Back to December (Ward Sisters Book 1) (36 page)

“If you ever get bored with him, give me a call.” Ronin stood in the door frame, lounging like he was the hottest thing around.

“I doubt I'll ever get bored with him. He surprises me all the time. But thanks for the offer. Bye.”

Liam looked at her sideways. “What was that about?”

“Oh, someone being a typical Hollywood type. You know, douche-y, but with a quarter of Rob's fame and a tenth of his paycheck. And yet, he still thought I'd consider dumping my boyfriend to hang out with him.”

Liam laughed. “You're one in a million, you know that? Rob's lucky to have you. And I don't blame the guy. If I didn't think of you like another sister, I'd probably want to steal you from Rob, too. Lucky for Rob, he deserves someone as great as you. If he didn't, I'd kick his ass and tell you to dump him. I don't care if he is my boss.”

Em kissed his cheek. “Glad to know you're looking out for me, Liam.”

“Always, Em. Now, let's get you back to the house before another one of these Hollywood dicks tries to steal you from my best friend.” They walked back to the house arm in arm, laughing and joking as they went.

The premiere of Rob's movie,
Not Worthy
, was actually the most fun event she'd attended so far. She had enjoyed the gala and the opening, but she worked then, so she couldn't truly relax either time. The Globes had been alternately nerve-wracking or irritating when she was stuck with Rachel the witch. But this was like going to the movies. Except for the photographers taking their pictures and the autographs and interviews. But otherwise, it was like a movie date.

Rob's palms got sweaty before the movie started and Em had to keep squeezing his hand the whole time. Each time she did, she felt him relax. It was an uncharacteristic display of nervousness on his part.

At the end, there was a huge round of applause.

When the credits began to roll and Rob's name appeared in big letters as first-billed on the screen, Em whispered, “You were fantastic. I say that's Oscar worthy.”

Rob inhaled and smiled his thanks, glad it was over.

They headed to an after-party that was hosted by the production company. It was invite only, so Emily had hoped to avoid both Lola and Rachel whom, Jenna had warned them, were in Park City. She had no such luck. Apparently, both of them had recently finished films with the production company and because they were A-list stars, they were automatically invited if they showed up at Sundance. Emily groaned inwardly when Rob told her why they were there. Typical, Hollywood nepotism.

They stayed together and Rob steered away from both of his exes whenever they were near. But Emily had to use the ladies room eventually, so they split up and made plans to meet back at this spot near a banner.

She ran into Lola in the restroom and got a similar reception to the one she got at the Globes: surprise that Emily was still around and a veiled threat that it was only a matter of time until Rob was back on set and she was history. Emily answered her by being overly polite and gave her a backhanded compliment about her footwear, a pair of thigh-high, stiletto-heeled, leather boots which were completely impractical in Park City. Christopher was smart enough to put Emily in a pair of knee-high, fur-lined boots he said she got to keep. Lola didn't say it, but Em could tell she wanted them.

When Emily got to the spot where she was supposed to meet Rob, he wasn't there. She stood off to the side, observing people for a couple of minutes while she waited for him, when Rachel sauntered up to her.

“Oh! Ella. So nice to see you!” she cooed.

“It's Emily,” she noted flatly.

“Forgive me! I was confusing you with your character. People do that to me all the time. It's so frustrating, isn't it?”

Em sighed. “I don't know what character you're talking about. I'm not an actress, in case you've forgotten.”

“Why, Cinderella, of course. Deac is parading you around to different balls, isn't he? Unfortunately, you won't be around for the biggest one.”

“I have no idea what you mean.” Emily shook her head.

“The Oscars, of course.”

She raised her brows. “You presume a lot to say I won't go with him to the Oscars.”

Rachel scoffed. “You think he'll take
you
? A small-town girl with a college degree, frizzy hair and serious need of a nose job? Exactly what do you think qualifies you to attend that sort of event?”

Emily rolled her eyes. “Oh, I don't know. Maybe the fact that I'm his girlfriend.”

Rachel snorted. “Like that means something.”

Emily's eyebrows shot up. “It means something to me. And it means something to Rob.”

“Well, the first part of that I believe. The second part, maybe not,” Rachel smirked.

Em furrowed her brow. “And why is that?”

“Because the only girlfriend who ever meant anything to him was
me
. He was crushed when I ended things between us. He's never been the same since. Everyone else is just a substitute.” She was smug.

Emily gestured as if she was conceding. “I can see why you'd say that about Lola. She's a younger, prettier, more talented version of you. I'm sure that's what she thought when she pursued him too. But that's not me.”

Rachel scoffed again. “Oh, no. You're nothing like me. Not even a poor replacement like that tart Lola. You're just a temporary means to make me jealous.”

