“Ange?”

  “Do your job, Hope. I’m tired of doing it for you.” With a flick of her hair, Angelica walked away as quickly as she could.

  She nodded to Rex and then disappeared into the small office in the back hallway. She shut the door, putting her hand to her chest and just breathed to center herself again. The knock wasn’t unexpected. She hadn’t seen him, but she knew he was around.

  When she opened the door, coming face to face with Josef and the shit-eating grin on his face, she knew she’d done the right thing. Mostly. Warning Hope verbally would have been the best way to go about this, but she hadn’t had a chance to do that.

  “That was brilliant!” Josef clapped his hands together as he stepped into the office with her. “That’s the old Ange that we need back. The one who fights for what’s hers.”

  Angelica hummed an acknowledgement. He wasn’t wrong about that. She hadn’t been fighting, not since this season started. She’d been resigned to the fact that she wouldn’t be around for season four. But with Leanne there, with talking to Hope—she wanted this. As much as she’d wanted it before they’d begun filming season one. This was her show, and she wasn’t going to hand it over to anyone else.

  “What got into you out there?” Josef asked, that same glint of glee in his gaze.

  “Nothing.” Angelica gave him a tight smile. “Just doing my job. I believe we’ve wrapped for the day?”

  “Yeah. I think Rex said something to that effect.”

  “Good. I need to rest my leg.” Angelica nodded at him and walked out of the office. Leaving him standing there felt good. She was so tired of playing games, of not having what she felt was rightfully hers.

  She made her way to her room, unlocking the door and stepping inside. Before she could even get it shut, there was a loud slap of a hand against it.

  “What the hell was that?” Hope’s anger ripped through each word.

  “I’m sorry.” Angelica shook her head, relaxing her shoulders. “There wasn’t time to tell you beforehand.”

  “Before? Before you ripped me a new asshole on camera?”

  Angelica frowned. It hadn’t been that bad. She held the door open wider and nodded for Hope to come inside. With the door shut, Angelica undid the buttons on her jacket and pulled it off instantly. While the bruise on the back of her arm no longer hurt—it just looked horrendous—the cuts from the airbag itself still stung enough that she wanted to relieve the irritation.

  “Ange?”

  “You shouldn’t give up this show so easily.” Angelica’s voice rang through the room as she tossed her jacket onto the corner of her bed. “You shouldn’t give up this show because of me.”

  “I-I’m not.” Hope frowned. “What are you going on about?”

  Angelica sighed heavily. “If you want this show, if you want to be here for the next season—whether I am or not—then you should fight for it.”

  “I told you that I don’t want to do this without you.”

  “Hope.” Angelica sighed heavily. “You can’t hinge your involvement here on me.”

  “Sure I can.” Hope grabbed both of Angelica’s hands, holding her delicately. “And I will. Because I’ve thought about it, and this show is you and me together. And I don’t want to film with anyone else. I have other offers, other shows I can work on if I don’t do Hotel Bombshell, but I know for a fact that I won’t do it without you.”

  Angelica’s lower lip quivered. “I’m so tired of being denied what’s mine.”

  “I’m not sure I follow.” Hope squeezed her hands, but she didn’t let go. How did they always seem to end up touching like this?

  “Josef. Leanne. All of it. I’m so tired of not having what’s mine.” What she didn’t add in was “you.” Because she couldn’t deny it after the last few weeks. She’d never stopped thinking about Hope. She’d never stopped dreaming about their relationship and the what-ifs. She’d fully put those thoughts to the side, but why?

  Why did she have to?

  Why hadn’t she fought?

  “For years, when I was younger, I was told that I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t be a good manager, that I was too young to be in leadership, that I was too pretty to be taken seriously. And now that I’m fifty-seven, it’s the same fucking line. I’m too old to be in the spotlight. I’m too icy and brittle to be taken seriously. I’m too bossy, too mean, too whatever reason they can find. I don’t care, Hope.” Angelica breathed heavily, the pent-up emotion and frustration coming to the surface in a way she’d never allowed it before.

