Page 8 of Under the Table

“Both of you, cross your arms and stand shoulder to shoulder but take a half step turn so you’re almost back-to-back.”

Angelica remembered this pose from last season. In fact, it’d been one that they’d used on the majority of the press. It turned out stunningly. She licked her lips, lifting her arms and crossing them as if protecting herself from everything that was bombarding her right now. The rustle of fabric from her clothes and Hope’s was so loud in her ears that she could barely focus on her own breathing.

“Ange, remember to actually relax your face. You’re not smelling anything gross.”

No, she was smelling something gloriously wonderful.

Hope.

“Ange!”

“Yeah, I heard you,” she mumbled under her breath.

Hope chuckled, but she refused to turn and look. The last thing she needed was Hope’s amused face turned in her direction.

“Good.” Wade laughed but put the camera back to his face.

Angelica turned and relaxed her face just like he’d told her to. She was here to make this process quicker, not longer. And that was going to take some effort. Lyric stood behind Wade, snapping a few photos of them together and then stopping. Angelica licked her lips again and tried to find the calm center that she’d had before.

“Now would you both look over your shoulders at each other.”

“What?” Angelica said, her voice cutting through the room. That hadn’t been what they’d done last time. She remembered. And she really didn’t want to look at Hope or be that close to her again, at least not any time soon, because she was struggling just to control herself.

“Look at each other,” Wade reiterated.

Angelica closed her eyes. It was now or never. She could do this, and she could make it seem like she had nothing moreto give than what she was supposed to be giving. Holding her breath, she looked over her shoulder.

Her eyes locked on Hope’s crystalline ones. She tensed. A tendril of dark hair curled around Hope’s cheek, stopping just by her ear. Angelica rubbed her fingers together to resist the urge to reach up and push it behind her ear. She breathed. Hope’s lips parted, a dampness to them that Angelica remembered so clearly—the taste, the feel, the way Hope moved them. She melted.

Looking back into Hope’s eyes, Angelica stilled. The entire world in that studio became about the two of them standing together, about the way Hope dropped her gaze from Angelica’s eyes to her lips and back up again.

She was struggling with this too.

Together, they were both trying to maintain some sense of decorum and dignity, to keep themselves as far apart from each other as possible. And they were both failing miserably. Angelica opened her mouth as if she was going to say something and then stopped. She dashed her tongue across her lips, following Hope’s eye movements as she looked down and followed the slide of her tongue.

Angelica’s heart raced. Her entire body was tuned into Hope and no one else. She could hear Hope’s breaths, see her pulse race under the skin of her neck. What would it feel like to press her lips there? To feel the way Hope’s heart raced for her.

“Perfect!” Wade said loudly.

Angelica snapped her attention back around to face him, her entire body alive with electricity. It felt like she was floating, not standing, and her knees were so weak.

“Now go shoulder to shoulder again but turn out the other way so you’re actually facing each other.”

Did he not understand how fucking difficult this was for the both of them? Surely Wade could see it in Angelica’s face.Shifting around, Angelica stepped the other direction, and this made everything worse. She had to look at Hope this direction, and there was no way for her to avoid her.

“Angel…” Hope murmured.

“Not now,” Angelica answered, trying to just keep herself together.

This shouldn’t be so hard. They’d been apart for months now. They’d only shared a couple of quick kisses and nothing else. They shouldn’t be this connected or intertwined. Not yet, anyway. And not ever, frankly.

Angelica raised her chin and looked directly into Hope’s eyes. They needed to do this for themselves, to prove to each other that they could make it through this season and not have any issues going forward. They’d never kiss again, and that was fine by Angelica. Hope had her husband, who she was happily in love with. And she had her daughter, who was adorable. Angelica wasn’t going to ruin that for her.

“We have this, filming, and press, and we can do this,” Angelica said, raising an eyebrow at Hope with a silent challenge.

“But Angel…”

“No buts,” Angelica interrupted. “Nothing but professionalism.”