Chapter 22
Chapter
Twenty-Two
Hope stepped into the main lobby and halted.
Angelica sat at the front reception desk, not talking to anyone, but sitting on her iPad and staring at Julian, who was across the room, talking to one of the housekeeping employees.
Angelica wasn’t someone who would become distracted, ever, and the look she was giving Julian wasn’t just a stare of curiosity. She looked pissed off.
Humming to herself, Hope walked up to Angelica and leaned over the counter, but Angelica still didn’t even notice that she was there. Canting her head to the side, Hope leaned in even closer.
“Earth to Angel.”
“What?” Angelica jerked her head upright and stared directly at Hope. “How long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough.” Hope glanced in Julian’s direction. “Something wrong?”
“Nothing,” Angelica mumbled, going back to work on her iPad and not looking at Hope again.
Biting her lower lip, Hope rolled up on her toes and then back down. She walked around the reception counter and leaned over Angelica’s shoulder to read what she was doing on her iPad. But that didn’t give her any insight either. It was just budget reports.
“Do you have to do anything other than budget reports?” Hope chided.
“Profit and loss statements are a large part of my job.”
“Angel…” Hope whispered. “Take a break.”
“I can’t. Not right now.” Angelica was looking at where Julian had been standing but he was gone now. “Damn it.”
“What?” Hope furrowed her brow in confusion.
“Nothing.” Angelica sighed heavily, finally turning around in her chair and facing Hope. “Did you need something?”
Hope stepped back and crossed her arms. The cameras weren’t on them right now, which was good. They’d already filmed the introduction and now they were working on a few more interviews with staff, which left them finally to have a moment. One that Hope had wanted to take full advantage of.
“Can we get lunch?”
Angelica shook her head. “Not today.” She stood up, snagging her iPad as she went, and started back toward the office behind reception.
Hope moved quickly to follow her. “I was hoping to have a minute to talk to you.”
“Talk about what?”
“Angel…”
Angelica froze, giving her a hard look as if Hope had done something wrong that suddenly changed the mood. But she had no idea what that could have been. Hope touched Angelica’s shoulder briefly before pulling away.
“If you won’t get lunch with me, will you walk with me a minute?
” She really wanted to talk. Hell, they needed to figure out what was going on between them, but each time Hope had attempted to start a conversation since filming wrapped in Kansas City and Angelica showed up here last night, she’d been thwarted.
Angelica opened her mouth to answer but stopped short, her eyes locking on something over Hope’s shoulder. Instead of speaking, Angelica stayed still, closing in on herself. Hope was just about to ask what happened when Julian’s voice reached her ears.
“Ange, you’re looking marvelous this morning.”
A sickening sensation filled the pit of Hope’s stomach.
She turned around, standing next to Angelica and facing down Julian Tower, the man with an ego the size of Las Vegas itself.
He was probably pissed off that he didn’t manage to have a spot on the strip, honestly.
He’d already mentioned he had been trying to work his way closer to it, but that was difficult. Still, he was only two blocks away.
“You look good too, Hope.” He nodded at her, but his gaze was locked on Angelica.
Hope had never seen someone gawk at Angelica like that, not in all the time they’d known each other. And she hated it. Kissing Angelica’s knuckles last night had been one thing that she’d found so damn odd, but add that in with the way that he was looking at her now? What the hell was going on?
“Have you thought more about the retention issues?” Angelica asked, cutting straight to the point in that not-subtle way she had.
Hope admired her directness sometimes, although she was also a master at avoiding actual conversations that she needed to have.
Julian’s lips pulled up toward the corner of his lips. “I’ve talked with my staff about whether or not they’re thinking about quitting, and I’m pleased to say, none of them are.”
Like they would admit that to him even if they were. People weren’t stupid, and they had a strong sense of self-preservation.
Angelica hummed, and Hope slid her gaze down to her. That wasn’t a hum of satisfaction. In fact, it was one of suspicion. Not that Julian would know that, but Hope did. Angelica tapped the electronic pencil on the top of her iPad, looking from Julian to Hope, her eyes lighting up.
