Page 65 of A Chef's Kiss for Christmas
“By the way, how did it go with Anna and her party?” Lewis asked when they were halfway down their second beers. “If my family’s reports are correct, it went well, but I haven’t spoken to Anna.”
“It was good,” Warren said.
“Did you actually pretend to be her boyfriend?”
“Yes.” He fought a smile as he recalled the evening at the hotel.
“Was Hayden there?”
“Yeah. And I don’t think he was overly impressed by my presence.”
“Did he say something?”
“No, but I definitely got jealous vibes.”
“Sounds like a successful evening.”
“Yep.” Warren sank back in his chair and pulled his chin to his chest. “I ended up staying over, by the way.”
From the flicker of amusement in Lewis’s eyes, Warren would swear he was enjoying watching Warren squirm.
“Stayed over at the hotel with my sister?” he asked.
“I slept on the floor,” Warren said quickly. It didn’t feel necessary to disclose that that was only the beginning of the night.
“Glad to hear it.”
Irritatingly, Warren couldn’t make out if Lewis’s words were serious or mocking. He scratched his forehead. “I also wanted to mention something else… it’s a bit weird…”
“Weirder than you spending the night in a hotel room with my little sister?”
“A bit, yeah.” He hesitated. “Anna’s going to come on a family trip with me.”
The way Lewis’s eyes bulged was comical. “You’re going to need to explain that one.”
“Anna found out I was avoiding a family trip and she was pestering me to go, so I jokingly said she’d need to come with me.”
“Where is this trip?” Lewis asked.
“Just near Bath. And only two nights. I think Anna was keen on a shopping trip, and my mum was enticing her by telling her how nice the house is.”
Lewis responded with a slow nod.
“Anyway,” Warren said. “It’s next week, but just at the beginning of the week, so it won’t be a problem with the kitchen. Liam already agreed to work the Tuesday for me.” He sat up straighter. “That’s okay, right? You said the rest of the kitchen staff should be able to take on more responsibility when I’m not here…”
“Yeah. Of course.” His lips twitched as though he wanted to say more and was trying to figure out how to word it. “Is there something going on between you and Anna?” he finally asked.
“No.” It was a good thing he wasn’t hooked up to a lie detector because his heart rate went wild. He shook his head and wondered if the action was a little too forceful. “No,” he said again.
“Really?”
“Yeah. We’re just friends.”
“It’s kind of strange that she agreed to go away with your family.”
Warren shifted in his seat. “It was her idea. I didn’t want to go at all. I’d already told my mum I wasn’t going, but Annainsisted I should spend more time with my family. It is a bit of an odd situation.”
“I didn’t mean it was weird for her to go with you… I meant it’s strange that she wants to.”
