Page 43 of Culinary Chaos

Shaking, Angelica stepped back once before she swiftly walked around Hope. She couldn’t look back at her. She couldn’t bring herself to even think about what had just happened.

Josef was right.

Fuck off.

He was right. And Angelica was in far deeper shit than she realized. Hope kissed her.Fuck.Hope hadkissedher. And not just kissed her, but they hadn’t even talked about what the hell was happening or had happened, and no way in hell did Angelica plan on that happening.

She fished in her pocket for her key card, swiped her way into her room, and shut the door as fast as she could. Angelica leaned against it, closed her eyes, and finally breathed.

Had she actually not breathed that entire time?

Hadthatactually happened?

Angelica dashed her tongue across her lips, tasting Hope against her. It was a taste filled with spice, something that Angelica didn’t recognize, but something that she could definitely say was Hope and no one else.

Okay.

So that had actually happened.

Hopekissedher.

If Josef found out, Angelica would be out of a job faster than she could come up with an excuse or even reach for it to give him if she had one. Because this wasn’t her fault. Hope had been the one to initiate. Hope had been the one to cross that line. Not Angelica. This wasn’t her doing. Josef couldn’t blame her for that.

Except that he could.

Because she had a history of this.

Groaning, Angelica spun around and pressed her cheek to the door to look out the peephole. Hope was nowhere to be seen in the hallway. Had she gone back to her room? Had she vanished outside for a breath of fresh air that they both clearly needed? Because…

What the actual hell?

Angelica relaxed her shoulders and closed her eyes. She was safe in here. Even if Hope did try to talk to her, she could just not answer the door. She could hide out here until the morning, until she could figure out some sort of plan going forward, because she wouldn’t let this ruin the show. She wouldn’t let Hope’s inability to keep her hands and her mouth to herself be the reason she lost out on the opportunity of a lifetime.

Which was exactly what this was.

No. Angelica wouldn’t allow it.

Stripping out of her clothes, Angelica tossed them into the pile with the rest of the dirty ones. She glanced at her running clothes and whimpered. It would make her life a million times better if she’d just put them on and head out for a late-night run.

But she was scared.

Scared that Hope would be out there waiting for her. Scared that she’d have to actually face what had just happened. Scared that Josef was actually right and the only thing Angelica was good at was ruining coworker relationships.

And she didn’t want those fears to be true. She didn’t want to even entertain that they might have a grain of truth in them. Turning on her toes, Angelica headed straight for the bathroom and hit the spray on the shower. This would be the next best thing.

Because hell would freeze over before she’d step out of this room tonight.

Chapter

Fifteen

Was she a lesbian?

When did she start thinking about kissing Angelica?

Was it just Angelica?

Hope hadn’t slept a wink all night. Her mind whirled with thoughts, accusations, self-hate, and the knowledge that she was the one ruining everything. She’d kissed a woman. She’d kissed Angelica.