The Game (7 page)

Before I could reply, we were interrupted by Darla Lovitz. She breezed into our group and hooked her arm under Warren's possessively. "Here you are," she said, ignoring Rob and me. "I thought I lost you in this crowd."

Darla was tall, blonde, and beautiful--the classic American beauty. She had always portrayed a cool, laid back, California surfer chick attitude, but it was all an act. She was one of the most neurotic, insecure, and catty people I knew. We had a colorful history, and I couldn't say that we were on friendly terms. In fact, I think she hated my guts, and I couldn't be bothered to muster any emotion for her. She was a non-entity in my book.

We started out in the business at the same time, both coming to acting from modeling. We were both cast in
Heavenwood
, but after I became the breakout star, she got jealous and spiteful. While my career took off, hers remained stagnant and stuck in minor supporting roles. She had no one to blame but herself. Her constant partying and drug use, not to mention lax attitude about showing up for work, made her a liability. I knew she leaked some false stories about me to the press during my last year on
Heavenwood
.

Warren rolled his eyes at her dramatic entrance, and shot himself up in my estimation. "Have you met my friends?" he said, directing her attention to Rob and me.

Darla turned her head in our direction reluctantly, and I could see the effort it took for her to paste on her smile. For someone who claimed she was an actress, she was doing a piss poor job at it. Her smile came off as a grimace, and I had the satisfaction of watching her eyeing Rob and me in envy.

"Darla, how nice to see you again," I said.

"Emilia I didn't know you'd be here, what with all those stories about you," she said, leaning in conspiratorially.

She was such a phony. As if she and I would ever conspire together about anything. I couldn't trust this woman as far as I could throw her. She had probably been filled with joy when the stories about Harry and I came out. Instead of lashing out at her like I would have liked to have done, I put on my own fake smile as well.

"Why wouldn't I be here for my own movie premier?" I asked sweetly. "You know how it is with people making up stories about you to the press. That's the life of a movie star. Oh, but you wouldn't know that. I forgot, you've never starred in a film before."

The smile slipped off her lips before her face turned red in anger. She narrowed her eyes at me, and lifted her hand as if she wanted to strike me. I almost wished she would, just so I would have an excuse to give her the beat down she so deserved. But knew that could never happen. Getting into physical altercations was not an option for me anymore. That was something I used to do as a kid, but as a celebrity, it was career suicide.

Rob stood between us protectively in case Darla got any ideas. Warren, I noticed, watched the exchange with much amusement.

"Perhaps we should go," Rob said. Before we could leave, Darla stopped him with a hand on his arm. The contact made me irrationally jealous. If anything were to make me want to deck her, it was her touching Rob. She needed to get her filthy conniving claws off of him.

"Wait," she said, malice twisting her features. "I see we have a mutual friend that just arrived."

I looked over her shoulder and could feel the color drain from my face.
Fuck! How did she get in here?
I wondered. There was no way she was at this party for any good reason. It was my premier, after all. I turned back to see Darla smirking at me and felt a sudden surge of anger creep up over me.
Did she have something to do with this?

"What's wrong?" Rob leaned down to whisper in my ear.

I didn't realize I'd completely tensed up, and it took some effort to relax my muscles and breathe in and out slowly. Even though Kelsey's presence at this party was annoying, I knew there was nothing for me to do but just grin and bear it.

I wasn't about to start a fight and give the press any more rumors to go on. She was on my turf, after all. Besides, there was no reason for us to even acknowledge each other's existence. As long as she stayed away from me, I was perfectly fine to leave her alone.

"Kelsey! Over here!" Darla called waving her hand above her head.
Ugh, I should have smacked her when I had the chance
.

"Should we go?" Rob whispered in my ear again. He must have realized what was going on and the likely scene that it would cause, and was trying to extract us from it with as little fuss as possible.

"No, I'm not going to run away," I said stubbornly. "I haven't done anything wrong."

