Page 21 of The Billionaire's Christmas Baby Surprise

“I certainly hope not. If that was your best work, I’d be very worried about the quality of your restaurants. Have you ever wrapped a present before?”

“I mean, I’ve put things into bags.”

“Okay, we can work with that. There are a bunch of gift bags over there. Maybe it’ll work a little better if you try those instead of the wrapping paper.”

Max threw the sticky, torn mass of wrapping paper and tape into the small trash can beside Billie’s desk and took a handful of gift bags and gift tags. He slid the action figure into the first bag, but the figure’s helmet poked out over the top as though he were watching Max’s every move. Max added a little tissue paper around the figure’s head, then looked up to see Billie watching him with wide eyes.

“What?” He tucked another bit of tissue paper into the bag.

“You can definitely see what’s in there.” Billie nodded to the head, which was still very obviously poking up through the wrapping paper.

“Fine.” Max took the action figure back out of the bag and put it in a second bag, which was much taller and thinner. The figure fit perfectly. “How’s that?”

“Maybe you’re getting it.” Billie grinned broadly. “Maybe.”

“I’ll take it.” Max reached for another gift bag and a round plush animal with small legs. “Do you always wrap this many gifts?”

“Yep, and that’s just the ones for the kids. I have a bunch more for my siblings and parents and nephews.”

“Right, you told me you had a big family. How did Thanksgiving with all of them go?”

“Oh, it was nice. My infant nephew came to the table with us in a sling and smiled at everyone for the whole meal. And the food was lovely, of course, since my mom is a great cook. How was your Thanksgiving? Did you really spend it in the office?” Billie carefully crimped the edge of a sheet of wrapping paper and fixed it to the box with a single, perfectly sized piece of tape.

“I did, and it was fine.” Max slid the plush animal into the bag and tucked a few pieces of tissue paper around it. Then he reached for a gift tag and a pen.

“I have to ask.” Billie bit her lip. “I know you said that Christmas wasn’t that magical and that the holidays aren’t a very special time for you, but don’t your parents miss you on Thanksgiving?”

Max thought of his parents and gave a low chuckle. “They spent this Thanksgiving in Aruba on the beach. I don’t think they missed me.”

“Why didn’t you go?”

“I had to work.” Max shrugged. “I’ll have time for vacations later.”

“Right.” Billie nodded slowly. “Once you have a child and the child takes over the business.”

Max laughed. “Yeah. Exactly. That’s my plan.”

“That’s some really long-term planning. Especially since you appear to be single now.”

“It’s all about the long game with me.” Max stuck the gift tag to the bag. It peeled off and floated to the floor, so he went for round two, this time armed with a large piece of clear tape.

“I’m curious, though.” Billie leaned over, took the tag and tape from Max’s hands, and carefully tied the tag to the handle of the gift bag. “Do you want kids?” She blushed. “Sorry, I know that’s personal. You don’t have to answer.”

“I don’t mind.” Max set the gift with the other wrapped presents. While his back was to Billie, he took a moment to formulate his answer. “I like kids. But I’m clueless with them. I don’t know what they need or how to parent one, so I worry that if I actually had a child, I’d mess things up. Does that make sense?”

“It does.” Billie nodded. “But, as someone who’s spent a lot of time around kids, I can tell you that it’s harder to mess them up than people think. As long as you show up for your kids and support them, things mostly turn out okay. And you seem like the kind of guy who would show up. I saw your dedication to getting the Sunshine Sparkle Alpaca.”

“Thanks.” Max was oddly touched by Billie’s words. “I’m a long way from having kids, though.”

“Same. I’m as single as you are.” Billie held up her left hand to showcase her lack of a ring. “But, since I do spend all day with children, it’s something I think about.”

“Why were you curious? About if I wanted kids?”

“I don’t know. When we first met, I thought you were…”

“A jerk?” Max filled in the blank. “I know. You weren’t that subtle.”

Billie bit her lip again. “Sorry. I don’t mean a jerk, I just mean… we seemed really different. But I saw another side to you when we went shopping. It made me wonder what else there is to you that I don’t know.”

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