Page 16 of Culinary Chaos (Hotel Bombshell #1)

“Why’d she resign again?” Hope asked, her eye catching on one of the restaurants she’d noticed before.

She’d done her research on the area, making sure to be more prepared for this hotel fix than the last one.

This one served classic French food, which was something she hadn’t had in ages, and she desperately wanted to try it. “Do you care where we eat?”

“No,” Angelica answered.

“Good.” Hope immediately stopped in front of the door and started inside.

It didn’t take long for them to be seated at a small table near the front windows.

There was a tapered candle already lit in the center, wine glasses and water glasses set up.

Hope settled in, ready for an excellent meal.

Angelica, on the other hand, didn’t look very pleased that they were there.

“Why did your manager resign?” Hope asked again, trying to get back onto topic.

Angelica’s face pinched adorably. “I thought we’d moved on from that conversation.”

“I’m coming back around to it.” Hope nodded toward the waiter as she ordered a bottle of wine for the both of them.

Call it her bossy side, but she knew what she wanted and when she wanted it, and she wasn’t going to let Angelica pick the wine.

Not now and probably not ever. “You should quit avoiding and answer me. I can be very persistent.”

“So I’ve noticed.” Angelica sighed heavily, pushing her hair behind her ear as she settled in. “We had a difference in opinion.”

“That’s ominous and not very specific.”

“It doesn’t matter. She’s leaving on good terms for now, and I’d like to keep it that way.” Angelica’s jaw tightened, and her lips thinned into a line. “Do you really want to talk about work?”

“We can talk about other things.” Hope took the glass of wine the waiter had given her.

She swirled it, sniffed it, and finally raised it to her lips to taste.

She hummed and nodded at him. Now this was the type of service that she expected at an upscale restaurant.

Not whatever she’d gotten at the hotel. Another point of comparison that she’d have to work on in the next two weeks that they were there.

“Do you have a husband? Boyfriend? Kids?”

“That’s a personal question.” Angelica’s defenses went up instantly, so strongly that anyone within a mile radius would have seen it happen.

“You never talk about your personal life.” Hope sipped her wine, watching as Angelica spun the glass in her fingers.

“Why would I?”

That’s right. Angelica didn’t want friendships at all. But Hope wanted to dig deeper. Maybe she wouldn’t get so frustrated if she knew and understood who this woman was underneath all of the work.

“Was it something you ever wanted?” Hope asked, jumping to the conclusion that Angelica wasn’t so blissfully single.

“What?”

“A husband and kids.” Hope drank her wine, waiting in the silence for Angelica to answer.

Angelica hummed, her lips thinning before she nodded. “Yes.”

“And you don’t have that.”

“No.” She took a deep breath, and her shoulders dropped. “I’ve had relationships in the past. Recently there was someone who I thought I could have a future with. But I was wrong.”

“And?” Hope asked.

“And I had to make a choice.”

“Work or family.”

“Yes.” Angelica dropped her gaze to the table and then to the glass of wine. She lifted it up, sipping it as she seemed to rebuild the walls that she’d let drop so easily. Hope hadn’t even noticed how quickly she’d done that. “I chose to focus on my career, and that was my choice to make.”

“It was,” Hope murmured. She’d never fault anyone for that choice.

She probably would have made the same one if she hadn’t found someone who had been so willing to let her do whatever she wanted with her career, someone who was as supportive as Rex was.

She couldn’t imagine being with anyone who didn’t understand how passionate she was about food and cooking. “Do you ever regret it?”

“No.” Angelica finished her wine and set it down. “No, I don’t regret it.”

“I admire that,” Hope said with a smile, and she wasn’t lying. Finding someone who knew what they wanted so adamantly was rare. No one would have ever said that Angelica was wishy-washy on anything. “So you’ve been building your empire.”

Angelica chuckled. “You could say that.”

“How many hotels do you own now?”

“None.” Angelica looked so pleased with the shock on Hope’s face. “I own none.”

“Just manage?”

Angelica nodded. “I’m not ready to own just yet.”

“Really? I imagine you would keep any hotel you owned in tip-top shape.”

“Probably, but I travel too much for that.”

“Would that really make a difference or is it just an excuse?” Hope leaned closer, once again trying to figure out exactly why she seemed to push Angelica to think about things differently. “Are you scared of the responsibility?”

“Maybe.” Angelica nodded when the waiter came back to refill her glass of wine. “Or maybe I just haven’t found the right place to purchase yet.”

“What are you looking for in a hotel then? One that you would own, one that you would pour your life and soul into.” Hope played with the napkin on the table, her eyes glued to Angelica. This was the most information she’d ever managed to get out of her, and she wasn’t about to stop now.

Angelica blushed slightly. “I don’t care where it is, but I do want it to be unique, a place that needs me just as much as I need it.”

“And how will you know that’s it?” Hope leaned forward, entranced with the dream Angelica was weaving. She needed the answer to this question. For some odd reason, all her hopes about that night were pinned on just how honest Angelica was going to be.

“I don’t know,” Angelica whispered. “I just hope I’ll know it when I see it.”

“I never pegged you as someone who believed in fate.”

Angelica laughed brightly. “I don’t.”

“Could have fooled me.”

“Are you ready to order?” the waiter asked.

Angelica nodded in Hope’s direction. “After you.”

That smile hadn’t left Angelica’s lips yet, and Hope was determined to keep it there all night. If they could find this balance, then maybe—just maybe—they could figure out how to work together until the rest of filming was over.