Page 53 of Culinary Chaos
“Is this about…” Hope stepped in close so they were almost touching. She whispered, tilting her chin down, “…the kiss?”
“No.” That thrill was back. Angelica had to get rid of it. She knew sneaking around in a relationship wasn’t the way to have a healthy relationship. She would know. She’d done it with Leanne for over a year before they were finally discovered, and before everything fell apart from there. “No, this isn’t about the kiss. This is about work.”
“Oh. Okay.” Hope frowned slightly. “Then where are we going?”
Angelica lifted her head up, her eyes locking on Hope’s, and again all words left her lips. Why did that keep happening?
“Angel?”
She wanted to tell Hope to stop calling her that. And at the same time, she wanted to tell Hope to never stop calling her that. But she never corrected people when they called her a nickname,whether it was the shortened version of Angelica or whatever derogatory name they could come up with. She wasn’t ever going to let it bother her to the point that she felt the need to do that.
But this time…she just might.
“Where do you want to talk?”
Being in a confined space with Hope probably wasn’t a good idea, but it wasn’t like Josef or Rex or Kyle would be joining them this time. They were still at the wrap party. “Did you want to stay at the party?” Angelica asked. Maybe that would be a way to avoid being in closed quarters.
Hope sighed. She looked over her shoulder in the direction they’d come from and then faced Angelica again. “No.”
Angelica dashed her tongue across her lips, still tasting the champagne that lingered there. She’d only had a sip or two before she’d abandoned the glass and decided she needed to leave. And talking with Hope about the next hotel was the easiest way to get out of there.
Still, she seemed unable to figure out what she should be doing next. Hope touched her elbow again, heat rushing from where her fingers brushed against Angelica’s arm all the way to her cheeks. “Are you feeling better?”
“What?” Angelica asked, surprise ringing in her voice.
“Are you feeling better? From the other day. I thought you were going to faint on me.”
“Oh, that.” Angelica brushed it off. “Yes, I’m better. That just happens sometimes.”
“When you forget to eat,” Hope said. She didn’t ask.
Angelica nodded slowly. “Yes.”
“And does that happen often?” Hope asked, tightening her grip on Angelica’s elbow.
She wanted to lie. Something about this made her want to hide the truth and bury it deep. Because if she told Hope how often this really happened the concern would be too much tohandle. But she couldn’t lie. Normally she could skate around the truth, she could act in the ways people expected her too—the asshole boss or the demure woman—but not with Hope. She couldn’t pretend.
“Yes,” Angelica said the word softly.
Hope seemed stunned by the fact that Angelica hadn’t hidden from the truth. “Have you eaten today?”
Angelica had to pause at that. She couldn’t honestly remember. She searched through the entire day, each step she took, each meeting she’d had, all the calls and texts and emails she’d dealt with. She couldn’t remember a pause beyond that morning for hair and makeup so they could do some pickups before filming wrapped.
“I had a croissant.”
“When we were in makeup?” Hope asked, her eyebrows rising nearly to her hairline.
“Yeah,” Angelica said on a sigh.
“Jesus, Angel.” Hope let go of Angelica’s arm before shaking her head. “Let’s get dinner.”
“Here?” The last thing Angelica wanted to do was go back down to the dining room and be surrounded by all those people.
“Fuck no.” Hope smiled at her, sweetly. She looked around before nodding her head toward the front doors. “Let’s go.”
The walk was short and silent. Hope didn’t even ask where Angelica wanted to eat that time or what kind of food she wanted. She just led the way down the street, across another one, and turned left. They landed themselves at a little restaurant that barely had ten tables in it. Angelica looked around, trying to figure out exactly what kind of food it was, but she honestly had no idea.
“It’s American food,” Hope finally said as she stepped up to the counter to order. “I need something good and greasy to fillmy belly. And I figured it was the easiest thing to feed you and get you what you need.”
