Chapter 16
Chapter
Sixteen
“What did she say about the kitchen?” Rex’s voice rocked through Hope as she stood in the bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror.
She didn’t look any different, did she?
She felt a freshness she hadn’t in ages. If she closed her eyes and focused, she could still feel Angelica against her, inside her, the kisses and softness of her body.
“Hope?”
“Sorry. What?” Hope flicked her gaze to Rex’s reflection in the mirror. She really needed to focus, but she couldn’t deny that something had changed.
“What did Ange say about the kitchen?”
Hope furrowed her brow, trying to keep up with what on earth he was talking about, but she honestly couldn’t remember. She turned around and leaned against the counter, cocking her head at him.
“About the renovation issues?”
“Oh!”
Right. That had been Hope’s entire reason for stopping by Angelica’s room the night before.
They needed to talk about the out-of-code issues with the kitchen renovations and what exactly to do about them.
But they hadn’t gotten to talk—not about work, and honestly not about much.
Hope curled her fingers around the edge of the counter and shook her head.
“We didn’t…”
It was now or never, wasn’t it?
Hope’s heart raced, her palms were cold and clammy. She didn’t want to keep this a secret from him, and he deserved to know.
“I slept with Ange last night.”
Rex paled instantly.
Hope’s ears rushed with white noise at the look of pain on his face.
But there was no way to avoid it. Did she feel guilty about sleeping with Angelica?
Absolutely not. But she felt horrible that she’d broken his trust and shattered the world they’d been living in up until now.
She moved to reach for his arm, but he pulled back sharply.
“You slept with her?” he asked, but Hope was damn sure that he didn’t need her to clarify. He’d heard her clearly, and she’d made it obvious.
“I…” Hope clenched her jaw before dipping her chin and giving in. Well, she’d started this conversation. It was time to actually have it. “I went to talk to her about the kitchens last night, but we didn’t… talk.”
Rex swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. His mouth was slack, his eyes wide with unshed tears, and God, Hope should have done this any other way. Shouldn’t she? Except there was no way that this was going to be good for anyone.
The knock on the door was loud and jarring. Hope stared at Rex, who wasn’t moving. Her heart hammered. Slipping past him, she shut the bathroom door behind her and opened the main one to their room. Their nanny, Molly, stood on the other side, a smile on her face that never wavered.
“Is Eva ready?”
“Oh umm… Yeah.” Hope sniffled and brushed her fingers over her cheeks.
She turned around to find Eva and figure out if she was actually ready to leave.
She hadn’t realized just how much time had passed while she stood in the bathroom completely lost in her thoughts. It had been nearly an hour. “Eva?”
“Yeah?” Eva bounced off the bed with a grin.
“Are you ready for your day?”
Eva grinned and walked toward Molly, already taking her hand, and carrying the bag that she’d packed.
Thank heavens for the independence of this little girl.
Hope wasn’t sure that she’d have been functional enough to get Eva ready for tutoring and activities for the day.
Not with the storm that was waiting for her.
And the last thing they needed was for Eva to be present for this.
She should have thought about that before.
Everything was going awry.
Her impulses were getting in her way.
As soon as Eva was out the door, Hope went back to the bathroom. Rex wiped the tears from his cheeks and walked around her into the main part of the room. Hope stood there stunned.
“Rex?”
“Don’t talk to me.” He threw his hand out in her direction before snagging his jacket and shrugging it on.
“We need to talk about this.” Hope bit the inside of her cheek. “We need—”
“You told me I was paranoid!” His voice boomed through the room loudly, nearly shocking Hope back a step. “You told me nothing was going on with you two!”
“I-it wasn’t,” Hope stuttered, tears stinging her eyes. “I swear until last night—”
Rex stepped in close, towering over her. She couldn’t deny seeing the pain in his eyes now. God, she loved this man fiercely. He was everything she’d wanted and needed, and here she was breaking his heart in a single instant.
“What do you want, Hope? Me or her? Do you expect me to roll over and bark at you like a dog?” A tear spilled down his cheek.
“Do you expect me to sit back and not be impacted by your stupid decisions? I can’t believe you’d do this to us.
No, that’s not true.” He let out a bark of a scoff.
“I absolutely can believe you would do this. I told you this was going to happen. And you didn’t believe me.
” He pounded his fist into his chest. “You put this on me, but it’s not. It’s on you.”
Rex stepped around her.
Hope stayed still, watching him walk out the bedroom door without a second glance back at her. She collapsed onto the corner of the bed, her hands folded in her lap. She sighed, silent tears rushing down her cheeks.
She’d done this all wrong.
She’d done everything backwards.
Her phone buzzed, reminding her that it was time for hair and makeup because she needed to be filming in an hour. She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes.
The lights were bright. Sweat pooled at the small of her back, but she could barely focus on what she was supposed to be doing. She’d stumbled over her lines a half-dozen times already, and she could tell the crew was getting frustrated with her.
She was letting everyone down today.
“Hope?”
Her brain racked itself trying to focus and form words.
The look in Angelica’s eyes was nothing but concern.
But Hope couldn’t handle it. She didn’t deserve it right now, and they had a job to do.
Things were already derailed because Rex wasn’t in the room, leaving everything up to the assistant director, but to add in a conversation with Angelica?
While cameras and microphones surrounded them?
No. She couldn’t do that.
“There are um… some issues with the kitchen,” Hope finally choked out the words. That had been what started everything this morning, hadn’t it? The conversation she should have already had with Angelica, but they’d gotten distracted.
“Issues?” Angelica raised an eyebrow at her, canting her head to the side and staring at her curiously.
Was that another question to dive deeper into what Hope was feeling or was this Angelica trying to stay on point?
