Page 30 of The Billionaire's Christmas Baby Surprise

“And if Idon’tdrink coffee, I won’t be able to stay awake for the drive home.” Max looked out the window. “It could be a snowy one.”

Billie followed his gaze. Her eyes widened at the inch-deep blanket of snow on the ground.

“When did that happen?”

“Winter in Colorado,” Max said. “Who’s the real Coloradoannow? You’re so surprised by a little snow.”

“Hey.” Billie glared playfully. “I’m still the real Coloradoan. I just didn’t see the snow falling, that’s all.”

They watched flakes drift from the sky in the light of a streetlight for a few minutes. Christmas music was still playing over the restaurant’s speakers, and Max heard the clatter of cutlery and the chatter of excited voices from the other guests. It was an almost perfect moment.

Then the waitress returned with steaming plates of food, which she slid onto the table. Max watched as Billie inhaled deeply and smiled, then reached for her fork and took a bite. She chewed appreciatively then looked up and caught Max watching her.

“What?”

“Sorry. I want to make sure you like it.”

“I do. It’s very delicious.” She went in for a second bite. “But you need to eat, too.”

“Right.” Max took a bite of his Reuben. “Would you like to try mine?”

“Sure.”

Max cut off a corner of the sandwich and Billie took it. “Mmm, you’re right, this is good. But mine is better. And you can’t have any.” She winked and Max laughed.

“That’s fine; I’ve tried it before.”

“Is there anything on the menu you haven’t tried?”

“Yes, actually. There’s an eggplant parmesan that I’ve never been able to bring myself to try. I’m not a fan of eggplants.”

“Interesting.” Billie looked thoughtful. “Only eggplants, or zucchinis too?”

“I also don’t like zucchinis, but they aren’t on the menu.” Max took another bite. “Do you have any foods you don’t eat?”

“Not really. Since food was sometimes scarce growing up, all of us learned to eat just about anything that was put in front of us and not waste anything.” Billie bit her lip. “Sorry. I’m just not used to talking about any of this, and now that you know…”

“It’s really fine.” Max’s heart went out to Billie, both for the child she’d been and the woman she was who felt she had to keep secrets. He understood that — he had secrets, too. Max was beyond pleased that Billie had opened up to him, but he didn’t feel ready to share about his own family. Not yet. “You can talk about anything you want with me.”

“Even… Sunshine Sparkle Alpacas?” Billie grinned, clearly ready to change the topic, and Max followed her lead.

“Of course. What else would we even talk about?”

Their conversation meandered back into talking about the gifts and the children. Billie told Max about a few of the kids, and he listened with more interest than he’d expected to have. Perhaps Billie could make any topic sound interesting — or perhaps he was starting to care about the work her charity did.

They finished dinner, thanked the waitstaff, and headed out into the parking lot where they stopped short on the stairs of the restaurant. The parking lot had been covered with at least six inches of fluffy white snow during the hour or two they’d been in the restaurant.

“How is this even possible?” Max asked.

“It’s a Christmas miracle,” Billie suggested, but even she sounded unsure.

“Not so much of a miracle. I don’t think we can drive back to Denver in snow like this. They probably haven’t had time to clear the highways yet.”

“And the snow is still coming down.” Billie tilted her head back to look up at the snowflakes that shone in the parking-lot streetlights. A few flakes caught in her long eyelashes. “What should we do?”

“Well, I see a hotel just across the street.” Max pointed. “What do you say we head over and see if they have a couple of free rooms?”

Billie seemed to hesitate, then nodded. “I don’t suppose we have any other choice. Let’s go.”

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