Page 33 of Culinary Chaos (Hotel Bombshell #1)

“How did you figure it out, by the way?” Hope asked.

“The bookkeeper?” Angelica needed clarification, because how she’d figured out she had a crush on Hope was something else entirely, and it wasn’t as straightforward as it might seem.

“Yeah.” Hope faced her, that ever-present smile on her lips, her eyes crinkled at the corners. “I couldn’t even figure it out.”

“Because you were only looking at the records she provided you.” Angelica sipped her wine again. “Once I asked Tatum for the actual bank documents, it was easy to figure out where it went.”

“He’s in for a legal battle to get that money recovered.”

Angelica hummed, holding the wine glass in her fingers as she stared across the garden.

In the dark, she couldn’t make out the shapes of the plants or the vegetables growing there, but she didn’t need to.

The scents of them surrounded her, consumed her.

Along with Hope’s unique scent, the one that Angelica had never been able to make her brain forget.

Lilacs just after a soft spring rain.

Angelica loved lilacs. She always had, but she hadn’t seen them bloom in years.

Hell, probably decades. She’d spent too much time cooped up inside, working.

Perhaps she did need to get out a bit more, not just for the quick middle-of-the-night runs that she normally took, but to actually smell the roses so to speak.

Maybe she’d find happiness somewhere there.

“I’ll take it if this is our easiest episode to film ever.” Hope laughed gently. “And I’d come back here any day. I want to meet Baxter and Miriam.”

Angelica hummed her agreement. “Vacation here?”

“Maybe I’ll take Eva skiing someday.”

“That’d be a sight. Do you ski?”

“Not a day in my life.” Hope shook her head wildly. “You?”

“In my younger years…” Angelica pursed her lips. “My parents would go on skiing trips by Lake Tahoe twice a year when I was growing up. At least until Christian was born, then that slowed down. They weren’t very equipped to have two kids.”

Hope poured Angelica even more wine. She hadn’t realized that she’d finished her glass already. “We were too poor to take skiing trips. Four daughters living in LA County? Yeah, not recommended without a seven-figure salary.”

Angelia snorted. “Sounds about right.”

She’d been privileged growing up, she knew that. And while she’d never taken advantage of it, she hadn’t spurned it either. She’d used what she had to get where she was now, and she had never second guessed those choices.

“What did your parents do for work?” Hope asked.

“Oh, um, my father was a chief financial officer for a couple different companies over the years. He was always the boss from what I remember. I don’t think he ever had to work hard to end up in charge of anyone.

” Angelica swallowed that thought. She was probably bringing in too much emotion into that one and she should cut it out.

“My mom worked as a teller at a bank until Christian was born and then again when he graduated high school.”

“But she didn’t stop working when you were born?”

“No.” Angelica took a long sip of wine. “I was a girl. So no.”

“What difference does that make?”

“The world.” Angelica breathed deeply, debating how much to drop into the conversation and how much to leave out. “They loved me, that’s not in question. But I wasn’t a son, which meant the expectations were different, and it meant that I didn’t need their full attention.”

“Because you weren’t expected to stay in the family?”

“Precisely.” Angelica frowned. “I was expected to get married, have a few kids, and join my husband’s family, leaving them behind.”

Hope nodded slowly and leaned in a little closer. “How very wrong they were.”

“Yes, very.” Angelica bit the inside of her cheek, her eyes locking on Hope’s. “But they never got over it, even all these years later.”

“Hmm… disappointed dreams are sometimes the hardest to grieve, especially if one doesn’t want to actually grieve them.” Hope brushed her fingers across Angelica’s shoulder.

When had she leaned back into Hope’s touch?

Angelica pursed her lips, suddenly uncomfortable. This was too familiar for her. It was too easy and calm and peaceful.

“Hope…” Angelica turned slightly on the bench, making sure she had Hope’s full attention. This question was either going to break them down or it was going to reinforce everything that Angelica had been thinking. “What are we doing?”

“Getting to know one another. If we’re going to be working together for the foreseeable future, then we should at least somewhat like each other. Don’t you think?”

“Well, yes, that would be helpful.” But that also hadn’t been what Angelica was asking either.

Angelica sighed, finishing her second glass of wine and then standing up.

The spell that this place cast over them was one that she needed to break.

Immediately. “But as a reminder, Hope, most people who get to know me don’t like what they find. ”

“Angel… Why do you think so bad about yourself?”

“I don’t.” Angelica stepped away. “It’s just the truth.”

She walked inside. She needed to leave. She needed to put space between them.

She needed to stop the buzz in her head, and the scent of lilacs in the spring rain from following her.

She needed to stop thinking that happiness was something achievable.

Life had taught her over the years it wasn’t.

And Hope’s weaving of the fairytale of happiness wasn’t helping her understanding of reality.

Because that’s all this was.

Fairytale.

Lies.

Magic.

And Angelica wanted nothing to do with it.