“It was awful.” Josef wrinkled his nose, still tapping his fingers against the table.
“Then let’s figure out what drama we can add,” Cadence said, staring directly at Angelica.
Fuck.
It was time for her to talk now, wasn’t it? Angelica slid the stylus across the screen on her iPad and opened up her files. She stared at the information that had been collected about the hotel, and tried to find some way to make it full of tension, but honestly, this looked to be the most benign hotel they were scheduled to be at all season. Why it was chosen as one of their stops was beyond her.
“Hello!” Hope stepped into the room, her voice full of joy and happiness.
Angelica had to work hard to keep herself from smiling as she glanced up to Hope and locked their gazes together. “You’re late.”
“I, uh…” Hope’s cheeks flushed bright red. “I got a little distracted, but I’m here now.” Hope sat down between Angelica and Rex, looking from one to the other and then staring directly across the table at Cadence.
Angelica had to hand it to her, that was a nice cover-up. Her lips twitched with a smile before she managed to tame it. Flicking through the information in front of her, Angelica froze when Hope’s hand settled on her thigh. She didn’t dare look down at it, not wanting to draw any more attention to what Hope was doing or the fact that they were in a room full of people.
This wasn’t what they’d agreed to.
At all.
Angelica looked at Rex and raised an eyebrow at him. “Where would you like to start this time?”
“Let’s start with the opening, setting the stage. I think it showcases how you and Hope interact.” Rex nodded to himself, and Angelica wrote that note down in her iPad.
“Ange, there’s some chatter on the dark web that I think you should know about when it comes to this place.” Cadence slid her iPad over so that Angelica could look at it.
Frowning, Angelica pulled it closer to skim through whatever Cadence had pulled up on the screen. It was dark, and there were just comments here and there that she had to pull together, but nothing concrete. Sighing, Angelica flicked her finger against the screen to skim even more of it. Hope scooted closer, her fingers curling around Angelica’s knee just under the edge of her skirt and against her skin. Hope’s middle finger played lightly on the inside of Angelica’s knee, teasing her.
Already ramped up from their thirty minutes, Angelica had to hold her breath to get herself under control and focus on what was right in front of her. The comments were filled with praise for the way the hotel looked, the staff’s kindness and helpfulness. But they were also littered with people saying the feel of the place was off.
What the hell did they mean by that?
Angelica shook her head and moved the iPad closer to Hope so she could read the comments as well.
“What does it say?” Josef asked.
“Nothing, really.” Angelica furrowed her brow and looked at the man who was still making her life a living hell. “It’s mainly people talking about how they didn’t feel safe here or that the energy felt off.”
“That’s a bunch of horseshit.” Josef crossed his arms and glowered. “A bunch of millennial bullshit of feelings and emotions.”
Angelica flicked her gaze to him and immediately locked her eyes on Hope before looking at Cadence. He really was showing his true colors lately, and she didn’t like what she saw. Angelica licked her lips and slid the iPad back to Cadence.
“Let’s figure out filming, shall we?” she asked.
Rex nodded. “I’d like to start with introductions, yours and Hope’s, but then I want to move into introductions and interviews with the staff and owners.”
“I’d like to be present for those,” Angelica said, shifting on the chair to cross her legs and lock Hope’s hand between her knees. The last thing she needed was for Hope to continue to distract her from the work that needed to be done. “I want to observe and see if there’s anything we missed in the previous interviews.”
“Not a bad idea,” Rex said, making a note.
“I can rework the schedule to accommodate for that.” Angelica was already making a note of that.
Josef huffed. “I need to remind you that you and Hope need to up the tension. Our ratings are dropping.”
“They’re not.” Logan’s voice shocked through the room.
Angelica’s shoulders and chest tightened instantly, and she sat up even straighter. “What are you doing here?”
Logan raised an eyebrow at her and then shifted his gaze to Hope. What the hell was going on? What had Hope done? Panic swelled in Angelica’s chest, pulling the muscles even tighter. Josef’s face turned red, and he puffed out his chest like he was ready to go to war.
