Chapter 6
HOLLIS
Istood in the hallway outside of Dan Young’s office, trying to look like I couldn’t hear the loud conversation Dan and his daughter were having. The exact words were impossible to make out through the door, but her tone was crystal clear. She was pissed.
I supposed that was to be expected. I didn’t have to wonder if she’d seen the video.
It seemed the outburst at the expo wasn’t a one-off. The woman had opinions and she wasn’t shy about expressing them. I actually felt better knowing I wasn’t the only one that had suffered the wrath of Juno Young.
Dan’s assistant sat at her desk pretending to type. Our eyes met when Juno’s voice hit a particularly impressive decibel.
“Damn,” I said with a wince.
She pressed her lips together, clearly trying not to smile.
The shouting continued. I caught phrases here and there. “Behind my back” and “don’t trust my judgment” rang out clear as day. Then something about a “pretty boy” that I was pretty sure referred to me.
I tried not to take that personally. Wouldn’t be the first time I’d been called that.
Finally, the volume dropped. I straightened up and prepared myself for round two.
The door opened. Juno’s eyes flashed with anger. I cocked an eyebrow.
She had to say it. “Come in.”
I smiled and walked back into the office. The temperature had dropped about twenty degrees. She shut the door behind me with enough force to shake the walls. She looked at me like she wanted to set me on fire with her mind alone.
She looked exhausted. Why was that so sexy?
I gave her my best disarming smile. Her jaw clenched so hard I worried she’d crack a molar.
Dan settled back into his chair and gestured for me to take the seat I’d vacated earlier. He looked at his daughter. She made a growling noise before flopping into the other chair in the room like a disgruntled teenager.
Dan smiled. “Hollis, why don’t you tell Juno why you came here today?”
I turned slightly in my chair to face her, keeping my expression open and sincere.
“I never meant for things to snowball like they did. I posted that video because you called me out in public and I wanted to encourage people to judge my product for themselves.” I paused.
“But it got out of hand. Way out of hand. The comments, the memes, all of it. That wasn’t what I wanted. ”
She stared at me, unmoved.
“I want to bury the hatchet,” I continued. “Work together instead of against each other.”
“How?” The single question from her carried obvious skepticism.
I leaned forward slightly. “Look, despite your opinion on my green shakes, people like them. The demand is high. But I’m bottling them in a tiny workspace that can barely keep up with current orders, let alone the new ones flooding in since the video went viral.
I need to scale up production to meet demand. ”
“And that’s where we come in,” Dan said, picking up the thread smoothly. “We have multiple bottling plants for all of our health drinks. We can set one of them up for his drinks.” He paused. “On one condition.”
I nodded. “I have to prove the demand is high enough. I need to get my orders up to a million.”
Dan’s expression remained professional. “If you can do that, we’ll partner up with you to bottle and distribute your green shakes.
And I want you,” he looked directly at Juno, “to work with Hollis. You’re my acquisitions superstar.
I want you to vet him and see if he’ll be a good fit for the Young at Heart family. ”
Juno shook her head immediately. “He’s a terrible fit. There. You have my opinion. I just saved us all a lot of time and hassle.”
I’d put up with a lot of shit, but at some point, she needed to accept responsibility for her role in the whole viral video. If she hadn’t done what she did, there wouldn’t have been a video. I got to my feet.
“If you’re not interested, I can go,” I said.
“No, no, no.” Dan held up a hand. “The whole reason we’re talking about this is so B Well and Young at Heart can show the world there’s no hard feelings and we both support one another.
That stops our bad PR and it’ll tell people we don’t think his green shakes are made of rat piss.
” He looked at Juno with that patient fatherly expression I had been on the receiving end of more than once.
“And I’m firm in my position that I will do what it takes to stop the harassment online about my daughter. ”
I respected that. Whatever else was happening here, Dan Young was protecting his kid. I could appreciate that kind of loyalty, even if said kid was currently glaring daggers at me like a spoiled only-child who wasn’t getting her way.
“I said they taste like rat piss,” Juno corrected sharply. “Not that they’re made from rat piss.”
I couldn’t help myself. “It’s mostly banana and kale, guys. Zero urine from any animal.”
“It was sour,” she shot back.
“So’s your attitude. Maybe that’s what you tasted.”
Her eyes flashed. I’d scored a hit.
Dan stood up, clearly done with our bickering. “I’m sure you two can work things out. We’ll schedule a follow-up meeting next week to go over the specifics.” He looked at me, then at Juno. “Good day.”
It was a dismissal. A polite one but a dismissal nonetheless.
I nodded and headed for the door. Juno followed me and I glanced over my shoulder to make sure she didn’t try to shank me.
