Chapter 20
Chapter
Twenty
“Ultimately, the work we did here will go on into the future,” Hope said directly into the camera.
Angelica stood next to her, shoulder to shoulder in the middle of the full dining room.
The dinner service that night had gone off without a hitch, mostly.
The problems that had arisen were small enough that they could be handled, and Paris had been working on them, which was nice to see.
“The hotel staff are back on track with their tasks and roles.” Angelica folded her hands together in front of her as she stared at the camera, saying the line she had memorized only minutes before.
“And we think that Opal Oasis stands a fantastic chance of thriving into the future.” Hope grinned at the camera, her eyes crinkling in the corners.
Rex was behind the monitors somewhere, watching everything, but she was facing the black box of doom that she’d come to hate. It was much easier to play off Angelica during a conversation than moments like this when they had to talk to an audience that wasn’t there yet.
But something had calmed in the last couple of days, not just in the hotel itself since Paris had turned around, but in herself. Hope had settled. She turned toward Angelica slightly, but still kept her eyes on the camera, tuning back into whatever Angelica was saying.
“We’re onto our next hotel to save. But don’t worry, we’ll check back with the Jordangers and Opal Oasis to see what progress they’ve made while we’re gone.” Angelica gave the camera a brilliant smile, one that Hope knew was as fake as they came but also would dazzle all those fans out there.
Her cheeks reddened just at the thought.
Was Rex really right about how Angelica treated her?
That there was a difference in their interactions as compared to how Angelica worked with everyone else?
Hope hadn’t seen it. But then again, she hadn’t seen a lot that Rex was aware of.
He was always more observant than she was about those kinds of things.
“And cut!” Rex called from behind the cameras.
Hope dragged in a deep breath, turning toward Angelica with her lips curled up and eyes alight. “That’s a wrap, isn’t it?” Hope said quietly.
“Should be,” Angelica said, her face tilted toward the ground and not making eye contact with Hope. “Rex will call it if it is.”
“Angel…” Hope frowned. Hope might be settled, but Angelica seemed even more unsettled than she had in all the time they’d spent together filming.
“That’s a wrap!” Rex yelled.
Angelica blinked hard and pulled away. She took an audible step backward before looking up into Hope’s eyes and letting that mask of untouchable fall into place. Hope hated seeing that. She reached forward and put her hand on Angelica’s elbow to pull her back.
“Can we talk a minute?” Hope asked, keeping her voice quieter than she normally would have. But they were both fully mic’d up still, so everyone who was on the other end of the camera could absolutely hear what either one of them had to say.
“Is this urgent?” Angelica answered, raising an eyebrow in Hope’s direction.
Hope wrinkled her nose, her gaze dropping to Angelica’s lips and then back up to her eyes.
Where was this coldness coming from? She just wanted to have a simple conversation to resolve whatever was between them in this moment so they could get on with the work they needed to do.
Then maybe they could talk more in depth later.
“You know, I think it is.” Hope nodded at her.
“Fine.” Angelica walked away.
Hope had to speed to catch up with her, pulling the microphone from the pack against her back.
They walked from the dining area toward the office that Angelica had kept.
Rex’s gaze burned into Hope’s back, and she knew he was fully aware that they were going off by themselves. What must he be thinking or wondering?
When they reached the office, Hope put her hands on her hips. “We need to find a way to keep working with each other.”
“I thought we were doing a fine job of that,” Angelica tossed over her shoulder. When she paused by the table, she flicked her hair over her shoulder and crossed her arms, leaning on one hip as she stared at Hope. “Or am I mistaken and our filming hasn’t gone well the rest of this week?”
“What’s wrong with you?” Hope furrowed her brow and stepped in closer. “Seriously, Angel. You don’t treat me like this.”
“I don’t?” Angelica raised an eyebrow at her, pulling away slightly.
“No! You don’t.” Hope put her hands on her hips.
She almost asked what she’d done wrong this time, but without even asking, she knew.
She’d been so wrapped up in her marriage and Rex and how they were working through her one night with Angelica that she hadn’t paid any attention to Angelica in the last few days.