  “I still don’t understand.”

  “Leanne’s here to replace me. By her own admission and by Josef’s. But I don’t want her to. This is my show. I worked my ass off to get where I am, and I’m not going to let her take that from me because they’ve labeled me out-of-date.”

  Hope snorted lightly, her lips quirking upward into a quick smile. “You’re not out-of-date—or expired for that matter.”

  “Shut up, Hope.” Angelica stared down at their joined hands. Why was she holding back still? Lifting her gaze, she locked her eyes on Hope’s and settled. “Hope?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Hope tensed. “For yelling at me?”

  Angelica shook her head. “No. Well, yes, for not giving you the warning about that but there wasn’t time. I’m not going to let Leanne take anything from me. I was jealous of her, and I needed to step in and do something about it.”

  “By yelling at me?” Hope lifted her eyebrows in disbelief. “That seems counterintuitive.”

  “No, it’s not. Create tension between us and Josef will be happy and we remain front and center. If we allow her to create the tension⁠—”

  “—then she becomes the star.” Hope finished with a nod. “I think I get it now.”

  “Good.”

  “But… you said that wasn’t what you were sorry for.”

  Angelica paused, then she nodded. “Right. I’m not. I mean, I am, but not just for that.”

  “Then what?” Hope squeezed Angelica’s hands. It sent a wave of comfort through Angelica, one that she needed and desperately wanted.

  Sighing heavily, Angelica stepped away. She needed the space in order to think properly, to figure out what exactly she was going to say. “I wish things had ended differently… between us, I mean.”

  This time the silence was expected, and it wasn’t painful. But it was filled with a tension that Angelica desperately wanted to pop.

  “Every single person in my life has left me.”

  “Left you or you pushed them away?”

  “I told you to shut up.” Angelica shot her a look of exasperation. “You left me. But I don’t think you were ever truly here either. You were always half in and half out.”

  “You’re not wrong about that,” Hope murmured.

  “I know I’m not. But you weren’t the only one who was only halfway committed.” Angelica straightened her back, folding her hands in front of her. “Because I knew you’d choose him. And you did.”

  Hope nodded her agreement.

  “I wasn’t wrong.”

  “I’m still not hearing what you’re sorry for.”

  Angelica knew she was trying to lighten the mood, that Hope didn’t enjoy the intensity of these conversations. She’d much rather act than talk, and as much as Angelica hated to admit, sometimes words were necessary.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t fight for you.”

  “Ange—”

  “No, I’m not done yet.” Angelica put her hand up, stopping Hope from saying anything else or trying to dissuade her from this. Because it needed to be said. Angelica needed it to be out between them because she was so damn tired of holding it in. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t honest with you. That I chose to protect myself instead of sharing with you.”

  “You don’t⁠—”

  “I do.” Angelica stepped closer to Hope. “I do need to say it. And this.”

  “And what?” Hope looked even more confused than she did before.

  “I’m sorry for this.” Angelica moved quickly, pressing her palm against Hope’s cheek and leaning in and up as best she could so that their lips connected.

  Hope gasped.

  Angelica kept their mouths pressed together, parting her lips and closing her eyes. Her heart raced. Her entire body electrified with arousal and energy, whatever dam she’d used to hold it back before absolutely shattered. Hope hesitated, but she lifted her hand, sliding her fingers deep into Angelica’s hair and tugging as she shifted the kiss, as she took control.

  Willingly, and without any hesitation, Angelica let her be in charge. She didn’t fight it. She didn’t try to wrangle Hope back in. Instead, she did everything in her power to stay right in this moment—one filled with forgiveness, with deep emotions, with a coming together that they hadn’t ever shared before. Angelica whimpered as Hope pulled her in closer, their bodies brushing as Hope took a step forward and pushed Angelica back.

  Hope nipped Angelica’s lip as Angelica’s back crashed into the wall. Hope’s hands were everywhere—against Angelica’s breasts, teasing her nipples, against her waist, the small of her back. Angelica breathed in this moment, when all of the walls were finally down between them, when nothing could possibly get in their way again.

