Page 32 of Under the Table

Angelica paused at that. Hope was flirting with her, flat out. And despite how many times it had happened in the past year, she always found a little thrill in it. Not many people were willing to talk to her like that—like she was human. But Hope had never had an issue with it. That’s what had caught her attention when they’d met last year, and that was exactly what Angelica didn’t want to lose.

Her humanity.

“Three,” Angelica said with a wink before stepping back.

“Wait. Really?” Hope skipped a step to catch up with her. “Are you serious?”

They walked side-by-side through the conference room doors and down the hall to the bigger room where they had set up for the wrap party. Angelica pressed her lips together to keep herself from smiling, but it was damn near impossible. Hope just brought that out in her so easily.

“Angel, really? Three?”

She laughed. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“I do want to know!” Hope’s voice rose. “Tell me.”

“Maybe someday I will.”

Angelica walked around the room, checking that the small tables were set up so people could stand and talk and have somewhere to put their food and drinks. She checked that the buffet area was set up, and it was. Which she suspected was all Hope’s doing.

“The food’s ready to go, right?”

“Yes. Angel, answer me. Three?” Hope snagged Angelica’s wrist again and pulled her to a stop.

“Why do you want to know so badly?” Angelica paused, the weight of her bag making her shoulder droop and her fingers go numb. If she didn’t drop this thing in her room soon, then she was going to have to put it down to finish her walk-around.

“I’m curious about you.”

“Me?” Angelica gave Hope a suspicious look. “There’s nothing interesting about me, Hope.”

“Sure there is.” Hope laughed lightly and followed Angelica to the next station. “I’ve never been more interested in something in my life.”

Really?Had Hope actually just said that? Did she even realize the words that came out of her mouth?

“You mean I’m the most interesting thing lately. Surely, you’ve had other hyperfocused obsessions to follow.” Angelica stepped toward the dishware and napkins.

“Well, yeah. Why are you double-checking my work?”

“Because it’s my job.” Angelica sighed and put her bag down on the floor next to the wall. “You didn’t run the menu by me for tonight.”

Hope’s brow drew together. “No, I didn’t.”

Angelica shook her head slightly. When that didn’t get a response from Hope, she crossed her arms and popped her hip out a little bit as if to make her point. She wasn’t going to use more words than necessary for this game. It was definitely a game that she wanted to play, but only if Hope was involved.

“What?” Hope asked, laughing nervously. “I made sure there’s food you can eat. I’m not going to poison you again. Trust me. Once was enough.”

Giggling, Angelica rolled her eyes and loosened her stance. “You always run the menu by me.”

Hope paused, stepping in close to Angelica. Too close. No one else ever dared to be this close to her. They always kept their distance as if she was the enemy, the pariah. But Hope had never had that problem before. She wanted to be this close to her, to the point that she’d not only accidentally but purposely started touching her in new and different ways in the last week.

“Youalwaysrun the menu by me.” Angelica inched her way closer.

They were nearly nose-to-nose, but this was the least confrontational that Angelica had ever been when she was this close to someone. In fact, unless she was making love to someone else, she never?—

“Are you… angry with me for not doing it?” The tease in Hope’s tone shot straight through Angelica, but it didn’t go beyond her heart this time. She was enjoying this. So much. And she didn’t want it to ever end.

“I’m meticulous, Hope.” Angelica dropped her gaze, purposefully this time, straight to Hope’s mouth. She let it lingerthere for the count of five before looking back up at her. “And Iamthe boss.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Hope shifted her weight from one leg to the other, but it wasn’t because of nerves. This was a challenge. “But I thought you trusted me. That I wastrained to perfection.”