She’d completely pushed her out of the conversation.
Sighing, Hope clenched her jaw tightly and turned around toward the door and then stopped herself.
This wasn’t her area of expertise. Not navigating people’s emotions, not figuring out where filming was and wasn’t happening, not knowing where she could quietly talk without any interruptions. That was Angelica’s area.
“How many cameras are in this room?”
“What?” Angelica frowned, a line forming between her brows.
“You film in here. How many cameras are still in here?”
“Three.”
“And your mic?” Hope asked.
Angelica reached behind her back and pulled the pack out, turning it off and detaching the wire from the pack. “Off.”
Hope clenched her jaw tightly. “Where can we go?”
“I don’t understand.”
“Angel, where can we go to talk where no one will hear us?” Hope crossed her arms, her entire body tense. She couldn’t even explain to Angelica what she wanted to talk to her about or why because that couldn’t be on camera, could it? Angelica had made that very clear.
Angelica gave her a hard look before sighing heavily and starting out of the room.
Hope followed her closely, not exactly sure where they were headed.
It wasn’t until Hope saw Angelica head toward the elevator that she realized they were probably going to her room, but Hope didn’t want to wait that long.
She snagged Angelica’s hand and looked around quickly, dragging her toward the nearest supply closet that she saw.
She flashed the keycard that she always had on her onto the door and popped it open. Pulling Angelica inside, Hope shut the door firmly and pocketed the keycard. “I’m sorry.”
“What?” Angelica said, taken aback.
“I’m sorry that I haven’t really talked to you in the last few days. I should have.” Hope shoved her hands in her pockets and rolled up on her toes.
Angelica’s lips parted, the shock evident on her face.
“It’s not been an easy week, as I’m sure you can imagine, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that I’ve ignored you in many ways I shouldn’t have.” Hope cocked her head to the side. “So I’m sorry.”
“I…I don’t know what to say.” Angelica’s shoulders dropped, and that mask she’d had in place moments before faded away.
Hope could finally see the real her standing there, the one she’d fallen in love with. “You don’t have to say anything.”
Hope’s heart hammered. She took a step forward, closing the space between them, and this time, Angelica seemed far more receptive to that. She reached forward and touched the tips of Angelica’s fingers lightly before curling her fingers into Angelica’s palm.
“I told you that I was falling in love with you, and then I barely talked to you for the next week despite being in the same room for more than half the time.” Hope gave her a wry smile.
“We were working.”
“That doesn’t excuse what I did.” Hope softened her voice. “I’m sorry.”
“Hope…” Angelica’s lower lip quivered, and she finally raised her gaze to look directly into Hope’s eyes. “What are we doing?”
Hope shook her head and then swallowed when she didn’t have words.
She honestly had no idea what she was doing.
She was still tossed in the chaos that she created, riding the waves one way and then the next.
She threaded her fingers into Angelica’s, squeezing her hand tightly before taking another step forward.
She breathed slowly, her heart hammering, and she didn’t look away from Angelica the entire time.
“I don’t have any answers,” Hope whispered.
They were so close. Noses nearly touching. Angelica’s breath hit Hope’s cheeks and neck. She closed her eyes, pressing her forehead against Angelica’s. She pressed her palm against Angelica’s waist, holding her lightly.
“Why did you do it?” Angelica asked, her voice barely over a whisper. “Why did you have sex with me?”
Hope sighed, pulling back enough that she could look into Angelica’s baby blue eyes—eyes that held so much worry and concern right now. Hope had to choose her words carefully. She couldn’t leave Angelica in the dark like she had the rest of this week.
“Because it was something I thought we both wanted, something I thought I wanted with you.”
“You thought?” Angelica asked.
“Something I know,” Hope corrected. “Didn’t you want it?”
“Yeah.” Angelica’s lips thinned with an emotion that Hope couldn’t quite name. “Yeah, I did.”
“And do you still?” Hope tightened her grip on Angelica’s waist, feeling the warmth of her skin under her shirt, the softness of the curves of her body.
