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Her father would approve of her choice.
Would he?
Her father had approved of David and look how that turned out. She’d become the laughingstock of the hospital, falling for a womanizer like David.
Her father had been disappointed instead of consoling when it had ended.
People pitied her.
Poor Dr. Lana Haole.
She hated the pity. Hated that her reputation had been destroyed.
It would just be for a year or two. It wouldn’t be all that horrible to marry him for convenience sake.
Jack was grinning at her, probably because he knew that he was wearing her down and she was going to say yes.
“He has to ask me,” Iolana said. “That’s my condition. If he wants the world to believe that we’re an item and that this marriage is legitimate to protect his keister, he’s going to have to get on one knee with a ring and ask me.”
Jack winced. “A ring?”
“A ring.” Iolana got up and walked to the door of her office, giving her little brother a subtle hint that she wanted him to leave. “And a nice, big, expensive...”
The words died in her throat when she saw that Andrew was on the other side of the door, a hand raised as if he was about to knock. He grinned in that boyish way that simultaneously made her melt and grated on her nerves. How many times had they butted heads on the ER floor? And he always ended arguments with that smile which infuriated her.
“I see Jack’s spoken to you.”
Iolana crossed her arms and glared at him. All he did was grin. “Dr. Tremblay,” she acknowledged.
He slipped his hands into the pockets of his white lab coat and grinned, leaning forward. “You know, if you glare at me like that no one is going to believe that we’re supposed to be getting married.”
Iolana growled as he moved past her and into her office. She shut the door and stood in front of it, glaring both at her brother and Andrew.
Andrew cocked his eyebrow. “You don’t look too happy about this arrangement.”
“And what about this arrangement should I be happy about?” she demanded.
“I get to stay here and work. I get to continue on your brother’s training.”
“And why should that make me happy?” she asked.
“Oh, come now, Dr. Haole. You treasure me and my experience.”
“Well, I’ll leave you two to figure out the details of this arrangement,” Jack said nervously as he walked toward the door. Iolana fixed him with an icy glare as he moved past her and slipped out into the hallway.
“Hey, Keaka, not a word to Dad!” she called out after her brother, before slamming the door again and facing her intended.
“Keaka, eh? You must be ticked off at him.” Andrew didn’t look at her. Instead he wandered around, looking at everything but avoiding eye contact with her. Which was safer for him because she was sure her look would grill him on the spot.
“I’m not happy about this, Dr. Tremblay.” She marched to her desk and took a seat in her chair. She wanted to put something solid between the two of them. She folded her hands on her desk. “There are stipulations to this arrangement.”
He cocked one of those blond eyebrows of his and adjusted his glasses. “Stipulations?”
“You want this to be believable, don’t you? I mean, if Immigration were to find out, our careers and the reputation of this hospital would be at stake. Jail time as well. Besides, I’m not irresponsible. I would’ve dealt with this long ago, so as not to resort to this.”
He nodded, but she could tell by the way his lips were firmly pressed together he didn’t enjoy her lecture. He just tolerated it. “Fair enough. What did you have in mind, Dr. Haole?”
“I want a public proposal,” she said. “And I want a ring.”
“You want a ring?” he asked in disbelief that wiped the haughtiness off his face.
“We have to make this as real as possible.” Iolana couldn’t help but grin. “I’m risking a lot.”
“Is that so?” He leaned over her desk, those blue eyes of his boring into her. “Any particular cut?”
She held out her hand, wiggling her fingers in front of him and grinning, knowing that she was bugging him immensely. “I’m partial to an emerald cut, but I’ll leave that up to you. There has to be some romance in this arrangement.”
Andrew made a face. “Is there anything else?”
“Well, we’re going to have to suss out living arrangements, I suppose. I guess it would make the most sense if you move in with me, and we’ll have to sign a prenuptial agreement.”
“It’s not a real marriage,” he said and then looked highly insulted. “What’s wrong with my place?”
“Don’t you live in an apartment? I have a house. And it is a real marriage—we’re really getting married. It’s not a make-believe marriage. I have to protect my assets.”
“Fine.” He straightened and crossed his arms. “So when am I supposed to make this public announcement of our engagement?”
“I’m not sure. Perhaps at the fund-raiser at the end of the week? That would be a good place for you to get down on one knee and give me a ring.”
“You have this all figured out, and so fast.” Andrew grinned then. “You’re secretly pleased by this, aren’t you? I think there’s more to you than meets the eye.”
Heat bloomed in her cheeks. “I think fast on my feet. That’s all.”
“No, I think you secretly want this. You want me.”
She was seeing red. “I could turn you in.”
“You won’t, though.”
“Won’t I?”
“No, because you’re attracted to me. You just don’t want to admit it.”
She glared at him. “Now I remember why I didn’t want to do this. You’re an arrogant jerk.”
“So why are you doing this if you detest me so?”
“Business. You bring revenue into this hospital.”
“That I can’t deny.” He grinned. “Is that all?”
No.
He was her ticket to have people stop pitying her. Including David.
“I love my brother and he thinks you’ll bring him to the surfing championships.”
Andrew nodded. “Jack is talented and he will get to the finals. He will be a champion.”
Iolana smiled then. “That’s 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.
CHAPTER TWO (#ud85dd6c1-96c0-53b9-a918-0bc7b94af740)
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.
