Page 46 of Culinary Chaos (Hotel Bombshell #1)

Chapter

Thirty-Five

H ope stood at the reception counter for ten minutes. No one showed up. She looked around, watching as guests and crew meandered around, going from place to place, and no one talked to her. She leaned on the counter and looked over it, trying to find a bell or something to get someone’s attention.

She sighed heavily when there was nothing.

She couldn’t catch a break this week, could she?

Lyric had picked her up and dropped her off, but she was exhausted.

She’d spent the entire week doing press for the upcoming season of her cooking show, and somehow juggling the drama in San Francisco where she still couldn’t put her finger on what was wrong.

“Hope?” Angelica’s voice rang through the lobby.

“Angelica…” Hope caught herself from using the nickname that Angelica had expressly forbidden her from using, but barely.

“You’re late,” Angelica said.

“I know.” Hope sighed heavily.

Angelica came closer, looking at the barren reception desk and pursed her lips. “How long?”

“Fifteen minutes?” Hope frowned.

Angelica scoffed and rolled her eyes. “It took me thirty to find someone.”

“Really?” Hope gripped the handle on her small rollaboard suitcase. Angelica didn’t answer her, not that she expected one.

“Where’s Rex?” Angelica asked, frowning. “I thought he’d be joining you.”

“No.” Hope frowned. “We thought it’d be better if Eva slept at home this week. And since home is here…”

“He’s going to have quite the commute each day.”

Hope shrugged. They’d discussed it and decided it was still for the best. After Eva’s stunt in Seattle, they didn’t want to risk her struggling any more than she had to. “He’ll be here with Eva in the morning.”

“Oh, so she’ll be joining us on set still?” Angelica leaned against the counter, looking genuinely curious and engaged in the conversation.

“Yeah.” Hope bit her lip. “But I’ll be staying here.”

She could see the question cross Angelica’s thoughts.

She didn’t need to voice it. And for some reason, Hope didn’t want to answer it.

She didn’t want to admit that the few days away from each other would probably do them good but no, they weren’t working toward a separation.

Who knew what Eva had told her when Angelica had found her, but Hope was damn sure that Eva had said she’d left when they were fighting.

“I figured it’d be easier since my nights will be late and my mornings early,” Hope added, avoiding that topic entirely.

“Fair.” Angelica looked around again and checked her watch. “I’m keeping a running tally of crew who have arrived and are staying and how long it’s taken them to be checked in.”

“Who’s winning the longest wait?”

“You are, surprisingly.” Angelica looked at her watch again.

“And I’m about to call…” She paused. Josef walked out into the lobby, and immediately, Angelica straightened and put space between them.

Her entire demeanor changed from light and conversational to sharp and managerial. “I’m about to call someone about it.”

She picked up her cell phone.

Hope looked at Angelica and then at Josef.

Something similar had happened in Seattle, hadn’t it?

When Angelica had brought her Eva? She was trying to remember, but her mind had been so clouded because of the situation and all the drama earlier that night.

Angelica had been pissed at Josef, that much had been clear, but was there something else underneath it all?

“Hope, glad you arrived safely.” Josef smiled at her, and the uncomfortable feeling that settled in the pit of Hope’s stomach doubled.

“Yeah.” She didn’t know what else to say.

It wasn’t like she’d flown in that night.

She’d literally had Lyric pick her up at her house and spent an hour in the car until Lyric dropped her off.

The traffic had been fairly light for a Sunday evening, but again, what else was she supposed to say about that?

“Did you see the change in schedule?” Josef was speaking to Angelica now.

“I did,” Angelica answered, still looking down at her phone. “We can discuss it when Rex gets here in the morning.”

“What change?” Hope asked, feeling out of the loop, which she hated.

“We’re going to film mostly separate this time around, because Angelica is the one who is going to have to take the bulk of the scenes.” Josef barely even looked at her.

Hope hesitated in asking, but was this because of Seattle? Of what happened with Eva or because of what had happened the night Eva had run away?

Angelica must have caught her thought, because she said, “As you can tell, we have a serious management issue.” She waved her hand back to the reception desk, where there still wasn’t anyone there to check her in.” Angelica sighed heavily. “You had the shitshow last time, now it’s my turn.”

“I guess it’s only fair.” Hope bit her lip, again looking from Josef to Angelica. Something was definitely up between the two of them, but she was damn sure she didn’t want to know what it was right now.

