Page 25 of Under the Table

“I saw where that got me the last time. I don’t plan on making the same mistake twice.”

He shook his head at her and stepped back, the glare and hurt running across his face making it impossible for her to ignore. He was hurting, and he was damn scared. Hope wished she could tell him that it wasn’t a problem.

She wanted to scream at him that there was nothing going on.

And while nothing physical had happened, she couldn’t deny that there was more than what met the eye between her and Angelica.

Chapter

Nine

“Are you mic’d?”

Hope burst through the door of the conference room, the one where they were holding their production meetings, not the one where Angelica frequently talked to Robin and Johnny. Angelica looked up from her iPad in curiosity and confusion, her hair still shading her face as she’d been deep in working on management of her other hotels for the few brief minutes that she had.

“Yes.” Angelica cocked her head to the side. “Of course I am. I’m in between filming at the moment.”

“Turn it off,” Hope demanded. She reached behind her and ripped the microphone off her waistband to put it in front of Angelica’s face.

It was certainly turned off.

Angelica leaned back in her chair, steepling her fingers as she looked Hope over. It’d been a long time since she’d been confronted by Hope’s angry side, especially in quite this fashion. She relaxed her body, keeping every little bit of herself in as much control as possible so she could figure out just what the hell was going on.

“What’s going on, Hope?” Angelica dropped her voice at the end, indicating that she really didn’t have the time or the patience for this today. She was tired of dealing with drama that didn’t need to be drama. She’d trust that Hope wouldn’t add to her insanity for the day.

“Turn your mic off.”

Angelica turned her head slightly to the side, looking deep into Hope’s gaze. Fear lingered behind those crystalline blue eyes, fear and worry and stress. Angelica pursed her lips and leaned forward in her chair, making somewhat of a show of reaching behind her back to snag the mic pack and turn it off. She showed it to Hope and then disconnected the wire and put it on the tabletop as proof that she really didn’t have it.

“What’s going on?” Angelica repeated her question.

“Did you know about this?” Hope tossed her phone in front of Angelica, and it slid across the tabletop until it knocked into her iPad before stopping.

Angelica didn’t even flick her gaze down to it. Instead, she continued to stare into Hope’s eyes. She didn’t want to play games. She wanted this game to be over so she could get back to work. And instead of saying anything out loud, she just stared, making sure that Hope understood her feelings without words.

“Well, did you?”

Sighing, Angelica gritted her teeth. “Did I know about what?”

“The pictures!” Hope nearly screeched out the word before she straightened her back and ran her fingers through her hair. Then she seemed to notice that the door was open, her entire body tensing and tightening as she stayed glued on it.

Angelica watched with rapt attention, unsure of what the hell was going on but knowing that Hope was clearly upset and struggling with something, and it was now her responsibility—for some odd reason—to talk her down from whatever this was.

“Hope, what are you talking about?”

Hope snapped her phone up quickly and unlocked it before setting it back down in front of Angelica. Finally they were getting somewhere. Leaning over the desk slightly, Angelica focused her eyes on Instagram, specifically her Instagram, and pressed her lips together at the images she saw. Photo after photo of her and Hope working together, smiling and laughing. None of the intense tension from before where they were all glares and challenges, none of what was in this room right now.

But fuck, what would happen if the world saw this now?

Because this was way more than simple anger.

Hope leaned in even closer, flicking her finger against the phone’s screen to scroll it down. Angelica had to close her eyes against the onslaught of Hope’s scent, that lilac that always seemed to follow her around everywhere. She licked her lips, breathing deeply to center herself once again as she tried to focus on whatever the hell Hope was talking about.

They were too damn close to each other.

That’s what the problem was.

Angelica moved to stand up, hoping that the even footing between them would fix this problem, that it’d help her focus on what Hope was saying rather than on the fact that they were standing far too close for comfort. Hope stepped to the side, but barely. Instead of putting more space between them, Angelica ended up nearly pressed against Hope’s side, the space between them mere millimeters instead of inches.