Page 59 of Never To Be Mine

“This is where the magic happens,” I said, gesturing to the line.

Juno walked over to the equipment, running her hand along one of the conveyor belts. “You do all the bottling yourself?”

“Me and a couple of part-time workers. It’s not efficient for large scale, obviously. But it got me started.”

She moved down the line, examining each station. The filling machine. The capping station. The labeling setup. I watched her take it all in.

“I have to admit, I’m impressed.”

I blinked. “Was that a compliment?”

“Don’t sound so surprised.” She turned to face me. “I knew you had your operation going, but I didn’t realize how hands-on you were. Most people in your position would have just hired someone to handle all this.”

“That’s not how I want to do it.” I leaned against one of the workstations. “I need to understand every part of the process. From formulation to production to distribution. Otherwise, how could I know if I was actually selling what I created?”

“That’s actually really smart.”

“Thanks. I think.”

She smiled. “I mean it.”

I walked toward her. “I will want to be hands-on with the larger operation as well. Something we’ll need to figure out. I won’t be bottling everything, but I care about quality control.”

We were standing close again. Too close, probably. I could count her eyelashes if I wanted to.

“Your turn to be honest,” I said quietly. “Do you still think I’m a trust fund baby playing entrepreneur?”

She bit her lower lip, and I nearly groaned. Why did she have to do that?

“No,” she admitted. “I don’t think that anymore.”

“You believe I’m not just some nepo baby on a side quest?”

“I think you’re more complicated than I gave you credit for.”

“Complicated good or complicated bad?”

“I’m still figuring that out.”

The air between us felt charged. Same as the elevator multiplied by a million. I knew I should step back. We’d just agreed to keep things professional. I’d literally just promised her I could control myself.

But she wasn’t moving either.

“Juno,” I said, my voice raspy.

“Yeah?”

“I’m about to break the rule we just made.”

“I know.”

Neither of us moved. We just stood there, inches apart, the tension so thick I could barely breathe.

“Fuck it,” she whispered.

Then she grabbed my shirt and pulled me down to her.

This kiss was different from the elevator. That one had been impulsive, surprising. This one was full of intention. She knew exactly what she was doing, and so did I.