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“Oh, come on.” Jamie danced a little in her chair, always the excited younger sister. “You like him. This is absolutely a date.”
“No, no.” Billie tried not to smile. “He just invited me to his corporate holiday party. Hundreds of people will be there. I’m sure he’s just being polite.”
“When he sees you in that dress, he’ll forget all about being polite,” Jamie predicted with a knowing smile.
Billie rolled her eyes dismissively, but she couldn’t help feeling a little excited about her evening with Max. Maybe he would be impressed when he saw her in her new dress.
By the time the evening of the nineteenth rolled around, Billie found herself spending a little too long trying on her dress and making sure her hair and makeup looked nice. Perhaps all this was a sign that she should start looking for love once the holidays were over. Clearly, she was craving the thrill of a first date and the spark of new romance — neither of which were going to come from Max. No matter how much a part of her might want that.
When Max sent her a text letting her know he was outside, Billie gave herself one last assessing look in the hallway mirror then grabbed her purse and hurried downstairs. It was time.
CHAPTER 15
MAX
Max sat in his car outside Billie’s apartment and tried not to feel nervous.
He was rarely nervous about anything. Even corporate mergers and changing stock prices were rarely cause for anxiety. Yet today, as he waited for Billie to come downstairs, he did feel nervous. He worried that Billie wouldn’t enjoy the party and that it had been a mistake to invite her. He worried that he’d forget himself and kiss her, even though he knew that this wasn’t a date. He worried that he’d let himself get too close to Billie and that it would be hard to back away after the holidays ended.
He worried that he no longerwantedto back away from Billie.
In a heartbeat, though, all his worries faded away as Billie stepped through the door of her apartment building. She wore a dark green dress made of what looked like velvet that hugged her curves before flaring into a wide skirt ending at her knees. She’d paired the dress with heels and a half-up, half-down hairstyle that left strands of curly brown hair framing her face and grazing her shoulders. She wore a little more makeup than usual, which perfectly brought out her luminous chocolate-brown eyes.As a final touch, a pair of snowflake earrings completed the ensemble.
As she hurried down the steps to the car, Max gave himself a stern reminder that this wasn’t a date. He wanted to thank Billie for all she’d done for him over the last month when she’d allowed him to volunteer, even though he hadn’t been very good at it in the beginning. That was all. There were no romantic feelings here. He couldn’t let there be.
“Hi, Max.” Billie slid into the passenger seat and turned to him with a smile. Her cheeks were pink from the cold.
“Hi, Billie. You look lovely today.”
“Oh, this?” Billie smoothed the skirt of her dress over her legs. “It’s nothing special. So, where’s the Christmas party?”
“At the offices,” Max told her. He put the car into drive and merged with the traffic on Billie’s street. It was another icy cold December evening, but the skies were clear and there was no sign of Christmas snow in sight. Stars twinkled high above in the inky blackness of the night. “The venue may not be the most exciting, but we always have great food.”
“From the diner?” Billie asked.
“Some of it. We actually have a mix of catered and diner food — some people expect fancier fare at the holidays.”
“I’ll be happy with the diner food. I can’t get over the breakfast for dinner I had in Colorado Springs. It was so good.”
“I told you.” Max grinned at her. “Food is important. You can’t just grab a sandwich between meetings.”
Billie chuckled. “First, I can’t believe that you really never grabbed a sandwich between meetings. You’re so busy that you must have. And second, the last few times I’ve had a quick sandwich, I couldn’t help thinking of you saying that exact thing.”
“Good. I’m having a positive influence on you.”
“Ha. Right. I’m pretty sure we can agree that the positive influence is from me to you.”
“Right, because you’re so wonderful.” Max meant to use a joking tone, but it came out more serious than he’d intended. Billie glanced at him with those big brown eyes, then looked away. Quickly, Max searched for another, safer topic. “What are your plans for the holidays?”
“Well, Christmas Eve is my big delivery window, so I’ll spend most of the day driving around, delivering gifts and food to the families on the list. Christmas Day is usually quieter. My family has our big Christmas celebration on the twenty-third, so that all my siblings can celebrate in their small families, but I usually go over to my sister’s house on Christmas Day for a little while. What are your plans? Don’t tell me you’ll be working.”
“I’ll probably be working.” Max grinned sheepishly. “If you thinkI’mnot into the holidays, you should meet my father. My parents aren’t exactly the type that’ll suggest a big family gathering.”
“Right. You told me your parents went somewhere in the Caribbean for Thanksgiving. Are they planning another overseas vacation?”
“No, I think they’ll be around here. I might meet them for dinner or something on Christmas, but it won’t be any big celebration.”
“Oh, that reminds me.” Billie reached into her purse and withdrew a small, wrapped gift. Max glanced at it with interest.