Chapter 41
Chapter
Forty-One
At lunch, Angelica’s stomach couldn’t take much more.
The tension in her chest from the night before hadn’t eased, and despite a few more text exchanges with Hope before she’d finally fallen into a fitful sleep, she hadn’t managed any true rest. As production stopped for a break, Angelica looked wildly around.
Her gaze landed first on Rex and Eva, as he held her hand and walked away, probably to find Hope or to get some lunch.
And then her eyes landed on Josef, as he crossed his arms and scowled at her from the corner of the room.
He hadn’t said one fucking word to her in days, and it unnerved her. She’d never seen him this quiet before.
Logan stared at her curiously from the elevator. Angelica’s heart thudded hard. Cadence already knew. It wouldn’t be long before everyone else knew, and Rex had way more information on them than she ever wanted. Rubbing her thumb over her fingers, Angelica straightened her back.
Walking directly toward Logan, she stopped. “Do you have a minute to talk?”
“Just a minute?” He cocked his head at her, like he knew this was going to be far longer than either one of them could anticipate, as if he knew she was ready for a confession.
“An hour,” Angelica corrected. Her stomach flipped and then twisted in knots. She had no idea if this was the right decision or not, but she had to protect both of them as best as she could, even if it meant throwing herself under the bus.
“Yes,” Logan answered. “Conference room?”
Angelica clenched her jaw tightly and shook her head. “Not here. Let me grab my jacket.”
As soon as they stepped outside, Angelica breathed the fresh air and stilled.
The trembling in her fingers easing as the full realization of what she was doing settled in her.
This was the right decision. Logan hadn’t shown her any animosity or treated her poorly.
If this ended her career on television, so be it.
Because she was damn sure that if it wasn’t this show, she wouldn’t want to be in show business anymore.
They walked down the block and Angelica paused at the intersection. “I slept with Hope.”
She couldn’t even look at him. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them. Trust never came easy to her, and she was putting so much trust in him.
When Logan didn’t say anything, Angelica had to turn and see if he’d even heard her. She met Logan’s eyes, a surprised expression on his lips.
“I’m not sorry about it either,” she added to make sure he understood. “I fell in love with Hope a while ago, but our relationship hasn’t been without complications.”
Again Logan remained silent. When was he going to say something?
“I know it’s inappropriate—“
“This is exactly what Josef has been accusing you of.” Logan finally broke his silence. “And you’ve denied it every time.”
“No, not every time. Only in the beginning when it wasn’t true.” Angelica wrapped her arms around her chest a little harder to ward off the cold and wind. “Then I just avoided a direct answer when he asked. It’s inappropriate for him to ask anyway.”
“While I agree with you that he shouldn’t be asking, he’s not wrong.”
“No. He’s not.” Angelica sighed heavily and closed her eyes. They took a step closer to a building as if that would give them some respite from the wind. “But he doesn’t know for certain that Hope and I are in a relationship.”
“And you are, right? This isn’t a seasonal fling post-divorce?” Logan rolled up on his toes and stared at her.
“No. I love her.”
“And she’d say the same if I asked her?” He stared at her directly, no doubt needing to see the truth in her gaze.
“She would.”
Logan sighed heavily and then ran his fingers through his curls and pulled on them sharply. “You made me look like an idiot with him!” Logan pointed back toward the hotel. Angelica didn’t need to ask to know who he was talking about. “I defended you!”
“I know you did,” she said calmly. “And I’d have preferred to wait to tell you until Hope and I were a bit more settled, but I can’t. Some things have come up, and I need to tell you now.”
“What things?” he asked.
“I’m afraid it’s going to come out. And that it might affect the crew.” Angelica wrapped her hands together tightly, twisting her fingers. This was the part she was worried about. This was the part that could ruin her career.
“You mean Rex?” Logan didn’t seem surprised anymore. But that didn’t mean that there wouldn’t be consequences for her actions. She had made a mistake and at some point, she would have to own up to it. The trend was set. And Angelica couldn’t deny it. She wouldn’t. She loved Hope too much.
“No, I don’t mean Rex.” Was she really going to have to explain everything?
Or was she going to be able to gloss over the details?
She didn’t want to share every intimate detail.
That would be embarrassing. But she would have to give him enough to understand what he needed to in order to make a decision about her future.
“Rex and I are friends. And I think he would understand my relationship with Hope better than anyone. But we haven’t told him, if that’s what you’re asking. ”
“It was part of what I’m asking,” Logan replied. He sighed heavily again, pulling out his hair. “What am I supposed to do with you?”
“Whatever you want.” Angelica crossed her arms, certain in her statement.
This wasn’t a decision for her to make alone.
It was one that the entire production was going to have to decide on.
And it was the worst possible way for her relationship to go public.
But they needed answers, and they needed to prevent chaos in the crew.
She needed to protect them. That was her job as their boss, and she took that job seriously.
If she had to give up the show so Hope could stay on it, she would, because she wouldn’t be giving up Hope.
And it had taken her far too long to realize that. Until this morning, when she couldn’t deny that Hope loved her back.
“If I need to leave the show, then I will. I will choose her over Hotel Bombshell.” She let that sentence linger in the air. She let it settle into Logan’s soul, so he understood how serious she was.
