Page 49 of No Holds Barred

Hope was about to step away, not sure what to do or where to stand any longer, but Angelica snagged her hand again. “Stay for a minute.”

“Uh… sure.”

Angelica let go and stared directly at Leanne. “I need to talk to my costar.”

“Oh, right.” Leanne’s smile faded instantly. She hadn’t been expecting that.

Leave it to Angelica to always keep someone on their toes. She’d done that repeatedly with Hope over the last few years. Leanne shifted and stood up, nodding her head in Angelica’s direction.

“Let me know if you need something and I can get it.”

“Will do.” But Angelica’s tone said exactly the opposite.

Satisfaction swirled in Hope’s chest. It was one thing for Hope to dote on her and it was another entirely for Angelica to accept help from Leanne. Hope stood strong, her chest puffed out as she stared down at Angelica while Leanne escaped the conference room. But then the memory of their laughter hit her again, and she bowed her head in dejection.

“What was that all about?” Hope asked, folding her hands tightly in her lap. She was so confused. Angelica had willingly touched her in front of Leanne, not just on the arm or anything simple, but she’d held Hope’s fingers. It had been…intimate.

“Leanne is trying to take over for me, Hope, and I want to know how close she is to making that happen. Josef has been giving me a wide berth the last few days, and I don’t know why.”

“That might be my fault.” Hope frowned.

“What do you mean?”

Angelica moved the fork to the meal Hope had prepared and took a small bite of it. She hummed as soon as it hit her tongue, and that was exactly what Hope had wanted to hear. And when she went back for a second bite, Hope was even happier.

“Hope, what do you mean it’s your fault?”

Hope glanced around the room and toward the open door. She moved swiftly to shut it and then took up Leanne’s vacated spot, dropping her hand onto Angelica’s cold skin. She brushed her thumb gently against it, warming her. Angelica bit her lip when she looked down at where they were connected, and the look she gave Hope was so different from the one she’d given Leanne. Was there more interest there? More…attraction?

Hope wasn’t sure that she dared to dream that up.

Angelica had made the boundaries clear.

“How does Leanne not know about your food allergies?” Hope asked, keeping the simple pattern of her thumb moving back and forth against the inside of Angelica’s knee.

“I uh…” Angelica’s cheeks pinked, a stunning flush running through her cheeks and down her chest. “Is your mic on?”

“No, I turned it off before I came in here.” Hope canted her head to the side, genuinely curious now.

Nodding, Angelica flicked her gaze back down to Hope’s hand. “That feels good.”

“This touch?” Hope asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes,” Angelica whispered, her voice breathy. She cleared her throat, and instantly refocused. Hope could see the shift in her features as she centered herself on what she was there to say. “Leanne and I didn’t share a lot of meals together.”

“Because she’s not a chef.”

“No.” Angelica bit her lip again, her gaze flicking down to Hope’s hand on her knee. “Because we were busy doing other things.”

Cold washed through Hope.

“Leanne and I didn’t have much of a relationship, reflecting back on things.” Angelica reached up, her hand pressing into Hope’s with a gentle squeeze before she released it. “Not like you and I did.”

Did.

It was that past tense again. It was a knife straight to Hope’s heart. She didn’t want what was between them to end. That kiss back in Maine had been everything, and yet, now they were still sitting here as if they were nearly strangers. At least, Hope thought Angelica wanted it that way until she started touching like this.

“What are we doing, Ange?” Hope whispered. But she couldn’t force herself to look up into Angelica’s gaze.