Page 22 of Trust

“I don’t need pity.”

The anger that vibrated in her voice set his alarm bells off. “No. We can help each other. You know Royal has some kind of idea that I want to meet one of her idiot friends. Rick wants you back, apparently.”

She snorted. “No chance of that.”

He cocked his head to the side. “So we can both act as buffers. You save me from the Insta girlies, and I save you from Slick Rick.”

Her mouth twitched. “That does sound nice. I have too many things to worry about. I don’t want to have to mess with his idiocy.”

“So, we can pretend to be each other’s plus one. Do you think you can handle it?”

She frowned at him. “What do you mean?”

“If you get seen with me a lot over the next couple of days, there might be gossip.”

She rolled her eyes. “Sure. And they will just say you are hanging out with your best friend’s little sister.”

He should be awarded an Oscar since she didn’t seem to understand the depth of his interest.

“To make it work, we have to sell the story.”

She cocked her head and stared at him. “What are you after?”

“We need to seem to be interested in each other. Even just a little bit will keep Rick at bay. And let’s face it, those friends of Royal are all intimidated by you.”

Another snort. “Have you been drinking?”

“You really don’t see how insanely amazing you are?”

Her breath caught. “Don’t be nice to me.”

Jakob laughed. “That’s a first.”

“I can’t handle it, Jakob. I hate games, and if this is some kind of insane game you’re playing with me, just stop it. I don’t want to be friendly, then have you flip that switch again.”

He blinked. “What the bloody hell are you talking about?”

“Never mind.” She said as she quickly rose. “I have the early morning meeting and the stupid fitting, so I’ll see you at the rehearsal dinner.”

She was practically running away and leaving her extra piece of cheesecake behind. His first reaction was to stand there and stare at her like an idiot. Then, he hurried after her. He caught her right before she escaped through the front door.

“Hold up,” he said, grabbing her hand before Lani could put on her shoes. “What the hell, Lani?”

She was looking anywhere but at him again, so he pulled her closer. He could feel her pulse thrumming in her wrist. Slipping a finger under her chin, he gently urged her to look up at him. Wariness filled her golden eyes. He had never seen another woman with her eyes. They pierced right through his soul.

“What’s going on? You don’t run from a fight.”

Not that he wanted to fight her. Fightforher, yes. Although, he wasn’t ready to reveal that.

“It’s been a tough few months.”

Pain and exhaustion filtered through her voice. He would have come sooner if he had known this was happening with her brother. Of course, when one is walking around with his head up his arse, it was hard to pay attention to what needed to be done. Lani needed support.

“I shouldn’t have…just, let’s forget all that.”

Fragile. That’s a word he never thought he would associate with Lani Kingston. Something was going on that she wasn’t telling him about.

“This wedding… I’m happy for my brother, even though Royal isn’t someone I would pick for him.”

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