She hadn’t forgotten, but she knew he had never let his missing leg slow him down. “I figured if you could run and ski with that thing, you could skate, too.”
“True. But I never learned how to skate.”
“That sounds like a challenge,” she said.
She’d forgotten how much she enjoyed bantering with Jarrett. Since he hadn’t mentioned Carlie again and the conversation was flowing so easily, Rylie wondered if there was a possibility he might be attracted to her. From all appearances, he wasn’t married, but he might be dating someone.
“Who do you work for?” she asked, avoiding the real question she wanted to ask.Do you have a significant other?
Amusement danced in his dark sparkling eyes.
“I’m… uh… I’m with Phantom Enterprises.”
“Wow! I’m impressed. I’d love to work there, but I’ve only got my master’s in computer engineering.” She wanted him to know she had more than a bachelor’s degree. “I heard it’s really hard to get hired with less than a doctorate.”
“You should apply.” An easy grin slid onto his face. “I know the guy in charge of hiring. I could put in a good word for you.”
“Oh, no! I’d never ask you to do that.” She was mortified that he assumed she was asking for favors. “Anyway, my job’s not bad, and I get to do most of my work from home.”
“If you change your mind, the offer still stands. We have remote employees, too. I have team members who don’t even live in Denver.”
He was the most brilliant man she’d ever met. It wasn’t surprising that he’d been promoted to head up an entire team. The idea of applying for Phantom Enterprises was tempting, especially if she could work for Jarrett.
Only about seven years old, the company was a multi-billion-dollar corporation and still growing. The corporation’s outspoken CEO often showed up on the news, wearing a cowboy hat and boots and brandishing his lime-green mechanical hand. If she decided to take Jarrett’s offer seriously, she ought to look up the details online. But even the fact that he’d suggested she apply had to mean he was interested in her, right?
“Thanks, Jarrett. I might take you up on it.”
“Great.” He cleared his throat. “Do you talk to Carlie often?”
Her stomach twisted. How could she be so stupid? She should’ve known he was only being nice to her to find out about Carlie.
With her heart in her throat she gave him the information he craved. “If you want to see Carlie, you’re in luck. She happens to be staying with me for a little while.”
“She is?”
The way his face lit up told her all she needed to know. Even nine years later, he was still pining for Carlie. Rylie’s eyes stung, but she didn’t cry. She never cried. Controlling her emotions was her super-power.
“I’ll send her over after she wakes up. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to see you.” Rylie kept a high, happy note in her voice as she moved toward her garage door, intent on escaping his enticing presence. No use torturing herself with hopes of what could never be. But she was going to give her sister a stern talk before she let her start dating Jarrett again.
“Wait.” His hand grabbed her elbow, and she ignored the ensuing tingles. His eyes studied the ground. “Please don’t send her to my house.”
“You don’t want to see her?”
“I want to, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea.” His hand came up to push through his dark hair. “I need to get some things straight in my head, first.”
She shrugged, like the decision was of no consequence to her. But inside her head, she yelled, “What about me?”
“I have a great idea.” His eyebrows arched high. “I’m cooking steaks for some friends tonight. Why don’t you both come over? Say around five o’clock?”
“Gee, thanks,” she replied in a flat tone. “A chance to make small talk with a bunch of people I don’t know. Sounds almost as fun as driving tiny slivers of wood under my fingernails.” Besides, she’d rather watch a documentary about cockroaches than witness Jarrett and Carlie getting back together.
He chuckled. “You can do it. You’re not any more introverted than I am.”
“Yes, but you know all these people.”
“If you want, you can sit at the children’s table.”
He must remember she was crazy about kids. “No fair. You’re hitting below the belt.”