“Why don’t we do some training, specifically for the casino floor workers.
I’ve noticed they’re not working the floor as well as they could.
” Angelica popped up from the desk, her iPad still clutched in her hand, and she started toward the door.
Hope stayed right where she was, catching Julian’s gaze dropping to Angelica’s ass and staying there as she walked in front of him.
God, that sickened her.
“Hope! You come too, since they’re servers.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Hope muttered under her breath, following them out of the room.
When they got to the floor, Angelica had already flagged down Sy and Rex, telling them what was going on.
They jumped into action to film immediately.
Hope furrowed her brow, confused about what was going on.
They were supposed to work on server training tomorrow, not today.
Then again, Angelica seemed to be running the show since Josef was gone so much this season.
Hope watched as Angelica spoke confidently with one of the servers, giving her tips about how to make a sales pitch for a drink, which would keep people on the casino floor, and thus, have them spending more money.
Had Angelica learned as much from Hope in the last year as Hope had learned from her?
They started to tag team each of the servers who were there that day, one after the other, walking around the casino in tandem.
Julian, however, seemed to stick close to Angelica no matter where she went. That wasn’t a move lost on Hope, as she kept looking for Angelica around every corner, wanting to try and find a time that they could actually talk, because she had news she wanted to share.
Good news.
When they finally came back toward reception, Angelica looked wary of Julian. Hope stood next to her, waiting for whatever instructions Angelica had next, because she’d clearly thought this through more than Hope had.
“We’ll see how those improvements are made and go from there.
” Angelica looked directly at Julian. “When the next shift comes in, I want you to train them exactly like we just did. So you have—” she looked at the time on her phone “—an hour before shifts start to change over. Which is just enough time for Hope and me to discuss the kitchen and bar.” Angelica pointed at Hope and stared at her directly. “You ready for that?”
“Uh, yes.” Hope frowned. She just wanted five minutes to tell Angelica what she and Rex had talked about.
“Good.”
Instead, Angelica started back toward the office they’d just come from.
Julian seemed confused by the abrupt change, but Hope wasn’t going to let it slide.
She skipped a step, leaving Rex and the film crew behind as she trailed after Angelica.
Her mood change from even just an hour ago was off, and poignant.
“Walk with me.” Hope snagged Angelica’s arm as soon as they got to the office and pulled her right back out. “And turn your mic off.”
Angelica frowned, but she followed dutifully. Hope nodded toward Rex as she and Angelica walked out of the office and through the main floor of the lobby, saying absolutely nothing. She pushed her way outside, the heat oppressive and immediately starting sweat dripping down Hope’s back.
“Where are we going?” Angelica asked, a pout in her lips.
“Anywhere that’s out of sight of cameras.” Hope pulled Angelica by her wrist and tucked her away into a corner of the building that was dark and where no one could see. She immediately pressed their bodies together, arms wrapped around Angelica’s back as she kissed her.
But Angelica remained stiff. Hope pulled away with a smile on her face. She reached up and tugged lightly on one of Angelica’s curls. “Rex and I came to an arrangement.”
“Arrangement?” Angelica’s eyebrows rose in confusion.
“About us.” Hope wanted to lean in and kiss her again, but she held off. Angelica’s entire demeanor had been off since she’d arrived, and Hope had yet to figure out what exactly was causing it.
“What do you mean? During filming?”
“No.” Hope laughed lightly. “We’ve spent a lot of time in the last week talking, just like we needed to.”
“I don’t understand.” Angelica crossed her arms and straightened her back, definitely on the defensive.
Hope sighed lightly. She was doing a bad job explaining this. “We’re going to open our marriage. So you and I can… be together.”
“And you’ll still be with him?” Angelica frowned.
“Yes. There’s rules, of course. But this way everyone can be happy and have the best of all worlds.” Hope’s heart thundered, and she reached forward again to touch Angelica’s arm.
Angelica stilled, her jaw tightening.
What had Hope done wrong? God, she just wanted this to work out, and Rex had actually been the one to suggest everything, not her. She hadn’t even thought it was a possibility until he suggested trying it out.
