Page 53 of A Chef's Kiss for Christmas

“That he wished we’d never broken up.”

Carla’s eyes went comically large. “Seriously?”

She nodded. “I thought it was just because he’d been drinking and was a bit jealous of seeing me with Warren, but I spoke to Frannie and Kylie, and they seem to think he’s had a thing for me this entire time.”

“Why has he spent the last two years serial dating if he still has a thing for you?”

“Apparently, he tried to get back together with me, and I turned him down.”

“What?” Carla curled her lip. “When?”

“Ages ago. Remember, I met up with him, and he wanted us to be friends?” She paused long enough for Carla to nod. “It seems he was actually asking if we could get back together, but I misunderstood.”

“How could you possibly misunderstand that?”

“He said he missed me and wanted to fix things between us, but I thought he meant as friends. So I told him I didn’t want to even be friends with him.” She blew out a breath. “It was so long ago that I barely remember the conversation, but from what I can gather, we got our wires more than a little crossed.”

“It sounds like it.” She threw her hands up. “So what does this mean? Are you going to get back together with him?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Why not? You’ve been desperate to get back together with him ever since you two broke up.”

“Yes. But now I’m not sure. Also, I’ve heard nothing from him since the party on Saturday, so I don’t even know if he wants to get back together.”

“He thinks you’re together with Warren, though, doesn’t he? Are you going to correct him on that matter?”

Slowly, she shook her head.

“I’m confused,” Carla said. “I thought you’d be excited about the possibility of working things out with Hayden.”

“Me too. But I’m not. I think I might finally be over him.”

“Right.” Carla’s brow was all rumpled. “I don’t really understand.”

Anna stared down at her coffee. “I had a really good time at the party, and for the first time in ages, I wasn’t missing Hayden or wishingwe were still together.”

“I guess that’s good.”

“Yeah. Having Warren there was great… and I had a good time with his parents the weekend before as well.”

“You said so in your messages. I hate to always take the credit, but wasn’t it my idea for you to take Warren to the party? I knew it would make Hayden jealous.”

“You can take the credit,” Anna said, smiling over her coffee. “It was a good idea to take him.”

Carla sipped her drink, apparently not reading between the lines.

“I had a really great time with him,” Anna said pointedly.

“You already said that.” Carla rolled her eyes. “Should I be worried about you repeating yourself?”

“No. I just wasn’t sure you heard.”

“I heard.” She slipped her fingers under her hat to scratch at her hairline, then her gaze whipped back to Anna. “Wait… what’s going on? Am I missing something…”

“Maybe. It was just really lovely pretending Warren was my boyfriend.”

Carla closed her eyes and shook her head in a way that made her look like a cartoon character. “Yes, because it made Hayden jealous, and you didn’t have to worry about your friends thinking you were still pining for him.”