Angelica hummed and then set her phone onto the counter. “Conrad says someone will be here shortly. Time to start the second timer.” Angelica flicked her gaze to Josef. “Was there something else you needed?”

“Uh. No.”

“Good.” Angelica pursed her lips at him, glaring, but she also wasn’t moving away from Hope.

Whatever the hell was going on between them wasn’t good. Hope continued to grip her suitcase, the awkward tension filling her chest. She wasn’t used to being caught in the middle of an argument unless she was a direct part of it.

It took another twenty minutes, but Hope finally had her room key in hand.

Josef finally left, and it was just Hope and Angelica staring at each other awkwardly.

What was Hope supposed to say to her? They’d left on such an awkward note, and what little communication they’d had in the last week had all been about this upcoming shoot.

“Let me walk you to your room.” Angelica finally broke the silence.

She turned on her toes, her heeled shoes clacking on the tiled floor as she walked toward the elevator. Hope trailed after her, still not sure what to say or where to go from there. But it didn’t seem like the time to bring any of that up either. But then again… when else was she going to?

As soon as they were in the elevator, Hope broke down. “What are we doing, Ange?”

“What do you mean?” Angelica looked at her confused.

“Us. You and me. What are we doing?” Hope gripped onto her suitcase, staring into Angelica’s baby-blue eyes.

“I don’t understand.” Angelica folded her hands together tightly.

Hope didn’t miss that move. And still, she pushed. “Are we…friends?” Why had she said that? It hadn’t quite been what she meant. “Are we more than that?”

Angelica’s jaw tightened, the muscles in the sides of her cheeks bulging out slightly from how tight she did it. “How’s Eva?”

“Fine, sidestep the question.” Hope sighed. “What’s going on between you and Josef?”

“Nothing,” Angelica said sharply.

Hope snorted. “Like I’d believe you with that response.”

Angelica’s face pinched in annoyance before she rolled her eyes. “We haven’t resolved the other week.”

“When you told him to fuck off?” Hope asked, her eyes lighting up with amusement.

“Yes, if you must know.” Angelica crossed her arms and rocked back on her heels, but she didn’t take her gaze from Hope.

“Do you think you’ll resolve it?” Concern etched its way into her now. She’d seen Angelica pissed, she’d seen her upset, but she’d never seen her hold onto it for this long.

“I don’t know,” Angelica whispered.

The elevator dinged, and the doors opened.

Hope waited until Angelica walked out, her hips swaying as she went.

Hope locked her eyes on Angelica’s body, entranced with the way she moved, the tender way she walked in her heels, so confident and yet so damn feminine.

They turned down the hall, and Hope followed, staying quiet.

She almost ran into Angelica when she stopped in front of a door. “I’m next door.”

“Next door?” A thrill ran through Hope. She’d tried to ignore that thrill for so long, but when it was just the two of them, it was so difficult.

It was what she’d felt when Angelica had found Eva, when they were together looking at the cameras.

She hadn’t realized it then, but that’s exactly what it was.

“I didn’t plan it that way.” Angelica eyed her carefully. “Can you answer my question now that I’ve answered yours?”

Hope narrowed her gaze at Angelica, leaning against the wall in front of the door to her room. “You didn’t answer my question, actually.”

“Sure I did.”

“No.” Hope added a teasing tone to her voice. “But Eva is good, at least as good as I think can be expected. She struggled more with traveling around than I thought she would. She’s so sensitive to heightened emotions and since…”

“Josef wants us at each other’s throats?” Angelica finished that thought for her.

“Yeah. That.” Hope blushed slightly. “I think she picked up on that a whole lot more than anticipated. Add in that Seattle was…”

“A disaster,” Angelica said.

“To put it lightly.” Hope sighed heavily. “I hope your staff is still working there.”

“They’re not.” Angelica frowned, crossing her arms. “Henry fired them and hired all his former staff back.”

“You’re kidding me.” Shock ran through Hope.

“I wish I was.” Angelica slowly flicked her gaze up to meet Hope’s eyes again. “I was thinking about starting a betting pool on how long until the state shuts him down.”

Hope laughed, the sound gleeful and full. Something she’d needed desperately in the last few weeks, and something she’d missed. “If you do, I want in on it.”

