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Kat’s gaze met his again. She studied his face, trying to see into his thoughts or something. She would fail. He wasn’t even sure how he felt about all this. He understood her concerns about what was developing between them, even as he fought his own urges to spend as much time with her as he could.
“No one ever needs to know about it,” he added. “If you and Finn end up one big, happy family, then great for the two of you. I’m not going to stand up and object at the wedding, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
Now it was Kat who looked a little put out. Perhaps he’d been too aloof about their encounter, but he wasn’t sure what else to say. Was she expecting him to slam his fist on the table and demand they be together? For him to tell her all the reasons why he was the better choice? What good would that do? She seemed to want his brother even though they both knew Finn wasn’t the ideal candidate for dad and husband.
“Oh, okay,” she said after a moment. “Well, then, I guess we just need to put it behind us and there isn’t anything more to say about it.”
“Very well.”
“Speaking of Finn, I heard from him yesterday.”
“Oh, really?” Sawyer hadn’t spoken to his brother in a while. Finn had been lying low since the news about Kat and the baby had hit the family gossip circuit.
“He says he’s coming home next week.”
That was news to him. Sawyer had thought he had another couple weeks at least before Finn came back from Beijing. Ideally, he wanted to spend those weeks with Kat in his bed, but since that wasn’t going to happen, he supposed it didn’t matter when Finn returned.
“That’s good to hear,” he said, trying not to betray how he really felt. “That means things went well at the new Steele manufacturing facility. There was a bonus for him to open ahead of schedule, as I recall. That should be good for you.”
“Why? I don’t want any of Finn’s money.”
“You say that, I know, but you’ll end up with something. A trust fund for your daughter, at least?”
Kat reached out anxiously for a corn fritter. “I suppose. He didn’t mention anything about work when we spoke. Just that he would be back by next Wednesday afternoon.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Then he can be the one here with you instead of me, and I can get back to work. The District closes down in two weeks and I’m going to be up to my neck in blueprints and contractors, getting that place remodeled in my proposed time line. I want it reopened and bustling by the Christmas shopping season. Things went so well in China, maybe I should have Finn handle it,” he laughed.
Kat straightened in her seat at the mention of the District, as he’d anticipated. “Yes, I’ve taken some things home, but I’ve still got to get all my heavy equipment out. I’ll have to hire someone, I suppose, but I’ve been procrastinating about moving. I guess I was hoping...” Her voice trailed off and she looked at him with her big, optimistic eyes.
“Hoping what? That you’d manage to change my mind and not have to leave?”
They hadn’t really lit on this topic since that day at her studio. Other topics, like the baby and getting naked, had taken priority. Sawyer had hoped his argument had been convincing enough to silence her protests, but apparently neither of them had backed down. They’d just been distracted. If Kat was going to give him the cold shoulder and they weren’t going to have sex anymore, they might as well return to arguing. That added a little excitement to his day, if nothing else.
“Well, yes,” she admitted.
Maybe he had been distracted, but it was possible Kat had been working her side of the argument the whole time. “Is that why you slept with me?” he asked.
The red flush returned to her cheeks. “I would appreciate it if you would stop accusing me of sleeping with you for favors. I told you that wasn’t true the first time, after my encounter with Finn, and the answer is the same now. I have not, nor would I ever, use sex as a tool to get my way.”
“And yet you admit that you were hoping I would change my mind after the time we’ve spent together. Was it your stunning argument that you expected to sway me, or did you think you could take advantage of our closeness to get me to change my mind? Tell the truth.”
Kat’s jaw flexed tightly as she considered her words. “I had hoped that once you got to know me, you would understand where I was coming from. Or that you would be more interested in the plight of the people you’re putting out on the street.”
“I’m not putting them out on the street. They don’t live there. And stop trying to turn me into the bad guy, when you very well could’ve been manipulating me this whole time.”
“Yes, I’m so devious, spending all my time trying to seduce my way through the Steele family! And even if I did sleep with you to save the District, would it have even worked?”
Sawyer sat back in his chair. If he was honest with himself, she had worn away at his defenses. He had listened to her argument. Sunday morning as he’d lain in Kat’s bed, he’d considered making changes to his plans just because he thought it might make her smile. But with Finn coming home, there was no sense in admitting that. Perhaps it was better to put an end to whatever was building between them, once and for all. Kat was trying to be polite about distancing herself, but he knew that rarely worked. Anger was like a wrecking ball to anything they’d built.
“Probably not,” he said. “Like I told you, it was fun. But sex is sex, and business is business. I never mix the two. It doesn’t matter what happened between us or how one of us might feel about the other. The District closes in two weeks for renovations. No reasoned argument or even a heartfelt declaration of love would change that.”
Kat looked at him for a moment and then nodded stoically. “I see.” She wadded up the cloth napkin in her lap and tossed it onto the table. “I think I’m going to go.”
“
We haven’t eaten yet.”
“The baby and I have lost our appetite.” Kat scooped up her purse and got to her feet, then brushed past the confused waiter, who held their food in his hands.
