in the building even though she had room at the house to work. Woodworking was messy, but being there was more about community and exposure than anything else. If she wasn’t working there or selling pieces to folks strolling by, she was hanging out with the other artists, who had become her family since her parents died.
Honestly, losing that place would be like losing her parents all over again. And that was what she was facing. That was why she’d gotten all dressed up and gone downtown to that stupid awards ceremony the night she’d met Finn. Because she was going to lose it all to the wheels of progress and commerce.
Four months ago, the owner of the District passed away and his children sold the building to a developer. The place would be gutted and renovated. It would remain an artist community—at least that’s what the letters they all received said—but it would be more about selling than creating, by necessity. The rent would be tripling to cover the costs of the renovations and bring the place more in line with the new owner’s vision.
Kat had the money to pay the rent at the new building, but most artists weren’t so lucky. When the District reopened as a fancy, funky downtown venue for people to shop and be seen, most of the people she knew and loved would be long gone.
Walking up the stairs to her bedroom, she unzipped her dress and let it slip to the floor on the landing. Kat stepped out of it and turned sideways to admire her slightly rounding tummy in the hallway mirror. She’d just started to show in the last week or so. Her normally flat belly had begun to curve out, making her favorite jeans uncomfortably tight at the waistband. She’d told Sawyer the truth when she said this was the only dress she had that fit. Most formals weren’t made of particularly forgiving fabrics.
Life didn’t always turn out the way she expected it to. This baby was evidence enough of that. Kat had gone to that award ceremony to try and talk some sense into the District’s new owner, Sawyer Steele. Instead, she was having his brother’s baby.
“You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”
“What?”
As always, Finn’s voice didn’t betray even the slightest bit of guilt for what he might have done. There was only an edge of sleepiness, which was to be expected given the hour in China. At least where Finn was concerned. The average Beijing citizen was likely preparing to eat lunch by now, but his brother had still been asleep after a late Saturday night of high jinks that probably involved beautiful Chinese women and too much baiju to drink.
“Sawyer, you know I’m half asleep and half hungover. Why don’t you just tell me what you think I’ve done wrong instead of making me guess. Then we can move straight on to you yelling, and I can take some ibuprofen and go back to sleep.”
“You’re not going back to sleep, Finn. And I don’t think I know what you did, I’m certain of it. And it’s a big one this time.”
“I doubt that. You’re prone to overreaction, like Father.”
Sawyer swallowed an insult. He wasn’t going to let his brother bait him. Finn knew how much he hated being compared to their father. Yes, they shared an affinity for keeping the peace and avoiding drama, but that was about it. “You know, when I gave you that Jet Ski for going in my place to the Charleston’s Best awards, it was because I wanted the night to go smoothly.”
“As I recall it did go smoothly,” Finn replied. “I picked up a nice plaque for the company awards case, Dad didn’t figure out you skipped, and I got a new Jet Ski. Win-win.”
“Yes, well, that was because everyone at the party thought you were me. I thought we were past the childish identical-twin games, Finn.”
There was a moment of silence on the line, but Sawyer knew it wasn’t out of guilt. Knowing Finn, he was trying to figure out how to weasel out of getting into trouble.
“Okay, who told on me? There’s no way you could know that I let everyone think I was you,” he said at last. “It’s been months since that party and there hasn’t been a peep about it since then.”
“Well, that’s not entirely true. Apparently the redhead you seduced that night while you were pretending to be me has been trying to get in touch with you. Me. Us.”
Finn groaned and audibly flopped back against the pillows. “The redhead. Yeah. That was a hell of a night, but I wasn’t really interested in seeing her again. She’s gorgeous, don’t get me wrong, but she’s not my usual type. She’s too artsy and academic. She’s more your type, I think.”
That was true enough, but Sawyer wasn’t interested in walking into the hot mess his brother had left behind. “Well, to be honest, I don’t think she was wanting to see you again, either, but she doesn’t have a choice.”
Finn chuckled. “And why is that? She can’t get enough of me? She wouldn’t be the first.”
“No, because she’s having your baby, you thoughtless idiot. How could you not take precautions for a one-night stand? You know better than that.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Finn said, suddenly sounding very awake on the other end of the call. “My baby? The redhead is pregnant? Well, it can’t be mine.”
“Her name is Kat,” Sawyer corrected with an irritated tone. For some reason it grated on him that Finn was starting a family with a woman whose name he couldn’t remember. “And she says it’s yours. Actually, she thought it was mine until I figured out what you did and got her straightened out.”
“No, it’s not my baby,” Finn insisted. “Listen, you may think I’m stupid, but that is one area where I don’t take chances. In all these years, I’ve never even had a scare. Nothing was different about my night with her. She’s mistaken. It’s someone else’s baby.”
Sawyer would’ve liked to believe that his brother took anything seriously, especially something like this. But he’d seen the pained look in those big green eyes. She believed her story, and he wanted to believe her. But belief and trust were two different things. “Are you sure? There were no rips, no slipups?”
“No, I’m telling you, I know how to use one properly.”
“Fine.” There had to be another explanation for why it failed. “Did you bring the condoms or did she?”
There was a pause as Finn lay in bed, likely sorting through his romantic memory bank. “Usually I do, but I remember I didn’t have any on me that night. It was supposed to be a boring party, which is why I pretended to be you, to spice things up. She had the condoms.”
That made Sawyer’s stomach ache with worry. If Finn wasn’t in control of them at all times, anything could happen. “That means she could’ve sabotaged them if she wanted to. Maybe poked holes in one.”
“You think she got pregnant on purpose?”
Sawyer sighed and sat back in the leather wingback chair of the family library. He didn’t know. Their father had raised them to be suspicious of women’s motives. Getting pregnant was an easy way to weasel into the family, and more importantly, into their fortune. “I don’t know. You know her better than I do.”
“Hardly,” Finn scoffed. “We flirted
