Page 100 of A Chef's Kiss for Christmas

“Anna. She’s nice.”

He kept his expression blank. “I think your seal of approval makes me like her less.”

Selena bumped her shoulder against his, then remained glued to his side. Not used to any kind of physical contact from his sister, his instinct was to move away, but he overrode it and stayed still.

“I especially liked it when she shouted at us all over dinner last night.”

Warren snorted a laugh. “It was definitely the highlight ofthe trip for me.”

Selena rested her head on his shoulder. “I looked up your restaurant online.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s got great reviews.”

“That’s because I’m a brilliant chef,” he said, a jokey tone to his words.

“Apparently so.”

The earnestness in her words made him turn to search her features while he waited for the joke or the put down, but nothing came.

“Josh needs to come in soon,” she said eventually. “Maybe you can convince him, since he never listens to me.”

He paused, taken aback by the entire conversation. “It might be the nanny,” he ventured uncertainly. “The reason Josh doesn’t listen to you.”

“I know, but he adores her.” She moved towards the door. “I’ll make hot chocolate. You must all be frozen.”

“Thanks,” Warren called, stunned by the civilised conversation.

Chapter Forty

Sitting around drinking hot chocolate and eating mince pies with Warren’s family after playing in the snow was wonderfully relaxed. There were hugs and handshakes before they left and shouts of happy Christmas as they bundled into the car.

After the cheerful atmosphere, Anna wasn’t keen to bring the mood down by raising the subject of their kiss. Besides, Warren not wanting to talk about it – and the speed at which he’d put a stop to it – should probably indicate how things stood between them.

Except that it wasn’t at all clear.

It wasn’t clear from the way he looked at her, or the ease of their conversations, or even in the comfortable silences between them. Nothing felt very clear.

Nothing except for how much she enjoyed his company, and how their kiss had made things very clear for her.

She wanted a lot more than a fake relationship.

On the drive home, the silence between them no longer felt comfortable, and the conversation was increasingly stilted too.

By the time Warren pulled the car over in front of her flat, Anna’s irritation had returned withfull force.

“Are we going to talk about this morning?” she asked.

He looked pained. “I’m not sure what to say.”

“I would just like to know how things stand between us…”

His jaw clenched. “I don’t know.”

“Well, are we just friends and the kiss was a mistake, or did it actually mean something?”

“I don’t know.”