“What?” Angelica asked, turning to look at her.

  “You didn’t tell me how bad my bedhead was.” She tried to smooth out the hairs sticking up at the top of her head.

  “I think it’s adorable.” Angelica winked at her and then turned as Ansel handed her a mug of coffee. “Thank you, Ansel.”

  “My pleasure.”

  Did Angelica seriously just wink at her?

  What world did they just enter? Whatever it was, Hope liked it, and she wanted to see more of that outrageously flirtatious woman she’d only ever gotten a quick taste of.

  Chapter

  Twenty-One

  “Rex!” Angelica’s lips broadened into a smile as she wheeled herself into the staging area in the quaint little Vermont hotel. She barely made it over the lip of the doorway with her knee scooter, getting stuck twice before she was able to shove hard enough to push the wheels over it.

  “What’s up?” Rex glanced up from where he and Cadence had their heads bowed in discussion.

  “Watch.”

  Angelica set the knee scooter to the side and put both feet onto the ground, distributing her weight evenly. Her sore muscles protested, but she couldn’t stop the smile that reached her lips. “I’m weight-bearing, finally.”

  Rex grinned and shook his head at her. “That’s great!”

  “So great!” Cadence stood up immediately and came over to her, touching Angelica’s arm lightly. “And sexy as hell as always.”

  Angelica’s cheeks heated up, and she flicked her gaze from Cadence to Rex. “I thought it’d make for easier filming this week, so we don’t have to hide the scooter as much.”

  “You’re right about that.” Rex leaned back in his chair, crossing an ankle over his knee. “And it’ll be helpful, because having walked around this place with our carts, it’s going to be brutal on you and the scooter.”

  Angelica bit her lip and glanced at the scooter. “I still need it sometimes. I’m not fully weight-bearing.”

  Rex nodded. “We’ll figure it out for filming, but you’re going to have a tough time moving around this building.”

  “Perfect.”

  Angelica snagged the scooter and moved toward the small table that they’d declared as theirs in the lobby. This hotel was quaint, and they didn’t have the big conference rooms that many of the others had. It meant that Angelica was going to have to be far more creative about what the hotel offered. In a lot of ways, it was on par with Mountain View West and should probably cater to weddings and personal events rather than work events.

  “I can step in whenever you need me to get around.” Leanne’s voice sent chills down Angelica’s spine. She’d barely turned around and sat when she watched Leanne walk through the doorway as if she owned the entire room. And with Josef’s encouragement and backing, Angelica wasn’t surprised that Leanne felt that way.

  But she was misinformed.

  Josef was only in this for himself. And he didn’t care if he walked all over Leanne to get there.

  “I think I’ll be good, thank you.” Angelica looked to Rex. “Shall we?”

  “Hope’s running late this morning,” he mumbled, still flicking his gaze between Leanne and Cadence. “Actually, do you two mind giving Ange and me a minute?” He pointed to Leanne and Cadence.

  “Not a problem, boss.” Cadence snagged her iPad and immediately walked away. Leanne hesitated for another second, but Cadence plopped a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back.

  “What’s wrong?” Angelica asked, lowering her voice and looking directly at Rex.

  “Hope’s late because of Eva. She was throwing a fit this morning. But that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.” Rex’s shoulders were still hunched over, and he looked toward where Cadence and Leanne had vanished to. “Are you and Cadence…”

  “No.” Angelica shook her head. “Absolutely not.”

  “I feel like…” he trailed off and groaned, rubbing his hands over his face. “I can’t keep up with who’s fucking who anymore.”

  “No one is fucking anyone as far as I can tell.” Angelica crossed her arms and gave him a firm stare. “Well, some of the crew, but I’m not concerned about that. Cadence is outrageously flirtatious. She has been since the moment I met her two years ago.”

  “And Leanne? She always looks at you like⁠—”

  “Leanne is my former employee, Rex, and she knows that I won’t hire her back even though she can’t find a new job. Which should tell you something.” Angelica flicked her gaze back to where the two women had walked away. “And Josef brought her in purely for drama’s sake.”

