Page 32 of Never To Be Mine

Juno practically ran out of the conference room. I could have let her go.

“Toby, I’ll meet you in the lobby downstairs,” I said. “I need to talk with Miss Young.”

“Cool. I’m going to grab a couple more shots of the office and stuff.”

“Fine.”

I walked out of the conference room and took a second to remember which way her office was.

Her assistant was sitting at her desk outside Juno’s office. She looked at me, eyes going wide. “Mr. Blackwell.”

“I just need a minute,” I said.

“She, um⁠—”

I knocked once on her door and stepped inside.

Juno looked up at me. “What now?”

I laughed. “I just wanted to remind you of our trip.”

“Trip?”

“The meeting with PriceCo.”

She had a blank expression on her face.

“New York. Their corporate office.”

Then it hit.

“What! I thought we were meeting them here.”

I grinned. “Nope. See you in three days.”

11

JUNO

Istared at my computer screen, my stomach twisting as the view count climbed higher. Kari leaned over my shoulder, scrolling through the comments section with an enthusiasm I definitely didn’t share.

“Look at this comment,” she said, pointing. “‘They seem so genuine together. You can tell they really respect each other.’ That’s good, right?”

“I guess.” I clicked refresh, watching the numbers tick upward. The video had been live for less than twenty-four hours and it already had half a million views. Half a million people watching me pretend to like Hollis Blackwell.

And vice versa.

The comments kept flooding in. Most of them were positive, thankfully. People seemed to buy the whole “we’ve moved past our differences” narrative. I never thought of myself as an actress, but hell, I should be nominated for an Oscar after that performance.

Unfortunately, there were the usual trolls and bots, of course. They posted inflammatory garbage designed to get people arguing in the replies. I’d learned a long time ago not to engage with that nonsense.

But then there were the other comments. The ones that made my jaw clench.

“OMG the chemistry between them!!!”

“Did anyone else notice the way they look at each other?”

“The sexual tension is OFF THE CHARTS”