Page 19 of Never Let Go

Her eyebrows inched up. “Who’s the woman you want them to be?”

I shook my head. “A woman who’s not an option. I doubt she’s signed up with us or anything like that, but her name is Shelby. We went to college together and she always just seemed so damn perfect. I didn’t know her well enough to know for sure, but she still got to me. It turns out she’s also handling my grandfather’s estate.”

“Why don’t you just ask her out then?” Hope swept a hand out ahead of her like she was motioning for me to just go do it already. “You know you’re not confined to dating only within Sight Unseen, right?”

“Yeah, but there’s no point. Like I said, she’s settling my grandfather’s estate. There’s no way she’ll go out with me if I ask her now, and the college thing was just a crush. In all the time we were there together, I don’t think I saw her go on one date. She was, like, the one girl I couldn’t have, you know? I think that’s all it is.”

“I doubt it, but I won’t pressure you. God knows, it’s not like Porter or I can judge you for having had feelings for a girl for so long and not owning up to them.” She checked her watch. “You should get going. Your date is starting soon.”

I stood as well, rolling my eyes when she looked at me again. “For the record, I haven’t had feelings for her for so long. I had feelings for her then and I can’t get her out of my head now. It hasn’t been a dozen years of torturing myself over her. I’m not Porter and she’s not you.”

Hope lowered her chin and gave me a pointed look. Then she shook her head and strode to the door. “Come on, lover boy. You don’t want to be late. Porter picked a good one for you tonight.”

As it turned out, Hope wasn’t wrong. Porter had picked a good one for me.

At least, that was what I thought once we were both seated and we started talking.

“I’m Krissy,” the girl said softly from the other side of the room. “Krissy Lawrence.”

“Tyler Smith,” I said, the name rolling off my tongue so much easier now that it was the third time I was using it. “What do you do for a living, Krissy?”

“I’m a model,” she replied almost shyly. “How about you?”

“Tech.” I leaned back against the sofa in the date room, spreading my arms out on the backrest and getting comfortable.

This building was my domain, and it helped a lot that I had a mental picture of what this room looked like. I knew every inch of it and I found it much easier to relax when I knew the sofa was red and the rug had a geometric print. Why that was true, I didn’t know.

Maybe I’m too much of a control freak.

Shrugging to myself at the thought, I rolled my head back and decided to at least try with Krissy. Her voice was normal. She hadn’t started spouting random facts yet. I still wanted her to be Shelby, but I very much doubted she was in the room with me.

“Where are you from, Krissy?”

“Montana,” she said. “You?”

“Seattle. I guess I was never adventurous enough to try and make it work elsewhere.”

She chuckled. “In my case, it wasn’t adventure that brought me here. It was an offer. I don’t think I would’ve ever left home if anyone there had matched the offer I got here.”

“How long have you been in town?”

“Uh, about three years,” she said. “It took me a while to settle in, but now that I have, I doubt I’ll move again. How about you? Any aspirations about trying to make it work somewhere else eventually?”

I chuckled. “Nah, I love the job I have and my family is here. So are my friends. I’m pretty happy exactly where I am.”

“I like that,” she said sweetly. “Too many people I’ve met recently have ants in their pants. They’re never happy in any one place. They’re always on the move or wanting to get on a plane to go try their luck somewhere else. I’m more of a homebody. A comfort-zone person. Once I find my place, I prefer to stay there.”

“I’ve never thought about it like that, but I guess I’m the same.” I smiled. “Our food should be coming any minute. Have you been on one of these dinner-time dates before?”

“No, but I’m really nervous about eating in the dark. Have you?”

“Yeah, and you’re right to be nervous about it. It’s not easy. What did you order?”

“A burger and fries,” she said. “I figured it’d be easier to eat than noodles. You?”

“Same.” I laughed, finally feeling like Hope and Porter might’ve just come through for me. So far, the conversation was really great and I was a having a good time, but as soon as our food came and she started talking to hers in a baby voice, I was out.

Fuck. What is it with the damn baby voice?