From Seduction To Secrets. Andrea Laurence

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СКАЧАТЬ not an idiot. You were swept away by a charming billionaire after drinking too much champagne. That’s no crime. Personally, I’d love to make a mistake like that. It’s been a long time.”

      Kat couldn’t help smiling at her friend. Hilda always had an outlook on life that could pull her out of the dumps when she was wallowing there. She honestly wasn’t sure how she would’ve gotten on after her parents died without Hilda. Without everyone here at the District, actually. Hilda was like her surrogate mother now. Except she gave advice like a girlfriend, not a mom. Since Hilda had never married or had kids of her own, maternal advice wasn’t her strong suit. Or so she said.

      “We need to get you some,” Kat said. She was a little relieved to shift the topic off herself, even for a short time.

      “Oh, Lordy,” Hilda exclaimed. “That shop has been closed down for so long it would take more than a good dusting to get it up and operational again.”

      “I’m pretty sure it all still works. There’s someone out there for you. And when you meet him, you won’t be able to dust off that equipment fast enough.”

      “I’m not so sure,” Hilda replied. This time when she spoke the smile in her eyes dimmed slightly. She was lonely. Kat knew it. Her smile and attitude tried to hide the fact, but Kat knew better.

      “I’ve seen Zeke watching you work with more than a little appreciation in his gaze.”

      Hilda rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Zeke? You’ve got to be kidding me. He just likes my work.”

      “Are you sure?” Kat wagged her eyebrows suggestively. The older man was a sculptor with a studio on the other side of their floor. With Kat and Hilda at the back of the building, opposite the stairs and the restrooms, there was no reason for Zeke to be over on their side. But for some reason, he always seemed to be hanging around Hilda’s studio. It couldn’t be just because of her metalwork.

      “No,” she argued. “But even if there was more to it, I’m not interested.”

      “Why?” Kat challenged. Hilda had spent more than a few working hours over by Zeke’s studio herself.

      “Because he’s a widower. His wife has been gone for a year now. Men his age don’t date for love. They date because they can’t function without a woman to cook and clean for them. I’ve avoided being someone’s maid for fifty-eight years and I have no interest in starting now.”

      “You don’t know what he wants until you ask.”

      Hilda sputtered for a moment before turning to Kat with a disgruntled expression on her face. “Why are we talking about my love life? You’re the one in the midst of a crisis.”

      “Thanks for the reminder.” Kat pushed herself up from the couch and walked over to the table, where she’d left a bottle of water earlier. She took a sip and shook her head. “His brother said he’d get in touch with Finn, and hopefully, I’ll hear something soon.”

      “And when you do hear from him, what exactly are you going to say? Have you decided what you want to do about the whole situation yet?”

      Kat frowned. “Yes and no. My baby is my baby, end of story there. But as far as Finn and his role in our lives… I don’t know. I just… My whole life I’ve had this vision of my future and my family. It includes marriage. It always has.”

      “From what you’ve said so far, this Finn guy doesn’t really sound like marriage material.”

      “He’s not. Absolutely not. But the more I think about it, the more I’ve come to realize that it doesn’t change how I want things to be. I refuse to have my child born a bastard like I was. Regardless of the circumstances.”

      “Your parents were together for twenty-five years,” Hilda argued.

      “And never married,” Kat added. For whatever reason, they’d never felt it was important to do so. She got the feeling they’d actually avoided it deliberately because of the stickiness of comingling their artistic property and intellectual rights. It was such a silly reason in her eyes.

      “So what? It’s not the 1950s anymore. Most of those Karwashians aren’t married and they’re having kids left and right.”

      “It’s Kardashian,” Kat corrected, wishing she didn’t know enough about them to notice Hilda mangling their name. “And some of them are married. But it’s not the point.”

      “Then tell me what is the point, honey.”

      “I want my child to have a family.”

      “You hardly know this guy.”

      “Maybe it’s better I don’t. Maybe we should just jump in with both feet and see what happens. It’s possible we only stay married a year. Or we barely make it past the baby’s birthday before we call it quits. I can’t tell you how it will end up. But I can’t help but think it’s the right thing to do for my baby.”

      “I’m not sure the Steele family is going to be as receptive as you’re wanting them to be. They have more money than the state of South Carolina. Even if Finn agrees to marry you, there’s going to be lawyers involved at every step. Prenuptial agreements. Custody arrangements. It’s not going to be the least bit romantic.”

      “I don’t care about romance and I don’t care about the money. I have enough of that. I only want my baby to have what’s his or hers. I don’t need anything other than a father for my child. I want better for my baby than I had.”

      “Okay.” Hilda gave a heavy sigh. “If you’re determined, then I wish you the best of luck marrying into that family. As for me,” she said, pushing up from the low futon with a groan, “I’ve got to get some work done. The clock is ticking on our time here and it’s going to be a nightmare hauling all my scrap metal away.”

      Kat looked around her own studio, feeling guilty that she could afford to stay when others couldn’t. She’d still have to pack up and move out for a few months while they renovated, but she could come back. “You’re not moving out for good, Hilda. I promise. No matter what happened between Finn and myself, I still intend to pin down that jerk Sawyer Steele, and get him to change his mind about the District. Of course, now he probably thinks I’m just some gold-digging slut and won’t take me seriously.”

      Hilda’s gaze shifted over Kat’s shoulder as her eyes widened behind her thick black glasses. She bit at her lip and gently shook her head.

      Kat realized she was standing with her back to the entrance of her studio. “He’s right behind me, isn’t he?”

      Hilda nodded and Kat groaned aloud.

      “I might be a jerk, but if it’s any consolation,” a man’s voice said from over her shoulder, “I don’t think you’re just a gold-digging slut.”

       Three

      Kat turned slowly to look at him and he couldn’t wipe the smug grin from his face. Sawyer’s timing couldn’t have been better if he’d tried. He’d caught her in the middle of a tirade about him, and that was fine, because he had a few choice words for her, too.

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