Page 68 of Never To Be Mine

I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was about him that got under my skin. But he was definitely there. He was worse than a bad rash.

After a sad dinner, and no wine, I went to bed without responding to the email.

Sleep didn’t come easy. I tossed and turned, tangling myself in the sheets. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Hollis—that cocky grin, those blue eyes going dark with want, the way his hands had gripped my hips like he couldn’t get enough.

I rolled onto my stomach and groaned into my pillow.

This was pathetic. I was a grown woman, a professional, someone who prided herself on being logical and controlled. I didn’t lie awake obsessing over men. Except apparently I did now.

The wine kept calling to me, but I resisted the temptation. If only I could resist Hollis the same way.

Around two in the morning, I gave up and grabbed my phone. I scrolled through social media, trying to distract myself. Someone had posted a photo of Hollis from the restaurant where he’d been having lunch. He smiled at the camera with two women flanking him, his arm around their shoulders.

I felt a spike of something ugly and hot in my chest. Jealousy. Which was stupid because I had no claim on him. We’d had sex once, never to be repeated. It didn’t mean anything.

Except it had felt like it meant something.

I threw my phone on the mattress, needing to get it away from me. I did not need to stalk him and I couldn’t trust myself not to scroll through every single thing about him on the internet. And given who he was, there was a lot to look through. I could stay up all damn night looking at pictures and old videos of him.

I eventually got a little bit of sleep. When my alarm went off in the morning, way too soon for my taste, I made my decision. I wasn’t going to hide. I wasn’t going to let one mistake—okay, one amazing mistake—turn me into someone who cowered and avoided difficult situations. That wasn’t who I was.

I was Juno Young. I’d fought my way through an industry that constantly tried to diminish me. I’d earned every bit of respect I had, often twice over just to prove I deserved to be in the room. I wasn’t about to let Hollis Blackwell make me forget that.

My father trusted me to handle acquisitions. I had made us both wealthy. My choices had helped solidify our company as a titan in the industry. We were successful because I knew how to spot a winner. That was the part of me that needed to step up today. I couldn’t lose my whole identity because of Hollis.

I had to see this thing through to the end. A little sexy time wasn’t going to keep me from doing my job. Every damn part of it.

Besides, if the Blackwell brothers were creating promotional content for a product that would be associated with Young at Heart, I needed to be there. Someone had to make sure they didn’t do something that would damage both our brands. That was also my job.

I sent a quick message to Kari to let her know I would be at the shoot, so I wouldn’t be in the office for at least a couple of hours. I had no idea what the whole commercial was going to be about. Was it a one-minute spot? Were there paid testimonials? Scripts? Visual effects?

Models. “Oh God,” I groaned.

There would definitely be models. Pretty, perky models with gorgeous bodies and very little clothing. And of course Hollis would be in the commercial. It would be foolish not to put his sexy ass front and center. Men would take one look at him and buy cases of his drink if there was even a chance they could look like him.

I was going to that damn shoot to make sure it didn’t go off the rails.

I showered and stood in front of my closet, considering my options. My wardrobe had been perfectly fine until Hollis showed up in my life. Now I was going through the same internal debate I had every time I got dressed for a meeting with him.

And I hated it.

I needed to look like someone who had not spent the previous night obsessing over the man I’d be seeing in approximately two hours. I needed to look breezy. Like, “oh, hey, I thought I’d pop over to the shoot.” I didn’t want to look like a woman trying to look good for the guy that took her to heaven on his desk.

I squeezed my eyes shut and was rewarded with a carousel of still shots from that little interlude. His body. That Adonis belt. All that tanned skin begging to be licked.

I pulled out a pale pink silk blouse and paired it with tapered black pants with a hem just above the ankle that made my legs look a mile long. The burgundy heels added just enough height to put me closer to eye level with Hollis. Well, I would have to wear stilts to actually get to eye level, but at least I wouldn’t have to strain my neck to look up at him.

I left my hair down in loose waves and kept my makeup simple but polished, adding a little lip plumper. When I looked in the mirror, I saw someone who had her shit together. Someone who could walk onto that sound stage and be a goddamn professional.

Fake it till you make it, right?

I grabbed my bag and headed for my car, my phone buzzing with a text from Kari.

Good luck today. You’ve got this.

I smiled despite my nerves. She always seemed to know when I needed encouragement, even when I hadn’t told her why I didn’t want to be in the same room with Hollis. She would lose her shit if she knew what had happened. For now, I was keeping it to myself.

The drive to the studio lot took forty minutes in typical LA traffic. I spent most of it practicing what I’d say when I saw Hollis. Casual greetings. Professional small talk. Nothing that would hint at the fact that I knew exactly what he looked like naked.