God, Hope could never tell with her sometimes.
No, that wasn’t true. She could. Just not right now.
Not when her brain was so muddled by the not-even-argument with Rex.
She should have chosen a better time, not when they’d have to dive deep into a day of work.
Neither one of them were prepared for this.
“Um, yes.” Hope bit her lip, staring directly at Angelica and not elaborating.
She could tell Angelica was getting frustrated now.
She wasn’t one to wait around for answers when she could just rip off the bandage and get to them.
“Sorry.” Hope blinked, staring down at their hands on the counter as they faced each other.
They were standing so close to each other, fingers inches away.
She needed to focus. She had to do this.
“What are the issues?”
“The renovation that was done on the kitchen last year isn’t up to code.”
Angelica’s jaw dropped slightly. She went from looking at Hope to looking around the kitchen. “What do you mean?”
Hope sighed heavily, crossing her arms as she straightened her back. She could do this. She could focus on work, and they could get this done. She’d have time to panic and digest whatever this was later.
“The hood for the stove isn’t in the right spot.” Hope pointed to it.
Angelica narrowed her eyes at Hope before turning and stepping toward the stove. She said nothing, just looked.
“The drains aren’t proper under the sinks.
There’s too much splash back, so that won’t pass code either.
” Hope followed her, ignoring the cameras that she knew were tracking their every move.
She couldn’t let the outside world see this pain she was carrying.
If the viewers caught sight, then it could send them on a downward spiral of chaos.
“The floor kick boards aren’t throughout the kitchen.” Hope was on a roll now. She could do this, and she could make it damn good.
“What do you mean?” Angelica’s voice reached her ears.
Hope’s lips pulled into a quirk. Surely Angelica wasn’t so fine that she didn’t know what Hope was talking about.
Hope touched her upper arm and turned her toward one of the cooking stations.
She squatted down, not caring that it was going to have an issue with the cameras. That was their problem, not hers.
“See this?” Hope pointed to the white trim on the wall that met the floor. “See how it doesn’t go the length of the wall?”
“Oh.” Angelica’s brow drew together, and she turned to look at Hope.
Hope had to resist the urge to reach over and push the damning curl of hair out of her face and behind her ear. No, they couldn’t be doing that in front of the cameras. Not at all.
“There’s also an issue with the lighting.
” Hope stood up and held out her hand automatically for Angelica to take it and helped her to stand up.
Angelica stepped in close, the scent of her shampoo reaching Hope’s nose.
She sighed into that, remembering the way it had surrounded them last night. “There uh… the lighting is uh…”
“Wrong?” Angelica supplied, taking a step away and putting breathable air between them.
Hope couldn’t have thanked her more for that. She needed it more than she could have put into words.
“Hope?” Angelica asked, teasing her back into reality. “The lights?”
“Right. There’s not enough lighting.” Hope pointed upward. “It’s too dark in here, which can cause a lot of accidents.”
“So the renovation that the Jordangers said was done—”
“Wasn’t to any code that I know.” Hope put her hands on her hips and looked directly at Angelica, still maintaining that precious space between them. “And I don’t know how they passed inspection unless they had someone who wasn’t really looking.”
“They might as well have.” Angelica pursed her lips. “Is there anything else?”
“I made a list.” Thank God for that. Hope could rely on it the next time they had to talk more details because she was still struggling to make her brain think the way it should.
“Forward it to me. Then we can talk later about what needs to be done.”
“Ange, we can’t cook in this kitchen.”
Angelica stopped in her escape, a look of surprise crossing her features. “But they’ve been cooking in here—”
“They have, but they shouldn’t be.” Hope shook her head, eyes wide.
She had to make Angelica understand this because clearly it wasn’t getting through her thick skull.
“Unlike working at reception or housekeeping, there are certain standards that need to happen in this kitchen in order for it to be safe, not just for the staff but for customers to eat.”
Angelica jerked her head slightly, the curls at her shoulders bobbing with the move.
Hope was sure that no one else would even notice it, but it was a look that said, do you really think I’m that stupid?
But Hope wasn’t over explaining for Angelica’s benefit.
It was for the cameras, but it was also for her.
Keeping Angelica here just a little while longer, making sure that the right work was done now so they wouldn’t have to spend so much time confined together later—this was all self-preservation. Pure and simple.
“We have to shut the restaurant down until these are fixed.” Hope was putting her foot down.
“Do you know how much revenue we’ll lose if we do that?”
“Yes.” Hope didn’t, but if she was forced to give an estimate under duress, she could probably figure it out quickly enough. “But it’s that or someone might die if they eat the wrong thing.”
Angelica sighed heavily. “Budget. Make one, and schedule people in to fix the issues.”
Without another word, Angelica turned on her toes and stalked out of the kitchen, her heels clacking on the floor as she went. Hope shivered from the coldness of the move. She surely hadn’t upset Angelica that much, had she?
No, they were trying to remain professional. Why wouldn’t they?
Hope swallowed, the distraction of Angelica being gone sending her into another spiral of what to do now, even though she had a list of tasks she needed to accomplish.
Cut was called, and the cameras were turned off.
Hope immediately walked out the back kitchen door and stepped into the alleyway.
She put her hand to her heart and breathed heavily.
Why did they have to be filming in Kansas City this time of year? The humidity was overwhelming, even if it wasn’t particularly bad. It felt as though the weight of the world was pressing down on her chest and making it impossible to breathe.
She’d thrown her family into a spin. And now she had a chance of losing everything? And for what? Because she knew it was more than just sex. She loved Angelica. But she also loved her husband and her daughter, and she wouldn’t give them up. Ever.