Page 21 of Trust

That was so not like his best friend. Again, he needed to figure out what was happening, but less than seventy-two hours before the wedding, it would be hard to corner his friend.

“I will admit that I took perverse pleasure that he hadn’t noticed. I kept a daily tally for a while.”

“Does Royal know?”

“I’m sure of it.”

Yeah, there was a chance she did, and a woman who was as mean-spirited as Royal was, there was a good chance she did all of that on purpose.

“Are you still hung up on him?”

He waited for the answer, knowing there was a chance it could crush him. She didn’t seem happy to see Rick at dinner.

She chuckled. “No. I’m sad I’m not as close as I once was with my brother, but maybe that’s normal. Both your siblings are married now. Did that happen with them?”

He wanted to say yes just to ease her pain, but he couldn’t lie to her. Not anymore.

“No. If anything, it’s worse. My brother sends daily baby pics.”

He pulled out his phone and showed her a pic of his niece, Maria. She smiled. Her whole face lit up when she stared down at the little diva who had Jakob twisted around her little chubby fingers.

“And I wish Jules would stop sending me daily rundowns of her pregnancy symptoms.”

“No, you don’t.”

“You’re right. Well, sort of. Jules went into detail about delivery, and, seriously, it was disgusting.” He shivered. She laughed, and he felt as if he had won the Oscar, the Golden Globe, and a SAG all at once. That little chuckle meant more to him than anything at the moment. It left his heart lighter, knowing he had made her laugh. “I’ll be seeing them probably on Sunday.”

“I understand you ditched surfing tomorrow?”

They planned a day at the beach for the guys in the wedding party. “That’s early in the morning. I have a tele meeting with my agent, and I need to catch up on some business for WulfIndustries.” But he couldn’t let his earlier worry go. “Are you sure you’re over Rick?”

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Yes. Sadly, I’m not sure how into the relationship I was in the first place. When I learned about Rick screwing all kinds of groupies, my ego hurt more than my heart. That should have told me something.”

“Your ego?”

“Yes. There’s one thing I can’t take, and that’s anything that makes me look stupid.”

He could understand that. She’d graduated as valedictorian of her high school, and he knew she’d graduated at the top of her class for her undergraduate studies and law school.

“So, you saved me from dealing with Royal, Rick, and Sienna.”

“That and I was ready to get out of there. The flight was starting to drag me down, and Royal and her friend were annoying.” It had been apparent that Royal had decided to use her friend for two things. One to embarrass Lani. More than likely, she hoped that Lani would lose her cool and storm out. That’s how he knew Royal didn’t know Lani.

Her second plan was to get him interested in her vapid friend. They were both talking about the famous people they knew all through dinner. Jakob didn’t get it, but maybe people not in the industry would be impressed. He wasn’t just an actor. His childhood had been filled with playdates with royals. True royals. Being famous didn’t make you more important than other people.

“You have no idea,” she said. “But I feel like I owe you. I mean, I’m getting cheesecake out of the deal, too.”

He blinked. Had he ever met a more beautiful woman? He didn’t think so. He knew many movie stars and models, and yes, they were pretty. But Lani, her beauty came from within. It only enhanced her physical beauty more.

And in that instant, he knew exactly what he wanted.

“You don’t have a plus one?”

She shook her head. “The truth is, I’ll be so busy at the wedding I probably won’t be able to sit down.”

“Be my date.”

Silence greeted his comment.

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