King’s Million-Dollar Secret by Maureen Child Page B

cold water and blindly found the shutoff valve. Water poured over him in a never-ending jet. He blinked it out of his eyes, muttered an oath and grabbed hold of the damn valve. Hell, he thought, no wonder Nicole hadn’t been able to turn it. It took everything he had to budge the damn thing and it didn’t go easy, fighting him every inch of the way. By increments, he slowly shut down the torrent until all that was left was the mess on the floor and a steady drip under the sink.
    The sudden silence was almost overpowering. Until the little boy in his mother’s arms started laughing.
    â€œBoat!” he cried, pointing to a cell phone as it floated past them.
    â€œFabulous,” Nicole murmured and bent down to scoop it up. “Well, I needed an upgrade anyway.”
    â€œOh, honey, I’m so sorry,” Katie said, dropping one arm around her friend’s shoulders. She looked at Rafe, soaking wet, and winced. “Rafe Cole, this is Nicole Baxter. Nicole, Rafe.”
    The woman gave him a tired smile. “I suspect I’m happier to meet you than you are me at the moment.”
    â€œNo problem. I like an adventure every now and then.” He pushed his hair back from his face with both hands, then swept water off his palms. Wet and cold, he caught the glimmer of regret and amusement in Katie’s eyes and smiled in spite of everything. “I’ve got it shut off, but your pipe joint’s shot. It has to be fixed.”
    â€œOf course it does,” Nicole said with a sigh. She hitched her son a little higher on her hip and added, “Thanks. Really, for shutting off Old Faithful. I never would have been able to do it.”
    â€œYour husband should be able to replace it without a problem,” he told her. “My ex -husband’s in Hawaii with his secretary,” she said wryly and only then did Rafe see Katie shaking her head at him in a silent signal to shut up.
    â€œHaven’t seen him since before Connor was born,” Nicole added, kissing the little guy’s cheek. “But we do fine, don’t we, sweet boy?”
    Perfect, Rafe thought. He’d made the woman feel even worse now by reminding her of her creep of an ex. A bubble of irritation frothed inside him. What kind of man walked away from his child? Rafe didn’t get it. Sure, he knew that marriages didn’t always work out. But what man would walk away from his own baby? Shouldn’t he try to hold his family together?
    While his brain raced, a quiet, rational voice in the back of his mind warned him that he was putting his own issues out there and it was time to draw them back. His old man hadn’t been even close to a normal father, but at least Ben King was always there when his kids needed him. Which was more than Rafe could say for Nicole’s ex.
    Still, looking at Katie’s friend, holding her son so closely, reminded him of his own upbringing. Oh, his mother hadn’t stuck around or anything. She’d handed him off to an elderly aunt before he was a year old and only showed up for a visit when her money was running out. Ben King hadn’t married her, but he’d supported her until Rafe was eighteen.
    Once he was grown, his mom had started coming to Rafe for the cash she required to live the kind of life she preferred. He didn’t mind paying. It kept her out of his hair.
    Now though, watching Nicole and her son brought home to him again how hard the aunt who’d raised him had had it. Oh, she’d had money for plumbing repairs, but she’d been all alone raising a boy. Just as Nicole was. And Nicole didn’t have the luxury of calling a King for help.
    Lucky for her, there was already a King in the neighborhood.
    He looked at Katie and saw the worry for her friend shining in her eyes and he heard himself say, “Why don’t you two get the back door open and sweep out as much of this water as you can?”
    â€œGood idea,” Katie