Chapter 35
Chapter
Thirty-Five
The loud squeal of a toddler jarred Angelica.
The screech, which was far more a scream of annoyance than joy, was like nails on a chalkboard in her ears.
She steadied herself as she stared at her iPad and raised her gaze as inconspicuously as possible to see where the noise had come from.
Sure enough, a mother was trying to drag a defiant toddler outside the main reception area while her older children looked on in annoyance and horror.
“I don’t miss those days,” Hope said.
Angelica jerked with another start. She hadn’t expected Hope to just show up. Then again, that had been happening more often lately. Angelica was on edge, and she wasn’t used to that. Something big was about to go down, but she couldn’t put her finger on what exactly it’d be just yet.
“Do you need to be anywhere right now?” Hope asked.
Angelica furrowed her brow, glancing in Hope’s direction. “No. I have a few minutes before we start filming.”
“Good. Come with me.” Hope snagged Angelica’s upper arm and dragged her away from the front reception area.
Angelica followed, her heels clacking with each step on the cement floor.
She had no idea where they were headed, but Hope’s grasp on her arm was firm and confident.
Angelica nearly stumbled when Hope suddenly stopped in front of a door, keying her way inside before shutting and locking it behind her.
The supply closet was dank and a bit dusty, but that was to be expected.
Angelica stepped deeper into the room, and Hope followed her, suddenly spinning her around and pressing their mouths together.
Angelica hummed, parting her lips and holding onto Hope as their bodies pressed together.
Hope swiped her tongue along Angelica’s lips, and on instinct, she parted to deepen the embrace.
“Microphone?” Hope mumbled against Angelica’s lips and then trailed a line down her neck.
“Uhh… yes?” Angelica tangled her fingers in Hope’s hair, trying really fucking hard to find her brain, but Hope seemed to make it disappear as soon as they’d come in here.
With a sharp twist, Angelica was propelled around so her back was pressed up against Hope’s front. She looked over her shoulder curiously as Hope dug her fingers under Angelica’s blazer and found the offending microphone pack and unplugged it, setting it on a shelf. “Good, it was off still.”
“Good?” Angelica asked, trying to turn back around, but Hope’s steady hands kept her in place.
“So no one heard anything.” Hope pulled Angelica’s blazer off and tossed it somewhere.
Angelica was about to object, but Hope trailed her palm down her back and over the curve of her ass. “I’ve thought about this since that kiss in Kansas City, you know.”
“Thought about what?” Angelica asked, her voice shaking from arousal. The command that Hope had right now, the control and determination. It’d be her undoing. She pushed her ass against Hope’s palm, wanting more contact.
“A quickie in the supply closet.” Hope laughed. She slowly turned Angelica around so they were facing each other again and started to pull up Angelica’s skirt inch by fateful inch. “Rex actually accused us of doing that once.”
Angelica stilled, her heart thundering but not from arousal now.
Rex. He was the jealous type, wasn’t he?
She’d seen it in him on occasion, but she hadn’t seen the full brunt of it.
Apparently, there was far more than Angelica had thought.
Hope’s fingers on the inside of her thigh distracted her from that line of thought.
“And then when we kissed in one… Yeah, I won’t lie and say that it hasn’t run through my brain since then.” Hope dropped her mouth to Angelica’s chest, brushing her lips across Angelica’s skin.
“Wh-why now?” Angelica asked, fisting her hands at Hope’s sides. It was only then that she realized Hope wasn’t in her chef’s coat yet. She still had on a pair of jeans and a green colored V-neck shirt. How long had she planned this?
“I thought we could use a few minutes to ourselves before filming gets started.” Hope scraped her teeth along Angelica’s collar bone. “Just a few minutes where it’s you and me and no one else.”
Angelica hummed, loving that sentiment. She cupped the back of Hope’s head and pulled her up so they could kiss again. Angelica nipped Hope’s lip and sucked it hard before letting it go with a pop.
“Quick means quick, Hope.” She rested her shoulders against the wall and jutted her hips out.
