Page 30 of Culinary Chaos

Angelica met her eyes before moving them away quickly. What exactly had been in them? Whatever it was, discomfort stole through Angelica, and she wanted nothing to do with it. She stayed quiet for the rest of the meeting, which didn’t run smoothly. She took several notes, though she wasn’t sure she’d go back to them ever.

By the time they were finished, Angelica was ready to escape and be done with all of them. Kyle was the first to leave, wanting to check on how packing up the equipment was going. Josef followed him out, clapping a hand on his shoulder as he said, “Job well done.”

Hope and Rex stared at each other, a silent conversation going on between them. Angelica really didn’t want to end up in the middle of that. She pushed up from the table, keeping her gaze down instead of up, snagged her iPad, and started to leave the room.

“Angelica.” Hope’s voice reached her ears.

Freezing, Angelica met Hope’s gaze. “What?”

“Got a minute?”

Why did people always ask that? Instead of just saying what they wanted to say, they always had to add in a precursor to get the conversation going.

“Yeah.” Angelica’s shoulders were rock solid again. She just wanted to escape back to her room, finish packing up her things, and prepare to fly out tomorrow.

“Alone,” Hope added. But this time she wasn’t looking at Angelica, she was staring directly at Rex. He threw his hands up into the air and shook his head as he walked out.

Was he actually offended by that?

What had Angelica missed in that exchange?

When the door was shut, Hope stepped around the table, sitting on the edge of it as she faced Angelica, arms folded together and a look of…something…on her face. Angelica was about to ask what was going on to get the conversation moving, but something in her said to give Hope the time to figure it out herself.

Stepping closer and sliding the iPad onto the table, Angelica stood right next to Hope, far closer than she typically would with anyone else, and that fact wasn’t lost on her.

“I don’t like this,” Hope said, her voice gentle and soft.

“Like what?” Angelica asked, breathing deeply and keeping all of her own opinions to herself.

“The drama. The flair. Thelet’s make it messy to keep people’s attention.” Hope threw her hands up in the air before settling them down on the tops of her thighs.

Angelica’s gaze was glued to the way Hope’s fingers moved, to the short nails that were perfectly cleaned, and the rounded fingertips. She’d never quite noticed Hope’s hands before, the way the fingers were strong and short. Someone might call them stubby, but they looked perfect for a chef whose fingers and hands were her entire livelihood.

“What do you think?” Hope asked.

Coming back to herself, Angelica shook her head, her hair falling gently over her shoulder. “I think this is a reality show, and we both knew what we were getting into when we signed the contract.”

Hope frowned. “Is that all this is to you? A job?”

“What else would it be?” Angelica asked, her voice cracking on the question. It wasn’t just a job. If that’s all this was, then she never would have done it. This was a massive risk, and she wasn’t going to get a whole lot of return on her investment ifit wasn’t successful. This wasn’t just taking on a new hotel and adding it to her repertoire. This was putting her entire career and reputation on the line, and it was costly—not just financially but emotionally.

She hadn’t been prepared for the second part of that.

“You’re not impermeable, you know.” Hope set her palm onto the table and leaned in closer to Angelica, looking at her directly. “You can’t stay secluded in an office and not get involved in the lives of those you’re working with, in the lives of those we’re meeting along the way, in my life…”

Those last three words were whispered.

Was that what this was all about?

Angelica pursed her lips, mulling over that statement. This wasn’t about others and Angelica. It was about Hope and Angelica and just what the two of them were going to do and how they were going to handle the situations they were being thrown into.

“I don’t want a repeat of what happened,” Hope said, stronger this time. “That didn’t feel good.”

No, it hadn’t. Angelica agreed on that. She’d hated that day, and she’d hated the fact that the cameras had already been rolling and present when Hope had barged in there to berate her.

“But if we plan it, then it won’t feel the same, will it?”

“No,” Angelica finally spoke, but she wasn’t entirely sure that she believed her answer either. “No, it won’t, because we’ll know it’s coming.”