Page 43 of A Chef's Kiss for Christmas

He blinked a few times until she came into focus. With her hair spilled around her on the pillow and the light slanting onto her face, she looked angelic.

“Sorry,” he said groggily. “I managed on the floor for a while, and the chair for a bit… then I gave up and opted for comfort.”

“It’s fine.” She repositioned her head on the pillow. “I said you could sleep in the bed too.”

“What time is it?” He turned to the digital clock beside the bed, putting a hand across the top of it to block out the daylight enough to read the numbers. “I never sleep that long,” he said, surprised to find it was already mid-morning.

“It’s good to be lazy sometimes.” Sitting up, she discreetly adjusted her pyjama top. “I should get showered.”

“Are we supposed to be at brunch at a specific time?”

She shook her head. “There’s a buffet until eleven. Kylie messaged and said she’s just getting up. Frannie and Jake are already downstairs. I guess Dev and Hayden are still sleeping.”

She disappeared into the bathroom, and Warren settled back down on the pillows, not sure whether he’d prefer not to bump into Hayden at breakfast, or if he’d like him around so he could make it clear Anna was off-limits.

He groaned at the thought. Because she wasn’t off limits at all. She was free and single and could do whatever the heck she liked.

Chapter Eighteen

The hotel dining room was reasonably busy, but they spotted Frannie and Jake straightaway, sitting with Kylie and Dev.

“Morning!” Anna said cheerfully.

Dev winced. “Not so loud,” he said, clutching a mug of coffee with both hands.

“How’s everyone feeling?” Warren asked.

Frannie smiled. “I think we’re all doing pretty well, except for Dev. Hayden didn’t look too hot either,” she added as an afterthought.

“I’m surprised he’s up.” Anna glanced around for him. Usually, he’d be the last to bed at the end of the night and the last to emerge the following morning.

At least today she didn’t have to endure the torture of watching him arrive with his girlfriend and force herself not to imagine what they’d been up to in their hotel room.

“You just missed him,” Kylie said. “He grabbed a quick coffee and headed off. Apparently, he’s in the middle of some big work project that he needed to get back to. He said to say goodbye.”

Anna forced her lips into a smile, then turned to Warren. “Are you hungry?”

He nodded, and they meandered through the tables to the buffet at the side of the room.

As they took a plate each, Warren leaned close to her ear. “Are we happy that we missed Hayden this morning or not?”

The question amused her and also made her ponder her feelings on the matter. “It’s a relief,” she said, taking a bread roll from a basket. “Without him around, I can relax and enjoy breakfast with my friends.”

He followed her to the hot buffet items. “Does it make me a bad person that I’m a little disappointed I don’t get to watch him squirm with jealousy at the sight of us together?”

Anna smiled as she spooned scrambled eggs onto her plate. “I really don’t think he was jealous.”

“Then you need to get your eyes checked.” He added sausages to his plate and served her a couple. “I wonder if that’s why he left early – so he didn’t have to watch us pawing at each other over breakfast.”

“I don’t think we’d really have been pawing at each other.”

“I definitely intend to paw at you.”

She laughed as she reached the end of the buffet table and poured them both orange juice. “Hayden’s already left, remember? We can cool down the act.”

“I thought you were mostly concerned with making sure your friends don’t give you pitying looks.”

“I suspect they might pity me if you inappropriately grope me during breakfast.”