Page 124 of A Chef's Kiss for Christmas

“Where are you going?” he murmured into her neck.

“I was going to get a drink and then have a shower. It’s already mid-morning.”

“Where do you need to be today?”

“Nowhere,” she said, grinning.

“Then there’s no need for you to get up.”

“I’ll make drinks and come back to bed,” she suggested, but he kissed her earlobe and then her neck.

Suddenly, getting up didn’t seem at all important.

Half an hour later, they were propped up against the pillows, with Warren teasingly suggesting more places she might want to get a tattoo when her phone rang.

“It’s my mum,” she said, reaching over and checking the screen.

“Don’t answer it.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want your mum knowing we just had sex.”

Anna snorted a laugh. “Weirdly, I wasn’t planning on mentioning that.”

“She’ll know. She’ll hear it in your voice.”

Shaking her head, she pushed him off her and suggested he go and make coffee. Then she swiped the screen and greeted her mum.

“It’s a bit late in the day to still be in bed.”

In a panic, Anna moved the phone to check it wasn’t a video call.

“How do you know I’m still in bed?” she asked, then caught Warren’s smug look as he pulled on a pair of jogging bottoms.

“You just sound as though you’re still in bed. It’s not like you to sleep so late.”

“I was about to get up.”

“You’re not working over the next few days, are you?”

“No,” she said slowly, slightly concerned her mum was about to rope her into something she didn’t want to do – which was pretty much anything other than spending time with Warren.

“Maybe you can do something with your sister. Check she’s okay.”

Anna frowned. “Why wouldn’t she be okay?”

“She stayed at our house on Christmas Day. Overnight, I mean. Said she felt like sleeping in her old bed. And then she stayed another night, and another… didn’t leave until this morning. And I think she’d have stayed longer if she didn’t have to work. She’s just been lounging around on our couch, looking miserable.”

“That’s weird.” Usually, Carla had a social life that was hard to keep track of. If she wasn’t working, she was out with one of her various groups of friends.

“She said she’s tired from working so much over the last few weeks, but she seemed down. Not herself.”

“She’s been fine whenever I’ve seen her over the last few weeks.” Which admittedly hadn’t been often since they’d both been working a lot, but she really hadn’t got the impression there was anything unusual going on with her.

“She acts tough. That’s Carla’s trouble. If she has a problem, she keeps it to herself rather than let anyone see her vulnerable.”

“Unless the problem is a spider in her shower,” Anna said with a small smile.