  She pressed her palm against the back of Hope’s head, feeling the short hairs tickle her skin. God, she’d wanted to do that the moment she’d seen Hope’s new haircut. In desperation, she pulled at the snaps on Hope’s chef’s coat and then pushed it from her shoulders.

  “Angel… are you sure?” Hope breathed the question in between kisses.

  “Yes.” Angelica pulled Hope’s tank top, stripping it from her body until she was treated with smooth, soft skin and her cotton bra. Angelica ran her fingers along the edges of it, moving her hand from the straps to the V in between Hope’s small breasts. God, she’d longed to touch Hope again, so many nights when she’d pushed that desire to the side as much as possible so she could sleep.

  Hope pulled the silky royal-blue blouse from Angelica’s waist band, and her fingers finally touched the skin of Angelica’s back. Angelica breathed heavily, her gaze tracking all over Hope’s body, as much of it as she could see.

  “Angel—are you sure about this? Because I was so mean to you. I screwed up so bad⁠—”

  “Shut up, Hope.” Angelica reached around Hope’s back and deftly flicked the clasp on her bra. “We both made mistakes, and we both knew exactly what we were doing and just how fucking messy it was going to get.” Angelica brushed the tips of her fingers across Hope’s breasts. “Do you want me to stop?”

  “No.” Hope’s chest rose and fell heavily with each breath. “No, I don’t. I… I didn’t think we’d ever get here again.”

  Angelica nodded her agreement. “Me either. I’d written it off. Or rather, I wanted to.”

  Hope bit her lip. “And then?”

  “And then I saw you again.” Angelica looked up, meeting Hope’s gaze. “And I fell in love with you all over.”

  “Will you love who I am and not who I was?” Hope put her hand on Angelica’s hip, pushing herself away slightly.

  “Yes,” Angelica said firmly. “Yes, I already do.”

  “Then what do you want going forward?” Hope rested her forearm against the wall, leaning in close enough that they could kiss. Their breath mingled. She slid her hand under the edge of Angelica’s shirt, skin to skin, and palmed her waist.

  Angelica licked her lips, feeling the warmth of Hope’s breath against her tongue. It’d be so easy to just kiss her and do away with words, but right now, they needed words. Right now, Hope needed Angelica to tell her everything that was working its way into her soul to be bared.

  “I want you.” Angelica cupped Hope’s breast, rolling her hardened nipple under her thumb. “I want you to fuck me, fingers deep inside me, tongue next. I want no one but you with me.”

  Hope pressed their mouths together hard. Angelica hummed, parting her lips so their tongues could tangle. She pushed her back against the wall and kept herself as steady as possible with a still-broken leg barely supporting her. Hope dropped a hand to the edge of her skirt and pulled it up quickly.

  Angelica parted her knees, wrapping one arm around Hope’s neck for added balance as she waited for the push against her body, the sensation of being filled, the slide of Hope’s thumb across her clit. She closed her eyes, breathing relief when Hope did exactly what she wanted. Angelica put more weight onto her good foot and bent her knee.

  “Fuck,” Angelica muttered. The pain in her leg was ramping up, right when Hope found the perfect rhythm. She clenched her fingers tightly into Hope’s back, trying to keep herself upright and focus on the pleasure not the pain. But she hadn’t lied when she’d told Josef she needed to come in here to rest her leg, to put her foot up.

  Hope kissed Angelica’s neck, scraping her teeth downward and across her collarbone. Angelica tightened her grasp in Hope’s hair, throwing her head back as her mind warred between all of the sensations flooding her body and vying for her attention.

  “Hope.” Angelica breathed her name. “Hope. Stop.”

  “What?”

  “Stop.”

  Chapter

  Twenty-Four

  “Stop?” Hope pulled her hand from between Angelica’s legs, her fingers damp. “What’s wrong? What did I do?”

  “Nothing. I just…” Angelica breathed slowly and cupped Hope’s cheek, pulling her closer. “I need to get off my feet.”

