Page 135 of A Chef's Kiss for Christmas

She hugged him tightly. “I’m so excited, but I’d rather hear about this from Anna. Is she already at the hotel.”

He nodded and they moved towards the door. Despite having said she wanted to hear about it from Anna, she still bombarded him with questions while they walked.

As he answered them, he grinned so widely that his cheeks ached by the time they reached the hotel.

Chapter Fifty-Two

At the bar, Carla sat alone with two glasses of wine in front of her, both almost empty. She didn’t notice Warren as he sidled up beside her. He’d lost Lewis and Erin in the lounge where they’d been cornered by a couple of regular guests wanting to chat to them.

“Hey,” he said, breaking Carla from her trance. “Are you okay?”

“That’s the second time you’ve asked me that today,” she said, lifting her eyebrows. “And considering I don’t recall you asking how I am in the entire time we’ve known each other, I’m going to assume my sister has been blabbing her mouth off.”

“She just said you’d been a bit down recently. Excuse me for being concerned.”

“I don’t believe for a second that’s all Anna said.” She stretched her neck as she looked at him. “For the record, I may have had the tiniest crush on you for approximately five minutes. I’d argue it was some kind of temporary insanity. It has nothing to do with my recent bout of being pissed off with the world.”

“Good to know.”

She rolled her eyes. “Please don’t make this weird. You beingnice to me might just be the last straw. I can cope with anything but that.”

“Are you implying I’m not normally nice?”

“Normally you’re a big, annoying oaf. Let’s stick with that.”

“You’re pretty annoying yourself,” he told her with a smirk. “Where’s Anna?”

“She was annoyed with you and went home.”

“See what I mean about you being annoying? Where is she really? Bathroom?”

“She went home,” she said emphatically. “Because she realised you’re a big, annoying oaf.”

He glared at her until she grinned.

“Or… maybe she just went home to get her phone and then she’s coming back. It might have been that – I can’t really remember.”

“When did she leave?”

“Ten minutes ago.”

He glanced at his watch. “I might drive over there and give her a lift back.”

“Good idea. Knowing Anna, she’ll get home and decide she’d rather spend the evening on the couch in her pyjamas. Go and make sure she doesn’t bail.”

“Will do.” He took a step away, then hesitated before backing up and wrapping his arms around her. “Glad you’re okay,” he said while she wriggled away from him.

“My sister is probably only suffering temporary insanity,” she said. “Don’t be too shocked if she comes to her senses and realises she doesn’t want to date someone so irritating.”

“Thanks. I’ll bear that in mind.” He gave her arm a friendly shove and told her he’d see her soon.

Once she was back in the warmth of her flat, Anna lost enthusiasm for the New Year’s party entirely. She picked up her phone and got caught up in a flurry of messages from her friends, all discussing their plans for the evening. Hayden’s message in the group, describing his itinerary of four different parties for the evening, left her exhausted just reading it.

She fired off a quick reply, reminding them she’d be in the hotel as usual and inviting anyone who was nearby to call in. The message was entirely unnecessary, since her plans had been the same since she was about sixteen. Kylie and Mike occasionally put in an appearance, but everyone had their own parties to attend. She wished them a Happy New Year in advance and had just forced herself off the couch when the doorbell sounded.

“What are you doing here?” she asked Warren when he stepped inside.

“Thought you might like a lift back to avoid trudging around in the cold.”