Page 37 of Trust

She chuckled. “Sorry. I’m being a prat.”

“You are, but you’re pregnant and have every right to be.”

There was a long moment of silence. “You sound better than you have in a while.”

“I…” he sighed and stepped into an alcove. “I told her how I felt, and she didn’t kick me in the bullocks.”

“Honesty is always the best way.”

And right then, he felt like a snake. He hadn’t told Lani he had kept his hands off her all these years because of her brother. He would. One day. That is if she decided that they were meant to be together. There was no reason to drive a bigger wedge between her brother and her. His relationship with Royal had already driven a wedge between them. The last thing Jakob wanted to do was cause her more pain.

“I’m giving her space to think. I kind of freaked her out.”

“You didn’t pounce on her?”

“No! Why would you think I did that?”

“Jake, this is me. You’ve wanted this woman for years.”

“How would you know about that?”

“It was the way you would say her name. There was always something there. And I saw a picture of you. It was you, Ben, and Lani. You were looking at her like she was your whole world.”

“Huh.”

He thought he had been better at hiding his interest. And he knew what picture Jules was talking about. It was a couple of years ago at the premiere of his spy thrillerFalse God. They had been reminiscing about Jakob’s first surfing lesson from the siblings all those years ago. He had wiped out almost every time. Lani belted out a laugh, and his whole world lit up.

“Amazing that no one else picked up on it.”

“I know you well. I’m sure no one else saw it, but I assume I could since I’ve known you longer than all the jerks on the gossip sites. Plus, weren’t you involved with Michelle Roberts then?”

He bit back a sigh. Even his family didn’t realize how many of his “relationships” were fake. Michelle was a lesbian who neededto win more leading lady parts. He had fit the bill. What he never understood was why, in this day and age, someone as talented as she was had to do fake relationships. She had been nominated for an Oscar four times, two of those times before she’d turned eighteen. It was stupid, and she felt she needed to pretend.

“Yeah.”

A gaggle of sunburned tourists wandered by. They were loud and obnoxious frat boys. “What are you doing?”

“I’m at Turtle Bay for the wedding.”

“Argh, of course you are. Seriously, this baby is eating all my brain cells. It’s annoying.”

Nic had complained about the same thing.

“I’m about to hunt up the room they reserved for the groomsmen.”

“Ah, okay. Have fun. Love you.”

“Love you,” he said. He hung up and turned and almost ran straight into Royal.

“I didn’t know you were dating anyone.”

How long had she been listening to his side of the conversation? She had snuck up on him easily enough for such a usually loud person. A sliver of unease slipped through him. There was always something a bit off about the woman.

“I was talking to my sister. Not that it’s any business of yours.”

Her eyes narrowed, and that vacant, stupid look dissolved into anger. Then, it slipped away. It was a second or two, but he could still feel it. The woman wasn’t at all what she seemed to be.

Before she could respond, he heard someone call out her name. They both turned in the direction of the voice and found her friend Sienna walking toward them. Great. Just what he needed. Royal had kept throwing out hints about her friend being single the night before at the rehearsal dinner. He knew she was involved with, or had been involved with, Rick.

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