He looked at my face searchingly before nodding his head. Warren Peters shot me a commiserating look, but I just shrugged. This scene was bound to happen sooner or later.

Kelsey's smile froze once she noticed we were with Darla. She hesitated momentarily before a look of determination and vindictiveness stole across her face, and she marched over to us.

"You look amazing!" Darla gushed, kissing her on the cheeks.

I couldn't help the snort of derision that escaped me at their fake fawning over each other. It was obvious what they were trying to do, and yet they were still so incompetent at it. As if I would somehow feel bad or insecure at being left out of their little love fest.

Darla and Kelsey turned their glare on me at the same time and I smiled politely. I had decided I was going to look the picture of propriety and elegance. I wouldn't stoop to their level.

"Yes, I agree," I said.

Kelsey narrowed her eyes at me before she turned her attention to Rob. She gave him the once over and I could tell she was looking for any fault. She just needed a reason to despise him so she could feel better about herself. But Rob was faultless. He looked handsome and debonair, and his manners were impeccable. He had no dark secrets in his closet, and on top of it all, he was a successful billionaire.

"You certainly don't waste time moving on to the next one, do you?" she sneered, looking down her surgically enhanced nose at me.

"Have you met my boyfriend Rob?" I said ignoring her snide remark.

"Bullshit," she whispered harshly. "Don't think I don't know what's going on. You think your little rent-a-boyfriend is going to make everyone forget what a little whore you are?"

"Excuse me," Rob said cutting her off. "We're leaving now."

"Yeah, run away. That's what you're good at, isn't it Emilia? Don't worry though, I'll make sure everyone knows what a home wrecking slut you really are," she said.

"Fuck you," I snapped, pushed past my limit.

Even though I knew she was trying to cause a scene just to embarrass me, I couldn't help taking the bait. It always grated on me whenever people assumed I slept my way to the top, when I'd never done anything like that in my life. That wasn't to say I'd never been propositioned. I'd lost count of all the times some lecherous old casting director or producer had promised me a role if I slept with them. I had actually lost out on several plum roles because of my refusal, and not once had I ever regretted it.

All my success came due to hard work and perseverance, and it pissed me off to think that someone like Kelsey, who married a man 25 years older than her just so she'd have a shot at better roles, was standing there judging me and painting me as a scheming whore. It was infuriating!

"Oh, please. It's so obvious you two aren't even really together. How much did she pay you?" Kelsey said looking over at Rob.

I watched as the muscles in his jaws clenched. "You're mistaken. Emilia and I are together. She's not paying me a dime," he answered.

"I think we should get going now," Warren said, cutting across the tension. He grabbed Darla's arm and pulled her away from the scene. She moved reluctantly, keeping her eyes glued on us until she was out of sight. That left Kelsey alone with Rob and me. Without her little partner in crime, she looked less sure of herself and I smiled grimly.

"We should go now too," Rob said to me.

I turned to look up at him and nodded my head silently. It wasn't worth it to argue with Kelsey. All eyes were trained on us and the last thing I wanted was to cause a scene that would bring the old scandal back to the headlines.

He grabbed my hand and we both turned to walk away. Before we made it ten steps, Rob suddenly stopped and spun me to face him. He looked down at me searchingly, and then bent his head for a kiss. I hadn't been expecting it, and stood there motionless at first, not sure what was happening. Then as the kiss deepened, I found myself letting go and losing myself in the sensation of his lips on mine. I didn't know how long we stood like that or much of anything, really. All I knew was that I didn't want it to end.

A rumble of applause broke through the haze, and I pulled my head back. All around us, cameras were flashing and people stood watching us. I smiled shakily at Rob who returned the smile.

I'd never had a reaction like that to a kiss before, and I'd kissed many men. Even when Rob and I first had our innocent little fling, our kisses had never been so intense. I wondered what had changed that made me react this way. I looked up at him again and couldn't tell if he was feeling that same quivery feeling that I was.

"How was that for a first public kiss?" Rob whispered in my ear. He seemed happy and pleased with himself, and he looked down at me almost tenderly.

