Page 7 of Culinary Chaos (Hotel Bombshell #1)

“I’m fairly certain Rex has already planned that for one of the shots.”

“Oh, has he?” Hope’s eyebrows rose high. They hadn’t talked about filming at all—at least not in terms of what scenes he wanted to shoot or not. Hope needed to find out more though, because she didn’t want to piss Rex off by doing something behind his back unintentionally.

“He hasn’t talked to you about the schedule?” Angelica paused her perusal of the paperwork and focused back on Hope.

“No. Not at all.”

Angelica sighed, pursing her lips and squaring off her shoulders. “Did you look at the call sheet?”

“Is it set?” Hope frowned. She wasn’t used to this kind of television show.

She was used to the film crew coming into her home, shooting episode after episode for a few weeks and then leaving again.

But this was more like an actual television show, one with timelines and schedules.

This wasn’t just a solo journey anymore, and she had to remember that.

“Mostly.” Angelica flicked through a few things on her screen, pulling something up. She shifted the laptop in front of Hope and pointed to it. “No one sent it to you?”

“They might have, and I might have missed it.” Hope squinted. Her eyes were so tired that it was difficult to see. “Who wrote the schedule?”

“This shoot? I did.” Angelica immediately sent it to Hope in an email. “There, you should have it now.”

“Thank you.” Hope’s stomach rumbled from the hunger. She checked her phone, surprised that the food was already delivered. How long had they been talking? “Dinner’s here.”

It didn’t take her long to walk to the front desk and snag the pizza that she’d ordered, but her feet dragged on the way back.

She should have ordered something with caffeine in it to keep her awake while she was at it, but she hadn’t been thinking clearly.

Something about being in Angelica’s presence kept that from happening.

“I forgot plates,” Hope said as she stepped back into the conference room.

“I think we’ll survive.” Angelica closed the lid on her computer and stood up, making space for the pizza box. “I think we’re going to need to work on this hotel simultaneously. But I don’t think it’ll be too difficult to whip it into reasonable shape before we leave.”

“Have you ever done this before?” Hope handed a slice of pizza to Angelica before immediately taking a bite of her own. She moaned around the grease, melted cheese, and semi-warm bread as it hit her tongue. This was exactly what she’d needed.

“What? Eaten pizza late at night?” Angelica’s laugh was lyrical, and Hope craved to hear it again.

“No.” Hope slowed herself. She needed to figure out the best way to get Angelica to smile like that again. “Come in and fixed hotels that were on the brink of bankruptcy.”

“Yes.” Angelica nodded, picking at the cheese on the pizza before sliding it between her lips. “I started with consulting ten years ago.”

“Oh.” That old feeling of inadequacy was rearing its ugly head again, and Hope wanted it gone. “I’ve never come into a restaurant with the specific purpose to fix it.”

“And you’ve never worked in a hotel before.”

“How did you…” Hope trailed off, stunned.

“I do my research, Mrs. Lawrence. You should too.” Angelica popped a morsel of cheese into her mouth, her tongue dashing out to lick off the sauce that stayed on her lips.

“And if I were to do my research, what would I find?”

“About me?” Angelica leaned forward to drop the half of a slice she hadn’t eaten back into the box.

“Yes.” Hope reached the crust and immediately devoured it. She hadn’t realized how critically hungry she actually was.

“Well, I’m not very nice.” Angelica folded her hands in front of her, eyeing Hope seriously. “And I’ll piss you off more times than I’ll make you happy.”

“Said as a boss or a friend?”

“We’re not friends.” Angelica’s voice took on a raspy quality, one that was full of honesty. “And we won’t be. Not as long as I’m a producer and you’re on my show.”

“Right.” Hope finished the slice of pizza, and as much as she wanted to reach for a second one, she hesitated.

Something about this moment warranted giving her full attention to Angelica.

“Is that just because you don’t care about the people who work for you?

Or is it because you refuse to admit that you do? ”

Angelica’s lips parted in surprise. The silence between them was so loud. Hope had overstepped. She knew it in a second. She’d taken it too far, and Angelica was going to retaliate in an instant, and Hope would have to face the consequences for a long time to come.

“It’s because we have a professional relationship, Mrs. Lawrence. We’re not here to make friends. We’re here to do our jobs and to do them to the best of our abilities.”

“I don’t disagree with you there.” Hope cocked her head to the side. “But working together doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”

“Oh, it absolutely does.” Angelica crossed her arms, her stare fierce.

What wasn’t Angelica saying?

Hope held Angelica’s look for a second longer before breaking it and grabbing the second slice of pizza she’d been craving. “I guess we’ll just have to find out.”

“No, we won’t,” Angelica retorted.

“Hope?” Rex’s tenor tones reached Hope’s ears, the door to the conference room opening.

“Hey!” Hope softened, glad when Rex came over to lean down and press his lips against hers. “What are you doing here?”

“Eva was asking for you.” Rex flicked his gaze to Angelica and then back to Hope. “If you’re done for the night, I know she’d love it if you could tuck her in.”

“Oh.” Hope looked directly at Angelica. “Are we done?”

Angelica waved her hand slightly, focusing back on something on the table. Hope wished she could see what it was, because it didn’t look like something she’d been studying before. In fact, Hope wasn’t convinced that Angelica was actually reading the paper at all.

“I guess I’ll see you in the morning,” Hope said as she pushed herself to stand up.

“We have several meetings with the owners, managers and staff tomorrow. Together and separate. Don’t be late.”

“I won’t.” Hope folded her hand into Rex’s. “Just email me the schedule and I’ll be there.” And she’d wake up three hours early to start in on the research she’d been called out for not doing.

As soon as they were in the hall with her luggage being dragged behind Rex, Hope relaxed. “Eva’s really still awake?”

“No,” Rex answered. “I just didn’t want to leave you with the Ice Fairy for too long. Can’t have her freezing you out before the shoot gets started.”

Hope laughed lightly, her lips curling upward into a smile. “I don’t think she’s as frigid as you all make her out to seem.”

“Oh, you haven’t been around long enough. Just you wait.”