Read Online The Billionaire's Secret: A BWWM Romance Mystery by Mia Caldwell - Free Book Online

and once again I was struck by his odd mix of
old-fashioned chivalry and potty mouth.

 
    We walked out into the frigid
gardens, under the dark winter sky. It was clear and very cold, with no moon to
dim the light of the stars overhead. We were far out from Philly, which was
only a faint orange glow on the eastern horizon, and for whatever reason it
felt colder out here in the country. Liam slung his arm around me. "Too
cold?"

 
    "A little," I said
truthfully.

 
    "Here." He stepped off of
the path. "Come this way."

 
    A few feet off the main path was a
little concession stand underneath a heating fan. Liam squeezed my hand.
"Two hot chocolates please."

 
    They were watery mixes in Styrofoam
cups, but at least they were warm. "Hold this for me?" Liam asked,
handing me his cup.

 
    I dutifully held both of them as he
reached into his pocket and pulled out a deeply engraved silver flask and held
it out to me with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows. I giggled and nodded
eagerly. He glugged about a shot's worth into each Styrofoam cup and replaced
the cap on the flask. "Cheers," he said, lifting his cup.

 
    It tasted like whiskey and burned all
the way down my throat, but the warming was instant. "Umm," I moaned
as the shivers subsided. "Good thinking."

 
    "Always be prepared," he
said. "Boy Scout motto."

 
    "You were a scout?"

 
    "A bit," he said. "I
really liked it, but Dahlia got bored with having to pick me up from meetings,
so she pulled me out before I could start Eagle Scouts."

 
    My nose twitched in spite of myself.
I was starting to hate this woman, and I had never even met her. "Well
it's a beautiful flask."

 
    "Thank you." He took my arm
again and we stepped back out onto the path. We were headed to the main greenhouse,
an old brick mansion - an imposing Victorian pile that sat at the crest of a
small rise. I had no idea what we were coming to see, so I turned my curiosity
to Liam.

 
    "Is it old? It looks old,"
I said. Maybe the flask meant something to him.

 
    "It might be," he said.
"I don't really know."

 
    "Did your mother give it to
you?"

 
    He nodded. "Twenty-first
birthday present. She said it was something I should have gotten from my
father...if he had stayed around."

 
    I startled. This was the first I had
heard him mention his father. "Did you know him?"

 
    He shook his head, exhaling a puff of
condensation into the air. "No. Dahlia...well she kind of made it clear
that he was not a subject she was willing to discuss. After a while, I finally
learned to let it go."

 
    "Like everything else?"

 
    He looked at me, long and hard for a
moment, his penetrating gray eyes even darker in the night. "Like
everything else," he agreed, like he was considering it for the first
time.

 
    I leaned against him, feeling the
warmth of the liquor opening me up. Feeling like he was opening up too.
"You're making it hard for me to ever want to meet her," I sighed.

 
    His silence spread out long and
hollow. He still held me, but seemed stiff and far away.

 
    Okaaay, maybe I misjudged. Maybe he
wasn't opening up to me the way I thought he was. Or maybe he had been until I mentioned meeting his
mother . I jumped the gun too soon,
frightened him off. Dammit, Shay!

 
    From up here you could look out over
the dark, snow-covered courtyard. The topiary that usually graced the lawn was
nothing more than a random series of lumps and bumps under the white blanket of
snow. It was beautiful and eerie at the same time and I felt like there was
some meaning to it, I just couldn't put my finger on it.

 
    Liam interrupted my spiral of self-doubt
by rushing to open the door to the greenhouse. "We're here," he said
beckoning. "After you."

 
    I turned away from the cold and
stepped into the warmth of the greenhouse...and a riot of color.

 
    "Tulips!" I gasped.

 
    They stood in rows, proud and tall in
shades of red, orange and yellow. They were everywhere, bursting forth