"Hello?" his familiar deep voice answered.

"Rob, this is Charlotte Hinkel. I'm Emilia's manager."

"Oh, right. I've been meaning to talk to her," he said.

I rolled my eyes and snorted in disdain. If he wanted to call, he could have done it easily. My number hadn't changed in the past few weeks. It was all just excuses. Such a typical man.

Before I could listen to him try to bullshit his way out of the pictures, my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and groaned inwardly. It was my mother. I debated whether or not to take the call. Talking to my mother, or any member of my family really, always led to arguments and hurt feelings. At the last second, I decided to answer. I hadn't heard from her in months and wondered if it was an emergency.

"Hey Ma," I said.

"Gina! It's your mother," she yelled. I pulled the phone away from my ear and grimaced. I didn't know why she always had to shout when she was talking on the phone. It was like she thought the further I was away from her, the louder she had to talk.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Hey, how come you didn't come home for Halloween?" she asked.

"You know I was busy with work," I said.

My mother spoke of Halloween like it was a major holiday that I needed to be home for. It might have been her favorite holiday, but I wasn't about to upend my whole calendar to help her hand out candy to the neighborhood kids. I hadn't been back for Halloween for the past eight years, but that didn't stop her from asking me every year.

"Well, what about Thanksgiving? Will you be back home?"

"I don't know, Ma. It's a busy time for me," I answered.

She sighed loudly. Here we go, I thought. I settled myself in for another guilt trip. Ever since I started modeling and moved out to LA and my career took off, all my mother did was complain that I never came home anymore. It was as if she forgot all the reasons why I'd wanted to leave in the first place--the blow up arguments, the years of neglect, dad's drinking, and her obvious favoritism for my brothers. Now that I was in LA, and on my own, she seemed to think that it was all water under the bridge.

"Well, how about this weekend? You doing anything then?" she asked.

"Like I said, it's a busy time for me. It's the start of awards season and I've got a bunch of appearances lined up," I said.

It was only partially true. The fact was, I really didn't want to go home. I'd avoided it for the past few years, and my holidays had been much more stress free.

"But it's your father's birthday. His 60th. Everyone's coming over to celebrate, and I know he'd love to see you," she said.

Shit! I'd totally forgotten about my father's birthday. I felt a little guilty about that, but not enough to make the prospect of going any better. "I'll see if I can take a day off," I said.

"Your grandparents are coming all the way from Florida for the party," she added. "I know Grandpa Jimmy would love to see you too. It's all he does down in Port Orange is brag about you. You know you'll just make his year if you do come."

That did it. There was no way I could refuse after that, unless I was totally heartless, which I wasn't. My mother was the master at the guilt trip, and bringing my grandparents into the equation was a surefire way to get me to go. They were the only members of my family that I actually liked.

"Ok, fine. But I'll probably only be able to come for the party. I'm already booked up for the week," I added.

"Wonderful! Don't forget to bring that fiancé of yours with you," she added.

"What? What do you mean?" I asked.

"Don't act like that. We all saw the papers and that video of your proposal on YouTube. It's only right we meet the man who you're about to marry," she said.

"I--uh--don't know if he'll be available. He's pretty busy with work," I lied.

"He can take a day off just like you. He needs to show himself. What kind of man doesn't meet his bride's family, not to even mention, asking permission for your hand in the first place?"

My mother was starting to get on a roll. I could tell that finding out about my engagement from the papers and not from me, was what was really bothering her. I hadn't meant to keep her in the dark. It just never crossed my mind to tell her. It was all fake, after all.

Now I realized the error of my ways. I should have known she'd want to meet Rob. We were in all the papers, and of course she'd be curious and anxious to meet my fiancé. She didn't know it was all fake.