Page 111 of A Chef's Kiss for Christmas

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Warren shifting in his seat.

“Maybe you just need a few minutes,” he said.

“And maybe you should keep out of it,” she shouted without looking at him. “I’m sorry,” she said to Lewis, before turning on her heel and making a dash for it.

On the street outside the front door, she dragged a hand over her face, then wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed at her upper arms as she inhaled the freezing air.

“Anna.” Warren’s voice was quiet but firm behind her.

“I can’t do it,” she said, spinning around and casting him a frosty glare. “And I really can’t deal withyouat the moment.”

“I’m sorry you’re annoyed with me.”

She pressed her lips together. “I just said I can’t deal with you now.”

“Forget about me then. Let’s talk about the people waiting for you to teach them how to make wreaths.”

“I can’t,” she repeated, pacing the pavement in front of the hotel. “I should never have agreed to it.”

“The other workshops you did went fine, remember?”

“I remember.” She stopped and stretched her neck, gazing up at the hazy clouds, which threatened snow. “But that doesn’t mean I’m suddenly cured of my nerves. This stuff will always make me nervous. I don’t think that’s ever going to change, so I should accept that and stop agreeing to do these events.”

He stepped in front of her, close enough that his scent filled her nostrils. “You don’t need to stop being nervous about these things. Being nervous is probably what makes you so good at it.”

“I don’t want to do it. I feel sick.”

“Once you get in there, you won’t feel sick any more. As soon as you stand in front of those people, you’ll be fine. Because they’re not there to listen to some over-confident person talk about wreaths. They want to listen to someone who knows what they’re talking about and who’s passionate about it.” He tilted his head. “And mostly they want to have a fun morning making wreaths. You’re the perfect person for this job – nerves and all.”

She sucked in a deep breath, not sure whether it was his proximity or his words that were having the calming effect.

“Maybe I can do it,” she said.

“You definitely can.”

“You’re pretty good at pep talks.”

“Yeah?” He smiled shyly. “Do you feel better?”

“A bit.”

“Maybe we can improve on that.” He dipped his head andcaught her lips in a kiss that sent her stomach free falling. “Better?” he asked, his breath sweeping tantalisingly over her lips.

“I think you could have skipped the pep talk and just done that,” she said, as her nerves faded into the background.

“Anna?” Lewis called from the hotel doorway.

“I’m coming.”

“Are you okay?” Lewis asked, concern etched on his features as Anna strode past him.

“Yeah. I’m fine. I just freaked out a bit.” She was vaguely aware of him following her as she hurried through the hotel and into the restaurant, where the guests were waiting for her. Without stopping to think about it, she moved to the centre of the room and calledhelloto get everyone’s attention. Then she welcomed them and launched into an overview of what the morning would entail.

She was partway through her spiel about the history of wreaths when she glanced towards the bar and spotted Warren perched on a stool. His slow smile made her stomach flutter.

Knowing that her cheeks had just flared bright red, she stumbled over her words for a moment, then took a deep breath and found her stride again.

The next two hours flew by. At the end of it, she was completely embarrassed by her earlier outburst. With hindsight, the nerves made no sense, and she couldn’t understand why she’d freaked out so much. She supposed her turmoil over Warren had also added to her frazzled state.