“Angel?”
“I need to get back.” Angelica stepped to the side, but Hope snagged her wrist to keep her there.
“Just talk to me already.”
“No.” Angelica glared. “What’s there to say?”
“That this is good, that we can be together.”
Angelica shook her head slowly, moving the glare into a look of pity. “You want to know what I know?”
“I want to know what you’re feeling!” Hope pleaded.
“This won’t work.” Angelica pressed her lips into a tight line. She crossed her arms and sighed heavily. “You want an open relationship? Fine. Have one. But it doesn’t work when it starts in infidelity, Hope. And you should know better. Hell, Rex, should know better.”
“Rex and I have a good marriage. He’s a great guy.
I know we can make this work.” They’d spent so many hours working through all the details, creating a list of how they were going to communicate, what was allowed or not allowed.
Even Rex was going to step out and maybe try dating someone. Hope had to believe that it’d work.
“It won’t work,” Angelica repeated.
“Angel…” Hope frowned in confusion. “I’m doing this for us.”
“Us?” Angelica looked surprised. “There isn’t an us, Hope. I’ve told you that. And you know what’s worse? You didn’t even ask me what I wanted.”
Hope’s heart thudded hard. They hadn’t. She’d just assumed that after their quick conversation in Kansas City that this was something Angelica wanted too. That they both… “I’m so sorry,” Hope whispered.
“Don’t bother.” Angelica drew in a deep breath and sighed heavily. “I need to get back to work.” She stepped around Hope and out into the daylight.
Hope wanted to race after her, drag her back so they could discuss this more. Was it really all about one night together and nothing more? She couldn’t believe that. She couldn’t believe that Angelica believed that. So what was all of this about?
Her heart raced as she stood there in silence, the sounds of the cars driving down the street and voices of tourists her only companion.
She bit her lip and clenched her hands. This would be good for all of them.
Why couldn’t Angelica just see that? They needed to keep talking, and Angelica needed to not just listen but tell Hope what was wrong with the plan.
She caught up with Angelica inside, again staring down Julian as he flirted with a young customer over at the bar.
He had a drink in his hand. Hope pursed her lips, noting that and sighing.
She just wanted to have a few minutes to actually talk with Angelica, when they weren’t running away from each other.
The sound of shattering glass jarred her.
Hope spun toward the bar where Julian had been standing, only to see a young bartender wincing with his hands in the air. Hope immediately started in that direction to see what the commotion was. Julian wasn’t yelling, but his words were unnecessarily harsh.
“Hey,” Hope said, stepping into the fray. “What’s going on?”
“Rose here dropped two bottles of top shelf liquor. Do you know how much that costs?” Julian pointed at her accusingly.
“Y-yes!”
Hope nodded toward Rose. “Start cleaning that up, will you? We don’t need anyone to get cut on the glass.”
She turned to focus on Julian, who then scoffed when he saw the young customer he was flirting with had vanished. Rightfully so. If she’d seen anyone flip like that into an outrageous anger at an employee, she’d vanish too if she could.
But this was also a side of Julian she hadn’t seen yet. Hope plucked the glass out of his hand and set it on the bar top. She leaned on the edge of it and stared Julian down.
“Typically, when on the show and when on the floor while working, it’s not encouraged to drink on the job.”
Julian snorted lightly, stepping closer and into her space. “It’s my hotel, my bar, and I’ll do what I want in it.”
“Then good luck finding a way to turn this place around.” Hope gave him the best scolding look she could manage. “And unless you do this our way, we’ll walk right out of this hotel and never look back. You need us, Julian. Not the other way around.”
Hope waited for an answer, but she didn’t get one. Instead, Julian spotted something over her shoulder, nodded at her, and then walked away. Like she hadn’t just made an Angelica-sized threat of the century without checking with anyone.
When Hope turned around to see what had distracted him, she was surprised to find Angelica in the middle of the floor, talking with none other than Josef.
Fuck. She swore he wasn’t coming to film this season.
What had they screwed up now?