Page 108 of Never To Be Mine

I grabbed my keys and headed for the door.

“Where are you going?” Toby called after me.

“Young at Heart. If Juno won’t answer my calls, I’ll go there in person. They can’t ignore me if I’m standing in their lobby.”

“That might make things worse.”

I stopped in the doorway and turned back to him. “I don’t see how. Either way, doing nothing isn’t an option.”

35

JUNO

Istared at my computer screen, watching the numbers climb. Every refresh brought more comments. Keyboard warriors were pretty fucking brave behind fake names. More shares and people piling onto the disaster. I just loved that every past sin Hollis, my father, or I had made was being dragged back into the fray. And by sin, I mean a typo or posting a picture with a caption some asshole decided could be interpreted one way or another. Anyone could be offended if you tried hard enough.

I wanted to post a picture of me devouring a fucking cheeseburger. Hell, with all the memes, I craved one myself. All the people criticizing and scrutinizing him should be reminded about throwing rocks in glass houses.

My father had been on the phone for the last hour, doing damage control with board members who were questioning his judgment. Again.

The rat piss incident had nearly cost him some investors. We’d clawed our way back from that, slowly rebuilding trust and credibility. And now this.

I refreshed Twitter again. Still trending. Still brutal.

Kari appeared in my doorway. “Juno, there’s someone here to see you.”

“I’m not taking meetings right now.”

“It’s Hollis.”

My stomach dropped. I looked up at her, and she gave me a sympathetic look that said she knew exactly how complicated this was.

“He’s in the lobby. Security won’t let him up without your approval.”

Part of me wanted to tell her to send him away. The professional part that knew I needed distance to think clearly, to make decisions based on what was best for Young at Heart instead of what my heart wanted.

But another part of me needed to see him. The personal side of me needed his strong arms and promises everything would be okay.

“Send him up.”

Kari nodded and disappeared. I stood, smoothing down my blouse. I looked down and saw it for the first time. I’d dressed quickly without looking. Thank God my closet was mostly all mix and match. Nothing clashing. I walked to the window and stared out at the city below. People going about their lives indifferent to my personal crisis. My world had imploded and everyone else carried on with their typical Mondays.

I heard footsteps and turned to see Hollis in my doorway.

He looked terrible. His hair was disheveled. It was clear he hadn’t planned on a professional meeting today. He wore black track pants and a polo with the B Well logo. He looked desperate. And gorgeous.

For a second, seeing him standing there, all I felt was relief. Here was the man I cared about, ready to weather the crisis with me. The man that had made love to me the other night. A man that I had allowed myself to think of as someone that would be in my life for a long time.

Then reality crashed back in.

“What the hell were you thinking?” The words came out harsh, but I couldn’t help it. All the stress and fear of the past few hours came out in that question.

He flinched. “Juno, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think it through.”

“Clearly.” I crossed my arms. “Do you have any idea what this has done? What it’s still doing?”

“I know. I saw.” He took a step into my office and closed the door behind him. “But I need you to understand what actually happened. I wasn’t just randomly eating at Curly’s because I don’t believe in our burger.”

“Then why?” I asked. “Help me understand, because right now, from where I’m standing, it looks like you sabotaged both our companies.”