Page 11 of No Holds Barred

“How are we going to do this?” Hope’s voice trembled. “I mean… Rex and I talked about boundaries. Shouldn’t you and I talk about them?”

Angelica shook her head slowly and rolled her eyes. “No, Hope. We shouldn’t. There aren’t any boundaries for us to discuss. You act like a professional and I will. It’s that simple. We didn’t have a marriage to break up. We barely even had a relationship.”

Oh, that hurt.

Hope’s heart twinged hard at those words, viscerally painful in a way she hadn’t expected. She’d known from the start that their relationship had barely gotten its feet under it, but that didn’t mean there was nothing there. In fact, there was a ton there. Hope had told Angelica that she was in love with her.

“If you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting?—”

“You always have a meeting.” Hope rolled her eyes, the defense that she hadn’t wanted to come back rearing its ugly head in a matter of seconds. Couldn’t she keep herself under control for at least one minute?

“Hope.” Angelica sounded exasperated now, and Hope could understand why. They weren’t getting anywhere with this conversation, though it wasn’t for a lack of trying on her part.

“Ange…” Hope stepped around Angelica’s desk and stopped short.

Angelica rubbed her fingers together, flicking her gaze wildly between Hope and the door. “You need to leave.”

“What?” Hope blinked, trying to catch up. “We… we haven’t worked this out yet."

“There’s nothing to work out. I don’t know how many ways I can spell that out for you.” Angelica turned around toward her desk, but Hope caught her arm and pulled her back.

She stared down at where her fingers connected with Angelica’s arm, skin against skin. Her lips parted in surprise. She’d done that out of habit. She hadn’t been planning on touching Angelica. She’d come in here to talk, to find answers,to just be in Angelica’s presence again. When they were alone. When they could actually connect.

Hope unclasped her hand instantly.

That had been why she’d come all along, hadn’t it? This wasn’t to make the workplace easier or filming go more smoothly. This was because she’d wanted something, and she’d been dead set on getting it. Which had been exactly what Angelica had accused her of in San Diego.

Being impulsive.

Taking what she wanted.

Hope bit her lip and shook her head. “I’m sorry.”

Angelica clenched her jaw and sat down heavily in her chair. “Like I said, Hope. I have a meeting that I need to get to, and there’s no reason for you to be here right now.”

Angelica was right. There was no reason for them to be talking other than Hope’s need to control the situation and push Angelica into doing something she very much didn’t want to. Anyone in Angelica’s position would do the same.

Defend themselves.

Protect themselves.

Hope folded her hands in front of her, not wanting to impulsively reach out again. She flicked her gaze from Angelica’s eyes to her lips, lingering there. That last kiss on the night of their breakup was going to be their last, wasn’t it? As much as Hope had understood that, she hadn’t wanted to believe it. She needed the closure.

But that washerneed.

Not Angelica’s.

The silence was so loud, but it wasn’t like Angelica to say anything either. She’d made her stance perfectly clear. It was Hope who had continued to push it. Nodding slowly to no one but herself, Hope took a step back and put even more space between them.

“I know you told me, several times in fact, that you don’t make friends with the people you work with. And while I understand why you think that’s necessary, I do hope that you’ll make an exception for me—eventually. Not now. But maybe by the end of season three.” Hope bit her lip and took another step back, keeping her eyes locked on Angelica’s. “I’d hate for you to use what happened between us as a reason to shut out even more people.”

Hope’s heart raced. She closed her eyes, remembering the way Angelica had felt in her arms and against her body, remembering the smiles she’d managed to pull onto Angelica’s lips, the lightness in Angelica’s gaze, the intense flirting they’d both willingly participated in. But that’s all it was going to be—memories.

“You’re right, Ange. And I’m sorry that I barged in here to bother you.” Hope walked directly toward the conference table to snag her purse. She pushed her bag over her shoulder and then looked back at Angelica. “Take care of yourself. I mean that. I hate seeing you wasting away and unhappy, and I really don’t want to be the cause of that.”

Saying nothing else, she left.

Episode 1