King’s Million-Dollar Secret by Maureen Child Read Free Book Online Page A

but…”
    â€œYou want your life back,” he finished for her.
    â€œYes,” she agreed with a sigh. “Funny, but you go along every day and you hardly notice your routine—” She paused and smiled. “You’ll notice I said routine, not rut. ”
    â€œI noticed,” he said with a grin.
    She stopped beside the shelves and bent down to pull a bag of charcoal free. He bent down at the same time and suddenly, their mouths were just a kiss apart. Time staggered to a standstill. His gaze dropped to her lips and everything inside him clenched when her tongue slipped out to slide along her bottom lip.
    Rafe wanted a taste of her. More than he did his next breath. But her eyes told him she wasn’t ready for that and if there was one thing Rafe King knew, it was how to be patient. So he straightened up and grabbed the bag.
    â€œLet me get that for you.”
    She stepped back with a soft thanks, then continued with what she’d been saying. “Then you get ripped out of that routine and all you can think about is getting it back. That doesn’t make any sense at all, does it?”
    â€œSure it does,” he said, idly noting how the sunlight drifting in through the small garage windows shone on her hair like fire. His body was tight and his breath was strangling in his lungs. But he didn’t let her know that.
    â€œNobody likes having their place invaded and their life turned upside down.”
    â€œWhat about you?” she asked. “Do you have a routine you don’t want upset?”
    He gave her a quick grin and set the bag of charcoal at his feet. “Men don’t have routines,” he corrected. “We have schedules.”
    â€œAh.” She leaned against the front fender of the van. “And your ‘schedule’?”
    â€œSame as everyone else’s I guess,” he said after a long minute, when he took the time to remind himself to be vague. He couldn’t exactly tell her about time spent with his brothers, or at King Construction. “Work, home. Play.”
    â€œI know what you do for work. What’s your idea of playtime?”
    â€œWell now,” he mused thoughtfully, meeting her gaze and allowing her to see exactly what she was doing to him, “that’s an interesting question.”
    She sucked in a breath of air and straightened up and away from her car. He liked seeing her nervous. That told him she was feeling the same kind of attraction he was. Good to know. But he’d let her catch her breath before he pushed any harder. He wasn’t used to dealing with a woman like Katie.
    The women he generally spent time with were, like Rafe, only interested in a few hours of pleasure. There were no hidden agendas, no emotional traps and no expectations. Katie was different. She was new territory for him and damned if he wasn’t enjoying himself.
    â€œSo?” he asked, picking up the bag of charcoal, “Barbecuing?”
    She looked grateful for the reprieve. “Yes. Hamburgers sounded good to me and they’re just not the same if they’re not barbecued.”
    â€œAgreed,” Rafe said, turning for the door. “Want me to set it up for you?”
    â€œOnly if you’ll stay for dinner.”
    He stopped, half turned and looked at her. A slow smile curved his mouth. If he was here for dinner, he’d be damn sure staying for dessert, too. “That’d be great. But if it’s all the same to you, I’ll go home and shower and change first.”
    â€œSure, that’s fine.”
    She looked nervous again, chewing at her bottom lip. His gaze locked on that action and his insides tightened even further. Oh, yeah. He’d make it a cold shower, too.
    â€œOkay,” he said, “give me an hour? I’ll get the barbecue going when I get back. I’m good at starting fires.”
    â€œThat,” she said, “I absolutely believe.”

Four
    â€œI t