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“And then you left.”
“Right. And when I met Anton, he moved so fast he kind of swept me off my feet. I was head over heels in love with him, and now I can’t even stand to think about him.”
“You were young and naive, and Anton took advantage of you.”
“Thank you for saying that.” A huge tear rolled down Carlie’s cheek. “I kind of felt like I deserved what happened to me.”
“Oh, Carlie! No!” Rylie leaned to wrap her arms around her sister. “I hope I didn’t say anything to make you feel like that.”
Carlie clung to her, tears wetting Rylie’s shoulder. “I never even read my contracts. Anton said he would take care of everything, and I trusted him.”
“He was a scumbag,” Rylie said, not mentioning that she’d expressed a similar sentimentbeforeCarlie married him.
“Thanks for not saying how stupid I was to trust him.” Carlie sat back in her chair and cast her gaze toward the floor. “Everyone always talked about how you got all the brains, and it used to make me so jealous. When I left for Nashville, I was determined to prove everybody wrong by making all my own decisions. All I did was prove them right.”
“That didn’t prove anything but the fact that Anton was a jerk. You’re as smart as I am, but you tend to be impulsive.”
“I know. I wish I could be like you. I wish I were more… uhmm…”
“Boring?” Rylie suggested.
“You’re not boring,” Carlie said.
“I am, but I’ve accepted it. Everyone always asks me how it feels to have such a talented sister,” Rylie said. “Talk about being jealous!”
“Well, I’ve made a lot of mistakes, and one of them was Jarrett. And who knew, back when he was a geeky grad student, he’d turn out to be a billionaire?”
“You’re kidding me, right?” Rylie took another sip of water. “Jarrett told me today he works for Phantom Enterprises. They pay well, but I don’t think he’s a billionaire.”
Carlie’s mouth gaped open. “Jarrett doesn’t work there, Rylie. Heownsit!”
Rylie sucked in air, pulling a mouthful of water with it. After about two minutes of violent coughing, she could finally speak. “Are you sure Jarrett’s the owner? Because I thought that cowboy guy owned it.”
“You mean Cole Miller? He’s the one most people know. But there’re four guys in the corporation, and all of them are equal partners. Finn Anderson is one of them. You’ve probably heard of him. I forget the other guy’s name, but he was Anton’s favorite. Anton was a huge gamer, and he was obsessed with Phantom Enterprises. I purposefully never told him I’d dated Jarrett.”
Rylie’s stomach churned as she tried to remember their conversation that morning. No wonder Jarrett had looked like he was about to bust out laughing.
Jarrett’s a billionaire. And I’m an idiot.
“In that case, you’ll be happy to know he’s having some friends over for dinner tonight, and you’re invited.”
Carlie’s eyes went as wide as her smile. “I am? Do you think that means he’s forgiven me?”
“I guess there’s only one way to find out.”
Carlie nodded, her lips downturned. “What should I say to him?”
“Be honest. Tell him exactly what you told me about leaving for Nashville because you wanted to put your career first. And tell him you’re in limbo, waiting to get called to Hollywood to be in that movie.”
“It’s not a big role,” Carlie said. “I’ll probably only be filming for three or four weeks.”
“You still have to tell him.” Rylie grabbed her sister’s shoulders and looked her square in the face. “Promise me, if you guys start dating again, you won’t lead him on.”
“I’ll be lucky if he even listens to me, much less dates me.”
Rylie stood and started toward her room. “Well, you’ve got all day to practice your apology. I’m going for a hike, if you want to come along.”
“You don’t have time for a hike.” Carlie followed on her heels. “We have to start getting you ready for tonight.”
