Page 137 of A Chef's Kiss for Christmas

“You didn’t upset her, did you?”

“No! We joked around. She’s fine.Ivy was about to finish her shift, and Lewis and Erin are at the hotel. Carla will be fine, so if you don’t want to go back, we can stay in for the evening. If that’s what you want.”

She narrowed her eyes and glared at him. “That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

“I’m very happy to skip the party.”

“I’ll bet you are, because everyone will think it wasmyidea not to go back to the hotel.”

“I’ll take the blame,” he insisted, looking thoroughly amused. “I’ll say it was all my idea.”

“Staying at home does sound very appealing,” she conceded, then eyed him warily. “You know that even if you say it was your idea, they’ll still all think it was my idea to miss the party.”

“Yeah.” He smirked. “I realise that.”

When she went to playfully slap his arm, he grabbed hold of her and pulled her down onto him, then caught her lips in a kiss.

“What do you want to do?” he asked eventually.

She kept her face close to his. “If you keep kissing me like that, I definitely won’t want to go anywhere.”

“Thanks for the tip,” he said, eyebrows twitching mischievously before he pulled her closer and kissed her again.

It seemed as though they’d be having their own private party – and Anna couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate the start of the new year.

Chapter Fifty-Three

The few teasing messages from Carla over the course of the evening reassured Anna that her sister was fine, and not upset by her and Warren skipping out on the party.

Once Warren left for work on New Year’s Day, Anna’s plan was to spend the rest of the day lazing around her flat. Maybe she’d meet Warren at the end of his shift if she felt like getting out of her flat.

When her phone lit up with a call from Ivy early in the evening, she answered it with a smile. They hadn’t properly caught up since she and Warren had got together, and she assumed Ivy was keen to get information from the source. The thought of filling Ivy in gave her a thrill as she swiped at the screen.

“I need you at the hotel,” she said. The panicked edge in her voice put Anna on high alert.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing yet, but I’m fairly sure I’m about to have a problem with Warren, and you’re the only person who can deal with him when he flies off the handle.”

“What’s going on?” Given the mood Warrenhad been in when he left her bed that morning, she couldn’t imagine there was much that would rile him up today.

“His parents are here,” Ivy said.

Anna’s eyes widened. Maybe there wasn’t much that would rile him up, but she had little doubt that his parents could manage it.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, Warren is in the kitchen and his parents are eating in the restaurant. He doesn’t know, but if he glances into the restaurant, I imagine there’s going to be an issue. From what Carla has told me recently, I guess it might not be a joyful family reunion.”

“Oh, wow,” Anna breathed.

“They’re staying at the hotel,” Ivy said in a rush. “They checked in earlier, and I didn’t think much about the surname. I assumed I’d know if his parents had booked in for a stay, but his mum just let it drop that their son is the chef and they’re here to surprise him.”

“That’s not good.”

“No,” Ivy agreed. “They insisted I keep quiet until they’d eaten, but I really don’t want to be the one to tell him they’re here.”

“I don’t blame you.”