Page 66 of Never To Be Mine

He clapped me on the shoulder. “You’ve got a customer for life.”

After he walked away, I sat back down and found Toby grinning at me.

“What?” I asked.

“All we have to do is turn you loose in the wild and we’ll have content for a year.”

I nodded. “People know who I am because of you, my little social media guru. So it’s proof you’re doing a great job.”

Toby sat up straighter for the rest of the meal. We finished eating and headed back to the office.

My phone buzzed around three in the afternoon. I grabbed it, hoping to see Juno’s name.

It was Micah.

“Hey,” I answered.

“Sound stage twelve tomorrow at ten. Bring as many bottles of your green shake as you can carry.”

“Wait, what? Sound stage? Micah, what are you planning?”

“Trust me, bro. It’s gonna knock your cock off.”

I laughed despite myself. “That’s a weird way to put it.”

“Just be there. Ten a.m. Don’t be late.” He hung up before I could ask any more questions.

I stared at my phone, torn between excitement and confusion. What the hell was my brother planning?

“Everything okay?” Toby asked from across the room.

“Yeah. We’re going to a sound stage tomorrow. Ten a.m.”

“Seriously?” He nearly dropped his laptop. “Just like that?”

“That’s what he said.”

“Holy shit, man. What do we have to get prepped?”

Together, we talked through what we would need. The rest of the day passed in a blur. I packed up cases of the green shakes, making sure we had enough product to showcase whatever Micah had in mind. By the time I locked up the warehouse and headed home, the sun was setting over the Pacific.

At home, I stood on my deck with a beer, watching the waves roll in. My phone sat on the railing beside me. I wanted to text Juno. Tell her about tomorrow. See if she wanted to be there.

But something stopped me.

If I pushed too hard, too fast, I’d only make things worse. So I took another sip of my beer and watched the sunset alone, trying not to think about how much better it would be if she were here beside me.

21

JUNO

Istared at my laptop screen, reading Hollis’s email. The professional tone was front and center, staying safely between the lines. There was some kind of promo shoot happening and he had invited me.

He had also given me an out if I needed one. He warned me he didn’t know what Micah had planned. And then he added a line about there being no pressure to accept the invitation.

Right. No pressure. Just a promotional shoot that could determine whether this partnership actually succeeded. I need to do my actual job of vetting this business. But it was going to put me in the same room with the man I’d had sex with, on his desk, less than twenty-four hours ago.

I closed my laptop and pressed my palms against my eyes. What was I supposed to do?