King’s Million-Dollar Secret (7 page)

“This I know already.” Rafe shoved one hand through his hair and squinted into the cold sea breeze. His body was still humming from his time with Katie, and his mind was racing, trying to figure out how it had all gone to hell so damn fast.

He didn't have an answer.

“I can ask around,” Sean offered.

“Never mind,” Rafe told him. “I'll do the asking myself.”

“Fine,” Sean said, then asked, “Hey, did you get me some cookies?”

Rafe hung up, stuffed his phone into his pocket, then leaned both hands on the wrought-iron railing in front of him. He leaned into the wind, watched the black waves moving and shifting in the moonlight and promised himself that he would find out who had hurt Katie.

 

A few days later, Rafe was still simmering. He was getting nowhere fast with talking to his cousins. Amazing how many Kings took off during the summer. What the hell had happened to the family's work ethic? But it wasn't just the frustration of trying to find out which of his cousins he should pummel that was making him insane.

It was Katie herself. Until her, the only woman who'd ever turned her back on him was Leslie. And at least she had
married
him first.

“Everything okay here?”

Rafe buried his irritation, turned the electric sander off and faced Joe, the man pretending to be his boss. “Fine,” Rafe said shortly and moved the finished cabinet door to one side before grabbing up the next one in line.
Sanding was hot, tedious work, so his mind had plenty of room to wander. Unfortunately, it continued to wander toward Katie.

The woman was making him insane and that had never happened before. Always in his life, Rafe was in charge. He did what he wanted when he wanted and didn't much care about looking out for whoever might be in his way. Since Leslie, women were expendable in his world. Temporary. They came in, spent a few good hours with him; then they were gone, not even leaving behind a residual echo of their presence.

“Until now,” he muttered, removing the safety goggles and paper mask he wore to avoid inhaling all the sawdust flying around so thickly in the air.

Joe glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one was close enough to overhear them. “Look, I don't know what's going on, but I just came from talking to Katie and she's wound so tight she's giving off sparks.”

“Really?” Rafe hid a smile. Good to know he wasn't the only one. She had managed to avoid talking to him the last few days, so he hadn't known exactly how she was feeling until just this moment. It had about killed him to be here, so near to her every damn day, and not speak to her. Touch her. But he'd kept his distance because damned if he'd be the one to bend. He wanted her. She knew it. Let her come to him. She was, after all, the one who pushed him away to begin with. “She say anything?”

“She didn't have to,” Joe told him. “The whole time I was talking to her about her new floor tiles, she kept looking out here at
you.
”

Also good to know, Rafe thought and hid a satisfied smile.

“What's going on?”

Rafe slanted a hard look at Joe. He'd known the man for years. Trusted him. Considered him a friend, even. But that didn't mean that he was interested in Joe's opinion on this particular subject. “That's none of your business, is it?”

The older man scrubbed one hand across the top of his balding head. “No, I guess it's not. But I work for King Construction. I've got a good reputation with the company and with our clients.”

“You do,” Rafe said, keeping his voice down. “What's your point?”

“I've known you a long time, Rafe, and I'm going to say that my business or not, I think you need to tell that girl who you really are.”

He snorted. “Not likely.”

Hell, she'd kicked him loose thinking he was Rafe
Cole.
If she knew he was actually a King, who knew what she'd do?

Joe huffed out an impatient breath. “She's a nice woman and I don't like the idea of lying to her. I'm sorry I suggested this bet in the first place.”

Rafe saw how uncomfortable Joe was and he was sorry for that. But he wasn't telling Katie the truth. Not yet. Not until he'd made her see how much she wanted him. How much she liked him. Then he'd tell her that she was wrong about the King family and him specifically. And she'd have to admit that she had made a mistake.

“Look, Joe,” he said, “I'm sorry you're in the middle of this, but we're already too deep in the game to stop. There's no changing the rules at this late date.”

“A game? Is that what this is?” Joe's eyes narrowed and Rafe had the distinct impression that his contractor was about to defend Katie's honor.

Well, there was no need.

“I don't mean Katie is a game to me, so relax.”

The man's pitbull expression eased a bit and Rafe kept talking.

“Don't get all twisted up over this, Joe.” Rafe slapped one hand on the man's shoulder. “We made the bet and I'm honoring it. As for telling Katie the truth, I'll do that when the time's right.”

“And when's that?”

“Not now, for damn sure.” Rafe narrowed his own eyes in warning. “And don't you tell her, either.”

Grumbling under his breath, Joe worked his jaw furiously as if there were a hundred hot words in his mouth that he was fighting to keep inside. Finally though, he grudgingly agreed. “Fine. I won't say anything. But I think you're making a mistake here, Rafe. One that you're gonna regret real soon.”

