Page 60 of No Holds Barred

Ashlee nodded.

“Well, Leanne is only here because of my car accident. So what do you want, Ashlee?”

“I want the help.”

“Good.” Angelica’s lips quirked upward. “Do you want to make the rest of the world aware of what we’re planning?”

Ashlee nodded again, this time more confidently. “Of course. You’re nothing like what people told me, and they need to see that side of you.”

Angelica’s fingers tightened around her mug, that age old pain of perceptions plaguing her. “Good. I’ll let Rex know so he can film something. I’ll expect you to be in Los Angeles by the end of next week.”

“N-next week?”

“Yes.” Angelica pursed her lips. “Training starts immediately.”

“Okay. I’ll be there.”

Angelica nodded sharply, and Ashlee skittered away.

Hope bent down, her lips pulling upward into a smile. She had a hand on Angelica’s knee, and that pesky thumb was rubbing secret circles into the side of her leg again. “You really should show your soft side more often.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea for anyone,” Angelica murmured as she took another sip of her coffee. “Thank you for the coffee, by the way. I mean it. Hobbling around is taking all the energy I have lately.”

“I’ve been there before, although I was in my late teens.”

Angelica scoffed. “Try it after you’re through middle age and into menopause. It’s way worse.”

Hope’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “They want us to change clothes to shoot the exit.”

Sighing, Angelica wrinkled her nose. “I suppose that makes sense.”

“They’ll want us to change again before you and I film the exit for Maine.” Hope tightened her grip on Angelica’s knee. “Do let me know if you want help with that.”

Angelica paused, her cheeks heating. She looked around the room furtively to see who was paying attention. “Hope.”

“Just an offer.” Hope winked.

As Hope walked away, Angelica couldn’t take her eyes off her back, the way she confidently walked across the room, the lines of her body, the way she moved. She pursed her lips, a half-smile cocked and ready to fully bloom.

Until…

“I haven’t seen you look at a woman like that since me.”

Angelica drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “And lessons were learned. I’d like to remind you, Leanne, that no one here is aware of our previous relationship, and if you’d like to keep it that way—which I suggest you do so that people don’t think the worst of you—then I’d be careful what you say in a room full of people.”

“Ange, I didn’t mean anything by it.” Leanne sighed and ran her fingers nervously through her hair. “I don’t… It’s hard to come in here when everything is already so established. I feel like an intruder.”

Because you are…

Angelica wanted to say those words, but she held them back. Hope returned, a small plate of cheese and crackers in her hand.

“I’ll bring lunch up when we finish this next round of takes.”

Hope had been doting on Angelica since she had shown up in Boston. Meals every time Angelica sat down, kind words here and there, tender touches.

“I wanted to thank you for that letter of recommendation, even if I didn’t get the job.”

That’d be a first. Angelica had sent several letters of recommendation for Leanne in the last couple of years, and she’d never heard a thank-you once. In fact, the first time she’d sent one, she’d felt compelled to do it based on their previous relationship.