“For sure.” Angelica was smiling again, but it seemed so distant. Was it just about what they were talking about or something else entirely? Hope paused, waiting for Angelica to say something else. The last thing she wanted was to leave before Angelica was done talking.

But it was too quiet.

“If we have another one like the last one, I’m not sure how I’ll handle it.”

“I’m sure we will, if we get renewed,” Angelica said. “It makes for good television.”

“It might, but holy crap, I think I lost a few years off my life with that one.”

“You’re not the only one.” Angelica flicked her gaze over Hope’s shoulder. “If you want to stay home and be closer to Eva, I’ll understand. Family comes first. Always.”

Hope wanted to believe that Angelica believed that, but she’d never once sounded like she was going to make her own family a priority.

Instead, Hope lived into the permission to leave if she needed to and the fact that her staying at the hotel wasn’t just about Eva, but about her and Rex.

Working on set with her husband every single day for twelve weeks straight might just have been more than she’d bargained for.

Especially when he was pushing the drama just as much as Josef. Not that Hope wanted to admit that.

“No, I think this is exactly where I need to be.” She bit her lip, dropping her gaze from Angelica’s stunning blue eyes to her bowed lips.

In any normal situation, Angelica would be labeled as someone with resting bitch face, if only for the fact that she was a woman who didn’t naturally smile a lot.

“If you change your mind, I’ll understand.”

“I won’t.” Hope steadied herself. Why was she thinking about kissing Angelica again? Surely they were over that, and surely Angelica’s avoidance of that topic when Hope had tried to bring it up—twice now—was enough of a sign that they shouldn’t go down that road.

Angelica turned, heading to the door next to Hope’s. She hadn’t been lying at all. She nodded at Hope before pressing her key against the doorknob and letting herself into the room. And then she was gone. Hope stood in the wake of that tension, wanting and needing more of it instantly.

She let herself into her room and sat on the edge of her bed.

The only thing she could think about was the fact that Angelica was on the other side of that wall.

And what was she doing? Touching herself again?

What exactly would turn Angelica on so much that she had to masturbate twenty minutes before leaving Colorado?

Would it be the same thing tonight?

Hope sighed and toed off her shoes. She was about to shower when her phone buzzed. Rex’s name popped up. Eva would be asleep already, so she answered it, even though she’d really wanted the break from him for at least twenty-four hours—or at least whatever she could get.

“Hey,” she said softly, pulling herself onto the bed and leaning against the pillows.

“Hey,” he replied.

“How’d she go down?”

“Like a charm with all of her stuffies surrounding her.”

Hope smiled at that thought. Limiting Eva’s options to just one that she could bring with her had been difficult, and she had noticed that being in her own bed in her own space had seriously helped her fall asleep and stay asleep. She couldn’t be more opposite her parents.

“How are you doing?”

“Fine,” Hope answered, running her fingers through her hair. “Took a while to get into my room, but apparently that was expected.”

“Expected?”

“Ask Angelica about the score card she was keeping when you see her tomorrow. You’ll probably want to add that into the script you’ve got running in your head.” Hope closed her eyes. “Do you think we’ll get renewed?”

“I don’t know,” Rex answered. “We won’t know until the episodes actually air.”

Hope hummed, nodding. She understood that, but still, it was hard to wait and put in all this work with no definitive answers.

“Why do you ask?”

“I was thinking about talking to Mary about finding another show to be on.” She absolutely wasn’t going to tell him that she’d already talked to Mary. Because while she didn’t want her first real show to fail, she also wasn’t entirely sure that she wanted it to be renewed either.

“What? Why would you do that? You signed a contract.”

“I sign a lot of contracts…” Hope trailed off. “This is…stressful, Rex. You know that. Seattle was…”

“I know,” he answered, that defeated tone. “But not every hotel is going to be like that.”

“No, it’s not. But Angelica told me tonight that everything we did up there was for naught. Henry already reverted back to what he had before.”

Rex scoffed. “I figured that would happen.”

“So it’s hard. And it’s been really hard on Eva.”

“It has,” he agreed. “Just stick it out and we’ll see.”

That was her plan. At least for now. She glanced at the foot of the bed before sitting up and putting her feet over the edge. She looked at the wall that she shared with Angelica and pursed her lips. Maybe it really would be better if it was cancelled.

Then she wouldn’t have to deal with whatever she was feeling right now.

Because that scared her even more than losing out on a dream job.