“Three hours.” Angelica dashed her tongue across her lips and held still. “I have a lot of work to catch up on.”
“Don’t we all.” Hope crossed her arms as she started toward the kitchen. “For your information, Eva is here tonight. Rex only agreed to take her for one extra night for us…” Hope flicked her gaze down and up Angelica’s body “…to have time together when you returned.”
“I’ll have to thank him later.” Though she wouldn’t. That’d be awkward and not her place. Angelica leaned against the kitchen counter, hands folded in front of her. “About what Logan said…” she stopped, still not entirely sure how to begin this conversation.
“You want to keep our relationship a secret,” Hope finished for her.
“Yes.” Angelica straightened her back and squared her shoulders. The waves of animosity coming off Hope were near to drowning her, but she had expected at least some of that. Hopehad been pushing for a more formal relationship in the last few months, especially before she went to Italy, but Angelica had resisted the urge.
Hope shook her head as she reached into the refrigerator and pulled out two bottles of beer, and a platter of food out of the oven. She set them on the counter before dragging open a drawer and pulling out two forks.
“What’s this?” Angelica asked, furrowing her brow.
“Dinner.” Hope waved her hand over it. “Because I’m going to make awildassumption that you haven’t eaten today.”
Angelica paused, meeting Hope’s gaze across the kitchen counter. As annoyed as Hope was at her, she was still feeding her, taking care of her. Surely that meant something, right? Angelica reached for the fork and slid it from Hope’s fingers.
“What is it?”
“Stuffed salmon fillets, which you’ll be fine eating. And stuffed acorn squash. There’s cherry tomatoes in this one, but this one, I made for you, since you told me you were coming over tonight.” Hope pushed the platter in front of Angelica. “There’s also smoked salmon tarts, but I only managed to save one of those from the crew, so if you don’t want it, it’s mine.”
Angelica couldn’t stop the twitch in her lips. “Your crew didn’t finish it off?”
“It might surprise you, but filming two to three episodes a day for fifteen days straight is a bit much when it comes to eating the food. While they appreciate it all in the beginning, by the end of filming, we’re all just ready to be done.”
“Ah.” Angelica reached for the smoked salmon tart and plucked it up. “Do you want to split it?”
“No, it’s all yours.” Hope took her fork and jabbed it into one of the salmon fillets.
Angelica slowly ate the tart before she settled down. Hope didn’t seem too angry with her. Frustrated, yes, but Angelica couldn’t blame her.
“I know what you’re here to say,” Hope finally said as she dug her fork into the squash. “You don’t want to go public.”
“I don’t,” Angelica murmured, keeping her voice quiet. “Not yet.”
“It’s always anot yet. I’d really like to tell my daughter why you keep coming over here all the time. As cute as it is that she thinks it’s because of her, she’s not clueless, and she’s asking questions.”
Angelica stilled. Of course Eva wasn’t stupid. She was an extremely observant kid, and of course she’d be asking questions about the two of them. Angelica should have anticipated some of that, but with their nearly four-month break recently, she’d been able to push that to the side and ignore it.
“When you saidbecause of history,what did you mean?” Hope took another bite of the squash, wrapping her lips around the fork as she pulled the food off to chew and swallow.
Angelica trembled. She toyed with the fork in her hand and ignored the fact that food was placed out in front of her and she really should be eating like Hope wanted her to. “Because of my history.”
“With Leanne?” Hope furrowed her brow.
“Yes.” Angelica jabbed her fork into one of the pieces of salmon fillet, even though she really didn’t want to eat. It was something to keep herself from looking in Hope’s direction. “I know you’re not Leanne, but I can’t help but acknowledge that there’s a trend with my behavior.”
Hope dropped her fork loudly onto the counter. Angelica looked up to meet her eyes and froze.
“You and Leanne were together for how long?” Hope asked.
“Eighteen months.” Angelica set her fork down and lifted the beer to take a sip from it.
“And you and I have been together how long?” Hope pressed her palm to the top of the counter.
Angelica flicked her gaze down, her cheeks heating up. “I… how do you quantify it?”
“I’ve been in love with you for almost four years now.” Hope came around the edge of the counter, standing directly in front of Angelica. “We’ve been together, consistently, for nearly a year.”
