why I’m doing it. Nothing more.”
“It is a lot for you to take on. You must love your brother.”
“I do.”
“Well, I appreciate it.” And she knew that he meant it; just the change in his attitude made her think that he was sincere.
“Are you actually thanking me, Dr. Tremblay? I’m shocked.”
“Don’t get too used to it, Dr. Haole. And I think, because we’re supposed to be intimate, we can drop the formalities and use our first names. I mean, people won’t believe that we’re madly in love if we refer to each other as Dr. Tremblay and Dr. Haole.”
“Fine,” Iolana said. Though the thought of being intimate, of letting her guard down made her stomach twist. David had hurt her so badly that the thought of letting someone else in, no matter how lonely she was, was terrifying indeed. Even if it was fake. It was risky.
Andrew grinned again. That charming smile. “So Lana, would you like to accompany me to the staff meeting?”
“Of course... Andrew.”
She’d forgotten about the staff meeting with her father. She was in charge of Ortho and sports medicine, but her father was in charge of all the surgeons at Kahu Kai Hospital in Honolulu. Which was why she couldn’t let another scandal rock her. It was bad enough people thought she was where she was because of who her father was.
Her father would be pleased with her choice of fiancé, but she doubted very much he would be pleased with the fact that Keaka, Andrew and her were all pulling a fast one on him. They were doing something illegal to keep Andrew in the country.
And it made her nervous to know that she’d be lying to her father.
That her father had a hold on her.
All because she wanted to keep the peace between him and Keaka.
They were late to the staff meeting. The other surgeons were waiting for them. She could feel her father’s icy-cold stare boring into her as they stumbled in.
“Ah, Iolana and Andrew, thank you for joining us. You’re fifteen minutes late,” her father said, tapping his watch. “We all have schedules to keep.”
Iolana opened her mouth to say something, but Andrew stepped in front of her, taking her hand in his.
“I’m sorry, Dr. Haole, you can lay the blame solely on me.” Then he grinned at her and she had a sinking feeling about what he was going to say next.
No. Don’t you dare.
Only he didn’t seem to get her telepathic message.
“You see, Dr. Haole, I’ve been dating your daughter for some time and we were delayed because I just got down on one knee and asked her to marry me.”
Iolana plastered a fake smile on her face as the rest of the surgeons in the room, including her father, stared at them with their mouths hanging open. Even David was surprised, but then he smirked in disbelief. Which infuriated her.
“Iolana, is this true?” her father asked skeptically. And she knew he was thinking about David as well.
“Yes,” she managed to say without breaking her very wide smile. “Yes. It is. I’m in love with Andrew, but we’ve kept our relationship a secret because of past experiences.” She glared at David, making him uncomfortable because he pulled at his collar.
Good.
Andrew slipped his arm around her and pulled her close. “I don’t have to tell you what her answer is. It’s obvious she said yes, and I know there’s no ring yet, Dr. Haole, but there is one coming. I wanted to ask her to marry me at the fund-raising gala at the end of the week, but I just couldn’t wait. I love your daughter so much.”
“Yes,” Iolana said. “Yes. We’re so in love.”
“You sound like a robot,” Andrew whispered in her ear, but she ignored him.
“Well, let me be the first to congratulate you both,” her father said and Iolana watched him cross the room to shake Andrew’s hand, slapping him on the back before turning to her and hugging her. “You two will be Kahu Kai’s power surgical team. This is fantastic news. I’m so happy. Shocked, but very happy.”
Iolana was still in shock as her other colleagues got up to congratulate them. All she could do was smile as she tried not to telepathically explode Andrew’s head for announcing their farce of a marriage at a staff meeting.
In one fell swoop her reputation for being a bit of an ice queen had come crashing down.
And she wasn’t sure how she was going to survive being Andrew’s wife, let alone his fiancée, because she was pretty sure, given the way she felt now, she was going to kill him.
Andrew winked at her as her father shook his hand again.
Yep. She was going to kill him.
ANDREW KNEW THAT he had poked the beast, but he wasn’t in the least bit sorry about it. Lana had been testing him from the moment he’d walked into her office and she’d started making demands. When Jack had suggested that he ask his sister to participate in this marriage of convenience so he could get a green card he’d told Jack that he was nuts. One, because he was pretty sure Lana hated him. Two, they constantly butted heads. Three, he didn’t know what was in it for her to agree to this; no one liked their brother that much. Four, her father was Chief of Surgery and he’d told Dr. Haole that he would take care of this green card issue himself and five, he was attracted to Lana.
So attracted to her.
In his eyes, Lana was not the right choice.
Only Jack had been damn insistent.
And Andrew was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
You’re setting yourself up for a fall again.
He ignored that niggling thought. Whatever came of it came. He deserved whatever he had, good or bad. Even if it meant tempting his willpower in marrying, in name only, an attractive, fiery and passionate woman. Lana was tempting, but Andrew had willpower.
Are you sure?
From the moment he’d met her two years ago he had been enraptured by her. Her long black hair, dark eyes that sparkled in the waning sunlight and luscious lips that he desperately wanted to kiss. She had been standing on the beach at sunset in a wetsuit, holding a board and staring out over the ocean intensely. The way he used to stare at the waves after he surfed.
The way he longingly looked at the big waves because, since his accident, he had been unable to conquer the big waves. The groundswell waves that were generated by storms. The powerful waves that he wanted to conquer again.
Only he couldn’t. And he had no one to blame but himself.
Now he was fake
