“Shit,” she said as their shoulders collided. She bounced backward while instinctively reaching out to grab Astrid’s arms to steady her.
“Sorry,” Astrid said. “I didn’t see you.”
They stood awkwardly for a second. Astrid appeared to be taking several deep breaths, her knuckles white on her bag’s straps.
“Okay,” Jordan said, “Well, I’ll see—”
“What the hell was that today?” Astrid asked.
Jordan froze, her mouth still open. Astrid’s dark eyes were fixed on her in a way that could only be described as intense. Really intense. And a little angry. Jordan’s stomach clenched. She knew she’d have to face Astrid about the whole painted-the-room-blue-without-telling-you thing sooner or later.
She’d been hoping for later.
“I don’t know what you mean,” she said.
Astrid huffed a single laugh, which held absolutely no mirth whatsoever. She stepped closer, and Jordan got a whiff of some clean scent, like sea breezes and fresh laundry.
“Really? Gaslighting?” Astrid said. “I thought you were better than that.”
Jordan deflated a little. Astrid was right on both counts.
“Unless Alice Everwood painted her own room blue,” Astrid went on.
Jordan lifted her brows. “Perhaps she did?”
“Can we cut the shit?”
Jordan tilted her head at Astrid. “You don’t strike me as the swearing type.”
Astrid lifted a hand and let it fall back down, slapping against her leg. “Why does everyone always say that? I swear just like anyone else.”
“Not quite like anyone else. Thatshithad a very refined lilt to it. Nice dress, by the way.”
Astrid glanced down at herself, as though she’d totally forgotten she was wearing the infamous ivory dress. She looked suddenly vulnerable—mystified, even—and Jordan felt her hackles settle down. Okay, so Astrid had yelled at her on a bad day. Big deal. Jordan had dealt with worse, that was for damn sure. And now, the woman was just trying to do her job with the redesign. Abadjob, but still.
“Look,” Jordan said, releasing a breath. “You know I don’t like your plan for the inn. My brother might not give two shits about our family home, but I do. Your style isn’t the Everwood, plain and simple. It’s not personal.”
She very seriously considered bringing up Natasha’s assessment too, but that just felt mean.
Astrid stared at her with a somewhat awed expression on her face. And not the good kind of awe. Thecan you believe this bitchkind.
“Except it is personal,” she said. “This is my job. My business. My reputation on the line. And I was caught completely off guard today.”
“You handled yourself pretty well.”
“Only because you gave me no choice in the matter.”
“So make a choice, then. I know Natasha and Emery want us to be all dramatic with each other, but for me, it’s really simple. I want the right design for the Everwood, and yours isn’t it.”
Astrid groaned and sliced a hand through her hair, causing her bangs to stick up. Jordan had the sudden and ridiculous urge to smooth them down, send her fingers through all that shaggy blond.
She cleared her throat, curled her hands into fists to keep them in place. She kept her face impassive, but the pounding of her heart right now couldn’t be ignored. If she were being honest, she quite liked this. Not putting Astrid’s job at risk, necessarily. Despite their first encounter, Jordan didn’t have any energy to spend on trying to ruin the woman’s life, and Jesus, what a horrible vendetta to hold on to anyway—She yelled at me, so I fucked her over. No, that’s not what Jordan was after here. She simply wanted her family home righted, and Astrid just happened to be the person standing in her way.
Well, Astrid, and Jordan’s own brother’s complete lack of faith, but potatoes, potahtoes.
Still, in this moment, sparring with this gorgeous woman, she felt suddenly... alive. More alive than she’d felt since Meredith got sick, at any rate.
There was also the fact that this whole renovation would be a lot easier if she could get Astrid Parker on her side, despiteInnside America’s thirst for drama. Hell, Jordan could act affronted at anything if they wanted her to. But if she was really going to pull this off, not just dream about it, she needed Astrid Parker.
