At least, she’d keep telling herself that.
“What’s going on?” Hope asked as soon as she stepped inside. “Logan’s here? FloRo said you needed to see me?”
“I really wish you’d stop calling her that,” Angelica murmured, folding her hands across her belly. She shivered and stayed still. “Sit down, because we need to have a talk.”
“Shut the door?” Hope asked.
“Absolutely.” Angelica waited impatiently for Hope to shut the door and take a seat. And then she had no idea what to do or say next. How could she even start this conversation?
“You’re scaring me, Angel.”
Angelica shook her head. “After yesterday, we don’t have much of a choice left. Florence and Logan, and the rest of production, would like us to come out.”
“You mean make our relationship public.” Hope didn’t ask that like a question. She knew exactly what Angelica was saying. And she didn’t seem very happy about it either, which was a surprise. Angelica had assumed she’d be elated that she was finally agreeing to do this.
“Yes,” Angelica confirmed.
“This feels…” Hope pulled a face, scrunching up her nose and sneering her lips, “…dirty.”
“It doesn’t feel good,” Angelica concurred.
“Forced.”
“It is forced.” Angelica leaned forward, taking Hope’s hand in hers. “But you wanted this.”
“I did. I do,” Hope corrected. “But not like… this.”
Angelica nodded in agreement. “We will be able to control how this comes out.”
“Just not when.” Hope rolled her eyes and the scoffed. “If I see him, I’ll deck him.”
Angelica chuckled a little at that. This was the Hope she knew and loved. This was the extremely protective woman that she never wanted to lose. She needed this woman in her life more than anything.
“So, what are we telling them?”
“What? We can’t just throw up a picture of us kissing in the hallway on Instagram and be done with it?” Angelica’s cheeks heated with embarrassment. But this wasn’t her area of expertise. This wasn’t something she’d ever dealt with before.
“Angel…” Hope laughed patronizingly. “You know we can’t do that.”
“Why the hell not?”
“We have to go through the process and approval and see what our agents want and what press release would be useful.” Hope folded her hands together in between her knees. “This is a whole tactical mission, not just an announcement.”
“Well, I don’t think Logan and Florence are wanting us to wait very long.”
“If you think people haven’t been working on this problem and how to announce for a while now, then you’ve got your head buried even more in the sand than I thought.” Hope sat up straight and crossed an ankle over her knee. “I just want to talk to Rex and Eva first, so they know what shitstorm is coming.”
Angelica’s lips thinned into a line, but she nodded her agreement. “So we tell them.”
“Yes.”
“I still think we should throw up a post on Instagram. Lyric can do it.”
“So you don’t have to deal with it?” Hope fired back.
Angelica resented that comment, but she also resembled it. Hope sometimes had a way of pulling those emotions straight out of her when she least expected it. When she looked up at Hope and met her eyes again, something shifted. Hopeimmediately moved, coming to kneel beside Angelica’s chair. Hope held her hand tightly and reached up with her free hand to cup Angelica’s cheek.
“What are you so afraid of with telling the world?” Hope asked.