“Maybe,” he said and shifted his gaze back to the enclosed patio where Katie was working in her temporary kitchen. Even from a distance, she was beautiful, he thought. But it wasn't just her beauty calling to him. It was the shine of something tender in her eyes. The knowledge that she had wanted him, desired him, without knowing who he was. She didn't want anything from him and that was so rare in Rafe's world that he couldn't let her go.

But his heart wasn't involved here and it wouldn't be, either. He had tried love. Tried marriage and failed miserably at both. Kings didn't fail. It was the one rule his father had drummed into all of them from the time they were kids.

Well, his divorce from Leslie was going to be the
only
time Rafe King failed at anything. He wouldn't
risk another mistake. Wouldn't give Fate another shot at kicking his ass.

“Whether or not I regret anything,” Rafe told Joe quietly, “is not your business. You just do your job and leave Katie Charles to me.”

“Fine. You're the boss,” Joe said after a long minute of silence. “But King or not, you're making a mistake.”

Joe walked off to the kitchen where Steve and Arturo were jokingly arguing about the plastering job. Inside her temporary kitchen, Katie was busy working on another batch of her cookies and the delicious aromas wafting from the oven wrapped themselves around him. Rafe stood alone in the sunlight while his mind raced with possibilities.

Maybe Joe had a point. But being with Katie, keeping his identity a secret, didn't feel like a mistake to Rafe. So he was going to stick with his original plan. Once a decision had been made, Rafe never liked to deviate. That was second-guessing himself and if he started doing that, where would it end? No.

Better he take the fall for his own decisions than have to pay for unsolicited advice gone wrong.

E
mily O'Hara was waiting for Rafe outside Katie's house late that afternoon. Again, he was the last man to leave and he had lingered even later than usual, half hoping Katie would get back from the store before he left. He wanted to talk to her. Hell, he admitted silently, that wasn't all he wanted.

Since Katie wasn't home, he was surprised to find her grandmother leaning against his truck when he walked out front to leave. She wore a hot-pink oversize shirt over a white tank top and white pants. Huge red-framed sunglasses shielded her eyes, but when she heard him approach, she pushed them up to the top of her head.

Idly filing her nails, she looked up at him as he got closer and gave him a tight smile that should have warned him something was up. But, he reminded himself, if there was one thing Rafe knew, it was women. Granted, he didn't have much experience with older females, but
how hard could it be to pour on some charm and win her over?

Besides, Katie's grandmother had seemed nice enough when he first met her. What could possibly go wrong?

“Mrs. O'Hara,” he said, giving her a guileless smile designed to put her at her ease, “Katie's not home.”

“Oh, I know that Rafe. It's Tuesday. My girl always goes grocery shopping on Tuesdays. I've tried to shake up her world a little, but she does love a schedule.” She straightened up, tucked her emery board into the oversize purse hanging from her shoulder and cocked her head to look at him. “Wait, maybe I shouldn't call you Rafe at all. Maybe you'd prefer it if I call you Mr. King?”

Rafe flinched and a sinking sensation opened up in the pit of his stomach. This he hadn't expected at all. She knew who he was. Had she told Katie? No, he thought. If she had, he'd have heard about it by now. Hell, Katie would have come at him with both barrels blazing. So the question was, why hadn't her grandmother given him up?

“Rafe'll do,” he told her and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “How long have you known who I am?”

She chuckled. “Since the moment my Katie introduced you as Rafe Cole.” Shaking her head, she ran one finger along the hood of the truck, looked at the dirt she'd picked up, then clucked her tongue and rubbed her fingers together to get rid of it.

“See, Katie's a good girl, but she's single-minded. At the moment, she's so focused on her business that she doesn't see anything else. Sadly, her pop culture knowledge is lacking, too. If she'd read the celebrity magazines more often, as I do…” She paused to give
him another one of those cool, measuring stares. “Then she would have recognized you, too. Though I will say, you look different in jeans than you do in a tux at some fancy party.”

Inwardly, he groaned. Stupid. He hadn't even thought of that. He'd been in one of those weekly tabloidesque magazines only last month. Photographers at the Save the Shore benefit had gotten shots of him squiring an actress to the affair. Not that he and Selena were a couple or anything. After one date, he'd known that a man could only talk hairdos and tanning tips for so long.

Sliding his hands from his pockets, he folded his arms over his chest in a classic defense posture. Emily might appear to be a sweet older lady, but the glint in her eye told him that he'd better walk soft and careful. But Rafe was used to sometimes-hostile negotiations with suppliers, so he was as prepared for this confrontation as he could be. Bracing his feet wide apart, he waited for whatever was coming next.