Hope looked up at her, genuinely curious and surprised. “You never struck me as someone who’d love a quickie.”
Angelica let out a bark of a laugh. “Why wouldn’t I? I enjoy taking my time with a woman, Hope, but I also enjoy the hard, fast, and complete aspects to a quickie.”
Hope laughed, her voice ringing around the small closet. But she also moved her hand upward and rubbed against Angelica’s clit through the fabric of her thong. Angelica smiled and then gasped, rocking her hips into Hope’s hand, vying for more. Just more.
“Fuck me, Hope.” Angelica’s voice was breathless, and she dragged Hope’s lips back to hers.
One finger, and then a second. Angelica moaned into Hope’s mouth, keeping their lips connected as much as possible.
She pushed down against Hope’s hand, adding to the pressure and friction as Hope curled her fingers and started a brutal pattern.
Angelica whined in the back of her throat, trying to keep her noise to a minimum.
She had no idea who was walking around outside, no idea who could hear them.
She clenched her jaw tightly, pulling away to catch her breath when Hope hit a particularly sensitive spot.
“Like that?” Hope asked.
“Y-yes,” Angelica said, her voice breaking on the word. She was losing all ability to concentrate, her brain spinning in directions she hadn’t even known were possible ten minutes ago, but Hope always seemed to be full of surprises. “H-harder.”
Hope complied, increasing the speed and pressure of her hand.
Angelica rocked, her hips undulating in time with the flicks of Hope’s hands.
She dug her fingers into Hope’s shoulders to keep herself upright as she barely had enough time to breathe.
Her breaths came rapidly, little moans at the end of each one.
Fuck, Hope could just make every thought run from her brain, couldn’t she?
Angelica careened through her orgasm, gasping as she tried to catch her breath and stay upright all at the same time.
Hope was still moving her hand rapidly, still teasing Angelica’s clit.
Which was fine for all of thirty seconds until the oversensitive nerves started to shoot off fire and pain warnings.
Angelica scrambled to get her brain back, pushing at Hope’s hand to keep her still or move her, she wasn’t sure.
She just needed a second to catch her bearings.
Hope slowed, her fingers sopping wet if the sound was any indication. Angelica pressed her forehead against Hope’s shoulder and breathed slowly, her lips parted, and her eyes closed. Hope held her, still teasing lightly.
“Too much?” Hope asked, so much tease and flirt in those two words.
Angelica burst out laughing, the shakes rippling through her as she lifted her face to kiss Hope fully. “Just enough, and quick, exactly like you wanted.”
Hope hummed, kissing Angelica again and then smiling. She moved her hand from between Angelica’s legs and immediately plopped her two fingers into her mouth, sucking them as she hummed again, this time in pleasure. “Sweeter today than normal.”
Hope would be the one to note the difference in her flavor from day to day.
Angelica’s cheeks heated at the comment, not from embarrassment but from how much she was already in love with this moment.
She laughed before standing up straight and starting to put her clothes back in order.
As she reached for her blazer, Hope snagged her arm and pulled her in for another kiss.
“Come away with me for a weekend when we get back to LA.”
Angelica’s chest tightened. “A weekend?”
“Just you and me, where we can kiss and fuck whenever we want, when we don’t have to deal with impeding schedules, or interruptions.” Hope’s eyes were alight with excitement. “I can book a place for us away from the rest of the world, and it’ll just be you and me and no one will know.”
That sounded so nice, so surreal.
“Let me think about it, Hope,” Angelica answered, her brain working faster than her heart.
She wanted to go away. This wasn’t the first time Hope had mentioned it, and she still wanted that fairytale that Hope was building right in front of her eyes and inviting her into.
But she hesitated. She held back. And she needed to figure out why exactly that was.
“I have a lot of work to catch up on and I need to check all my hotels.”
The light in Hope’s eyes faded a bit. She nodded and took a step back, putting physical space between them. “Okay, I’ll look around for some dates that might work for both of us.”
