Page 6 of Culinary Chaos (Hotel Bombshell #1)

Chapter

Five

“ I s it a habit for you to always be late?”

Hope froze at the sound of Angelica’s voice.

She’d literally just stepped into the hotel they were there to fix up.

Her neck ached from the angle at which she’d fallen asleep on the plane, and her knees were telling her that she was seventy-five instead of thirty-five.

And Angelica’s anger laced with annoyance and something else underlying it all wasn’t what she wanted to hear as soon as she arrived.

“No,” Hope answered, halting her progress and gripping the small carry-on bag that she had taken with her. “But I can’t make the rush hour traffic go away as much as I would love to have that magical power, and I certainly haven’t figured out how to create a site-to-site transporter.”

Angelica paused, her brows knitting together in confusion before she relaxed. “You flew in today.”

“Yes, I did.” Hope shifted her luggage to the side so Angelica could see it fully. “I had to finish filming my show before I could leave.”

“Right.” Angelica sighed heavily, her gaze flicking from Hope to behind her.

Was there someone there? Hope wasn’t sure, but she didn’t want to look away from Angelica either.

She was back in her black suit, which Hope was thinking was going to be her normal garb.

Comfortable but professional slacks, white cotton-looking crew neck, and she clearly had another layer of a white tank underneath it.

And oh what those layers were doing to Hope’s insides.

But why? Because layers in clothing? That seemed ridiculous.

“Do you have a minute?” Angelica asked, sliding her hand into her pocket and popping her hip out slightly.

“I suppose I do.”

“Good.” Without saying anything else, Angelica started to walk away.

Hope stared after her for a few seconds before Angelica glanced over her shoulder and nodded in the direction she was headed.

“Coming?”

“I guess I am,” Hope murmured under her breath.

She took her luggage with her, rolling it along the tiled floor, the wheels clicking every time they rolled over a line of grout.

The sound echoed loudly in Hope’s ears, the exhaustion from a long day of work that morning and travel that evening weighing heavily on her shoulders.

She wanted a sweet dessert and a drink that was too strong for her taste buds and to crawl into her bed with Rex and Eva and close her eyes and forget the last few hours had happened.

Angelica stopped at a door and held it open. Hope stepped inside and froze. It was a conference room, the large table in the center of it littered with papers and folders, binders and more. Hope jumped when the door clicked shut loudly.

“I thought we could talk about next week.”

“Next week,” Hope repeated, wishing that she’d heard incorrectly.

Her brain wasn’t ready for this kind of conversation yet.

She’d barely managed to catch her breath with arriving here and now Angelica wanted to talk business?

She hadn’t even done the homework she knew she needed to do.

She’d been so focused on finishing up the season of her cooking show in record time, having smooshed together the last few days of filming just so she could arrive here a day after everyone else.

“We need to come up with a plan.” Angelica slid into the chair she’d clearly decided was hers and started moving papers around. “So we know how we’re going to tackle the problems here.”

Hope’s heart sank. “Can we do that in the morning?”

“Unfortunately, we can’t.” Angelica held her hand out, indicating the seat next to hers. “I’ve been going over the cost analysis, and the restaurant is way over budget.”

“They don’t have a budget,” Hope mumbled as she stashed her suitcase against the wall, dropped her backpack next to it, and then slid into the chair that Angelica had offered her moments before.

“They say they do.” Angelica flicked her gaze to Hope before focusing back on the paperwork in front of her.

“They don’t.” Hope sighed heavily, picking up a piece of paper at random and narrowing her gaze at it as she tried to read it. “They’re bleeding money. So while they might have a budget for the sake of having a budget, absolutely no one in that kitchen is following it.”

Angelica took the paper from Hope’s fingers and set it down. “That’s the cost analysis for reception.”

“Oh.” Hope’s cheeks burned, and she slipped her hands into her lap and folded them together. “Do you have anything to eat in this makeshift office?” Hope looked around but found nothing.

Angelica wrinkled her nose and shook her head, then she checked the time on her phone before setting it down. “I forgot about dinner.”

“F-forgot?” Hope turned to her sharply. “How do you just forget about dinner? About a meal?”