“So, not going to deny it at least,” she said.

“What would be the point?”

“There is that.”

Curious now, Rafe asked, “Why haven't you told Katie?”

“Interesting question,” Emily acknowledged with a small smile. “I've asked that of myself a time or two in the last couple of weeks. But the truth is, I wanted to wait and see what you were up to first.”

“And?”

“Still waiting.” She wagged her finger at him as if he were a ten-year-old boy. She took a step or two away from the truck, walking from sunlight into shade. Her sandals clicked on the concrete driveway. When she
turned to look at him again she asked, “So instead of keeping me in suspense, why don't you do us both a favor and tell me what's going on? Why are you pretending to be someone you're not?”

For one moment, Rafe caught himself wondering what it might have been like to have a woman like this one in his life. He had the distinct impression she would be a lioness when protecting Katie. He couldn't blame her for that, Rafe thought, even as he shrugged. He didn't want to be disrespectful, but damned if he'd explain himself to Katie's grandmother, either.

“Long story short,” he offered, “I lost a bet so I'm working this job. Easier to work it as a nobody than one of the bosses.”

“That explains why you haven't told your crew,” she said thoughtfully. “It doesn't explain lying to Katie.”

“No, it doesn't.”

She blew out an impatient breath and prompted, “And? So?”

One look in the woman's eyes, so much like her granddaughter's, told Rafe that she wasn't going to give up until she had what she'd come here for. He didn't like being put on the spot. Didn't appreciate having to justify his actions. But, if there was one thing Rafe respected, it was loyalty and he could see that feeling ran deep in this woman.

So, though he wouldn't explain himself thoroughly, he was willing to give her the bare bones. “I like her. She hates the Kings. So I'm not about to tell her I'm one of them.”

“Ever?”
Emily asked, clearly dumbfounded.

“I'll have to tell her eventually,” he acknowledged, “but in my own time and my own way.”

“And when is that, exactly?”

Looking into her eyes, Rafe wondered why he had considered this woman to be just a nice older lady. Katie's nana had steel in her spine. He wasn't used to this. Rafe couldn't even remember the last time anyone had questioned him about anything. He was a King. He didn't do explanations or apologies. And he didn't, for damn sure, wither under a disapproving stare from a suburban grandmother.

Yet, that was just what he was doing.

“When I've convinced her that not
all
Kings are bastards,” he admitted. “When she likes me enough, I'll tell her everything, prove to her she was wrong about us and then I'll get out of her life.”

Emily blinked at him, then shook her head as if she hadn't heard him right. “That's your plan?”

“Something wrong with it?”

“Let me count the ways,” she muttered, with yet another shake of her head.

He didn't care what she thought of his plan, he was sticking with it. But as he stood there, another idea occurred to him and he wondered why he hadn't thought of it before. Could have saved himself, and his brother Sean, a lot of trouble. Taking a step or two closer to Emily, he said, “You know which of the Kings treated her badly, right?”

She frowned so harshly, Rafe was instantly glad it wasn't
him
this formidable woman was mad at. “I do.”

“Tell me,” he said shortly. “Tell me who he is. I'm trying to find out, but it's taking me too long.”

“Why do you care?”

“Because—” Rafe's mouth snapped shut. He took a breath and said, “I want to know who hurt her so I can hurt him back.”

“One of your own family?”

He heard the surprise in her voice and a part of him shared it. The Kings always stuck together. It was practically a vow they all took at birth. It was the King cousins against the world and God help anyone who tried to undermine them. The occasional brawls and fistfights notwithstanding, none of the Kings had ever turned on another.

“Yeah,” he said, realizing that cousin or not, Rafe really wanted to hit the guy responsible for Katie's defensiveness. No matter who the King cousin—or brother—was, Rafe was going to make him sorry for hurting Katie.

“Again,” Emily said quietly, “I have to ask, why do you care?”

He scrubbed one hand across the back of his neck and gritted his teeth in frustration. Rafe wasn't sure himself why he cared so damn much, he only knew he did. The only possible explanation was that he didn't like the idea of a woman like Katie hating the Kings. She was…nice. Frowning at that moronic thought, he grumbled aloud, “You ask a hell of a lot of questions.”

“I do indeed. So how about an answer?” she countered. “An honest one.”

Rafe met her gaze and wondered if Katie would be as amazing a woman as her grandmother when she was Emily's age. He had to figure that she would. As the Kings were always saying,
it's in the blood.
And a part of him wanted to be around to see Katie as a scary-smart old woman. He dismissed that thought quickly enough though, as he knew all too well that commitment and permanence weren't in him.

