Page 86 of Never To Be Mine

I stood up from my father’s desk, already pulling out my phone to text Kari. “I’m going to set up a little celebration in the conference room. This deserves champagne at minimum.”

“Good idea,” Dad said, not looking up from his computer where he was probably already calculating profit margins. “Make sure accounting knows to expense it.”

I laughed. “Will do.”

I found Kari at her desk and gave her the rundown. Within twenty minutes, she’d worked her magic—champagne on ice, catering ordered from the Mexican place down the street, and she recruited a couple of the other assistants to transform the conference room into an impromptu party space. The woman was a wizard.

“You’re a lifesaver,” I told her as I surveyed the spread.

“I know.” She grinned. “Maybe I should have been a party planner.”

“No way. You are not leaving me. I do need to check a few things. Hollis should be arriving soon.”

“Food will be here within thirty,” she said. “And then we’re all eating tacos. Health food be damned.”

“Trust me, I’ll be back.” I responded to some emails and dealt with my normal workload, but I couldn’t suppress the giddiness I felt.

By the time I made it back to the conference room, Hollis had arrived. He stood near the windows, looking out at the city, his hands shoved in his pockets. He was in jeans and a fitted button-down that made his shoulders look even broader than usual. His hair was slightly damp, like he’d showered before coming over. I liked that he took the time to “dress up” because I would have bet money he’d been in those sexy gray sweats and a tee.

“Hey,” I said, walking up beside him.

He turned, and that smile spread across his face. “Hey yourself.”

“Six hundred thousand sales in less than an hour. That’s insane.”

“I know.” He ran a hand through his hair, still looking slightly shell-shocked. “My website crashed twice from the traffic. Toby’s been fielding messages all afternoon. This is wild.”

“This is huge, Hollis. You should be proud.”

“I am.” He looked at me. How was it I already knew him well enough to know he wanted to kiss me. Or maybe I was projecting. “But to fill all those orders, I can’t do it without you. Without Young at Heart.”

“You did your part,” I said. “Now we’ll do ours.”

“You took a chance on me when you had every reason not to. I appreciate the hell out of that.”

I felt my cheeks warm. “Well, you made it easy once you stopped being such a cocky asshole.”

“I’m still a cocky asshole. You just like me now.”

“Unfortunately.”

He laughed and I wanted to grab him, take him to my office, and have my way with him.

The door opened and several Young at Heart employees filed in, drawn by the promise of free food and champagne. Kari had clearly spread the word. Within minutes, the conference room was buzzing with conversation and congratulations.

I grabbed two champagne flutes and handed one to Hollis. “To B Well Balance,” I said, raising my glass.

“To partnerships,” he countered, clinking his glass against mine.

We drank, and I watched him over the rim of my glass. He was working the room now, shaking hands and thanking people who’d had absolutely nothing to do with his success but were happy to bask in the reflected glory anyway. He was good at charming people. He’d mastered the art of being confident and people genuinely liked him.

I liked him.

God, when had that happened? When had Hollis Blackwell gone from the bane of my existence to someone I actually looked forward to seeing?

“You’re staring,” Kari said, appearing at my elbow with her own champagne.

“I’m observing,” I corrected.