Page 85 of Trust
“I’ve missed you.” She leaned back and looked up at him. “I’m sorry about the baby.”
“I am, too. Not sure if Royal and I would have made it, but I wanted that baby.”
She squeezed him. “You would have been a great dad. And you will be when you find the right woman.”
He rolled his eyes. “I am off the market for a while. I have a lot of work to do on myself and the company.”
She nodded. “As long as you leave a day free to walk me down the aisle.”
“Aw, Lani, you’re gonna make me cry. I don’t deserve it, but thank you. It would be my honor to walk you down the aisle.”
“All better out here?” Jakob called out.
“He was really nervous about buying you that ring,” Ben whispered loud enough for her to hear. That warmed her heart even more.
When she looked around her brother at Jakob, he frowned and strode over.
“Why are you crying?” He tugged her away from her brother and into his arms. “I said you could come over as long as you were nice to her.”
She peeked at her brother, who looked amused at Jakob’s antics.
“Jake, they’re happy tears.” She leaned back. “We’re going to work on communicating more.”
He sighed. “Good.”
“How was your phone call?”
“It was fine.”
“There was no phone call.”
He shared a look with her brother. “Your sister already had my number. And no, there wasn’t. But I did call in an order for lunch. It will be here soon. Come look at our new home, Ben. It has an elevator, which, according to Emily, makes me Ritchie Rich. She spent all her time in it during the walk-through.”
Several Months Later
A light breeze filled the press area for the premiere on the beach for Task Force Honolulu. Jakob could hear the buzz of the fans that were filing in. The sun was sinking lower and lower, and his stomach was doing all sorts of somersaults.
As always, he looked for his constant. The one person who centered him. Lani was at the back of the press room, her smile shining. She had been the one who told him it was a good idea to have a premier on the beach. It was the day before the TV premiere, so the people of Hawai’i had a chance to see it first, as they should. It didn’t take much for the studio to agree to it.
“How excited are you about the new premiere of Task Force Honolulu?” Simon Andrews asked Jakob, pulling him back into the conversation.
It was a stupid question, but he had played this game for a long time. “I’m beyond thrilled. I’m so glad the people of Hawai’i have accepted us.”
He saw Emily roll her eyes. She stood next to Lani, ensuring no one bothered his fiancée. She wasn’t on the job. She just saw it as her job to keep people from messing with Lani. Aaron was on the other side of Emily, his gaze always on alert. Ben stood next to Lani. The siblings had been working hard to repair their relationship, even if Ben took it to the extreme to become more of a workaholic.
There were a few more questions for him and the rest of the cast before it finally ended, and they could join the fans on the beach. He strode through the reporters to get to Lani.
The plans for their wedding were in full swing, but they were waiting until after he’d wrapped filming for the first season.
“Where do they get these idiot reporters?” Emily asked. “Like, if you didn’t care about the show, you would have said so. Hey, Mix, what are you doing here?”
Sure enough, Ian, his sister Autumn, her husband, and the TFH Team Bravo were there. He had it on good authority that the agent still did not like his nickname.
“We got special tickets from Jake. Why are you here?”
“I’m Lani’s bestie.”
“Exactly,” Lani said, fist-bumping Emily. His own family were making their way over to them. They were a little late, thanks to a major accident on the Pali Highway.
Seeing everyone there to support him almost had him tearing up. He had to be the luckiest man alive at the moment. “Let’s all head down to the beach. The cast and our guests have an area set aside to sit.
He waited for everyone to file past, then slipped his arm around Lani’s waist.
“Ready for your big premiere?” she asked, smiling up at him.
All his nerves dissolved. “I’m ready for anything with you by my side.”
Together, they walked out of the press area and out into the rest of their lives.
