Page 51 of A Chef's Kiss for Christmas

“WhataboutHayden?” Kylie snapped. “He dumped Anna and then paraded a series of other women in front of her.”

“I know,” Frannie argued, “but it’s Hayden… He might have messed up, but he isn’t a terrible person.”

“He’s not,” Anna agreed. “I don’t think he wanted to hurt me. But…” She inhaled deeply, gathering her thoughts.

Kylie glared at her. “But what?”

Anna smiled sadly. “I’m concerned I’m one of those people who only want what they can’t have. I spent the past two years desperate for Hayden to realise he’d made a mistake, but whenhe said that to me at the party, I just felt flat. And now I have a crush on Warren.”

“And you think you can’t have Warren?” Frannie ventured.

“I don’t think he sees me that way.” At least she wasn’t willing to let herself hope he might. “Also, he’s my brother’s best friend.”

Kylie curled her lip. “So?”

“So even if he liked me, I don’t think he’d do anything about it.”

“Well then, maybeyoushould do something about it,” Kylie said, with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“I think we all know I’m not forward enough to ask him out. Also…” She hesitated, unsure whether to share her other concern. When her friends looked at her eagerly, she released a breath. “I think Carla might have a thing for him.”

“Woah!” Kylie’s eyes lit up. “This conversation took an unexpected turn. Your sister likes Warren as well?”

“I don’t know.” Anna wrinkled her nose. “They always bicker, and it kind of feels like flirting.”

“Isn’t Carla a bit young for him?” Frannie said.

“She’s younger than him.” Anna paused, calculating. “By about six years, I guess. It’s not that much.”

“It’s Carla,” Kylie said, rolling her eyes. “If she fancied him, she’d have done something about it.”

“Maybe she has…” Anna trailed off, wishing she’d kept that train of thought to herself.

Frannie lifted her eyebrows. “What does that mean?”

Anna bit down on her lip, thinking of Warren’s story about the spider in Carla’s flat. She’d been too amused by her sister’s audacity to get the rest of the story. Had he gone over there? If he had, what had happened? Did he just remove the spider and leave? And had Carla really only wanted him to get rid of the spider, or was that just a ruse to get Warren to come over?

“Never mind,” Anna said, not wanting to gossip about hersister. “I’m just worried that maybe she likes him, but I’m probably overthinking things. She was the one who suggested I get him to pretend to be my boyfriend for the party.”

“There you go then,” Frannie said. “She wouldn’t do that if she had feelings for him.”

“Probably not,” Anna agreed. Though perhaps it just wouldn’t have occurred to Carla that there’d be more to it than just pretend.

Kylie beamed. “I think you should ask Warren out on a proper date.”

Even the thought of it made Anna squirm. She looked to Frannie for her opinion.

“Maybe you can engineer ways to spend time with him,” she suggested gently. “That should be pretty easy. Just conveniently be at the hotel bar when he’s finishing work.”

“That seems manageable,” Anna said.

It would definitely be easier than finding the courage to ask him on a date.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Usually, Anna couldn’t go for more than a few days without seeing her sister, but of course when she specifically wanted to speak to her, she seemed to be constantly busy. They’d exchanged a few messages over the week, but Anna was keen for a proper catch up.

On Thursday, she messaged Carla in the morning asking when she had time to meet. The response that came through was a list of her various jobs over the next three weeks.