  “I gathered that much.” Rex sighed heavily. “I thought after the complaint I made about him that he’d be fired from the show for this season.”

  Angelica slowly turned to him, eyes wide. “Your complaint?”

  Rex nodded. “After Vegas and San Diego, I couldn’t stay silent any longer.”

  “I didn’t know about your complaint.” Angelica sighed. That’d be three full complaints against Josef from three people with power, and still Logan hadn’t pulled the plug on Josef’s behavior. She was starting to lose faith in Logan.

  “Oh yeah. I sat down with Logan for hours after that one. He could have killed Sloane with that golf cart bullshit. But more than that, Ange, what he did to you in Vegas—what he said to you?” Rex shook his head again. “Hope was right. I needed to use my privilege to your advantage.” He reached over and clasped Angelica’s hand tightly. “And I’m not going to hesitate to do it again. All right?”

  “Thanks,” Angelica murmured.

  Rex nodded at her. “One more thing.”

  “What’s that?” Angelica leaned forward slightly, hoping that the conversation would ease into simpler territory, into territory that wasn’t so filled with high emotions.

  “I don’t know the circumstances when it comes to you and Hope, that’s one thing we haven’t talked about, and I don’t think we will. It’s not my place anymore.” Rex looked around the room again, leaning and lowering his voice even more. “But you did make her happier than I’ve seen her in years. Our problems started well before you entered the picture, and we were both already concerned that working together was going to bring those to a head. We trusted it wouldn’t, but we didn’t do enough work to make sure that it didn’t.”

  Angelica’s heart raced wildly. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying she loves you. And I’m saying that without me in the way, perhaps both of you can find what you’re looking for.” Rex reached forward and squeezed Angelica’s hand before he jerked back and looked up. “Morning, Hope.”

  Angelica didn’t want to look. She didn’t want to turn her head and see Hope standing there in confusion and curiosity and probably some hurt over the fact that she and Rex seemed to have an easier time talking without Hope around, that perhaps she would call Rex a friend at this point. But she had to.

  Lifting her gaze, Angelica met Hope’s crystalline eyes, the furrow in her brow, her hair that was pushed up in all different directions from sleep. Angelica’s heart thundered again, her stomach tightening. Hope’s tight white T-shirt clung to her body and her small breasts, forming to her like a second skin.

  “Are you ready to work through the filming for the day?” Rex asked, not quite breaking Angelica’s reverie.

  “Uh… yeah?” Hope’s voice cracked. “But where’s everyone else?”

  “We’re right here!” Cadence said, her voice loud and nervous. “If we’re allowed back into the conversation.”

  “Of course,” Rex answered.

  Angelica was still completely lost in Hope. She hadn’t expected Rex to ever say anything like that. Everyone seemed to shift around the table except Angelica, moving to make room for Cadence, Leanne, and Hope.

  “Is Josef coming?” Leanne asked.

  “He doesn’t often participate in these meetings,” Rex answered.

  Angelica had to snap herself out of whatever funk she was in and focus.

  “We’re going to film the introduction and conclusion at the end of this episode like we did last time. I liked how that worked a bit better, and hopefully Ange will be standing completely on her own by then.” Rex flicked his gaze to her.

  Hope raised an eyebrow. “On your own?”

  “I can wean off the scooter this week,” Angelica murmured.

  “The restaurant seems to be the problem here,” Cadence jumped in. “So we’re going to be focusing a lot on Hope this week.”

  “But we need equal time,” Leanne said, her voice wavering as if she was nervous saying that.

  Angelica’s phone buzzed in her hand. Still paying attention to the conversation flying and letting Rex deal with Leanne, she checked the text message that had come in.

  Hope: I assume that means no more assistance is needed in the showering department.

  Angelica’s cheeks burned. She immediately looked at Hope, who had a perfect smirk on her lips and flirtatious glance in her eyes. Angelica couldn’t say anything. They were in a room full of people, and after what Rex had just said, her brain wasn’t working fast enough to keep up with everything going on.

