Page 32 of Never Let Go

“Smug looks so sexy on you,” he murmured as his gaze darkened on hers.

I cleared my throat. “If that’s where this is going, please leave my office. Hope has her own, you know? Go have your fun there. I definitely don’t want to see it happening. I know way too much about you guys as it is.”

Hope blushed and wrinkled her nose at Porter before she got up and sat down on her own chair. “We want to hear more about the date.”

I stared back at her for a beat, then smirked. “Did you guys ever break the rules?”

“What? No,” she said emphatically. “Grace did, though. In a big way. Milena found out and it was awful. Why? Did you?”

I shrugged, the smirk still on my lips. Porter broke out into a wide grin. “I knew you weren’t going to stick to the damn rules. Even after you lectured me about them so much. How was it?”

“Good. Really good.” I shook my head. “The best, actually. Shit, we only kissed, but if we’d started earlier…”

Hope sighed. “We don’t need you to finish that sentence. The pertinent point here is that I’m absolutely certain I’m going to win the bet. Pack your bags, O’Brien. We’re going on a cruise.”

Porter rolled his eyes at her, but I saw the grin he was trying to hide. “Not so fast, babe. What’s their compatibility score? The way I see it, it ain’t over till it’s over and I might still get another chance.”

“I don’t think you’re going to,” I said. “What is our score, though? I’m also curious.”

Hope looked from Porter to me and then back again. “Fine, I’ll tell you, but only if both of you promise not to ever tell another living soul.”

“I promise,” I said, too eager to find out to give a damn.

Porter, however, just shrugged. “That’s not really necessary. Clients are given that information if they ask for it.”

“Not at this point, but fine. It’s ninety-seven percent, but that’s not really important. What’s important is that we now know that I can spot a winner when I see one.”

I groaned and glanced at my brother. “She’s never going to let you live this down. You know that, right?”

“I do.” He huffed out a breath but then winked at her. “I already landed you, so that makes me the biggest winner of them all. Besides, am I supposed to be sad about going on a cruise with you?”

“No, but I will be rubbing this in your face for the rest of our lives. Just so you know.”

He laughed. “Bring it on, baby. At least that means I get to spend the rest of my life with you.”

She flashed him her left hand. “That ring over there says you were already going to spend the rest of your life with me.”

As I watched them, I chuckled and shook my head, but I really was happy that they’d finally gotten together. Sure, they were a little silly sometimes but that was part of their charm. After being best friends for so long, even I had been a little bit worried that they wouldn’t be able to hang onto that dynamic once they started dating, but they had.

In fact, they were even better together than any of us would’ve been able to dream they would be. Their friendship made them an incredible couple who always looked like they were having the time of their lives together.

Sure, there had been a few hiccups back in the beginning. Hope had freaked out about seeing two guys, even though she was really only seeing one. None of us had told her the truth at first, and then she’d been exceptionally pissed off when she’d found out.

Ultimately, however, I’d done a good deed when I’d agreed to match Porter with her. Milena was still a little bit angry about it, but she’d mostly forgiven me. She’d even promoted me since then, but I’d learned my lesson.

I wouldn’t be doing anything like that ever again. Milena knew I’d signed up for the program and she was all for it, but she’d made me swear that I wouldn’t try to look up any of my dates on the system.

I had to admit that I’d been tempted to see if I could find out who Amanda really was in the last few days. Her real identity as well as all of her answers to the questionnaire were right there at my fingertips every time I switched on my computer, but I’d already decided I wouldn’t do it.

I loved my job too much to risk it, and besides, the program was working exactly the way it was supposed to. If I looked her up, I’d be ruining everything and I desperately didn’t want to do that. Grace, Hope’s identical twin sister, had almost lost the man she was married to now after Hope had told her that he also happened to be the guy who was her arch enemy at the time, Danny Sharp.

After seeing all of them go through everything they had, I had no desire to go through something similar. So outside of hopefully making out with her again, I was planning on playing by the rules.

“How’s everything going with the Chesterfield estate?” Porter asked when he finally stopped making eyes at his fiancée. “You got the money yet?”

My smile faded and my mood plummeted a little. “No, not yet. I’m signing the final paperwork tomorrow and I should have the money after that, but I’m still not sure I really believe it. A few hundred million just landing in my bank account? It sounds like bullshit to me.”

“It’s not bullshit,” Hope said gently. “It’s the least he can do for you, to be honest.”