Angelica snagged the mic pack and handed it to Hope. “Do you mind?”
She turned around as Hope nodded, and stayed still as Hope slid the pack onto her waistband and plugged in the wire that was still taped to her skin under her clothes. Angelica reached down to adjust her thong and make it more comfortable as she squared her shoulders.
“Thanks,” Angelica said when Hope handed her the blazer after dusting it off a bit.
She leaned in and kissed Hope, breathing into the moment that they had shared. She didn’t want to let this go. She pulled away to shrug her blazer on and button it over her belly. When she looked up, Hope stared at her oddly.
“What?” Angelica asked, a lightness to her tone that she’d missed in the last year.
Everything about Hope made her feel that way.
Whatever was between them was so very real, and so very tangible.
She wanted more of it every single day, but every time she’d sought more from Hope, she’d pulled away and hadn’t been able to give it because those doubts still lingered.
“You’re beautiful,” Hope sighed, her lips quirking into a smile. “Inside and out.”
Angelica’s heart warmed. Heat rushed to her cheeks again, and she moved in to claim yet another kiss. This one she made last longer than the last.
They left the storage room together, laughing as they stepped into the cool hallway and brighter lights of the lobby area. Angelica had her iPad back in her hand and held it like the shield that it was against whatever problems they were going to have face and overcome in the next week.
“Auntie H!”
Angelica froze. A small child raced toward them, flinging their arms around Hope’s waist in a hug that lasted for what seemed like minutes.
When Angelica looked up, she was greeted with a curious glance from a woman who looked so similar to Hope aside from her hair color.
This woman had dirty blonde hair that was pulled back in a messy bun.
“Annalise!” Hope hugged the kid back before releasing them and opening her arms to walk toward the woman and the other child, who was glued to her side. “Rachel.”
Angelica watched the hugs and greetings, her chest tightening instantly. The little oasis they’d managed to build in the storage room was already gone. Rachel smiled and hugged Hope back, when she pulled away, she looked curiously at Angelica.
“Angel, this is Rach, my oldest sister.”
Angelica held her hand out in greeting, doing what came naturally to her. “It’s good to meet you.”
“You too.” Rachel’s eyes lingered on Angelica’s face. “I’ve heard quite a bit about you, but not from Rex or Hope.”
“Oh?” Angelica furrowed her brow in confusion.
“From Eva.” Rachel smiled, her gaze still unwavering.
It unnerved her. What the hell was Rachel trying to figure out right now? And why was she pointing out that Rex and Hope didn’t actually talk about her? She supposed that would be a bit odd, considering they all worked together, and she and Hope worked closely together.
“Got to love Eva,” Hope said, nervously laughing as she bent down to pick up the younger child clutching Rachel’s leg. “Come give Auntie a hug, will you?”
The girl moved her gaze from Angelica to Hope, her eyes lighting up in an instant. She grinned broadly and launched herself into Hope’s arms and around her neck. Hope sighed into the hug and then stood up, the girl still in her arms.
“This is Jenna,” Hope said to Angelica. “But where’s Mandy?”
“Outside.” Rachel sighed heavily. “She found the pool table.”
“Ah.”
Angelica clenched her jaw tightly. She was interrupting this mini family reunion. And something about Rachel put her on the edge between wanting to run away and face it full on. It was as if Rachel could read every single thing that was happening under the surface between her and Hope.
“I need to check with Sy about where we’re filming introductions,” Angelica said. “If I see Rex, I’ll send him your way.”
“Thanks,” Hope answered, still gripping onto her niece.
Angelica walked away, not looking over her shoulder at them.
She didn’t need to find Sy, actually. She knew exactly where they were going to be filming next.
But she’d had to escape Rachel’s discerning eye.
If they weren’t careful, Rachel was going to unravel absolutely everything they were doing and more. And it would be the end of it all.
Angelica would get fired.
Hope would go back to Rex.
And the only one who would lose out and be devastated would be Angelica herself, because once again, she’d started something with someone who was unavailable. She’d never learn, would she?