Page 109 of Culinary Chaos

“When you told him to fuck off?” Hope asked, her eyes lighting up with amusement.

“Yes, if you must know.” Angelica crossed her arms and rocked back on her heels, but she didn’t take her gaze from Hope.

“Do you think you’ll resolve it?” Concern etched its way into her now. She’d seen Angelica pissed, she’d seen her upset, but she’d never seen her hold onto it for this long.

“I don’t know,” Angelica whispered.

The elevator dinged, and the doors opened. Hope waited until Angelica walked out, her hips swaying as she went. Hope locked her eyes on Angelica’s body, entranced with the way she moved, the tender way she walked in her heels, so confident and yet so damn feminine. They turned down the hall, and Hope followed, staying quiet.

She almost ran into Angelica when she stopped in front of a door. “I’m next door.”

“Next door?” A thrill ran through Hope. She’d tried to ignore that thrill for so long, but when it was just the two of them, it was so difficult. It was what she’d felt when Angelica had found Eva, when they were together looking at the cameras. She hadn’t realized it then, but that’s exactly what it was.

“I didn’t plan it that way.” Angelica eyed her carefully. “Can you answer my question now that I’ve answered yours?”

Hope narrowed her gaze at Angelica, leaning against the wall in front of the door to her room. “You didn’t answer my question, actually.”

“Sure I did.”

“No.” Hope added a teasing tone to her voice. “But Eva is good, at least as good as I think can be expected. She struggled more with traveling around than I thought she would. She’s so sensitive to heightened emotions and since…”

“Josef wants us at each other’s throats?” Angelica finished that thought for her.

“Yeah. That.” Hope blushed slightly. “I think she picked up on that a whole lot more than anticipated. Add in that Seattle was…”

“A disaster,” Angelica said.

“To put it lightly.” Hope sighed heavily. “I hope your staff is still working there.”

“They’re not.” Angelica frowned, crossing her arms. “Henry fired them and hired all his former staff back.”

“You’re kidding me.” Shock ran through Hope.

“I wish I was.” Angelica slowly flicked her gaze up to meet Hope’s eyes again. “I was thinking about starting a betting pool on how long until the state shuts him down.”

Hope laughed, the sound gleeful and full. Something she’d needed desperately in the last few weeks, and something she’d missed. “If you do, I want in on it.”

“For sure.” Angelica was smiling again, but it seemed so distant. Was it just about what they were talking about or something else entirely? Hope paused, waiting for Angelica to say something else. The last thing she wanted was to leave before Angelica was done talking.

But it was too quiet.

“If we have another one like the last one, I’m not sure how I’ll handle it.”

“I’m sure we will, if we get renewed,” Angelica said. “It makes for good television.”

“It might, but holy crap, I think I lost a few years off my life with that one.”

“You’re not the only one.” Angelica flicked her gaze over Hope’s shoulder. “If you want to stay home and be closer to Eva, I’ll understand. Family comes first. Always.”

Hope wanted to believe that Angelica believed that, but she’d never once sounded like she was going to make her own family a priority. Instead, Hope lived into the permission to leave if she needed to and the fact that her staying at the hotel wasn’t just about Eva, but about her and Rex. Working on set with her husband every single day for twelve weeks straight might just have been more than she’d bargained for. Especially when he was pushing the drama just as much as Josef. Not that Hope wanted to admit that.

“No, I think this is exactly where I need to be.” She bit her lip, dropping her gaze from Angelica’s stunning blue eyes to her bowed lips. In any normal situation, Angelica would be labeled as someone with resting bitch face, if only for the fact that she was a woman who didn’t naturally smile a lot.

“If you change your mind, I’ll understand.”

“I won’t.” Hope steadied herself. Why was she thinking about kissing Angelica again? Surely they were over that, and surely Angelica’s avoidance of that topic when Hope had tried to bring it up—twice now—was enough of a sign that they shouldn’t go down that road.

Angelica turned, heading to the door next to Hope’s. She hadn’t been lying at all. She nodded at Hope before pressing her key against the doorknob and letting herself into the room. And then she was gone. Hope stood in the wake of that tension, wanting and needing more of it instantly.