Page 94 of Never To Be Mine

The sun was dipping lower when we stepped back onto the sidewalk. The shopping area was filled with the kind of high-end stores that attracted the rich and famous. Hollis checked his watch and gestured toward the car.

“Time for the next stop.”

We drove through the city as the light faded, eventually pulling up to a hotel I recognized from magazine spreads. All old Hollywood glamour with modern luxury. The valet took the car, and Hollis tucked my hand into his elbow as we walked inside. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling. A massive fountain in the center actually cooled the room as the AC blew across it.

I kept my shoulders back and ignored the many, many looks that were directed at us. We looked good. Like a Hollywood power couple.

30

HOLLIS

Iled her through the lobby toward the private elevator that went to the rooftop. The attendant nodded when he saw me. I’d called ahead and made sure everything was set up exactly how I wanted it. The elevator doors closed, leaving us alone in the small space.

“Where are we going?” Juno asked, her hand still tucked into mine.

“You’ll see.”

She rolled her eyes but didn’t press. I loved that about her. She’d learned to trust me enough to let me surprise her, even though it went against every controlling instinct in her body.

The elevator opened onto the rooftop lounge. I watched her face as she took it in. The space had been cleared of the usual crowd. Just one table sat in the center, draped in white linen with candles flickering despite the lingering daylight. The view stretched out in every direction, the city sprawling below us.

“Hollis,” she breathed. “This is wild.”

I pulled out her chair and she sat, smoothing the purple dress over her legs. I took the seat across from her. I’d been planning this for days, coordinating with the hotel staff, making sure every detail was exactly right. I wanted tonight to be special.

A waiter appeared with champagne, pouring two glasses before disappearing as silently as he’d arrived. I raised mine.

“To us,” I said.

She clinked her glass against mine, smiling. “To us.”

We drank, and I watched the fading sunlight catch the diamonds at her throat. The server returned with an amuse-bouche and disappeared once again.

“So,” I said, leaning back in my chair. “Can you believe we’re here? Like actually here, on a date, without you threatening to dump my smoothies on my head?”

She laughed. “To be fair, I still think about dumping your smoothies on your head sometimes.”

“But you don’t.”

“But I don’t.” She took another sip of champagne. “Three months ago, if someone had told me I’d be sitting on a rooftop in a dress that costs more than my rent, having dinner with Hollis Blackwell, I would have laughed in their face.”

“And now?”

“Now I’m only mildly annoyed by you.”

“That’s progress.”

She shook her head, but she was smiling. “How did this happen? Seriously. We went from screaming at each other at that expo to this.”

I thought about it, remembering that first day when she’d called my product rat piss in front of half the wellness industry. I’d been furious and intrigued in equal measure. No one talked to me like that. No one challenged me the way she did.

“I think you wore me down,” I said. “All that passion and fire and refusal to take my shit. It was kind of hot.”

“Kind of?”

“Very hot.”

Juno picked up her fork and tasted the cucumber roll. “So good,” she said.