Page 68 of Culinary Chaos

The pause wasn’t long before Hope’s shoulders sank, dejected. “The game.”

“Yes. I’m obviously not allergic to the point of anaphylaxis, but I do need to take some medicine before this gets worse.” Angelica tightened her grip on the iPad.

“Want me to go with you?”

“I’ll be fine.” Angelica gave her a comforting smile. “It’s happened before, and it’s not that bad.”

“Still…” Hope hesitated.

“I’m fine. I promise.” Angelica nodded.

Finally free, she stepped away from Hope fully and walked directly back to her room, sliding her key into the lock and turning it. She had the medicine in her system and lay down on her bed, breathing slowly as she waited for it to start to take effect.

Why had she even shared that with Hope?

What was it about Hope that kept her from being able to think straight?

Chapter

Twenty-Three

Guilty.

That’s all Hope had felt the rest of the day as she’d cleaned up the rest of the lunch they hadn’t finished eating and put everything away where it belonged. She should have known. She should have figured it out, or hell, she should have just fucking asked.

Like she made all of her waitstaff do at every single one of her restaurants.

“Are there any food allergies we should be aware of?”

That was the standard question that every single member of her staff was trained to ask before they started taking food orders. And Hope hadn’t ever asked Angelica that question. She’d just plied her with food that might kill her.

Stepping out into the garden after the sun was well below the horizon, Hope grimaced. It had been a hellaciously long day as they prepped for filming to start in the morning, and she hadn’t even been able to see Angelica to apologize for her stupid mistake either.

The cold air felt good against her skin, even if it made her shiver a little. More than anything, she was just enjoying the silence. She needed more of that in life, and with Rex and Evastaying in the same small hotel room, it was difficult to find. As guilty as she felt over the whole Angelica situation, Hope felt equally guilty about the fact that she just needed a break from her family for an hour.

“I didn’t expect anyone to be out here.”

Hope spun around, eyes wide, as she stared at Angelica. It was so dark out that it was hard to make her out as she walked toward Hope, but she wasn’t dressed like she normally was.

“I didn’t expect to see you at all today. Not after lunch.” Hope bit her lower lip, walking closer to Angelica. She had to see her, just to make sure that she was okay. She just had to know that she hadn’t hurt her.

Angelica shook her head, a cute furrow forming on her brow. “Why wouldn’t you see me?”

“Well… peppers.”

“Oh, you mean when you tried to kill me.” Angelica laughed, the tone of it lighthearted and tender, not angry or upset.

Already Hope eased at just that sound. “I didn’t… You should have told me.”

Angelica stopped nearby Hope, the single light that was outside on the back door shining on her face. That eased the rest of Hope’s tension.

“I’m fine, by the way,” Angelica whispered, taking Hope’s hand in hers and squeezing lightly before dropping it. “And yes, I should have told you. But I didn’t know you were going to be so insistent on feeding me.”

“I’m a chef. It’s what we do.” Hope shuffled slightly closer, their shoulders brushing. She drew in a deep breath, smelling the pine trees, the clean, fresh air, and the smoke from someone’s campfire. She could get used to this.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Angelica raised her eyebrows up and down in a tease. She wasn’t ever going to stop doing that,was she? Something about the entire atmosphere up here had changed them. Hope could feel it.

“Are you allergic to all nightshades or just tomatoes and peppers?” Hope faced Angelica, catching her gaze and feeling good about the impressed look on her lips.