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“That sounds dangerous,” she said. “Abyss. We might get lost in it.”
“We might,” Jarrett said, playing the game. “Especially if we went too deep.”
“Exactly why both an abyss and a biss should be avoided at all costs.”
The corners of her lips tugged into a smug smile. She’d won that round, but he wasn’t ready to give up.
“I don’t know… abyss with you… I can think of worse things to fall into.”
“Yeah,” she murmured. “Like love.”
Her comment was a harsh wakeup call. How easy would it be to let himself fall in love with Rylie? She was as gorgeous as her sister. And though they both admitted they had too many similarities, he enjoyed her company more every day. But someone had hurt her, and she’d completely closed off her feelings. He had zero chance with her, and he needed to remember that. Besides, he was probably confusing his attraction to Rylie with his attraction to her sister. How could he trust himself to know the difference?
“Okay, we’ll stick tobugs.”
“Bugs?”
“Yeah. Buddy-hugs!”
* * *
Rylie wasn’t looking forwardto meeting with her sister, but she hoped it would clear the air between them. Carlie had been fairly curt during their last few phone calls. Jarrett promised she didn’t have to say anything, if she would only be there for support. It seemed like what a good wuddy would do. She refrained from commenting, even when Carlie suggested Rylie be painted as the conniving sister who stole Jarrett away.
“Since I’m the only one whose reputation is actually at risk, I would think you’d be willing to go along with this story,” Carlie said.
“Except it’s not true, and I’m not going to lie.”
“It’s sort of true,” she said, lifting her chin in the air. “Rylie did kind of steal you away from me.”
“I don’t want to get into a public war of words,” he said. “But I won’t let Rylie take the fall for this. She’s the innocent one.”
As if I wasn’t already in love with him, he defends me to my sister.
“None of this would’ve happened if you hadn’t suggested I use the marriage as publicity,” she said. “I originally offered to keep the whole thing a secret until we had to tell people about it.”
“You’re right. That was my idea.”
No! Don’t take the blame.
“Well, sort of my idea,” Jarrett continued. “I was talking about using a big wedding as publicity, once we were certain about our plans. Instead, you leaked news to the press while we were still exploring our options. That wasn’t my fault.”
“I didn’t tell Sabrina to do that. She did it on her own.”
“And I believe Sabrina should find a way out of this that doesn’t involve lying about it.”
“The story I suggested was Sabrina’s idea, and I think we should go with it. We have to say something. The press release is scheduled for tomorrow!” Carlie waved her hands in the air the way she did when she was panicking.
“All I intend to say is that Rylie and I are married. That’s it. No explanation needed. The rest is no one else’s business.”
He almost seemed more upset about talking to the media than about not marrying Carlie. Could it be he’d decided he was glad he wasn’t with Carlie? Was he starting to see that he and Rylie could be a real match, after all? Rylie kept a straight face, but inside she was dancing in circles.
“I have an idea.” Matthew leaned forward, steepling his hands on his desk, until he had everyone’s attention. “The way I see it, we have to leave Gabe out of the story. But leaving the adoption out makes Carlie look like she got dumped.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to say. Thanks, Matthew.” Carlie gave him an adoring smile. “What’s your idea?”
“What if you announce you’re engaged to someone else? The media would be all over it. And meanwhile, Jarrett announces he’s married to your identical twin, and everyone will assume the original story was just someone getting the two of you mixed up.”
“Great idea.” Carlie slumped in her chair. “Only, where am I going to find a fiancé?”
