“No, you misunderstand.” Angelica pressed her lips together hard, locking her eyes onto Hope’s. “We’re all making the plan together.”
This wasn’t how things typically worked. Usually Hope was thrown in last minute and just told what she was doing and what she was supposed to say. Then again, that didn’t exactly work last time. Maybe this was to help correct that disaster. Heat flooded her cheeks as embarrassment and shame grabbed hold of her again.
“Florence is waiting for us. We’re going to snag a conference room at a local restaurant to give the crew time to set up and be out of their way. They don’t need to hear this conversation either.” Logan pushed slightly on their shoulders, guiding them around and back out toward the front of the hotel.
Hope’s shoulder brushed Angelica’s, and they shared a similar look. Neither was thrilled about this or the fact that their conversation had just been interrupted. But duty called, and they could figure it out from there.
Ushered into a waiting Suburban, Hope slid next to Angelica and snagged her hand. Angelica instantly laced their fingers together tightly, but neither one of them said anything. When they were seated, with wine in front of them, Hope shot Angelica an amused expression.
“Are you wining and dining us?” Hope asked.
Florence paled instantly, and Logan blanched. Angelica, however, hid an amused smirk behind her glass of wine, which Hope knew wasn’t her preferred drink. But most people wouldn’t know that, and Angelica wouldn’t ever tell them either. That was her superpower. Keep everyone at arm’s length, except Hope.
“We thought this might help you be more amenable to the conversation,” Florence reached for her own glass of wine.
Angelica hummed, settling her hands in her lap with her legs crossed. Hope couldn’t look too closely, otherwise she’d be decidedly distracted by Angelica’s knee and the creamy skin on her thigh. She flicked her gaze up, meeting Angelica’s amused stare before she looked back to Logan and FloRo.
“Why couldn’t you to do that during an interview? Hmm?” Florence asked.
“Do what?” Hope furrowed her brow and shook her head.
“Look like you want to eat—” Florence stopped talking, her cheeks going bright red. “Look like you two are in love.”
Hope had to stop the laugh that wanted to burble up in her throat. But the embarrassment on FloRo’s face was priceless.
“You chose for Hope to be interviewed on her own, remember?” Angelica gave Florence and Logan a pointed stare. “So there wasn’t an opportunity for it.”
That was anI told you soif Hope had ever heard one before. She snagged her wine glass to wet her parched lips. They could play this room like a well-tuned fiddle if they wanted to, and FloRo and Logan were about to learn that very hard lesson.
“Yes, all on my own, when you were trying to sway the audience toward your thoughts on our relationship. Seems like a missed opportunity if you ask me.” Hope looked at Angelica again, making sure to give them the show that they’d denied the rest of the world. But now that they didn’t have to hide anything, what was the point in not even trying to use it to their advantage?
“If you wanted to show off our relationship and have people focus on that instead of when exactly our relationship started, I think having the two of us in the room to answer questions would be the way to do that.” Angelica reached for Hope’s hand on top of the table, covering it and squeezing lightly. “Don’t you?”
“Oh yes,” Hope agreed instantly. “Like those cooking shorts Cadence films. Those are perfect examples of our relationship.”
Florence looked like she was about to burst with anger, and Logan looked as though he’d just eaten something that was really upsetting his stomach. They probably should ease up on them soon, but this was so much fun at the same time.
“So, what’s the plan then?” Hope set her wine glass down and changed her tone to mean business. But she kept her hand under Angelica’s. She’d take physical touch from Angelica any day that she could get it. “Because I assume you didn’t drag us here to bribe us with a fancy dinner without a plan in place.”
“Logan?” Florence squeaked.
Logan groaned and rubbed his hands over his cheeks before he leaned back in his chair. “You’re right. People need to see the two of you together in order to make that the image that comes to their mind first. And they need to see you like this.”
“So an interview, then,” Angelica replied quickly.
“No,” Logan said.
“Well, yes,” Florence chimed in.
“Which is it, FloRo? Because you can’t have both.” Hope waggled her eyebrows at Florence.
“Well, you can.” Angelica’s chuckle was pure pleasure and amusement.
“You’re right,” Hope said slowly. She hadn’t been quite prepared for that joke, especially coming from Angelica at a time when discussion of relationships was coming up, but here it was. “You can.” Hope focused back on Florence. “I’m not a lesbian.”
“I…don’t need details.” Florence put her hands up in the air as if to ward them off.
“Pity, they’re fine.”