  “There’s also the issue of handicap access,” Cadence stated, her voice sending a quiet hush around the table.

  Angelica looked directly into Cadence’s eyes.

  “It does need to be addressed,” Rex said.

  “I know,” Angelica agreed. “But I also know Josef doesn’t want video evidence of my injuries. He’s trying to beat the gossip train.”

  “Talking about it on screen can help with that,” Rex said. “If you’re up for that. I know you don’t like to talk about personal things very often.”

  When had he gotten to know her so well? Angelica flicked her gaze to Hope, who just shrugged slightly. When she looked to Leanne, she was met with a head shake. Focusing more on Angelica would mean less screen time for Leanne, and it’d prove she could do the job still, which would mean that Leanne would have to admit she wasn’t needed anymore. Something she never wanted to do. She had an incessant need to be in the middle of everything to prove her own worth.

  “I think that’d be fine.”

  “Are you sure?” Leanne’s voice startled Angelica.

  Turning around, Angelica locked her gaze on the young woman who was trying to take her job. “Do I ever second-guess decisions?”

  “Yes.” Leanne looked at her squarely.

  Angelica’s heart raced. The only decisions she’d second-guessed had been Leanne and Hope, and she was still in the middle of wondering if either of those decisions had been right. First to be in a relationship with each of them and then to end her relationship with each of them.

  “You don’t want to appear weak on camera. It would only give Josef more ammunition.” Leanne crossed her arms and pushed her hip out to the side.

  This was a classic defensive move. Angelica had seen it so many times from her, but she’d thought it’d been a cute, pouty look years ago. And now she understood it fully. This was Leanne throwing a fit because she wasn’t getting what she wanted. Angelica stood up, putting her weight on both her legs, and faced Leanne down.

  “If you think that I’m weak, then I think you’ve got the wrong impression.” Angelica raised an eyebrow at Leanne. “And if you remember well from all those years you worked for me, I don’t take kindly to threats—overt or subtle.”

  Angelica stepped around Leanne, walking out of the room and straight to where Ansel was waiting for her. Cadence and Rex would catch her up on what she needed later, but she needed to have the strength and the power in this moment. Leanne needed to stop throwing her weight around.

  “Ange!” Eva squealed and raced forward, hugging Angelica tightly.

  Angelica hugged her back, melting into the tender embrace.

  “I was looking for my mom. Do you know where she is?”

  “Oh, she’s—” Angelica turned around and froze. Hope stood right in the doorway, leaning against it with her arms crossed and her gaze alight with something that Angelica couldn’t quite name. Angelica eased instantly, not just because of Eva but because of Hope. She settled her gaze on the woman in front of her. Hope, while impulsive and sometimes misguided, never intended to hurt her. Mistakes were mistakes, personalities would butt up against each other, rub each other raw in good times and in bad, but Hope had never purposely harmed her.

  “She’s right here,” Angelica said, her lips curling upward as she let Eva go.

  “Can you help me with math this week?” Eva asked, now completely ignoring Hope even though that was ostensibly who she’d been looking for.

  “Sure.” Angelica still couldn’t drag her eyes away from Hope, the blues of her eyes, the lines around them that would never fade because of how much she typically smiled. Everything in her body pulled her toward Hope.

  “Eva, where are you supposed to be right now?” Hope asked, not even looking at her daughter.

  “Mom!” Eva whined, elongating the name with so much energy that Angelica couldn’t stop her lips from quirking up into a smile.

  “Go,” Hope said slowly. “Now. Before you end up in trouble.”

  “Ugh. Fine.” Eva hugged Angelica quickly before she pranced out of the room with a skip in her step.

  Angelica swallowed, bowing her chin slightly as Hope took a few steps toward her. Her heart raced, her lips quivering. Hope stopped in front of her, half a step away. Angelica blew out a breath and smiled.

  “Leanne was right, there are a few things that I regret.”

  “And what’s that?” Hope reached forward, lacing her fingers with Angelica’s. She squeezed tightly, that ever-present smile never leaving her lips.