  “Oh.” Hope laughed lightly, the fear that had rushed through her instantly vanishing. She kissed Angelica hard and then stepped back to give her the space she needed to move and get settled.

  Angelica didn’t wait. She instantly plopped onto the edge of the bed and sighed in relief as she angled her foot so there was no longer any weight on it. Hope sat next to her, putting an ankle over her knee as she pulled at the laces of her nonslip tennis shoes. Her heart was ready to burst. Everything Angelica had said in the last five minutes had been exactly what Hope wanted to hear.

  She pulled off one shoe and then the other while Angelica just lay on her back, hand over her face and breathing slowly.

  “You okay there, boss?” Hope asked before she pulled off any more of her clothes.

  “Yeah.” Angelica nodded but other than that she barely moved. “Yeah, I am.”

  “Do you still want⁠—”

  Angelica moved then. Their eyes locked, and Hope’s breath was stolen. “I don’t ever say anything that I don’t mean.”

  “No, you just won’t speak if you don’t want to say something.”

  “True.” Angelica’s lips quirked slightly. “I meant what I said.”

  “That you want me to finger fuck you?”

  Angelica groaned in answer.

  “That you want me to…” Hope’s voice grew husky, “eat you?” The coil of arousal that had been there before tightened back up again. Hope clung onto that feeling. She scooted in closer, tracing her hand up from Angelica’s hip to over her breast to her chin. She held Angelica’s face lightly, making sure that they were looking directly at each other when she said the next thing. “That you love me.”

  “Yes,” Angelica answered, breathily. “Yes, I love you.”

  Elation burst in Hope’s chest. She bent down, kissing Angelica. She loved hearing those words from her. She hadn’t realized before just how hard it was not to know, to be left in the dark. That love hadn’t died in San Diego, despite both of their best efforts to move on. Hope kissed her again briefly before she sat up and pulled at Angelica’s shirt.

  Angelica moved slightly as Hope divested her of the material.

  Instead of taking Angelica’s bra off, Hope immediately bent down and pressed kisses along the top of her chest. Her heart was ready to burst. A year ago, she’d told Angelica that she thought she was falling in love with her, but she was already there. The old adage about U-Haul lesbians was so true. One “date” and she was ready to jump in with both feet. She trailed her tongue along Angelica’s collarbone.

  With a kiss to the top of Angelica’s breast, Hope shifted her weight and slid off the edge of the bed. She pressed her knees into the old wood flooring and pulled the zipper against Angelica’s hip down. While her fingers had been warm pressed inside Angelica, she wanted Angelica bare in front of her this time.

  “I can’t stay the night,” Hope said as she pulled the skirt down Angelica’s legs and neatly avoided the black cast.

  “W-what?” Angelica cupped her breasts and squeezed them before lifting up and looking down at Hope. “What are you talking about?”

  “I have Eva this week. I can’t stay the night.” Hope bit her lip, staying on the floor where she was.

  “But you can stay for this, right?”

  “Oh yes. I’m not leaving any time soon.” Hope pressed a kiss to the top of Angelica’s thigh. “Unless you want me to.”

  “No.” Angelica reached behind her back. Her bra loosened and fell away. “I want you right where you are.”

  “Good.” Hope hooked her thumbs under the elastic of Angelica’s thong and dragged the material down her legs. She had to stop and focus when she reached the cast this time, cursing under her breath when it got stuck on one of the Velcro straps.

  Angelica laughed lightly. When Hope glanced back up, Angelica had her fingers between her legs, teasing herself, and she was pulling at her nipple with her other one. Now, that just wouldn’t do. Hope watched carefully for a few more seconds before she took her opportunity and shooed Angelica’s hand away.

  “That’s mine.” The possessive growl that came out with the words surprised her.

  But Angelica’s hum of pleasure spurred her on even more. Hope bent down, pressing her face immediately against her. She closed her eyes, using scent and taste and touch to guide her as she moved. Angelica left her bad leg hanging off the edge of the bed, but she lifted her good one and pressed her heel into the back of Hope’s shoulder, dragging her in even closer.