shampoo...you name it. They even bought about twenty outfits and pajamas.
It was exhausting, but Lana had to admit Kal had good taste. Everything he selected was beautiful. The furniture for the nursery was a soft gray color that complemented the star and moon bedding set. It was enchanting for a baby’s room. Hopefully Akela would love all her new things as much as Lana did. She was so young, she probably couldn’t appreciate most of it, but the toys Kal purchased last would be a big hit with the baby at least.
As they finished selecting the last few things, Lana took a step back and counted her blessings. There was no way she could make any of this happen without Kal. He was an amazing friend and person. Not just for agreeing to marry her, but for all of it.
She really didn’t understand why Kal was determined to stay single. He insisted he was too busy for that sort of thing, but she didn’t believe it. He was the kind of man who could make any dream into reality. If he wanted a family, all he had to do was snap his fingers and women would line up to volunteer for the job. He was tall and muscular with a build they would clamor to run their hands over. His hair was dark and wavy, and his skin was golden brown. His smile could melt her defenses. Honestly, when he was wearing one of his expensive suits and marching around the hotel like a man on a mission, she had a hard time figuring out why she didn’t just throw herself at him.
She joked about what a pain he could be, how stubborn he was, what a playboy he was to go through women the way he did. The truth was far different. She loved Kal. He was the best thing in her life, where she didn’t have much outside of her job and her friendship with him to rave about. If she really let herself think about it, she probably would want him. It was just a ridiculous thought, so she never let herself have it.
Kal was simply too good for her. He was educated, rich, cultured and from an important family. Yes, they could be friends and even fake husband and wife, but a real relationship with a woman like her? Even if he was open to marriage, he wouldn’t choose her. She was really surprised he agreed to fake marry her considering her sister was in jail and her family was such a mess. Their friendship made it possible and she would cling to that for dear life. It was better than any romantic relationship, anyway.
It sure made dating hard, though. Where would she find a man to measure up to Kal? It was impossible, and she’d certainly tried. Over the last few years, she’d gone through a steady stream of losers. None even came close to Kal. Not only was he handsome and ridiculously rich, but he was funny, kind, thoughtful... She couldn’t have chosen a better best friend. And come tomorrow, a better husband, even if just for show. All she’d expected him to do was sign on the dotted line, hold her hand in court and act like a loving husband in public. Instead he was paying a small fortune, fully committing to making this work. All to make Lana happy.
Lana didn’t know why Kal was single, but it was easy to see why she couldn’t commit to someone else.
Kal straightened the bow tie of his white tuxedo and looked himself over in the mirror. He certainly looked like a groom. He was as nervous as he imagined a groom would be. But that spark of excitement was missing. It just all felt awkward. Backward. Definitely not how he’d intended to spend his Tuesday.
Marriage hadn’t always been an alien concept to Kal. When he was younger it was something he knew he would do someday, but reality intruded. When he was twenty, a car accident claimed the lives of his parents and left his brother blind. Kal realized then that no one was invincible, including him. He’d grown up so sheltered and privileged that he almost thought nothing bad could ever happen to him. Then, in an instant, he’d lost the most important people in his life. No warnings, no goodbyes, just gone forever.
Suddenly he had more responsibilities piled on him than most kids his age. His grandparents helped with the hotel while Kal finished college and Mano adjusted to his disability, but Kal eventually stepped up to lead the family when he graduated. That was enough family and responsibility for him. Marriage was not in the cards for Kal. He wasn’t sure he could go through something like that again—getting attached to someone else just to lose her...or to leave a family behind to pick up the pieces after his death. It seemed like too much risk for the potential reward.
So why, then, was he pinning an orchid to his lapel and heading out the door to the Mau Loa’s wedding pavilion? Well, because he just couldn’t say no to Lana.
When she’d looked up at him, her dark brown eyes pleading with him to say yes...there was no question that he would do whatever she asked of him. He just wanted to make sure she was serious and set boundaries for this “marriage.”
It wasn’t that Lana wasn’t beautiful. She was exactly his type. Therein lay the problem. The day they met, Kal knew she could very easily be the one to make him throw caution to the wind and fall in love. Since they had such different priorities for their futures, he knew better than to let that happen. Instead he’d placed her in the friend bucket. It was the smartest thing to do considering how important their friendship was to him and that she was technically his employee.
Knowing that Lana just wanted a wedding for show had been both a relief and a challenge for him. A part of him had always wondered if they would be as great together as a couple as they were as friends. He suspected so. Being this close, having to touch her and kiss her to keep up their public facade, and yet to still have to maintain that friendly distance when they were alone would be difficult. It was like letting himself have a single bite of his favorite dessert—just enough to whet his appetite, but not enough to satisfy him. It was easier to just avoid the dish entirely, especially when the dish was as sensual and tasty as Lana.
Giving himself one last glance in the mirror, Kal stepped out of his house and drove his Jaguar to the hotel. His home was on the far corner of the property, with a sprawling golf course separating it from the rest of the resort. Most days he would walk or take the golf cart, but it seemed wrong to have his new bride hop on a golf cart after their ceremony.
The wedding pavilion was right on the beach. The bright white gazebo had room for a wedding party of ten and seating for up to a hundred guests on the lawn in front of it. It was raised up, overlooking the ocean and surrounded by lush plants to give some privacy from the tourists sunbathing nearby.
Kal had built it because he thought it was good business. They didn’t have room for one at the Waikiki location, so he’d been certain to reserve a place for it to be built here. Hawaii was a huge destination wedding locale and they needed to get in on the action. Not once had he ever thought he would use it for himself.
The traditional Hawaiian officiant, the kahuna pule, was already there, waiting under the pavilion to start the wedding. The short, round, older man with snow-white hair wore the traditional crown of haku lei. A small table in front of him was already set up with everything that was needed for the ceremony—the conch shell, the white orchid and green maile leis, and a wooden Koa bowl filled with ocean water and ti leaves to bless the rings.
Kal felt his breast pocket in a moment of panic and realized that he did remember the rings. Earlier that morning, they’d gotten their marriage license and taken care of all the legal details at Dexter’s office. They’d then stopped at a jewelry store to select two simple but attractive wedding bands. Lana had insisted that he’d already spent too much already and flat-out refused a diamond. It felt odd not to buy one, although buying a wedding ring at all was odd enough.
All that was left was for the kahuna pule to perform the ceremony and sign the paperwork, and he and Lana were married. The thought sent a momentary surge of panic though him. He’d tried to suppress it the last few days, focusing on details and plans, but things
