Chapter 23 #2
Angelica shook her head. “No. Well, yes, for not giving you the warning about that but there wasn’t time. I’m not going to let Leanne take anything from me. I was jealous of her, and I needed to step in and do something about it.”
“By yelling at me?” Hope lifted her eyebrows in disbelief. “That seems counterintuitive.”
“No, it’s not. Create tension between us and Josef will be happy and we remain front and center. If we allow her to create the tension—”
“—then she becomes the star.” Hope finished with a nod. “I think I get it now.”
“Good.”
“But… you said that wasn’t what you were sorry for.”
Angelica paused, then she nodded. “Right. I’m not. I mean, I am, but not just for that.”
“Then what?” Hope squeezed Angelica’s hands. It sent a wave of comfort through Angelica, one that she needed and desperately wanted.
Sighing heavily, Angelica stepped away. She needed the space in order to think properly, to figure out what exactly she was going to say. “I wish things had ended differently… between us, I mean.”
This time the silence was expected, and it wasn’t painful. But it was filled with a tension that Angelica desperately wanted to pop.
“Every single person in my life has left me.”
“Left you or you pushed them away?”
“I told you to shut up.” Angelica shot her a look of exasperation. “You left me. But I don’t think you were ever truly here either. You were always half in and half out.”
“You’re not wrong about that,” Hope murmured.
“I know I’m not. But you weren’t the only one who was only halfway committed.” Angelica straightened her back, folding her hands in front of her. “Because I knew you’d choose him. And you did.”
Hope nodded her agreement.
“I wasn’t wrong.”
“I’m still not hearing what you’re sorry for.”
Angelica knew she was trying to lighten the mood, that Hope didn’t enjoy the intensity of these conversations. She’d much rather act than talk, and as much as Angelica hated to admit, sometimes words were necessary.
“I’m sorry I didn’t fight for you.”
“Ange—”
“No, I’m not done yet.” Angelica put her hand up, stopping Hope from saying anything else or trying to dissuade her from this.
Because it needed to be said. Angelica needed it to be out between them because she was so damn tired of holding it in.
“I’m sorry that I wasn’t honest with you.
That I chose to protect myself instead of sharing with you. ”
“You don’t—”
“I do.” Angelica stepped closer to Hope. “I do need to say it. And this.”
“And what?” Hope looked even more confused than she did before.
“I’m sorry for this.” Angelica moved quickly, pressing her palm against Hope’s cheek and leaning in and up as best she could so that their lips connected.
Hope gasped.
Angelica kept their mouths pressed together, parting her lips and closing her eyes.
Her heart raced. Her entire body electrified with arousal and energy, whatever dam she’d used to hold it back before absolutely shattered.
Hope hesitated, but she lifted her hand, sliding her fingers deep into Angelica’s hair and tugging as she shifted the kiss, as she took control.
Willingly, and without any hesitation, Angelica let her be in charge.
She didn’t fight it. She didn’t try to wrangle Hope back in.
Instead, she did everything in her power to stay right in this moment—one filled with forgiveness, with deep emotions, with a coming together that they hadn’t ever shared before.
Angelica whimpered as Hope pulled her in closer, their bodies brushing as Hope took a step forward and pushed Angelica back.
Hope nipped Angelica’s lip as Angelica’s back crashed into the wall.
Hope’s hands were everywhere—against Angelica’s breasts, teasing her nipples, against her waist, the small of her back.
Angelica breathed in this moment, when all of the walls were finally down between them, when nothing could possibly get in their way again.
She pressed her palm against the back of Hope’s head, feeling the short hairs tickle her skin. God, she’d wanted to do that the moment she’d seen Hope’s new haircut. In desperation, she pulled at the snaps on Hope’s chef’s coat and then pushed it from her shoulders.
“Angel… are you sure?” Hope breathed the question in between kisses.
“Yes.” Angelica pulled Hope’s tank top, stripping it from her body until she was treated with smooth, soft skin and her cotton bra.
Angelica ran her fingers along the edges of it, moving her hand from the straps to the V in between Hope’s small breasts.
God, she’d longed to touch Hope again, so many nights when she’d pushed that desire to the side as much as possible so she could sleep.
Hope pulled the silky royal-blue blouse from Angelica’s waist band, and her fingers finally touched the skin of Angelica’s back. Angelica breathed heavily, her gaze tracking all over Hope’s body, as much of it as she could see.
“Angel—are you sure about this? Because I was so mean to you. I screwed up so bad—”
“Shut up, Hope.” Angelica reached around Hope’s back and deftly flicked the clasp on her bra.
“We both made mistakes, and we both knew exactly what we were doing and just how fucking messy it was going to get.” Angelica brushed the tips of her fingers across Hope’s breasts. “Do you want me to stop?”
“No.” Hope’s chest rose and fell heavily with each breath. “No, I don’t. I… I didn’t think we’d ever get here again.”
Angelica nodded her agreement. “Me either. I’d written it off. Or rather, I wanted to.”
Hope bit her lip. “And then?”
“And then I saw you again.” Angelica looked up, meeting Hope’s gaze. “And I fell in love with you all over.”
“Will you love who I am and not who I was?” Hope put her hand on Angelica’s hip, pushing herself away slightly.
“Yes,” Angelica said firmly. “Yes, I already do.”
“Then what do you want going forward?” Hope rested her forearm against the wall, leaning in close enough that they could kiss. Their breath mingled. She slid her hand under the edge of Angelica’s shirt, skin to skin, and palmed her waist.
Angelica licked her lips, feeling the warmth of Hope’s breath against her tongue. It’d be so easy to just kiss her and do away with words, but right now, they needed words. Right now, Hope needed Angelica to tell her everything that was working its way into her soul to be bared.
“I want you.” Angelica cupped Hope’s breast, rolling her hardened nipple under her thumb. “I want you to fuck me, fingers deep inside me, tongue next. I want no one but you with me.”
Hope pressed their mouths together hard. Angelica hummed, parting her lips so their tongues could tangle. She pushed her back against the wall and kept herself as steady as possible with a still-broken leg barely supporting her. Hope dropped a hand to the edge of her skirt and pulled it up quickly.
Angelica parted her knees, wrapping one arm around Hope’s neck for added balance as she waited for the push against her body, the sensation of being filled, the slide of Hope’s thumb across her clit.
She closed her eyes, breathing relief when Hope did exactly what she wanted.
Angelica put more weight onto her good foot and bent her knee.
“Fuck,” Angelica muttered. The pain in her leg was ramping up, right when Hope found the perfect rhythm.
She clenched her fingers tightly into Hope’s back, trying to keep herself upright and focus on the pleasure not the pain.
But she hadn’t lied when she’d told Josef she needed to come in here to rest her leg, to put her foot up.
Hope kissed Angelica’s neck, scraping her teeth downward and across her collarbone. Angelica tightened her grasp in Hope’s hair, throwing her head back as her mind warred between all of the sensations flooding her body and vying for her attention.
“Hope.” Angelica breathed her name. “Hope. Stop.”
“What?”
“Stop.”