“Not everyone thinks about food all the time.” Angelica’s voice dropped low and quiet. Was she ashamed by that fact? Did she think she should be thinking about it?

Hope thought about food the majority of the time, but she was a chef. She lived and breathed food. It was her passion, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. She also fully understood that the majority of people in the world weren’t like that. But surely they didn’t just forget to eat meals.

“I suppose it’s too late to get something from the kitchen to test it out.” Angelica looked directly at her, her eyes wide, but her face in a slight grimace.

Now what was that all about?

Hope hated that she was struggling to read her.

She was typically fairly skilled at working out what people hated and loved.

It was the key to working in a kitchen and the rapid-fire nature of the environment.

They had to work together as a team. Which meant communication and understanding was key to functionality.

Perhaps Angelica worked differently.

“I wouldn’t touch that kitchen until I can get my hands on it and figure out what’s going on in there.” Hope crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at Angelica. “That is what we’re here for, isn’t it?”

What happened to the flirty attitude she’d had when they first met? Hope missed it. She wanted it back. That was so much easier than whatever this was.

“It is.” Angelica seemed pleased with Hope’s response.

“Pizza?” Hope snagged her phone and immediately opened DoorDash.

“We both need energy if you’re going to keep me up all night.

” There, that was much closer to the tone of conversation that Hope wanted for them.

Keep it light and they’d make it through this first hotel fix.

But if she let the weight of the job bring her down then she wouldn’t survive even the first one.

“Sure.”

“What do you want on it?” Hope was already flipping through the food chains. She wanted something greasy, something familiar, and something that would fill her belly.

“Cheese is fine.”

“Just cheese?” Hope questioned. “No meat? No veg?”

“Just cheese.” Angelica pulled her computer over and woke the screen up.

She was typing furiously on it and ignoring Hope.

What was this all about? As much as Hope wanted to know, she wasn’t willing to pry.

At least not yet. She needed to have more mutual respect and understanding with Angelica to begin to dig deeper into her personality.

Angelica hadn’t been joking when she’d said “icy” during the photo shoot.

She was a completely different person here than she had been that day.

The contrast was stark. And Hope wasn’t sure that she liked it.

She wanted the woman from before back —the bombshell who slid into fun like she was made for it.

“Ordered.” Hope also sent a text to Rex, letting him know she was at the hotel but that she’d been pulled into an unofficial-official meeting with Angelica and it’d be a late night.

Angelica didn’t comment. She just continued to work on her computer. Hope frowned. Was she supposed to be doing something?

“The biggest issue is room service,” Angelica said, still not taking her eyes from the computer screen.

“Biggest?” Hope asked.

“Well, biggest for you.” Angelica flicked her gaze to meet Hope’s. “You do know how to fix room service, don’t you?”

“Uh, yeah.” Hope furrowed her brow. She actually had no clue.

She never owned a restaurant in a hotel before, and none of her restaurants participated in delivery.

She’d meant to research that portion of this job before she got there that night, but she’d been so distracted with wrapping up filming and getting everything ready to be out of the house for twelve weeks straight that she hadn’t managed to find the time for it.

So she knew exactly what she’d be doing tomorrow morning when she first woke up.

“Hmmm.” The sound reverberated around the quiet room, putting Hope on edge. Angelica didn’t look at her again, focused on the papers and the computer.

Hope really had to get her brain working again, and now, because she didn’t think Angelica was going to let her out of this impromptu meeting any time soon.

“The kitchen is a money pit,” Hope said, trying to add in her two cents.

“I’ll likely have to fire a few people on the line just to make sure they stop bleeding money. ”

“You can probably start with the head chef.”

“Why would you say that?”

Angelica slowly turned, her gaze dropping from Hope’s eyes to her lips before she shook her head and softened. “You haven’t been here the last few days. The food? Makes my stomach roil to think about it.”

“That bad?” Hope was surprised. They claimed they were a five-star restaurant, so they should at least have some standards. Then again, she’d seen a few restaurants that were all ego and no skill. Perhaps this was one of them.

“You can judge it tomorrow.”

“Perfect.” Hope sighed. “I’ve been working on the menu already. They have way too many things on it to do well, and they need to lean into the seasonal a bit more. Would you like to taste everything?”