Page 84 of Culinary Chaos

Hope stilled. Why was this turning her on so much? Not the topic of conversation, but the intensity of it. The vulnerability. The secrecy. The… she stopped. It was Angelica. It wasn’t the fact that Angelica was a woman or that she had once previously thought she was straight, it was the fact that this was Angelica—a closed-off woman who was giving her a glimpse into who she truly was under all that armor.

That’s what was doing it.

And Hope loved it.

She needed more of it.

Hope leaned in even closer, tilting her head down as she picked up the sound of Angelica’s breathing. “I think that you want people to dislike you.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Because you do. The real question is why you want that.” Hope flicked her gaze up to meet Angelica’s. “And I have a few theories on that one.”

“Do tell,” Angelica whispered.

“No.” Hope grinned broadly, pulling back.

Angelica seemed shocked by that, her eyes wide and lips parted, ripe for the taking. But Hope wasn’t going to do that either. “No?”

“No.” Hope pushed her lips together in a smile that she was really bad at hiding. “I think I’ll let you prove or disprove them to me.”

Angelica scoffed and shook her head. “We have four more weeks together, Hope. You’re going to have to work fast.”

“Entirely possible.” Hope grinned at her brightly this time. She liked Angelica, not just because she was attracted to her, which was something she was fully willing to admit now, but because Angelica wasn’t like anyone she’d ever met before.

Laughing, Angelica settled back into her seat. “Keep it in your pants, Hope. I’m not free for the taking.”

“Wasn’t thinking anything about that.” But now she was. Fuck Angelica for sinking that thought into her brain. Now all Hope could do was remember the feel of Angelica’s lips against hers, the scent wafting off her when she’d opened that door and looked so disheveled, so satisfied.

Why Hope had ever thought she was straight before was a joke. She had been hiding herself from herself, and that was a disappointment. She wasn’t straight, and she just needed to accept the fact that she was so damn attracted to Angelica.

And she wanted to kiss her again.

Now she just had to figure out what she was going to do with that.

No.

Notwhatshe was going to do, because she wasn’t going to kiss Angelica again. But they could flirt. They could tease. And she could safely walk the line of attraction and not cross it. Because she still loved Rex, and she wouldn’t risk her entire family for nothing more than a quick kiss in the moonlight and under the stars.

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

“Mrs. Lawrence, when you get a minute, we need to discuss some of the upcoming scenes we’re shooting.” Angelica caught Hope’s attention as she walked swiftly down the hall, not even stopping or slowing down to speak to her.

Which was odd.

“Uh… yeah!” Hope gave her a little wave and then disappeared again.

Angelica pursed her lips, her shoulders sinking slightly before she refocused her efforts and tried to push that entire interaction out of her mind.

But she couldn’t.

Hope had been doing more and more of that lately. They’d sat down the first full day they were there to discuss the hotel and the problems, but Hope hadn’t exactly been helpful in that conversation. She’d been quiet, which was so unlike her. And she’d barely even looked Angelica in the eye.

Perhaps the plane ride had been too much. Angelica wouldn’t be the first or the last to admit that sometimes she took things too far. She was bad at understanding where that personal and teasing boundary line was when it was pushed and testedslightly. And while Hope had seemed fine on the plane and when Lyric had picked them up, perhaps she was having regrets about the entire conversation.

“You ready?” Rex said, stepping into Angelica’s line of sight.