Angelica stood at the edge of the bed, watching as Hope continued to gently sleep. Angelica had barely slept that night, but she’d woken before Hope and snuck out to make them each some coffee before their day began. Every muscle on her body was sore from exertion and the long day of travel before, but she wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Breathing deeply, Angelica sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed her fingers over Hope’s bare shoulder. She just wanted to tease her into awareness. “Hope, it’s time to wake up.”
Hope barely moved.
“Come on, we have work to do today.”
“I don’t start filming until ten,” Hope mumbled, her face buried in the pillow.
“Remember, I told you yesterday that Cadence worked out filming one more cooking short with the two of us before we leave.”
“What?” Hope flipped over onto her back, her nipples soft and oh so tempting.
Angelica dragged her gaze from Hope’s chest to her lips, her red cheeks, and finally her crystalline eyes. “Cadence booked you in to film this morning. Didn’t you see the email?”
Hope groaned and rubbed her hands over her face. “I saw something about you and me and her today. But I didn’t think…” Hope sighed heavily. “I smell coffee.”
“Nightstand.”
Hope shifted, turning to look at the nightstand and then at Angelica with a glower. “How are you even awake after last night?”
Angelica’s lips curled upward as she bent down to kiss Hope quickly. “She’s going to be here in thirty minutes. I suggest you get up and get dressed.”
Hope seemed to clock what Angelica had said, her gaze dropping down Angelica’s body to the fact that she was already dressed in a light sweatery shirt that was the same baby blue as her eyes, and her hair was around her shoulders.
“How long have you been awake?” Hope pulled herself to sit up, pressing her back against the headboard as she reached for the coffee.
“About an hour. I wanted to let you sleep.”
“I swear you’re a vampire sometimes.”
Angelica chuckled lightly and stood up. “Time to get up and get ready for the day, Hope. We have a lot of work to get done and a very limited amount of time to do it.”
She left Hope in the bed and made her way back to the kitchen. The silence in the house was comforting. The more time she spent at Hope’s house, the more comfortable she felt there. But she still wasn’t ready to make the leap that Hope wanted her to. And it was next to impossible to explain why. No matter how many times she’d tried, Hope hadn’t understood—not that she’d done a good job of it either.
But they had a whole lot more they needed to talk about when it came to their relationship before Angelica was ready to fully take that leap. She was on her second cup of coffee when Hope finally emerged, dressed and staring at Angelica like she wanted a reprise of the night before. She moved in for a kiss and smiled until the doorbell rang.
“I’m not enjoying being on camera every five seconds, I’m just saying,” Hope muttered as she walked toward the front door.
Angelica couldn’t stop the smile from reaching her lips. “You’re the one who added a third show to your repertoire.”
“You let Cadence talk you into the shorts!” Hope yelled back as she opened the door. “Hey!”
Angelica hid her laugh in her coffee cup. It’d take at least an hour for everything to be set up in the kitchen, and she wasn’t involved in any of that. She’d sit at the dining room table and get work done, or better yet, she’d sit in Hope’s office and work from there until they needed her for filming.
She did agree though. Arriving back in Los Angeles the night before she had to get up early and film wasn’t ideal. An extra day would have been welcome, but they just didn’t have it this time. And the rhythm of the new season was taking everyone a bit off guard and making them out of sorts.
Instead, she found herself leaning over the kitchen counter as Hope started cooking the first batch of food to make the entire morning go more quickly, and Cadence set up everything else. Angelica sipped her coffee, staring directly at Hope over the rim of the glass, wondering if she had put two and two together yet or if her brain was still sluggish.
“What are we cooking this morning, Hope?” Angelica asked, taking another long sip of her coffee.
Hope looked up, then flicked her gaze down to the hot skillet on the stove and back to Angelica, her cheeks bright-ass red. Oh, she knew now. And Angelica was going to enjoy toying with this.
“Um…something I have to modify for you.”
“You like doing that, don’t you?”
Hope’s cheeks turned an even brighter shade of red, though Angelica hadn’t expected that. Straightening her shoulders, she stood upright and continued to watch as Hope moved through the kitchen deftly. Why would that embarrass her?
