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Two hours later, when Carlie drove off to the spa and Rylie was alone in blessed silence, she slumped on the couch with her laptop, ready to tackle the ever-growing pile of job assignments. Her work load seemed to be growing exponentially, unlike her paycheck. She earned a more-than-decent salary, but burnout was a common problem among the company’s programmers.
“At least it’s hump day,” she muttered, though her work often carried over to the weekends. Her email pinged with a message from her boss, and she groaned as she scanned it. He’d added another client to her workload, and this one would require traveling to assess the company’s needs. She wished she could reply with a letter of resignation, but that wouldn’t happen for the next thirty years, until her mortgage was paid off.
She gazed out the glass patio doors at the mountain view.
“It’s worth it,” she told herself. “I’ll do whatever I have to do to stay in this house.”
Instead of resigning, she jotted back a note with a few questions and promised to talk to their travel coordinator. Then she dove into her project, the one she’d been working on at ten o’clock the previous night when the sound of her sister and Jarrett’s voices in the family room had filtered upstairs, announcing their return.
Though Rylie had been invited to join them on their date, she’d had no desire to relive the experience of watching her sister with Jarrett. She’d done it night after night the first time they’d dated, and the painful images were still etched in her memory.
With her mind deep in the zone, she didn’t bother to answer the front doorbell, assuming it was a package delivery. Then a knock sounded from her back patio, and she jumped out of her skin. Behind the glass doors, Jarrett stood, irritatingly attractive in khakis and a button-down shirt that didn’t disguise his muscular torso.
Caught off guard, as usual, she didn’t have on a smidgeon of makeup.
Resigned, she padded to the door in bare feet and pulled it partway open, barring the entrance with her body. “Hi. Carlie’s not here.”
“I know. I’m the one who sent her to the spa.”
Dark brown eyes gazed at her, enticing her to jump in and swim in their chocolate depths. But he’d no doubt come over to talk. Ughh! She had to get rid of him. Fast.
“Well, I’m working, so I’ll see you later.”
She tried to push the door closed, but it stuck. Her gaze fell on the foot jammed in the doorway and followed up the leg and body to Jarrett’s smirking face.
“I’ve been trying to talk to you ever since you ran out of the house Saturday night.” Jarrett pushed his way inside, his overwhelming presence making her feel claustrophobic in her gigantic family room, though it was almost devoid of furniture. “Why do I get the feeling you’re avoiding me?”
“Maybe because you’re not particularly stupid.”
He chuckled. “So you admit you’re avoiding me?”
“Not avoiding as much as evading.” Rylie backed into the kitchen, rounding the island to put a barrier between them.
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
“Subtle differences,” she said. “Evasion involves cleverness, and I like to think that’s one thing I have going for me.”
He walked around the island, and she countered with a not-so-subtle move to keep herself on the opposite side.
“Then why are youevadingme? Are you mad because Carlie and I are getting married?”
What could she say? She couldn’t tell him she wished he’d chosen her instead.
“You’re not going into this marriage with a commitment. You’re doing it like you’re signing up for a year at a gym. It’s a recipe for disaster. You’re both going to get hurt if you don’t commit to love each other.” Her belly clenched as she asked the question she was afraid to hear the answer to. “I know you were in love with my sister nine years ago, but what about now?”
He leaned forward, bracing both hands on the granite countertop. “Honestly, it’s hard to say. You know how enthusiastic and outgoing your sister is. I think that’s why I fell in love with her in the first place. She was the opposite of me. She gave me balance.”
Rylie felt like she’d swallowed a sponge that got stuck halfway down her throat. He’d only confirmed what she already knew. She and Jarrett were too much alike. She could never give him what he needed. If she really loved him, she had to help him get back together with her sister. Carlie was the only one who could make him happy.
“And now?”
“When she left me, I went into a depression and barely dug my way out. And ever since then I haven’t even tried to date seriously.” His jaw hardened. “For nine years, she shut me out of her life. I’m not sure I can learn to trust her again. I’m not sure I can learn to trustanywoman.”
She knew exactly how he felt, being brushed off for nine years. But what good would it do to compare her heartache to his?
“That’s a harsh judgment on the rest of us, for something one woman did.”
“I knew I wasn’t being reasonable. But until now, I haven’t had a reason to change my mind. It was easier to simply avoid having a real relationship.”
