Page 149 of No Holds Barred

Angelica’s heart fluttered. This was their first official vacation together, though Angelica had convinced Hope that they could come up here because it was an easy enough job that they could have time off and she could still do the check-in that she needed to do on Mountain View West.

“A little less than fifty-fifty,” Angelica responded and squeezed Hope’s hand tightly.

The van pulled up in front of the hotel, Angelica’s home away from home. She already had the room booked for them.

Tatum stood outside the front door and waved as the van came to a stop. Angelica smiled at him even though he couldn’t see her through the back window. Once they were outside, he opened his arms in an embrace, wrapping her up in a hug. She breathed him in. This really was home.

“I need to talk to you,” Tatum said quietly before stepping to the side and holding his hands out for Hope. “It’s so good to see you again!”

“You too!” Hope squealed and jumped into Tatum’s arms with a laugh. “God, I’ve missed this place. I get so jealous that Ange gets to come up here so often.”

“Well, it could be more often.” Tatum flicked his gaze from Hope to Angelica, and she knew instantly what this conversation was going to be about. And she hadn’t been prepared for it, oddly enough. She’d thought she’d given him enough of an answer before.

Tatum took Hope by the arm and pulled her inside the hotel and walked with her directly to the front desk. Angelica steadied herself, needing the extra few minutes to prepare to decline him once again. Once they had their keys, and their luggage was being brought to the rooms, Tatum led the way out into the little garden where he had wine and a charcuterie board set up already.

Angelica knew she was being wined and dined, and Tatum was pulling out all the stops. He chatted with Hope, getting updates about Eva and Rex and the show. Angelica, however, stayed quiet as she sat on the bench, picked up the wine glass, and sighed into it. She’d still much prefer a beer, but Tatum wouldn’t know that.

“I did want to talk to you again, Ange, about buying the hotel.”

“Again?” Hope’s voice broke and she went from smiling at Tatum to staring at Angelica in shock. “How many times have you offered it to her?”

“Several,” Tatum responded.

Angelica raised her eyebrows at Hope, tilted the wine glass in her direction, and then took a long sip. “And my answer hasn’t changed.”

“I wish it would.” Tatum blinked at her slowly. “We had another offer on the place even though we haven’t been seeking them, and I wanted to give you one more opportunity. Theburden is becoming too much for our family to keep the place up right now.”

Angelica leaned forward and took a small piece of cheese and plopped it between her lips. “I don’t understand why you think I should be the one to own Mountain View.”

“Because you have the heart for it.” Tatum nodded toward her. “Youcareabout the aesthetic, about what it means to the family, and you’re the only one we trust to actually do right by this place. For mom.”

He had to throw that in there, didn’t he? Angelica continued to eat and drink, not quite sure what to say exactly. She’d given him an answer so many times before, and he never seemed to just accept it. Then again, as much as she wanted that to be the final answer, she also kept coming back to the question.

“I’m not in the hotels I run very often, Tatum.” Angelica took another sip of her wine, looking over to Hope as if to confirm. “And we’re doubling the number of episodes we’re filming for next season, which means I’ll be gone even more.”

“I think you can figure out a situation that works for you.” Tatum moved his glass toward hers. “You’re quite capable.”

Angelica pinched her face. “If I said yes…” she stopped talking. “You know what, never mind. I’ll say yes.”

“What?” Tatum’s eyes bugged out. “Really?”

“Yes.” Angelica relaxed. “I love this place. I can’t imagine anyone else owning it, and maybe it’s time to take some risks in my life.” She looked directly at Hope then. They hadn’t gone public with their relationship, not yet, and Tatum had given them two rooms despite the fact they only planned to use one. But she wasn’t going to correct him—not yet. Not until they were ready.

“Risk sounds like an adventure,” Hope chimed in. “Is it an adventure that you want company on?”

Angelica hadn’t even considered that. If she and Hope joined forces to own this place, then it would give her a backup if she needed it. But then again, going into business, actual ownership with Hope, was a huge step in their relationship and just another way for it to get messy as hell.

“We can discuss that later.” Angelica gave her a direct look. “I don’t want to make this any more complicated than it is, and buying a hotel is going to be complicated no matter which way we do it.”

“True.” Hope nodded at her, and Angelica knew she understood what she wasn’t saying.

They were getting far better at that, communicating nonverbally. That would come in handy when they started filming again.

“I have no idea when we can make it happen. I don’t have a realtor or a lender?—”

“We can wait.” Tatum’s eyes lit up with excitement. “If it’s for you, we’ll wait, and we’ll figure it out.”

Angelica sighed and then smiled. Nothing about this decision felt bad or scary. Instead, everything about it was right, as if she’d been building toward this for years already. And perhaps she was. This was her home away from home, and she felt more comfortable here than almost anywhere else.