Page 39 of A Chef's Kiss for Christmas

Frowning in confusion, Warren looked to Anna.

“Please just go,” she said. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”

He wanted to point out that he didn’t have his keys, but somehow that felt irrelevant. What on earth had happened in the last three minutes?

“What’s going on?” he asked.

Hayden took another step between them. “She’s upset. Just leave it for now.”

“Why are you upset?” He kept his eyes on Anna and resisted the urge to physically move Hayden out of his way.

“It’s okay.” Anna put a hand on Hayden’s arm as she stepped around him. “Just give us a minute.” She pulled on Warren’s elbow and led him off the dance floor.

“What’s going on?” he asked before they’d got far.

She spoke out of the corner of her mouth. “They saw you with the waitress.”

“So?” At the edge of the dance floor, he turned to face her.

“So you took her number,” she snapped at about the same time he noticed her friends had followed them.

“Are you okay?” Kylie asked, moving to stand beside Anna.

When Frannie took up position at her other side, Warrencouldn’t decide whether to be annoyed or amused by how protective they were.

“I didn’t take her number,” he said, taking a step towards Anna.

He could just about feel her male friends breathing down his neck.

“We all saw you,” one of them said. He didn’t bother turning to see who it was. Partly because he couldn’t drag his eyes from Anna, who looked genuinely upset.

In fairness, the whole point of him being there was so they didn’t feel sorry for her being alone. Having her supposed new boyfriend chatting up a waitress in front of them probably wasn’t helpful.

With his eyes locked on hers, he fumbled in his pocket and drew out the paper.

“It’s not her number,” he said, holding it out. “I was asking about the sauce with the duck. She said she didn’t dare ask the chef because he was so busy, but she gave me the details of his YouTube channel.”

Anna looked at the paper, then angled it to show her friends.

“He does have a YouTube channel,” Frannie said, wincing. “It’s really good.”

“Great,” Warren said through gritted teeth. “Can you all stop looking at me as though I’m the devil?”

“Sorry,” Jake said, moving to his side and clapping him on the back. “We may have jumped to conclusions there.”

“Obviously.” He could see how it had looked dodgy. It genuinely hadn’t entered his head that anyone would think that, though. “Why on earth would I flirt with the waitress?” he said, looking Anna up and down and not caring about the way she squirmed under his scrutiny.

“Sorry,” Frannie said, grimacing as she ushered the rest of them away.

“Oh my god,” Anna whispered, covering her face with her hand. “That was so awkward.”

“Awkward how fast your ex made a move,” Warren muttered.

“He didn’t make a move,” she said, but didn’t look as though she even believed it herself. “He was just concerned.”

“Was that the plan all along?” Warren asked, trying to keep his voice level. “To make him jealous?”

“No.” She shook her head but looked unsure of herself.