Angelica lifted her chin slightly. She slid her hand from the nook of Hope’s elbow, up her arm to her neck, then her chin. Angelica nodded before she said anything, and Hope was smiling when she finally spoke.
“Yes.”
Hope moved in swiftly, pressing their lips together.
Angelica moaned, stumbling back a step as Hope stepped forward and pushed her against the wall.
A shiver ran down Hope’s spine and settled at the base of her back.
Angelica cupped the back of her head, digging her fingers into Hope’s hair and firming up her grip.
God, Hope loved when she did that.
She parted her lips, sliding her tongue out to move against Angelica’s and teasing her into a deeper embrace.
Hope settled into the kiss, her heart thundering away as she continued to press their bodies together.
She moved her hand from Angelica’s side to the edge of her blouse, finding the spot where the fabrics met, and started to weave her fingers underneath them.
Angelica hummed, parting her legs and pulling Hope into her even more than before.
She nipped at Hope’s lower lip before kissing her again and moving her fingers to the edge of her chef’s coat and underneath it to touch skin.
Hope grunted, rocking her hips against Angelica’s and effectively smooshing Angelica against the wall.
“I’m so sorry,” Hope murmured against Angelica’s lips before kissing her again.
Angelica sighed, her body relaxing even more than it had before.
Hope would say that a thousand times over if it would help make things right between them again.
But this was entirely new territory for her.
She’d never been in a relationship with two people at the same time, not that she was sure she could call this that either.
She and Rex really needed to talk, but more than that, she and Angelica needed to talk, and everyone needed to be involved in the conversation.
Hope moaned when Angelica’s fingers reached her breast and teased her nipple through the thin fabric of her bra.
This woman was so enticing. Hope wanted to touch skin like Angelica was doing.
She wanted to slide her hands along Angelica’s body, tease her until she cried out loudly, until she was overwhelmed with pleasure and sensations.
She reached up, palming Angelica’s breast and massaging it gently.
Angelica arched her back into the touch, moving her hand away from Hope’s nipple and down her side and around the small of her back again.
The heat from a few moments ago was gone, the intensity of the moment.
Hope eased her kisses slowly, not wanting to give them up entirely, but also not sure what the shift in mood was.
When she finally looked into Angelica’s eyes, she knew she wasn’t the only one who had noticed the change. She smiled at Angelica, kissing her again just for good measure.
“I don’t know where we go from here,” Hope said, keeping her lips curled upward. “I’m working on that still.”
“We have to be very careful with everything.” Angelica tightened her grip on Hope’s arms, still keeping her in her grasp. “My job is on the line.”
Hope nodded, understanding some of why Angelica had pulled back in the last week. But she also knew that wasn’t everything. “Yeah. I know.” She kissed Angelica again. “I’ll do everything in my power to keep this from blowing up.”
Angelica’s lips pulled tight into a line, and her gaze faded into something that told Hope she wasn’t fully present in the room with her any longer. She was off thinking about possible outcomes and possibilities.
“I promise you, Angel.”
Angelica nodded. “We should get back.”
“Yeah.” Hope moved away slightly.
But when she stepped back, Angelica’s knees dipped as though she’d lost all bearing on where she’d been pressed into the wall and had no idea where the floor was. Hope immediately tightened her grasp around Angelica’s waist and kept her upright.
“What’s wrong?” Hope asked.
Angelica shook her head, blinking wildly for a few more seconds before she straightened her shoulders and tightened up her entire body. “Nothing.”
“That wasn’t nothing.” Hope furrowed her brow.
“I’m fine, Hope.” Angelica breathed in deeply, but she was still gripping onto Hope’s arms like that was the only thing keeping her upright at the moment. “Or I will be fine.”
Hope stayed still, keeping Angelica steady. “When did you eat last?”
Angelica shook her head, her cheeks reddening from the pale color they’d turned. “I don’t honestly remember.”
Hope sighed heavily. She was going to have to work on that. She still couldn’t believe that anyone could forget to eat.