“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 engaged to Lana and he was slightly concerned that she would conquer him in the end.
This is not real. You’re not tying yourself down.
A real marriage and kids was not something he ever wanted. Not after his disaster of a childhood. He was selfish like his father and it was that selfishness which had caused the accident that injured his shoulder and killed his little sister.
He didn’t deserve happiness.
In a year he’d have his green card and this marriage would be over. He’d be free again.
And lonely.
“You’re engaged?” Dr. Keaka Haole asked, interrupting Andrew’s thoughts as he shut the door to the now empty conference room. “After what happened with David, I have to say I’m surprised, Iolana.”
Lana’s expression changed from one of daggers to slight anxiety as she bit her full, pink bottom lip.
“I know, but this isn’t like David. This is real. Which is why I’ve kept it quiet.”
Dr. Haole looked at him shrewdly. “You love my daughter?”
“Yes, sir,” Andrew said confidently. “My apologies for not asking for your blessing, but things kind of happened fast. We fell in love and...”
Dr. Haole put up his hand to silence him and Andrew knew better than to tick off Dr. Keaka Haole Sr. Keaka Haole Jr. might be somewhat of a jovial fellow, but Keaka Sr. was not a man you wanted to trifle with.
Andrew wasn’t terrified of him; he admired him.
The man was one of the best orthopedic surgeons in America. Andrew only wished when his shoulder had shattered that it was Dr. Keaka Haole who had operated on him and not that hack in northern Ontario who had botched his shoulder and ended his career as a surfer. Of course he deserved what he’d got that night.
“I’m not upset. Far from it,” Dr. Haole said, smiling, which was rare for him.
“You’re not?” Lana asked. Andrew couldn’t help but hear the shock in her voice and it was the same sense of shock that he was experiencing.
“Of course not. Dr. Tremblay is an excellent physician and an asset to this hospital. You couldn’t do any better, Iolana. As long as it’s real. I won’t have a repeat of what happened before.”
“Why, thank you, Dr. Haole. Coming from you that means so much.” Andrew tried to turn the conversation. He knew what had happened with David and Lana. Even if it was before his time. Everyone knew about it.
David didn’t deserve her.
And you do?
Only Lana knew this marriage was fake. According to the hospital drums, she’d been in love with David.
Lana glared at him quickly. “Dad, but...”
“Now, Iolana, it’s okay. Usually I don’t like it when you act impulsively, but this is really fantastic news. I’ve been telling you for years to settle down and get married.”
Andrew put his arm around Lana and pulled her closer, beaming. “Well, Dr. Haole, we wanted to keep our relationship private while we were dating. We are professionals, after all.”
Lana shrugged out of his embrace when her father’s back was turned and he winked at her. He hadn’t been expecting such easy acceptance from Dr. Haole. Andrew was not the kind of guy who got easy acceptance and approval from parental figures.
And then it hit him. He was deceiving a man he really admired for selfish reasons.
“So when will the wedding be?” Dr. Haole asked.
“As soon as possible,” Lana said. “Just something simple, probably at the city hall or the court house in front of a judge. We just...”
“We just want to get married,” Andrew said, finishing off Lana’s sentence.
“We can do a proper wedding in a week.”
“Father,