Page 140 of A Chef's Kiss for Christmas

He cocked his head. “My parents?”

“Yes. Apparently, they checked into the hotel for the night. They ate dinner in the restaurant earlier.”

He propped his hands on his hips as his eyes widened. “They ate my food?”

“Yes.”

“There you are!” Ivy said, interrupting them as she rushed into the kitchen. “Are you okay?” she asked, a hand on Anna’s arm.

“I’m fine. Why?”

“Kate said you were upset.”

“Oh.” She shook her head. “No. I’m fine.”

“Really? Because Kate thought you were crying.”

“I kind of was…”

“Oh my god,” Warren grumbled. “What have they done now?”

“Nothing.” She smiled up at him. “They were actually very nice. I got emotional, that’s all, but not because of anything they said.”

His gaze slid to Ivy. “Have you been dealing with them all evening?”

“Yeah,” she said sheepishly. “They didn’t want me to tell you they were here when you were busy.”

“Well, I apologise for any offence they caused.”

“They were fine,” Ivy told him before turning her attention to Anna. “We need to get a drink soon and have a proper catch up.”

“Definitely,” Anna agreed before Ivy left again.

“I’ll make sure everything is under control here,” Warren said to Anna. “Then I’ll get changed and come and find you. It shouldn’t take long. That’s if you don’t mind entertaining my parents a little longer.”

“I don’t mind. We’re just having a drink in the lounge.” She kissed him again, then headed back to his parents.

It was only five minutes later when Warren joined them, pulling up a chair beside Anna and immediately reaching for her hand.

“This is a surprise,” he said to his parents. “I’m sort of glad you didn’t tell me you were coming.”

“That’s what we thought,” his mum said. “We didn’t want to put you under pressure.”

“How was your dinner?” he asked.

“Excellent,” his mum said proudly. “The salmon was cooked to perfection.”

“It was all very good,” his dad said. “It’s a surprisingly decent wine list, too. Is that down to you?”

Warren nodded.

“It’s not overly extensive, of course, but there are some good vintages.”

“Thanks,” Warren said flatly.

“Anyway,” Dennis said. “I’m sure you don’t need us to sit here and tell you how great you are at your job…”

Anna’s whole body flashed with annoyance,because that’s exactly what they should do and she really thought she’d made that clear earlier.