Page 55 of Culinary Chaos

Angelica hummed, but that was her only response. She took another bite of her food and ate about half as fast as Hope. “About Colorado…”

“What about it?” Hope asked.

“I think this might be the easiest one we’re going to work on.”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Not a whole lot,” Angelica answered. “They need more emotional support than anything else.”

“You and emotional support?” Hope raised an eyebrow at her. “Didn’t you just say you weren’t going to get to know people better?”

“I did.”

“So which is it, Ice Fairy? Emotions or no?” Hope leaned over the table, keeping her gaze locked on Angelica.

That look stole Angelica’s breath. It made it so hard for her to think and speak and function. Did Hope know she was doing that? Or was she completely oblivious to it?

“I need to apologize,” Hope said. Her hand hovered over Angelica’s on the table before she pulled back and put her hands in her lap, as if she’d been burned by a fire. “I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

Angelica’s lips parted in surprise. This wasn’t a turn she’d expected. She hadn’t wanted to talk about this at all. In fact, it would be so much better if they’d just left it all in the past and pretended nothing had happened at all. Wouldn’t it?

“Don’t think about it,” Angelica said, her voice husky with unrealized emotion.

“I…” Hope paused, her cheeks tinging pink. She lifted her gaze to meet Angelica’s before dropping it again. “I can’t stop thinking about it.”

The pain in Hope’s words moved straight into Angelica’s soul. As much as she was drawn to help Hope through this, it really couldn’t be her. She was technically Hope’s boss. She signed everyone’s paychecks, she made sure that everyone was doing what they needed to be doing. Alongside Josef, but she was still in a producer role on the show, which made her the boss.

She had to stop the conversation before it started.

She had to protect herself and her position.

She had to protect her heart.

“Please don’t think about it, or talk about it,” Angelica said. “I don’t want to have to put it in your personnel file.”

“What?” Hope jerked her chin up, eyes wide with fear. “Why would you do that?”

“Because it’s a violation, and it crosses boundaries. Hell, it could be considered sexual harassment or assault if I wanted to take it that far.”But I don’t, Angelica didn’t add. Seeing the worry and hurt cross Hope’s features was enough to make her regret the entire sentence. Almost. It needed to be said. Hope had to understand the underlying and lasting consequences of what had happened.

And Angelica was adult enough to keep this between them.

She just needed to know that Hope was on the same page.

The pause in the conversation was long, and the shift was clear as day. The flirtatious overtones that had been there moments before were gone, and Hope settled into something a whole lot more serious that Angelica was damn sure didn’t fit her personality generally.

“So what do we talk about if not that?” Hope asked as she moved food around her plate.

Angelica stared down at her half-eaten piece of a burger, whatever little appetite that she’d had when they’d gotten there already completely gone. “We don’t talk about the personal.”

“Okay,” Hope agreed.

“We talk about Colorado,” Angelica supplied. When she looked up, the sadness sweeping through Hope’s eyes took her breath away. “We talk about finances.”

“We talk about work,” Hope added.

“Yeah. Work.”

Episode Three