Read Online Billionaire Romance: Out of The Cold (Book One) by Violet Walker - Free Book Online

Chapter 1: The Farmhouse
    T hey left New York City behind in a thin rain, Henry Reid’s
tricked out Jeep Cherokee powering along as if the highway was dry
as a bone, easing through the aggressive Upstate traffic with the
grace of a vehicle too big and heavy to risk hitting. Henry sat at
the wheel, his fine, well-manicured hands gripping it steadily and
his green eyes fixed on the road ahead. He was generous-featured
and handsome, nose just a touch overlarge and smile lines starting
at the corners of his eyes--maybe forty, Anna guessed. Whenever
they were together she had the habit of watching his face like she
wanted to memorize every detail.
    Anna McCallister,
twenty-three and his secretary, loved him with the kind of
desperate adoration that was usually limited to schoolgirl crushes,
and though it embarrassed her, it stayed in her head no matter what
she did. She fell asleep to thoughts of running her fingers through
his floppy coffee-colored hair, and woke up to thoughts of turning
to see his sleeping face on the pillow beside her. As they drove,
competing with late holiday-makers headed for dinner somewhere out
in the Catskills, she kept stealing looks at him. Henry probably
thought that she had agreed to spend her Christmas Eve with him
because she was dedicated to their work, but Anna did it for the
reason she did everything he ever asked of her: because, despite
the complete impossibility of this real estate billionaire wanting
to date “the help,” she lived to see him smile.
    “ I can’t wait until you
see this thing,” Henry said excitedly. “Two hundred years old,
stone, now with all the modern comforts. Solar array on the south
roof, windmill, network cable in place. All we need is to order
Internet and phone service, load cord wood into the shed and fill
the oil tanks, and she’s completely ready to go. Bet she’ll sell in
a month or two, even in winter.” Henry glanced at her, the
excitement in his voice coloring his cheeks and making his eyes
dance in a way that made her stomach do a little flip.
    “It sounds great,” she
replied with a little squeak in her voice that she couldn’t
conceal. She was a small, voluptuous woman, her own hair a shade
lighter than his, falling in waves to her mid-back when she let it
loose. Not that he would know that--she kept it carefully tucked up
in a bun for work. Her eyes were light gray-green, in contrast with
his pine-colored irises, and she tended to line them with kohl to
bring out their unusual pale color. She wore an wool aubergine suit
today, one of her best thrift-store finds and warm enough, paired
with fleece-lined tights, warm boots, gloves and a puffer vest, to
take on the Catskills in late December. She hoped. In reality, she
had only been Upstate a few times since moving to New York City
from Delaware, and she still wondered if she was ready for what the
locals termed “a real winter”.
    “I hope so. James told me
today that she’s ready for a tour, and I wanted to get it done
before the holiday. I really hope you don’t mind spending Christmas
Eve dinner with your boss.” He knew she had no family to speak of,
but he didn’t know how much trouble she’d had making friends since
she had come to the City. Shyness wasn’t an asset anywhere in the
world, but in New York City it was a serious handicap, and she was
struggling.
    “I didn’t have any plans,”
she admitted, but left it at that. The whole holiday thing
depressed her; it drove home her loneliness and made her feel
pathetic. Besides, the truth was that she couldn’t think of anyone
in the world she’d rather spend a holiday with than him.
    “It’s too bad I couldn’t
swing by and pick up Monty,” he mused. “He just adores you. Of
course, it will be nice to have a Christmas Eve dinner without his
nose constantly poking out from under the table in search of
scraps.”
    She giggled a little, and
his eyes twinkled in response. Her assistant's duties didn’t
normally involve