The trouble was that for the moment, her career goal of establishing herself as an indispensable part of the Sterling team was impossible to reach without Clay. The Seaport project was her most important, and every step of the way was dependent on him. She reminded herself that this wasn’t one a one-way proposition. There were two sides to this coin. He needed her, too—to stay on top of the hundreds of tiny details from the city and to keep to the schedule. She would do her job and he would do his. They would succeed together, but with professional distance. It was the only way.
She did not want to return to the dynamic of old, the one where she felt shut out by Clay and every day was a battle of wills. Yes, sex had probably made the next phase of their relationship even more complicated, but those were the cards they had to play with right now. Best to get on with it. Otherwise, she might need to consider other alternatives, like getting on a plane and returning to Norway. She wasn’t ready to claim defeat yet.
Clay checked them out while Astrid waited at the valet stand for them to bring his Bentley around. She stood there with her Chloé sunglasses on, staring straight ahead as a parade of expensive cars buzzed by on Sunset Boulevard, wishing she could wiggle her nose and teleport back to San Diego. She was dreading the ride home with Clay.
She slid the valet a generous tip and climbed into the passenger seat while he held the door for her. Clay strode out of the hotel moments later, managing to suck the breath right out of her. He was way too hot, too formidable, tall, and broad. The sight was loudly sounding echoes of last night in her head...his magnificent naked body weighing her down, taking her to new heights, and lavishing her with far more passion than she’d ever dared to imagine. Clay may have given her only one night, but it would be impossible to shake the memory fully. Selfishly, she didn’t want to. At least they’d managed to get on the same page for a few hours last night. They’d declared a truce in the most indelible way she could’ve imagined.
“All set?” Clay asked, fastening his seat belt.
“Yes.” Astrid looked straight ahead, unwilling to grant him so much as a smile or even a pleasant glance. She was done with being kind to Clay. Or at least done with going out of her way to offer niceties.
“Would you like to choose some music?” He handed over his phone.
She was tempted to send a message with her selection. Perhaps something desperately sexy and romantic, just to needle him? Or something raw and loud, to mirror the hurt he’d inflicted on her this morning with his preemptive rejection. After all, Astrid hadn’t asked for a single thing from him other than to shower together. He’d only assumed that she would want more than that.
She pressed Play on a pithy pop playlist she found in the app’s menu. If nothing else, it might wear on him the way his presence wore on her. As he drove, Clay occasionally offered a question or a comment, but otherwise stayed quiet. The purely platonic tone of everything he said was annoying—comments about the weather or traffic or work, but Astrid wasn’t about to change the subject. Clay had said his piece back at the hotel—they were colleagues and nothing else. The sooner she got used to this, the better.
As they approached San Diego, Clay seemed to get antsy, fidgeting in his seat.
“Need a bathroom break?” Astrid asked.
His shoulders dropped and he shot her a look. “No. I’m just eager to see my daughter. I’m about to drive past the exit for Miranda’s on my way to your place.”
“Go get her. Please don’t wait on my account. Trust me, I have nowhere I need to be.” Absolutely nowhere.
“Are you sure?”
“I would love to meet your daughter. And I always enjoy seeing Miranda.” Astrid couldn’t ignore what this all meant—it was only after he’d laid down the law that he’d actually considered letting her meet his daughter.
Clay immediately flipped his signal and zipped down the off-ramp to head to Miranda’s house. Astrid didn’t need yet another thing to admire about Clay. In fact, she was wishing for things to dislike about him, but his frantic desire to see his daughter was nothing short of endearing. Damn him.
Minutes later, they were pulling up in front of Miranda’s house, the one she had once shared with Johnathon. Clay had hardly killed the engine before he climbed out of the car and let his long legs carry him to the front door. Astrid wasn’t sure what her role was in all of this, and Clay’s previous touchiness about Delia made her think it was best if she hung back. If a man was going to be protective of his child, Astrid was not about to stand in the way of that.
Miranda answered the door and caught sight of Astrid, waving to her and casting a smile. Then she disappeared back inside with Clay, leaving the door open. Astrid’s stomach twisted with guilt at the secret she was still carrying around, the one about Astrid’s tryst with Johnathon when she hadn’t realized he had a new love in his life, a woman who just happened to be Miranda. Astrid told herself this was another reason to be glad Clay had set boundaries between them. If the secret came out and Clay learned what had happened, he would never forgive Astrid, even if she had her reasons for keeping it to herself.
Astrid took her time getting to the front door, wanting to afford Clay
