Page 141 of Culinary Chaos

“Me too.” Angelica’s lips curled up slightly, a half smile that Hope loved seeing.

At least she wasn’t the only one who was distracted by everything. Hope drew in a ragged breath. The last few days at home had been awful. Rex had worked more than he needed to, and they both knew it. He was escaping the tension, and Hope couldn’t blame him for it either. She needed to go back to San Francisco soon, and she wasn’t ready to leave with such turmoil going on.

“The kiss…” Hope sighed heavily, biting her lip. She really just needed to say what she came here to say. “I’m not a lesbian, Ange.”

Angelica furrowed her brow in confusion.

“I still love my husband and Eva.”

“Yeah, that’s no small thing.” Angelica’s jaw tightened, and her eyes narrowed.

“I’m not…” Hope stopped, still trying to find the right words. “The kiss…”

“It was a mistake,” Angelica said, far more firmly and confidently than Hope could have mustered.

And Hope wasn’t entirely sure she agreed with that. Her heart hammered. Did Angelica regret it? Because Hope certainly didn’t. “It wasn’t a mistake.”

“But Rex, Eva…” Angelica frowned.

Hope reached for Angelica’s hand, curling their fingers together tenderly. The touch was gentle, and Angelica’s fingers were warm against hers. Both of them stared. Hope’s breath stilled, her entire body coming to a halt finally as she looked down at their joined hands.

“It wasn’t a mistake,” she said more confidently, following the line of Angelica’s arm up to her lips and then her eyes. “And I don’t regret it. But it is throwing my life into a spin. It’s making everything worse right now.”

“I don’t understand.” Angelica met Hope’s gaze.

“Taking this job was a risk for me and my family, you have to understand that. To work with Rex on set, to take my family on a traveling adventure across the US, and to try my hand at a reality show that’s harder and way more intense than teaching people how to cook where everything is prepped and prepared ahead of time. It’s a risk. And it failed.”

Angelica’s face fell.

“Josef said we’re not getting renewed, and the episodes haven’t even officially aired yet. Rex is out a job. I’m out a job. It’s not like we’re destitute, but it’s thrown our house into a lull of depression.”

“Where are you going with this?” Angelica interjected.

“I’m trying to talk to you.” Hope shuffled forward a little, keeping her hand tangled in Angelica’s. “Like we talked at Mountain View.”

Angelica sucked in a sharp breath.

“I figured it out then,” Hope said.

“Figured what out?” Angelica breathed the words quietly, a barely there, timid whisper.

“How much I liked you.” Hope gave her a small smile. “That it was more than I should.”

Angelica’s lips curled upward in a satisfied smirk. Hope tried to ignore it, but it did feel good to be wanted. Not just by Rex, but by someone who was powerful, someone who was closed off, someone who seemed to soften only for her. Hope smiled back, pulling Angelica a little closer. She had no idea what she was doing other than following her instincts again.

“I told Rex everything,” Hope said. “He deserves to know.”

Angelica froze. She broke the touch of their hands, the lingering connection that they had. “You told him?”

“Of course. He’s my husband.”

Fear. That’s exactly what was floating through Angelica’s gaze now. Pure, unadulterated fear. Hope wanted to wipe that way. Even Rex hadn’t looked that scared when she’d talked to him about the kiss initially. Angelica, however, nearly trembled from the fear.

“What’s wrong?” Hope asked.

“Nothing.”

Angelica’s office door opened. Josef stood there, looking at the two of them, his gaze flicking back and forth. Hope stared at him curiously, waiting for some sort of explanation as to why he was just barging in here.