The Game (Wagered Hearts Series, #3)(31)

There were only a few months left and the Golden Globes was coming up. I didn't want the news of our break up to overshadow the positive press I was sure to get. And Rob still had the anniversary party for his mother. The least I could do was live up to my end of the bargain since that was really the only thing he had asked me to do.

I decided to stick this thing out until after awards season and the anniversary party. We could behave like adults in the meantime, and we hardly needed to see each other much. With the decision made, I just had to hide the fact that I'd fallen in love with Rob Benedict to the only person I wanted to know.

***

Rob didn't call for five days. If I were waiting for his call, which I wasn't, that would have pissed me off again. He had a habit of ditching me after some major turning point in our "relationship". The night he proposed, he jetted off to New York. And the night that we'd finally slept together, he disappeared again to God knows where. This seemed to be a pattern with him and I laughed bitterly. "You really know how to pick 'em, Emilia," I said to myself ruthlessly.

I had flown back to Los Angeles by then. Before he left, I told him I wouldn't chase him like a lovesick fool, and I intended to prove it to him. My social calendar went into overdrive and I spent those days out on the town, at parties, and mingling with friends, acquaintances and other industry people.

It helped to take my mind off of Rob, but every night when I went home, I'd check my messages for any sign of him. I'd be damned if I was going to be the first one to call him. It didn't escape me that his parent's anniversary party was coming up fast. Next weekend to be exact. I wondered if Rob still wanted me to go with him, or if our night together had truly scared him, and he decided to scrap the whole idea. It would have been nice for him to call to let me know.

As if I'd conjured it up by magic, my phone began to buzz in my pocket, and I leaned back and fished it out of my jeans. I felt a mixture of relief, anger, and oddly, hope when I saw Rob's name on the caller ID.

"Hey Stranger," I said, trying to sound casual and unaffected. "I thought you'd died. What happened?"

"Er--nothing. Um...how are you?" he asked.

"I'm fine. Great actually!" I lied. "So, what's up?"

He seemed to relax at my casual tone, maybe thinking he hadn't really offended me after his hasty exit. How I wished I could give him a piece of my mind, but I kept it to myself. Charlotte had given me good advice on how I should act when he called. She told me to cool off and listen to everything he had to say before I flipped my shit.

As much as he deserved to be raked over the coals, we still needed each other. The few days after he left had been a blessing in disguise. It let me cool down so the first rush of anger and rage had passed by unremarkably, with no one there to witness it or bear the brunt of it. Now, I could focus on the solution instead of fixating on my pride and ego.

"I just wanted to check on you--see how you were doing," he said. His voice sounded hesitant and unsure. I couldn't help the giant eye roll his words caused. If he were so worried about me, he could have called a lot sooner, I wanted to say. Instead, I clamped my mouth shut and waited for him to speak. "So uh...listen. I think we need to talk about what happened between us," he said.

"I don't," I said.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"It was just sex, Rob, not a declaration of love. We're both adults here. I think we can handle that little hiccup in our plans as long as it doesn't happen again." I tried to sound casual and airy, and hoped I'd pulled it off. It was the hardest role I'd ever had to play.

"Oh, that's great then," Rob said, his voice rising in pitch. I didn't know if he sounded surprised or relieved. Maybe both. The thought sent my spirits sinking and I wanted to bang my head against the desk. Why did I feel anything at all? I thought I'd worked through all this, but it was getting harder than I thought to keep it strictly business.

"I don't know if you remembered, but my parent's anniversary party is this weekend," he said.

"I haven't forgotten."

"Great. I'll pick you up at 8 am on Friday? The plane is scheduled to take off at 10," he said.

"That works."

Our conversation was excruciating and stilted and it was a relief when he finally ended the call. I sat back and blew out a heavy breath. This was going to be harder than I thought. Even with the distance between us, things had been awkward. I wondered how we were going to pull off looking like a loving couple.

***

Rob arrived punctually at 8am. I had overslept and shot out the bed panicking as I looked at the clock. Shit! It was a good thing I'd had the foresight to have my bags packed the night before. They were already lined up in the foyer where my assistant had left them before she went home for the day.

I dashed into my bathroom and did a quick job of brushing my teeth and combing my hair. The makeup would have to be skipped for today. I just hoped there weren't any paparazzi buzzing around the airport to catch me. The last thing I needed was one of those "Stars without Makeup" spreads. I wouldn't put it past them to use Photoshop to make people look even more haggard than they actually were.

After I slipped on some jeans and my favorite white cable knit sweater, I went downstairs. Rob was pacing in the foyer, checking his watch occasionally. I hated the way my heart lurched when I saw him. He looked very handsome in a careless way. He wore grey slacks with a crisp white button up shirt. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, exposing his tanned forearms. And there was the perpetual stubble that graced his well-defined jaw. When he heard me, he looked up, his mouth turned down in a frown.