Page 33 of A Chef's Kiss for Christmas

“Sorry to hear that,” Anna said, her eyebrows pulling together. “Are you here on your own?”

“Yes. Kylie said Mike wasn’t coming, so I thought it would be just the six of us, like old times.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I didn’t realise you were bringing someone.”

“Anna!” Kylie shrieked behind them. “Bloody hell. You look fantastic.”

“Thank you,” Anna said, accepting a glass of bubbly from her friend. “You look amazing too.”

“This old thing,” Kylie said, dropping her hip dramatically as she looked down at herself. “I thought it looked good until I saw you walk in. You have better accessories than me as well. It’s all very unfair.”

Warren caught the puzzled look on Anna’s face as her hand went to her necklace. He also caught the mischievous wink Kylie directed his way.

“I think she means me,” Warren whispered in Anna’s ear.

“Oh.” She rolled her eyes at Kylie, then took a long sip of her champagne.

Feeling the nerves radiating from her, Warren put a protective hand on her back.

He felt an inexplicable spark of pride when she moved closer to his side.

Chapter Thirteen

Seeing Hayden and Warren together had thrown Anna. On top of her uncertainty about her choice of dress, her nerves were now completely in tatters and the party had only just started.

Hayden not having a date with him was pretty shocking. Apart from the first couple of times they’d all hung out after the breakup, he always had a date with him. It was fairly ironic that the first time he came alone, she had a date. Maybe only a fake date, but Hayden certainly didn’t know that. Not after the way Warren had greeted her. He almost hadherconvinced he was besotted with her.

“Are you okay?” Warren said close to her ear as they walked through to the ballroom to find their seats for dinner.

“Yes.” She cast him a sidelong glance. “Do I seem really nervous?”

“No,” he said, but she didn’t believe him for a second. “Maybe a little.”

“I’ll be all right. It just takes me a while to settle into social situations.” She took another sip of her bubbly as they reachedthe table for the seven of them. “I never understand people who are at ease in a crowd.”

“Are you looking at me?” he asked lightly.

“Yes. You’re always so chilled out.”

Hayden had always been a social butterfly too – which had sometimes felt like a good thing. He could carry conversations while she stood beside him and smiled. It also meant she’d socialised more than she’d liked. He was invited to everything and hated to miss out on a party.

“I wouldn’t say it’s my comfort zone,” Warren said. “But I guess it also doesn’t bother me.”

She pulled out a seat, and they sat side by side. “I made the centrepieces,” she told him out of the side of her mouth, while her friends discussed who was sitting where and shuffled to take their seats. “The rest of the decorations in the room, as well.”

“Wow.”

“I wasn’t boasting,” she whispered. “It’s just something you should probably know. I spent a lot of time working on it this week.”

He looked around the room. “I’d boast if I were you. It looks great.”

“Thank you.”

“I tend to think of a florist as selling pretty bunches of flowers. I never really thought about decorating entire event venues.”

“I love events like this,” she said, eyes roaming the room. “It’s a lot of work, but not as much pressure as a wedding.”

“It looks amazing.”

Kylie groaned beside Anna. “Are we still talking about your dress?” she joked.