Page 22 of A Chef's Kiss for Christmas

“Where did you meet them? I knew they were visiting this weekend, but I got the impression we wouldn’t get to meet them.”

“I went for dinner with them,” Anna said, then tilted her head. “There’s a chance they think I’m Warren’s girlfriend.”

“What?” Ivy’s eyes looked as though they might pop out of her head. “Keep talking, please!”

“It’s a long story,” she said, then did her best to explain as succinctly as possible.

“So you’re pretending to be a couple,” Ivy stated ten minutes later, her eyes sparkling with delight. “And you’re going to a Christmas ball together. I feel as though I know where this is heading. Except–” She cut herself off and shook herhead.

“What?” Anna asked.

“Nothing. I just can’t really imagine you and Warren together.”

“We’re not together. It’s all pretend.”

“Until it’s not,” Ivy said. “Is Carla okay with you pretending to date Warren?”

“Why wouldn’t she be?”

“Because she flirts with him like crazy. I wondered if she has a thing for him.”

Anna twisted her lips. “I’ve wondered the same, but she suggested I take Warren to the party.”

“She must be fine with it, then.” Ivy turned her head as the door behind her burst open and Warren stalked in. “Speak of the devil,” she muttered under her breath before saying hello to him.

He didn’t seem to register Ivy’s greeting as his gaze swept over the dining room. Anna smiled, waiting for him to catch her eye, but he didn’t look in her direction.

“What’s wrong with you?” Ivy asked.

“Nothing.” He frowned deeply. “Why?”

“Because you’re not supposed to be working. Why are you here?”

His eyebrows knitted together. “Thought I’d see what kind of mess they’re making of things in the kitchen.”

“Everything’s fine,” Ivy told him, but he was already striding to the kitchen. She rolled her eyes. “Just when I thought it was going to be a boring, uneventful shift.”

The kitchen door had only just swung shut behind Warren when a crash of broken crockery erupted from the kitchen.

“That’s not good,” Ivy mumbled and rushed away.

Chapter Nine

Alone at the bar, Anna was on high alert. She didn’t have to strain much to catch the raised voices. The atmosphere in the dining room changed in an instant, and a quick glance told her that most of the diners had paused their conversations to listen to the commotion in the kitchen.

Automatically, she hopped off the stool and crossed the room.

If she thought the atmosphere in the dining room was tense, it was nothing compared to the kitchen.

“It doesn’t matter,” Ivy whisper-shouted at Warren, while Liam and a junior chef looked terrified beside them. On the other side of the room, a young waitress picked up pieces of what looked to be a broken plate.

“What’s going on?” Anna asked quietly.

“Warren is causing chaos,” Ivy replied. “That’s what’s going on.”

“It’s fudge cake with hot chocolate sauce,” Warren shouted. “How could you forget the sauce? It’s not that difficult. What else have they screwed up when I wasn’t here?”

“Everything was fine,” Ivy replied.