“You’re going to make this impossible for me, aren’t you?” Logan let out a chuckle that went from strained to wild. He groaned and then shuffled his feet on the sidewalk. “You know Josef is going to blow a gasket when he finds out.”
“I know.” Angelica wiggled her toes in her boot. “But I had to be certain about my relationship with Hope before I told anyone.”
“And I’m the first one you’ve told?” Logan looked at her.
“Yes. But Cadence… knows.” She shifted uncomfortably.
Being on this end of the conversation wasn’t something she’d ever thought she’d have to endure.
She was used to being the one to call others out, to pull them to the side and tell them to keep it in their pants.
And even with Leanne, no one had ever had that conversation with her other than Josef, and even then it probably wasn’t warranted.
“Cadence?” Logan raised a curious eyebrow at her.
“Apparently she saw us one time and confronted Hope about it the other day.” Angelica’s cheeks burned despite the cold outside. “This isn’t how I would have wanted to tell you.”
“You wouldn’t have told me unless you were forced to. At least be honest with yourself about that.”
“Fair.” Angelica’s lips pulled into a slight smile before it vanished. “I haven’t told Hope that I’m talking with you. I will tonight, but she’s busy with Eva and juggling a lot right now.”
Logan hummed his agreement before groaning again and straightening his back. “You were supposed to make my job easier, not harder.”
“For that, I am sorry.” Angelica offered him a sad smile.
“All right, let’s head back. We’ll deal with this all when we get back to California. I don’t have the capacity to figure out what to do with you before then, especially when we’re two days out from wrapping.” Logan took a step toward Claridges.
“Logan,” Angelica stopped him with just his name. “Are you going to tell anyone?”
“Not while we’re here.”
“I—I’d like to talk to Rex first. I think he probably suspects, but I want him to hear it from me or Hope.” Angelica worried her lower lip.
“That’s fair. But we’ll strategize about Josef.”
Angelica grinned then. “I’d welcome it.”
They started back toward Claridges, Angelica keeping her jacket tightly around her to ward off the cold. She missed California’s balmy weather. Hell, she missed Colorado’s chill. Anything was better than this. She wasn’t built for the chill the wind brought with it.
When they stepped back into the hotel, Hope was there with a plate of food and a concerned look on her face.
“Is that for me?” Angelica asked.
“Yes?” Hope said it like a question, though they both knew the question had nothing to do with the food and everything to do with what Angelica had been talking to Logan about.
“Thank you.” Angelica’s eyes crinkled when she smiled at Hope, the warmth filling her heart not just from the heat in the building but from the very fact that Hope was still here.
She didn’t know what the future held for them, but they’d figure it out.
If Angelica had to leave Hotel Bombshell, then she would.
She had to believe that it’d be worth it in the end.
She took the plate, popped one of the small pieces of cracker, meat, and cheese between her lips, and took a bite. She was so used to eating on the go lately that it didn’t even bother her this time around.
“Mmm, it’s good.” Angelica took another bite.
Hope still looked at her suspiciously.
“Eva?”
“Eating with Rex in the dining room.” Hope put her hands on her hips and flicked her gaze to Logan. “Did you still need to talk to me?”
“No, I think I have it handled for now.” He nodded at her and skirted around to walk away, leaving them alone.
Angelica relaxed as she took another bite of the food.
“I call these adult Lunchables,” Hope said, pointing to the food.
“They’re good.” Angelica swallowed and then licked her lips. “I told Logan.”
Hope stilled. Then she reached to her back and clicked off her microphone. Angelica’s stomach plummeted. Had she remembered to do that? Or had she just confessed everything into an open microphone? Reaching to her side, she pulled the microphone over and sighed in relief. It was off.
“What did you tell him?”
“You know what,” Angelica responded. “We needed someone on our side, and he’s the obvious choice.”
“But you said—”
“I know what I said. But sometimes plans have to change. We can talk later.” Angelica nodded toward Mark and Alexis, intrigued by the fact that Alexis actually had a smile on her face. “What’s going on with those two?”
“I don’t know. We sat down to interview a chef today, and I swear they were flirting with each other. It was odd. They’ve been at each other’s throats for a whole week, nearly coming to blows, and now they’re acting like teenagers again.”
Angelica hummed and pursed her lips. “I wonder if they finally figured out what at least one of their problems with each other is.”
“That, or they both got lucky last night.” Hope shifted her gaze toward Angelica. “That could have done it too.”
“Yes, but that’s also likely a short-term solution, and not one that we want them to choose.” Angelica took another morsel of food. “When we get back to Los Angeles, I would like to sit down with you and have a conversation.”
“Just one?” Hope winked at her and ran her fingers down the lapel of Angelica’s jacket.
“Several, in fact.” Angelica’s cheeks heated, which she’d come to expect now. But this flirting, which was never subtle, was something she was coming to like, something she enjoyed. “But I don’t think we’re going to find time until then.”
“You’re probably right.” Hope dropped her hand to her side. “It’s been difficult enough to find the time that we have had.”
“For sure.” Angelica sighed. “What do you say? We finish filming, finish the wrap party, and head home.”
“It sounds like a dream.” Hope’s lips curled up beautifully, and Angelica longed to see that look on her face more often. She never wanted it to end.
“Then, let’s get back to filming.” She took the plate with her as she walked away, tossing a flirtatious look over her shoulder at Hope as she went.