Choosing his words carefully, Rafe said, “Honestly, I don't know why I care so much. I only know I do. I don't like knowing it was one of my family who caused
her pain. And I don't like knowing she hates the Kings because of that one jerk—whoever he is. So give me a name and I'll take care of it and get out of Katie's life all that much sooner.”

She gave him a slow, wide smile and shook her head firmly enough to have her short, silver hair lifting in the breeze. “You know what? I don't think I will.”

“Why not?”

“Because, I'd rather watch you play out your plan,” she admitted. “My Katie can take care of herself, you know. That guy hurt her, but he didn't break her. You know why? Because she only
thought
she was in love. You might want to remember that, Rafe.”

Confusion rose up inside him, but he swallowed it back. “Fine, I'll remember.”

“Good. Now, I've got a hot date, so I've got to get a move on,” she announced and turned around to leave, only to whirl back to face him again. Pointing at him, she said, “Just one more thing.”

“What's that?”

Her eyes narrowed and her voice dropped a couple of notches. There wasn't even the glimmer of a smile on her face. “If you break her heart, I'll hunt you down like a sick dog and make you sorry you ever set foot in Katie's house. Sound fair?”

Rafe nodded, admiration for the older woman filling him again. Family loyalty he understood completely. And he found himself again envying Katie for having someone in her life who loved her so much.

He'd never known that himself. Oh, he had his brothers and cousins, sure. His mother, though, hadn't loved him; she'd only used him as a bargaining chip, to squeeze Ben King for money. The elderly aunt who'd raised him hadn't—she'd only done her duty, as she
often told him. Rafe was pretty sure his father had loved him, as much as Ben King was able. Rafe wasn't feeling sorry for himself. Things were as they were. And he'd done fine on his own.

But he had to wonder how it might have been to be raised with the kind of love he saw now, glittering in Emily O'Hara's eyes.

“I hear you.”

“Good.” She set her sunglasses in place, flashed him a quick smile and said, “As long as we understand each other, we'll be fine.”

Then she waved one hand and hurried to a bright yellow VW bug parked at curbside. She hopped in, fired it up and was gone an instant later.

Scowling to himself, Rafe looked back at Katie's house, quiet in the afternoon light. The crew was gone,
she
was gone and the old bungalow looked as empty as he felt.

Talking to Emily had shaken him. Hearing his own plan put into words had made him realize that maybe it was as dumb as Katie's grandmother clearly thought it was. The lie he'd spun and invested so much in suddenly felt like a weight around his neck. He had to wonder if he wasn't doing the wrong thing in keeping it going.

He'd started this as a way to win her affection and respect without her knowing who he really was. But if he pulled it off, what did he really gain? She wasn't caring for the real him if she didn't
know
the real man. The sad truth was, Katie now cared about a lie. A fabrication. He'd done this to himself and couldn't see a way out without risking everything he didn't want to lose.

Rafe didn't like admitting it even to himself, but he suddenly felt more alone than he ever had in his life. And he wasn't sure what the hell to do about it.

 

Katie had deliveries to make bright and early the next morning. Any other day, she would have enjoyed being the one to drop off a surprise gift of cookies. She always got a charge out of seeing people's reactions to the elegantly frosted and wrapped creations. Since she'd become busier, she didn't normally have time to make deliveries herself anymore.

Usually, she had a teenager from down the street deliver her cookie orders. It helped her out and Donna made more money than she would babysitting. A win-win situation all the way around.

But Donna was on vacation with her family, so despite being so tired she could barely stand up, Katie had no choice but to load up her car with the week's orders. Specially made boxes lined her trunk and she carefully stored away the cookie bouquets and cookie towers and cookie cakes that she'd spent the last two days making. Each of them were frosted, some personalized and a swell of pride filled her as she looked at them.

She'd built this business out of nothing and she had big plans for it, too.

“And that,” she told herself firmly, “is just one more reason to stay away from Rafe.”

He was too male. Too overwhelming to every sense she possessed. She couldn't afford to be distracted from her goals, not even by a man who had the ability to sweep her off her feet with a single glance. And, if she hadn't already surrendered to her own hormones, he wouldn't be taking up so much of her thoughts. So she deliberately stopped thinking about Rafe—though it wasn't easy.

For now, she would devote herself to her burgeoning business. She wanted to make an even bigger name
for herself. Move Katie's Kookies into a shop down on Pacific Coast Highway. Have several ovens, hire more help, expand her client list and maybe even go into online orders. She had big plans. And nothing was going to stop her from making them come true.