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, you don’t have to spend the money,” Lana protested.
“Nonsense. You’re my only daughter and we’re going to do this right. I’ll have your stepmother arrange everything so that it won’t interrupt your surgical schedule.” Dr. Haole stood up. “I’ll call her up now and give her the news.”
“Thank you,” Lana said, but Andrew could tell she was unhappy. Even as her father took her in his arms and hugged her.
“I am so happy you have finally decided to settle down, Iolana. It means so much to me.” Then Dr. Haole shook his hand.
“Thank you, Dr. Haole,” Andrew managed to say, but he felt uneasy about the idea of a big wedding. Even though a big wedding would convince Immigration that it wasn’t a fake wedding.
Only it is.
“Well, I have rounds to make,” Lana said. “I’ll talk to you later, Dad.”
Andrew nodded and followed Lana out of the conference room. She didn’t say anything as she walked quickly back to her office, but she didn’t slam the door in his face either. She allowed him to come into her office and he shut the door.
“Well, you wanted a public proposal. Sorry I didn’t get down on one knee.” It was a halfhearted apology.
“That’s not how I wanted it to happen.” She was flustered. He’d never seen her like this and he felt bad because it was his fault it had been announced like that.
“I know, you mentioned one knee and a ring...”
She glared at him. “I would’ve preferred anything over that!”
“Why? It went well. You were nervous about telling your father. Jack was nervous over the idea of your father finding out. Now he knows and he seems quite thrilled with it.”
She sighed. “Surprisingly. That actually caught me off guard, but then he’s been harping on at me for the last five years to get married.”
“Did you want to plan it?” Andrew asked.
“No,” she snapped. “My stepmother will do a fine job. I really didn’t want this in the first place!”
“I know.”
“If you wanted to stay here you should’ve contacted an Immigration lawyer and done the right thing from the beginning, then we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“I know,” Andrew agreed. “Time slipped away from me. I was training the team and your brother. I kept putting it off...”
“Excuses,” she raged. Then she sat down in her office chair. “You’re a good doctor, but you are so disorganized.”
“Office work is not my forte.” His shoulder started to burn and he winced.
“I’ll say,” she groused and then looked at him as he rolled his shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
“Just a twinge. Nothing more.”
“Your shoulder hurts?”
“Nothing,” he snapped as the pain hit him. “Look, I’d better go.”
Lana got up and stepped in front of him. “I’m an orthopedic surgeon. I can take a look at your shoulder.”
“I’m a surgeon too,” he said. Although he didn’t practice any more. He kept to the physical therapy side of sports medicine. Since his right shoulder repair had been botched the strength in his arm and hand came and went.
He wouldn’t risk a patient’s life on uncertainty.
“Let me look.”
He sighed. “Anything to get my shirt off, eh?”
“Fine,” she said through gritted teeth. “Be in pain.”
“It’s just a pulled muscle.”
Liar.
He could’ve had Dr. Haole fix it, but again, he hadn’t got around to it. Training Jack to make the World Surfing Championship was all that mattered. He didn’t have the time to go under the knife, recover and then go through physical therapy.
He didn’t have a year or more to waste.
What was done was done. It was a good reminder.
Besides, he didn’t want Lana touching him. If she touched him he knew it would test his control. Since he’d first laid eyes on her he’d thought about her in a way he shouldn’t.
This had to be an uncomplicated marriage.
He had to keep his hands to himself, as much as he didn’t want to.
“Fine,” she snapped.
“I have rounds to make.”
She nodded, avoiding eye contact. “Me too.”
“I guess I’ll see you at this farce of a wedding in a week.”
“I think before then. You want people to believe we’re in love and you just announced it to the whole hospital that we’re getting married.”
“Not the whole hospital.”
“You blabbed it to all the heads and chief residents that were in that meeting. You might as well have told everyone.” Then she smiled a sad smile. “Word gets around fast here.”
He chuckled. “You may be right on that one. So, would you like to go on a date tonight?”
“A date?”
“Yeah, we might as well have one, seeing how we’re getting married and everything.”
“Okay. That sounds...” She was cut off when her phone started ringing. “Dr. Haole speaking. Yes? How far out? Okay, I’ll be down there in five.”
“What was that?” Andrew asked.
“The emergency room. Incoming trauma; they need an orthopedic surgeon and I’m on call. I forgot. We’ll have to do that date another night.”
“I’ll meet you down in the ER. I’ll lend you a hand.”
“You’ve never done an ER rotation since you got here,” she said, astounded. “What about training?”
“The training can wait tonight. Jack will understand.” Jack probably wouldn’t, but Andrew didn’t care. He wanted to be in that ER tonight. Show a united front to their upcoming wedding so it was believable.
He might not have surgical privileges, but he was still a doctor.
He could still help when it came to trauma.