Page 33 of Never To Be Mine

“I’d kill to have Hollis Blackwell look at me like that!”

I scrolled past those quickly, but Kari caught one before I could hide it.

“Oh, they fucking,” she read aloud, then burst out laughing.

“Kari!”

“What? That’s what it says!” She pointed at the screen. “Look, it has three thousand likes.”

I groaned and dropped my head into my hands. “Why are people like this?”

“Because you two do have chemistry,” Kari said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Anyone with eyes can see it.”

“We don’t have chemistry. We have mutual annoyance.”

“Potato, potahto.”

“Not the same.”

Kari shrugged. “You know what they say about passion.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Love and hate are two flames of the same fire.”

I looked at her, lips curled back. “What the hell does that even mean?”

“Just think of the sex you two would have.” She sighed. “You’d tear each other’s clothes off. Passion. White-hot. Damn.” She fanned her face.

“Please don’t picture me having sex.” I glared at her, but she just grinned and kept scrolling. More comments appeared, variations on the same theme. Someone had even made a gif of a moment from the interview where I’d laughed at something Hollis said, looping it with heart emojis.

And fine. He was attractive. Ridiculously so.

But attractive didn’t mean I wanted to sleep with him. Attractive didn’t mean I was interested in him as anything other than a business associate I was forced to work with.

Although…

I shook my head, physically trying to dislodge the thought before it could fully form. No. Absolutely not. I was not going there.

Hollis Blackwell was infuriating. He was cocky and presumptuous and had a smile that made me want to throw things at his stupid handsome face. Working with him was like wearing a sandpaper bra, constant irritation in places that should never be irritated.

If I could just shove a ball gag in his mouth so he’d stop talking, stop smirking, then maybe he’d be tolerable.

I realized what I was thinking and felt heat burning through me. A ball gag? Really? Where the hell had that come from?

“You okay?” Kari asked. “Were you picturing it too?”

“No.” I grabbed my water bottle and took a long drink, trying to cool down the thoughts that had no business being in my head. “I’m fine. Just tired of reading comments.”

“Well, the good news is that the PR strategy worked. People are eating this up. Your dad’s going to be thrilled.”

She was right. The narrative had shifted exactly the way Patricia had predicted. Instead of “Young at Heart sends corporate shill to attack small business,” the story was now “Former rivals join forces for exciting new partnership.” The comments about our company were positive again. The harassment had died down.

I should have felt relieved. Vindicated, even.

Instead, I felt unsettled. Itchy. Like a tornado was barreling down on me and I wasn’t running for the shelter. Hollis was a natural disaster that would wreck my life if I let him.

“It’s a shame you two don’t get along,” Kari said with a loud sigh. “Because you really do make a good-looking couple.”