  Angelica was floating, wasn’t she? She swore the only thing keeping her rooted to the spot was Hope standing right there, holding her hand. She glanced down at their joined fingers, at the way their skin pressed against each other, Hope’s warm, smooth fingers, with dull nails, and her soft and cold to the touch as always.

  It’d be so easy to say it, wouldn’t it? Angelica had barely been able to stop thinking about the last couple of weeks. Not the accident. She barely thought about that anymore. Every waking second that wasn’t filled with work was centered on this woman.

  “Hope…” Angelica whispered her name, her mouth going dry. How much should she say? “I⁠—”

  “Oh good, you’re both here!” Ansel clapped his hands.

  Angelica jerked her fingers away from Hope and took a step back. “Clothes should be easier now.” Angelica smiled at Ansel and put her full focus on him. “I’ve been cleared to walk.”

  “Not every second of the day though,” Hope chimed in.

  “No. Not yet.” Angelica’s cheeks still burned. She’d been far too close to saying something that she’d regret. If it hadn’t been for Ansel interrupting them, she absolutely would have. “But at least for half of the day.”

  “You better save those hours for actual filming.” Hope winked at her as she settled into the chair while Ansel started to set up for them. “I know Rex will want to use it to his advantage.”

  “True.” Angelica lowered herself into the chair next to Hope. “Leanne’s trying to make her move.”

  Hope nodded. “I could tell.”

  “She’s desperate.” Angelica looked directly at Hope. She was just as desperate, though for something else entirely. She leaned onto the arm of the chair and grinned at Hope. “Are you worried you’ll have to work with her when I’m replaced by someone younger and far more stunning?”

  Hope nearly choked, but she shook her head with amusement in her gaze. “Not a chance.”

  “That you’re worried?”

  “That she’s more stunning than you,” Hope whispered, her grin getting bigger when Angelica’s cheeks pinked.

  Oh, they were back to playing with fire, weren’t they?

  And Angelica was enjoying every second of it.

  Chapter

  Twenty-Two

  Afine sheen of sweat covered Hope’s back and face as she stood and looked at the dishes in front of her, grinning like a fool. It felt so damn good to finally spend hours in the kitchen. This staff worked together horribly, but she’d kept her mouth shut as Katherine put the finishing touches on her dishes. They did look decent and at least cooked correctly.

  Hope bit her lip and stared at them.

  The menu had exactly six items on it. And Katherine had made all six items for this little test. Hope had told her to make six of her best dishes, and she’d made the menu. Hope wasn’t ready to ask the question out loud, but she was seriously doubting whether Katherine knew how to make anything else that wasn’t on the menu.

  “Are you ready?” Hope asked, pressing her hands into her hips as she looked Katherine over.

  “Yeah.” Katherine gave her a nervous smile.

  Hope almost asked then, but she didn’t want to make Katherine feel any worse than she did. Scratching the back of her neck, she looked around the kitchen. They’d shut everything down for the day but would open again for the dinner rush. Everyone else was going back to prep, which Hope was glad to see, but they were silent.

  Way too silent.

  Kitchens were supposed to be loud, with yelling back and forth in order to communicate effectively, and in this kitchen, not one talked. Except when they were being yelled at and corrected by either Katherine—who hadn’t given clear directions to begin with—or by the owners.

  Whom Hope was about to have a sit-down conversation with.

  “Great.” Hope pulled a rolling cart over and started to put the dishes onto it.

  It’d be a pain in the ass to get it to the small conference room—if it could even be called that—so Hope had insisted they do this taste test in the dining room. She was pleased when she walked out to find the owners, Mel and Jess, already there. They were sitting at a table as Hope started to set up another table.

  The crash was loud and startled Hope.

  She looked over toward the door, finding Angelica rolling her eyes as she cringed. She pushed the wheels of her knee scooter again, harder this time, and another echoing crash resounded through the room. Mel and Jess sat in hushed silence as they stared awkwardly at Angelica.