Read King’s Million-Dollar Secret for Free Online

to me like the boss lady has a thing for Rafe. Lucky bastard.”
    â€œShut up, Steve,” Rafe said, but his gaze was locked on the empty doorway where Katie had been standing only a moment before.
    Joe was riding him because he could and Rafe would take it because it was all part of the bet he’d lost. Good-natured teasing was all part of working a job. But Katie’sdefense of him had surprised him. Hell, he couldn’t even remember the last time someone had stood up for him—not counting his half-brothers and cousins.
    Katie Charles was like no one he’d ever met before. She didn’t want anything from him. Wasn’t trying to get on his good side. But then, that was because she thought his name was Rafe Cole.
    It would be an entirely different story if she knew he was a King.

Three
    R afe was late getting to the job site.
    Despite the bet he was in the process of paying off, he had his regular job to do, too. And dealing with a supplier who wasn’t coming through for them was one of the tasks he enjoyed most.
    â€œLook Mike,” he said, tightening his grip on the phone. “You said we’d have the doors and windows on site at the medical complex by noon yesterday.”
    â€œIs it my fault if things got hung up on the East Coast?”
    â€œProbably not,” Rafe conceded, “but it’s your fault if you don’t get this straightened out in the next—” he checked his watch “—five hours.”
    â€œThat’s impossible,” the older man on the other end of the line argued.
    â€œAll depends on how determined you are, now doesn’t it?” Rafe wasn’t going to listen to the man’s excuses.This was the second time Mike Prentice had failed to come through for King Construction. It would be the last.
    Rafe didn’t put up with failure. Mistakes happened to everyone, he knew that. But if a man couldn’t keep track of his own business, then he was too disorganized to count on. The Kings required the people they worked with to have the same diligence they showed. “You have the materials at the job site by end of day today.”
    â€œOr…?” Mike asked.
    A slow smile curved his mouth. Mike couldn’t see it, but he must have heard it when Rafe answered, “You really don’t want to know, do you?”
    â€œThings happen, Rafe,” the man continued to try to defend himself. “I can’t stay on top of every supplier I have, you know.”
    â€œDon’t see why not,” Rafe countered. “I do.”
    â€œRight. Well, I’m betting that every once in a while someone stiffs the Kings, too.”
    â€œYeah, they do.” He glanced around his office at King Construction, already moving on from this particular problem. “But it doesn’t happen often and it never repeats itself. This isn’t the first time we’ve had this conversation, Mike. I took your explanation last time, but this is your second chance. I guarantee you, we’ll never have this discussion again. If you can’t get the supplies to us in five hours, King Construction will find a new supplier for this job.”
    â€œNow just wait a minute, let’s not be hasty.”
    â€œYou get one second chance with King Construction, Mike,” Rafe told him flatly. “And this was it. Now, you have the materials there, as we agreed, or I’ll put the word out to every construction outfit in the state thatyou can’t be trusted. How many jobs you think you’ll get then?”
    A long moment of tense silence passed while the other man did some fast thinking. Rafe knew what was going through the guy’s mind. He’d already ruined his rep with the Kings, but he still had hundreds of other construction outfits to do business with. Unless he messed this up further.
    â€œIt’ll be there,” the man said, but he didn’t sound happy about it. “You’re a hard