Page 140 of No Holds Barred

“Hope?” Angelica responded again.

“Can you focus on me for a minute?” Hope waited for Angelica to come back into the frame of the camera.

“Is something wrong?”

“I want to go on a date, or you to come to dinner, or something.” Hope held her breath. She wasn’t even sure what she was asking, but she knew she had to figure it out. “I miss you.”

Angelica’s lips quirked. “We just spent nearly ten weeks together from preproduction to returning back to Los Angeles.”

“Not as coworkers.” Hope shook her head, realizing far too late what she should be saying. “As girlfriends. If we’re going to make this work, then we have to actually be in the same room as each other and not galivant around the world in opposite directions.”

“Fair.” Angelica sighed heavily. “But with the inquiry that Logan’s doing and no answer on that front, I’m not entirely sure how we should be going about that.”

“I still can’t believe you told them.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell Rex.” Angelica was back to bending her head and staring at something away from the camera.

“We said we weren’t going to tell anyone!” Hope raised her voice.

“Well, I was wrong.”

“Excuse me?” Hope laughed. “Can you say that again?”

“I’m not above admitting when I make mistakes.” Angelica flicked her a glance. “Just don’t get used to it because it rarely happens.”

Hope devolved into a fit of giggles. “God, I love you.”

Angelica hummed but didn’t respond beyond that. “The wrap party?”

“I have a full menu. I’ll email it over to you in the morning.”

“Good.” Angelica wrote something down. “And the gifts?”

“What if we picked something special from each location we went? It’ll work with the menu I chose for the evening. A small lighthouse, a mini cream pie, cheese, and we’ll figure out something for the other cities we were in.” Hope brushed her fingers through her hair. “I think between the two of us and Lyric, we can probably get it all together before the party next week.”

“That sounds good.” Angelica was clearly distracted again.

“Angel,” Hope chimed, calling her back to the conversation. “Stay with me for another minute, please.”

“Yes?” Angelica’s face focused back in the camera’s view.

“Eva goes back to Rex’s on Thursday. Come over then.” Hope’s heart hammered. The thrust back into the reality of their lives being busy, without the cushion of having to see each other each day, had been a cold way to start up a relationship. Hope needed to rectify that.

“I have a late meeting tomorrow with Logan. I can try to come after, but it’ll be late, and I don’t know what kind of mood I’ll be in.” Angelica brushed her fingers over her lips.

“Are you really worried about losing your position on the show?”

“Yes.” Angelica said the word so simply that Hope’s own anxiety couldn’t help but rise up in the pit of her belly.

“I hope you’re wrong then.” She heard Eva call her from the other room and held the phone against her chest as she called, “In a minute, babe! I’m on the phone.” She almost said she was on the phone with Angelica, but Eva would have wanted to come in there and talk to her.

Her phone buzzed in her hand.

Curiously, Hope pulled it away to see Logan’s name pop up on the screen with an incoming call.

“Angel, I’ve got to take this call.”

“I’ll talk to you soon,” Angelica said as she hung up before Hope could even respond.