As soon as Hope could think again, she flopped down onto her side and uncurled her legs, stretching them out. She laughed, her face pushed against Angelica’s leg as she stayed on the bed and stared up at the ceiling to catch her breath.
“We should definitely do that more often,” Hope finally said with a laugh. She ran her fingers up and down Angelica’s leg, her entire body jelly to the point that she wasn’t sure she could moveyet. “I should absolutely get the privilege of helping you shower again.”
Angelica laughed, mimicking Hope’s soft touches on her calf. “You’re more than welcome to join me in the shower again. Not tonight though. I’m not sure I could stand long enough for that.”
“I’d let you sit.” Hope popped her head up to look at Angelica. “But no falling this time.”
Angelica didn’t respond to that. Hope let the comfortable silence fill the room until she felt as though she was ready to move. Sliding around, she shifted so that she was pressed against Angelica’s side, tracing her fingers along her stomach and chest and breasts—not to entice. Simply to touch and feel and be as close as possible to her.
“I do love you, Angel.”
Angelica smiled, turning to face her. “We have a lot we need to talk about going forward.”
“We do?” Hope furrowed her brow, but her lips were still bowed upward. “Like what?”
“Like what we’re doing.” Angelica tapped Hope’s nose lightly. “I’m not doing this the same way we did it the last time.”
“No, let’s not do that,” Hope agreed, sliding to kiss Angelica’s cheek.
Hope went in to kiss her cheek again, but Angelica turned. Their lips connected. Hope smiled and deepened the embrace. She trailed her tongue along Angelica’s lips and then smiled when Angelica parted them for her. She lost herself in the kiss, in this tender moment that she’d treasure for the rest of her life.
When she finally settled herself, she played her fingers over Angelica’s skin again. “Are you cold?”
Angelica hummed her yes. Hope got up from the bed, pulled the blankets down, and then covered Angelica’s chilling body before sliding under them with her. She curled against Angelica, knowing that she had to leave far sooner than she wanted to.
“I want us to properly talk about what this means before we tell anyone,” Angelica said, aimlessly threading her fingers through Hope’s short hair.
“Of course. After watching Rex’s relationship and then breakup with the nanny, I don’t want to talk to Eva about this for a while.” Hope pressed her nose against Angelica’s neck, breathing in her scent. Everything about this moment was perfect.
“I don’t want to break Eva’s heart.” Angelica said it so quietly that Hope wasn’t sure she’d heard her correctly. “I wouldn’t be able to bear it.”
“We are going to have to tell her at some point.” Hope closed her eyes, relaxing more than she had in ages. “I don’t want to keep something this big from her.”
Angelica kissed Hope’s forehead. “We need to talk first.”
“So, let’s talk. Pick one thing speeding through that brain of yours, and let’s talk about it.” Hope kissed the hot flesh of Angelica’s neck.
“This is our secret for now. Nothing on screen. In fact, if we could hate each other on screen, that’d go a long way in helping to eliminate the Leanne problem.” Angelica scraped her nails across the back of Hope’s scalp. “You know, I thought that was love. I think I wanted to believe it was, but the way she left me was so cold and heartless. It hurt, but not like when you left.”
Hope’s heart clenched. Not everything was resolved yet, and she had to remember that. She still had to work to repair the damage she’d done to Angelica’s trust in her, to how they related to each other. She had to become trustworthy again.
“I’m so sorry,” Hope whispered.
“You were in an impossible position,” Angelica responded.
“Yeah. I was. But it was of my own making, and I’m not going to ignore that fact. I did a lot of things wrong last year, so manythings. I acted so impulsively that I ended up hurting every single person around me.”
“You did.” Angelica turned on her side so they were facing each other. “But I also wasn’t clear with you either. And I should have been.”
“I hadn’t exactly proven that I could be trusted.” Hope ran her finger over Angelica’s lips. “So where do we go from here?”
“We take things slowly.” Angelica’s lips quirked up to the side. “And then, we talk.”
“And never stop talking?” Hope asked with a light laugh.
“I hope we never do.” Angelica moved in and kissed her again. “You should go. Eva will be wondering where you are.”
“Yeah.” Hope kissed her again. “But you’re so warm.”