"Not bad," I said.

Rob shot me a lopsided grin before he leaned in again and whispered. "I'll say. I think we pulled it off. No one watching that would doubt we were really together. You're an amazing actress, even I almost believe you. I can't wait to see what the press does with that one."

My spirits deflated at his words. Somehow I'd lost myself in the magic of that kiss, but I quickly pulled myself together. He was right, I reminded myself. This was all an act. None of it was real. Yet, I couldn't help but feel disappointed. I shook my head and mentally slapped myself. We both knew what we signed up for at the start, and that didn't include catching real feelings. I needed to suck it up and remember what this was all for. As I took one last glance at Kelsey's frosty demeanor, I felt a little of the disappointment fade.

Chapter 8: Emilia

Rob was going to propose tonight. We had agreed to it beforehand. In the contract we had specified that the engagement take place no later than two months after our first date. It had been seven weeks and three days since our first outing at The Vine.

The past few weeks had gone extremely well. Rob had been the perfect boyfriend. People who were skeptical about our relationship were now finally coming around and believing that we were the real deal. We'd even been dubbed "Romilia". It was such a stupid name and I cringed every time I heard it, but Charlotte and Arnie had been really pleased.

"That just means you two are actually a thing now," Arnie had explained. I didn't ask him to clarify.

Rob had found our moniker highly amusing. In fact he couldn't stop laughing about it. "This is just too rich! I have to send this to my mother," he said, wiping the tears from the corner of his eye.

Speaking of his mother, I had yet to meet the woman. I felt a little bad about it. Since signing the contracts, we had been solely focusing on my needs and requirements. Rob had attended fashion shows, movie premiers, parties, and other industry events with me, but I had yet to go to one of his functions. I hadn't thought to ask him about it since he never brought it up. I had to remind myself to ask him about it tonight.

He was going to pick me up at my house and whisk me away for a romantic dinner at Flemings. The restaurant was handpicked because it was small and intimate, but I knew several industry people frequented the place. It was the perfect location to stage a fake engagement. Hopefully one of the other diners would take a picture of Rob in the act and tweet it or post it on Facebook or Instagram. Just to be sure though, Arnie had arranged to tip off the paps toward the end of our dinner.

Rob arrived at my house dressed impeccably in a black suit and tie. He grinned at me as I stepped outside and walked toward his car.

"Do you have the ring?" I asked, as I got in and buckled my seat belt. He nodded his head. I waited for him to elaborate, or maybe pull it out so I could look at it, but he remained silent.

"Are you ready for this?" I asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be," he answered. "Besides, it's not like it's a real engagement."

I tried not to think too deeply at why his words sent a stab of disappointment through me. He was only speaking the truth after all. We arrived at the restaurant and Rob and I were immediately seated at an intimate table by the back and away from the other diners.

"This is a perfect spot. We're far enough away that no one can overhear us, but still out in full view where anyone with a camera can snap a shot of us," Rob said as we sat down.

"How lucky," I said. "You're getting really good at staging these scenes."

Rob shot me a curious look, but I avoided eye contact and ignored him. What the hell was wrong with me? I needed to get myself together. This was not the time or place to start acting like some love struck fool.

Since the beginning, Rob had made it no secret that the last thing he wanted to do was settle down. He was never going to change, and I wasn't a fool enough to try. I had to ignore that little voice in the back of my head that tried to tell me there might be something more between us.

"We should order champagne," Rob said.

"How do you plan on doing it?" I asked, ignoring his suggestion.

Rob grinned at me and shook his head. "I already told you, it's a surprise. Even though this is a fake engagement, I'd like to make it at least a little exciting. You know, my pride and all that. Plus, I think the reaction shots would be a lot more authentic if you didn't know when or how it was going to happen."

I had to settle for that, but all through dinner, I couldn't help anticipating when Rob would finally pop the question. Once we had finished our meals, I started to get anxious.
Any minute now!