The second we stepped out of Dan’s office, Juno’s hand clamped around my wrist like a vise. Before I could process what was happening, she dragged me into the nearest conference room and slammed the door hard enough to rattle the frame.
Clearly, that was her thing. All that righteous anger was hot.
“I don’t know what kind of sick game you’re playing,” she hissed, whirling to face me, “but I’m not interested.”
I leaned back against the conference table, crossing my arms and my ankles. “Game? You mean after what you did to me. If you don’t want to get recorded acting like an asshole, don’t act like an asshole.”
“I was just informing people that you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
That did it. I straightened up, using the eight inches of height I had on her to full advantage.
“You don’t know anything about my products.
I might not have all the education you do, but I hired people who do.
So those claims weren’t just my opinions.
They were expert opinions. I would have explained that to you if you had wanted to talk to me instead of screech at me. ”
Her jaw dropped slightly, like she hadn’t expected me to push back. Good. She needed to know I wasn’t going to roll over for her, no matter how gorgeous she looked when she was furious.
And damn, she was furious. The way her blue eyes flashed with anger, the flush creeping up her neck, the way she held her ground without backing down an inch—it was doing things to me I definitely shouldn’t be feeling right now.
“You posted that video to humiliate me,” she said, but her voice had lost some of its edge.
“I posted that video to let people make up their own minds about my green shakes,” I countered.
“If you don’t like how you looked in the video, that’s on you.
It’s not like I edited it or faked anything.
But I mean it when I say I never wanted it to blow up like it did.
I never wanted people going after you the way they did.
I might have underestimated how terrible some people can be online. ”
She studied my face, searching for something. I held her gaze, having nothing to hide.
“You could have taken it down,” she said, her voice a little more subdued.
“By the time I realized how bad it had gotten, it was already everywhere. Taking it down wouldn’t have changed anything.” I ran a hand through my hair. “Look, I came here today to try to make this right. Your dad’s idea about the partnership? It actually makes sense. It helps both of us.”
“It helps you,” she corrected. “You get access to our production facilities, distribution network, and more importantly, our reputation. What do I get? The pleasure of working with someone who thinks it’s funny to turn my worst moment into a meme?”
“It helps you and your company,” I said.
“It’s a public show of forgiveness, which you need and I don’t.
According to the public, I’m the hero in this fight and you’re the villain.
If you don’t want to change that narrative, that’s your choice.
I can find another bottling plant. Good luck salvaging your reputation without me. ”
Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t want to partner with a grifter.”
“Then use this partnership as an opportunity to prove I’m full of shit.
” I leaned in slightly, watching her eyes.
“Vet me like you would any other potential partner. Dig into my business, my products, my quality testing. If I’m really a snake oil salesman, you’ll find the evidence.
And then you can tell your dad and the world ‘I told you so.’”
She didn’t move back, even though we were close enough now that I could smell her perfume, something clean and citrusy that made me want to lean in even closer.
“And if I do find evidence?” she asked.
“Then you win. The partnership falls through, and I’m out of your hair forever.” I let a small smile curve my lips. “But if you don’t find anything? If it turns out I actually know what I’m doing? Then maybe you admit you were wrong and we can all profit.”
“I’m not wrong.”
God, she was stubborn. It should have annoyed me. Instead, I found myself fighting the urge to grin like an idiot.
“So we have a deal?” I asked.
She crossed her arms, which only served to push her breasts up in a way that made my mouth go dry. Focus, Hollis.
“This isn’t a deal,” she said. “This is my father forcing me to babysit you while you try to con your way into our company.”
I straightened up, putting a more professional distance between us even though every instinct was telling me to get closer. “It’s going to be so satisfying when I prove you wrong, Juno.”
“Good luck with that.”
“I don’t need luck.” I didn’t wait for her response. I walked out of that conference room with my head held high, even though my heart was pounding and every nerve ending in my body was still buzzing from being so close to her.
The elevator ride down felt like it took forever. I replayed the entire interaction in my head, analyzing every word and flash of emotion in those incredible blue eyes.
She didn’t like me. That much was clear. When I had proposed the deal to her father, I never expected to work with her directly. It was an unwelcome wrinkle in my plans, but if life had taught me anything, it was that you had to stay flexible. Adapt or fail.
My phone buzzed as I stepped out onto the street.
A text from Micah: How’d it go?
I typed back: She still thinks I’m the devil. But they took the deal.
Micah: Great. Fill me in later.
I walked to my car, grinning. Juno Young was brilliant, stubborn, passionate, and absolutely certain she was right about everything.
And I was going to enjoy every single second of proving her wrong.