King’s Million-Dollar Secret Read Online Free PDF

are?”
    â€œBesides you, you mean?” Sean asked, giving their waitress a bright smile as she delivered their dinners. “You bet. All the time.”
    Rafe had to smile. Sean was absolutely the most laid-back King ever born. Most of them were type A’s, ruthlessly pushing through life, demanding and getting their own way. Not Sean. He had a way of slipping up on whatever he wanted until it just naturally fell into his hands.
    He was damn hard to annoy and almost never lost his temper. In the world of the King family, he was an original.
    Once the waitress was gone, the brothers dove into their meals. This hamburger joint on Ocean Avenue had been a popular spot since the forties. Rafe and Sean were on the outside patio, where they could watch traffic and pedestrians in a never-ending stream of motion. Kids, dogs, parents with digital cameras poking out of their pockets fought for space on the crowded sidewalk. Summer in a beach town brought out the tourists.
    â€œSo,” Sean said, reaching for his beer, “let’s hear it.”
    â€œHear what?”
    â€œAbout the cookie lady,” Sean countered, both of his eyebrows wiggling.
    Rafe sighed. Should have expected that his brother would be curious. After all, Rafe hadn’t talked about a woman since Leslie walked out. He remembered his ex-wife looking at him sadly and telling him that she felt “sorry” for him because he had no idea how to love someone. That he never should have married her and sentenced her to a cold, empty life.
    Then he thought about Katie and it was like acool, soft breeze wafted through his mind. “She’s…different.”
    â€œThis gets better and better.” Sean leaned back in his booth and waited.
    Frowning, Rafe took a sip of his beer. When he spoke, it was a warning not only to his brother, but to himself. “Don’t make more of this than there is. I just find her interesting.”
    â€œInteresting.” Sean nodded. “Right. Like a bug collection?”
    â€œWhat?”
    Laughing, his brother said, “Come off it, Rafe. There’s something there and you’re looking. And about time too, I want to say. Leslie was a long time ago, man.”
    â€œNot that long,” Rafe countered. Although, as he thought about it, he realized that he and Leslie had been divorced for more than five years. His ex-wife was now remarried to Rafe’s former best friend, with a set of toddler twins and a newborn, last he heard.
    â€œLong enough for her to move on. Why haven’t you?”
    Rafe shot Sean a glare that should have fried his ass on the spot. Typically enough though, Sean wasn’t bothered. “Who says I haven’t?”
    â€œMe. Lucas. Tanner. Mac. Grady…” Sean stopped, paused and asked, “Do I have to name all of our brothers or do you get the point?”
    â€œI get it, but you’re wrong.” Rafe took a bite of his truly excellent burger and after chewing, added, “I’m not carrying a torch for Leslie. It’s over. Done. She’s a mother, for God’s sake.” And if he was to be honest, he hadn’t really missed her when she left. So what did that say about him?
    â€œYet, you’re still living in a hotel suite making do with the occasional date with a beautiful airhead.”
    â€œI like living in a hotel and they’re not all airheads.”
    â€œGood argument.”
    â€œLook,” Rafe said, reaching for his beer. “Katie’s a nice woman, but she’s off limits.”
    â€œWhy’s that?”
    â€œBecause she’s got white picket fence written all over her,” Rafe explained. “She’s the settle-down-and-get-married type and I’ve already proven I’m not.”
    Sean shook his head and sighed. “For a smart guy, you’re not real bright, are you?”
    â€œThanks for the support.”
    â€œYou want support?” Sean asked, digging