Emily laughed. “It must be working. Why else would you bother with me?” Rachel scowled. “Right. Well, in case you didn't figure it out already, I'm not impressed by you. I'm not awed by celebrity in general and I'm certainly not inclined to give a damn about people who are famous when they haven't really earned it. And more to the point, I'm not
threatened
by you, Rachel. You can try to tell me that only you meant something to him, but I don't believe it. Don't forget, I actually speak to his family. They're here on vacation with us, in fact. Would you like me to go get Rick or Amy or maybe Liam? Should I ask them if they think you meant more to Rob than I do? No? Didn't think so.” She shook her head.

Rob wrapped his arms around Em's waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. “Catching up?” he asked.

“Something like that,” Em said. “It was
so
lovely to see you, Rachel. I'll give them all your regards. See you at the Oscars. Oh, wait. You're not going, are you? Well, I'm sure I'll see you around.” Emily gave her a 'ta' wave like Christopher always did and turned on her heel to leave. Rob, thankfully, followed without comment.

They wandered for a few minutes until they were far away from where they had left Rachel. Finally, Rob stopped her and said, “What happened?”

“Nothing I can't handle.”

“Is she giving you a hard time?”

“I told you, it's nothing I can't handle. She's a bully. I made sure she knew that I won't be pushed around. I'm at a loss to understand what you ever saw in her.”

“Will it help if I say she was nicer then?”

“No. I don't believe it. I think you were blinded by devotion.”

“Probably.”

“Definitely. She's a bitch. I doubt she's ever been otherwise.”

“That sounds a little harsh coming from you.”

“Not when she's repeatedly insulted me without cause.”

“She's jealous of you. I told you that.”

“Oh, I know. And you say it's because I'm prettier than her but I think it's because she wants what I have.”

“Well she can't have it. She can't have me. She lost her chance a long time ago.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Positive. It's you I want.” He kissed her to illustrate that he was hers. “Let me take you home and show you,” he whispered in her ear. She nodded and they joined hands, leaving the party and the horrible Rachel behind.

That night, Rob held her in the dark, caressed her skin and kissed her hair. “I wish you could come back to LA with me. I feel like we didn't get enough time together and I want to be with you longer. Do you think Marcus would let you take a couple of days so you can go to my agency party? It's nothing too exciting, but it could be fun and we'd get at least a couple of extra nights...”

“I can ask. The worst he'll do is say no, right?” She felt Rob smile against her hair. “I don't want to leave you, either. I missed you so much when I was home. Skype sex wasn't the same as the real thing.”

Rob laughed. “No. Not even close. Better than phone sex, I guess, because at least I got to see you naked. If I hadn't needed to be in L.A., I'd have just flown out there to be with you.”

“Probably better you didn't.”

“Why is that? You didn't want me there?”

“No, I'd have loved you to be there, but it was awkward enough at the apartment when Josh
thought
that Liam was you.”

“You saw him?”

Emily murmured confirmation.

“And he thought
Liam
was me?”

“He honestly has no clue who you are, Rob. To him, Liam was a guy with brown hair that was helping me pack and Josh assumed he was my boyfriend.”

“The fact that Liam is almost 6 inches shorter than me didn't clue him in?”

“Nope. He's never seen you in person, so he had no idea that you're about the same height as him.”

“Oh? He's tall? So you like tall men?”

“Apparently. I haven't had a ton of boyfriends, but I guess a lot of them have been tall. I didn't really choose Josh, though. That was my mother's doing.”

“How is that?”

“He helped my dad move furniture into my apartment and my mother targeted him to be my new boyfriend. Despite the fact that I expressed no interest.”

“Then how did you start dating him?”

“He visited the same friend as the day he helped with my move and he asked me out. I said yes because I felt bad that he moved my furniture and it went from there.”

“And you dated him for five years? You lived with him? Your family thought you'd marry him? But there was no passionate spark between you?”

“Not on my end, no. Why do you think I was so thrown by what's between us? That had never happened to me before.”

“Not for me, either. Instantaneous. It was literally instantaneous for me.”

“Well, not so much for me. At least not until I actually bothered to look at you. Then it was instantaneous. Even after years together, I never felt that much for Josh. If he'd seen us together...yeah, it wouldn't have been pretty. He might have gotten territorial. He looked ready to get that way with Liam. As it was, he told me to dump you more than once. I think he made Liam uneasy. Which is all kinds of ironic, given that he's usually very mild mannered. Despite his size, he rarely makes anyone uncomfortable.”

“His size? Why, is he bigger than me?”

“He's huge – 6'3" and weighs 245 lbs. Imagine what you'd look like with a broader chest and thirty extra pounds of muscle. He's not a body builder, either. He's just naturally big and very fit. A lot like Rick, actually.”

“Huh. I'm surprised you're not attracted to Rick then.”

“I just told you I wasn't attracted to Josh! Not before we started sleeping together. He has nice eyes, but he's not my type. You're what I like: athletic and sexy. And Josh is a nice-looking guy, but he's not beautiful like you are.”