Page 117 of Never To Be Mine

“This is really happening,” I said to Hollis, keeping my voice low.

“Yeah,” he said with a bright smile.

My father’s laptop chimed with an incoming notification. We all froze.

Dad clicked on his email, and his face broke into the biggest smile I’d seen in years. “It’s signed. Curly’s just signed the contract.”

The room erupted. My father stood up and hugged me, something he rarely did at the office. Hollis grinned so wide I thought his face might split in half.

“We did it,” I breathed, still not quite believing it.

“You and your dad. This wouldn’t have happened without Young at Heart.”

Kari passed around glasses of champagne.

“And it wouldn’t have happened without you bringing them the burger in the first place.” I raised my glass. “To Hollis freaking Blackwell. You always know how to surprise me.”

38

HOLLIS

By the time we left the office, the sun had already set. The celebration had gone on for a while, with champagne toasts and congratulatory calls from board members. Juno’s father was already making plans for a proper launch party once production was underway. I was exhausted but exhilarated. I still couldn’t believe all of that had happened.

I walked Juno to her car in the parking garage, holding her hand like she might bolt.

“You going to come over?” I asked softly. “Please. We still need to talk.”

She nodded. “I’ll follow you.”

At my place, she parked her car next to mine and followed me inside. The house was dark and quiet, a stark contrast to the chaos of the office. It felt different than it had when I left hours ago. The man that left had been desperate. The man returning felt hopeful. I flipped on a few lights and headed straight for the kitchen.

“Drink?” I asked.

“Please.”

I made us two drinks and handed one to Juno. We naturally walked out to the deck and settled into the comfy chairs. I exhaled and let it all wash over me. The day had gone a hell of a lot better than I had expected.

“I can’t believe you did all this,” she said finally. “You turned everything around in a day.”

I shrugged, but I could still feel the tension in my shoulders. “I had to do something. I couldn’t just sit around and watch everything fall apart.”

“Very impressive,” she said with a smile.

I took a drink, then set down my glass and looked at her directly. “I did it for you.”

She frowned. “What?”

“I couldn’t stand the idea that one of my mistakes would cause you so many problems. That your company would suffer because I was an idiot who didn’t think before acting.” I sat forward. “You’ve worked so hard for Young at Heart. It means everything to you. And I almost destroyed it.”

“That’s not entirely true,” she said. “But things were looking pretty grim.”

“Let me finish.” I took a second to collect my thoughts. “I spent yesterday feeling sorry for myself. Convinced I’d ruined everything. But then I realized that sitting around wallowing wasn’t going to fix anything. So I had to try. Even if it didn’t work, even if Curly’s had laughed me out of their office, it was worth trying.”

She blinked rapidly, like she was clearing smoke from her eyes. “You didn’t have to do that for me.”

“Yes, I did.” I reached over and took her hand. “Because I love you, Juno.”

She stared at me and panic threatened to take over. The woman looked like she’d just been smacked by a truck. Completely dumbfounded. Her mouth opened and closed. I’d rendered her speechless.