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“I was thinking… uh… if you don’t have someone else in mind… uh… I could be your fiancé.” His face went crimson. “You know… uh… just until you don’t need me—”
Carlie jumped to her feet with a gasp. “You would do that for me? Do you mean it?”
“It’s no big deal, really.” He gave her a toothy grin as he stood up from his chair. “I have some work I need to do in the LA office, so we could be seen together while you’re filming.”
Was Matthew really doing this right in front of Jarrett? Seemed like a really bad idea.
“Matthew! You’re the best!” She rounded the desk and flung her arms around him. “This is so great. It solves everything.”
His jaw fell open, but he recovered quickly, smiling like he’d won the lottery. Everyone looked happy.
Everyone except Jarrett. His hands balled into fists.
“How long has this been going on?”
Matthew gripped Carlie’s arms and pushed her away. “Nothing’s going on, Jarrett.”
“Nothing? It sure doesn’t look like nothing.” Jarrett’s eyes squinted.
“I promise. We’ve never even been on a date,” Matthew said. “Tell him, Carlie.”
“He’s right, Jarrett. Matthew and I are just friends. All we’ve done is talk on the phone. We’ve never been out together,” she said, looking toward the ceiling. “I mean, we watched a couple of movies together this weekend, but that was at Rylie’s house, so it wasn’t a date or anything.”
Jarrett’s eyes turned to granite. He stood and held out his hand. “Let’s go, Rylie.”
“Wait, Jarrett,” Matthew followed him, grabbing his arm. “You’re overreacting.”
Jarrett shook his hand off. “I don’t think so.”
Ignoring their continued pleas, he strode down the hall so fast Rylie could barely keep up. He was no less angry by the time they reached the car.
“Want me to drive?” Rylie asked.
“I’ll be fine,” he grunted, starting the car and driving in silence, though less aggressively than she feared.
Should she point out that marrying Carlie was no longer an option? That he didn’t really have the right to keep Carlie from dating his attorney or anyone else? Why bother? She knew from experience when you’re in love with someone, it’s impossible to listen to reason.
As they pulled in the driveway and turned off the engine, Rylie didn’t speak, sensing Jarrett was finally going to open up.
“Matthew was the one who advised me to marry you,” he said, his jaw gritted tight. His palm slammed the steering wheel. “He was supposed to be representing my best interests, but the whole time he was after Carlie. I was an idiot not to see it.”
She managed to squeeze her eyes shut and force her emotions back into their iron safe. Barely. It was one of her finest moments of self-control. And one of the worst moments of her life. For a short while she’d almost let herself believe Jarrett wasn’t still interested in Carlie. But the cold hard truth remained. Rylie would always be the woman he got stuck with because things didn’t work out with her sister. Never again would she let herself hope otherwise.
Chapter 15
Jarrett watched Rylie putter around the house that evening, a little more subdued than normal. Probably because of the stress of the meeting with Carlie. He shouldn’t have made her go. But when he realized Matthew had been secretly pursuing Carlie all this time, Jarrett had been especially glad to have her there.
It was difficult to describe how he could feel so betrayed. After all, he didn’t really regret marrying Rylie instead of Carlie. By all measures, she was a more devoted mother to Gabe than Carlie would ever have been. But that didn’t change the fact that his own attorney had manipulated him for personal reasons.
Jarrett didn’t usually let his emotions get the better of him, but he’d lost his temper with Matthew. Rylie had been a rock, sitting in the car while he spouted his fury. Without passing judgment, she’d listened while he ranted on. She’d appeared to be unaffected by the whole incident. But later that evening, as the men beat the women at spades and Rylie didn’t react, Jarrett knew something was wrong.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine.”
“Son, I’ll warn you,” his dad said, “when a woman says they’refine, it means the opposite.”
Her lips curved up. “I really am fine.”
