Page 16 of The Billionaire's Christmas Baby Surprise

Max cared about profit over all else, but he was wrong about that too. It mattered how you treated people and the kind of effort you gave, not just how much money you made.

Billie sighed. The decorating fiasco had happened several days ago, but she still found herself thinking about it. She’d even complained to her sister, Jamie, about how she was stuck with a rich jerk who couldn’t even decorate a Christmas tree properly, which really wasn’t that hard to do. Billie had left out the part about how they’d spent a night together beforehand, because that didn’t really have anything to do with their current situation.

Worse, it wasn’t like she could just cancel her arrangement with Max. She’d agreed to several photo shoots of Max “helping” her, and it was time to invite him to the next one. Trying to forget, or at least conceal, her annoyance, Billie got out her phone and dialed Max’s number. He picked up on the third ring.

“Billie?” He sounded surprised to hear from her.

“Hi, Max. I need to go shopping tomorrow to get some things from the kids’ wish lists.” She hesitated, trying to cultivate a polite and professional tone. “Would you like to… join me?”

“Yes, please.”

“If you’d just like to come to take a few photos, that’s fine.”

“No, I’ll really help this time. Where and when tomorrow?”

Billie gave the name of a local department store and suggested two in the afternoon.

“That sounds fine.” There was a pause on the other end. “How does the tree look?”

“Good now.”

“I’m glad to hear it. See you tomorrow, Billie.”

It wasn’t an apology, but it was the closest either of them was probably going to get. It just remained to be seen how the shopping would go the next day.

To Billie’s surprise, Max showed up at the department store the next day without Stephanie or his photographer.

“Where’s your entourage?” Billie asked, looking around the parking lot in case they were planning to jump out for some candid shots.

“It’s just me today,” Max said. “Stephanie asked that I get a few selfies of the two of us together, but she also implied that just being out in public would get enough attention.”

“Great. Attention. This should be fun.” Billie took a scrunchy off her wrist and tied her hair back into a ponytail. “Are you ready?”

“Wow, your hair is going up. This must be serious. Yes, I’m ready.”

“Great. Then grab a cart. We have a lot to buy today.”

Max obediently went to get a cart, and they headed into the store. Just like the outreach center, the store had been brightly decorated for Christmas. “Last Christmas” played over the speakers, and the first row of shelves was a display of Christmas decorations and wrapping paper. Miniature reindeer and fluffy-bearded Santa Clauses smiled at them as they passed.

“We’ll start in the baby section,” Billie told Max.

“Not in toys?”

“No, but we’ll go there next. We offer gifts to everyone from babies to teenagers, so it isn’t all toys — although it mostly is. I also try to pick up some special chocolate or gift sets for the parents if I have the budget — and this year, I do, thanks to you.”

“That’s thoughtful. To get gifts for parents, I mean.”

“They deserve it. They work so hard to make sure their kids have everything they need.”

They strolled through the baby section, where Billie picked up a few plush toys as well as several packs of onesies, a set of bottles, and a pile of diapers, crossing each item off her list as she went. Then it was on to the toy section.

“Do you see any plushie octopuses?” Billie asked, scanning the first shelf.

“Here’s one.” Max stretched up to retrieve a pale orange plush octopus with eight legs and an embroidered smile.

“Perfect. Put him in the cart.” Billie crossed the octopus off her list.

“So, these are lists from the kids at your center?”

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