Astrid had admired Clay’s hands from the moment she first met him in this office. They were big and strong, but deft when he showed his architectural brilliance and drafted by hand. Now that she had the wholly adorable image of Clay and his young daughter having a spat over her hair, his hands were now enticing in a whole new way. “You don’t talk about your daughter very often. How old is she? What’s her name?”
“I don’t want to talk about her at work.”
“You brought her up, not me.”
“And now I’m asking you to not talk about her.”
He was so infuriating. “Okay, but if you ever need help with her hair, I’m happy to come over. Braids are very traditional in Norway, so I know how to do them dozens of different ways.”
“No, thanks.” He cleared his throat and averted his eyes. “I can figure it out on my own.”
And just like that, Astrid felt as though she were back at square one. Apparently, she could only offer Clay so much niceness at one time. Too much and he would cut her off. “Okay. Whatever you say.”
Clay hadn’t meant to shut down Astrid’s offer to help with his daughter’s hair so quickly. It was a reflex. He would do anything to protect Delia, and that meant keeping everyone he didn’t fully trust away from her. What if Astrid came over and Delia became attached, and then Astrid flitted back to Norway or decided one day that she no longer had time for his daughter? Clay couldn’t subject Delia to that kind of rejection. Delia had already suffered the ultimate rebuke when her own mother had left them. He would not let anyone come close to hurting her like that again.
“You’re a smart guy. I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Astrid said. “I guess I’ll take my doughnut and head back to my office.”
Clay felt like such an ass. Astrid hadn’t done anything other than be her usual sweet self. Why did he have to be so wary of kindness? “Thank you for that. It was nice.”
“I’m trying to make our working relationship a little better.”
Now he felt even worse, but he also knew that she was missing the point. The more wonderful she tried to be, the more drawn he was to her. And the more tempted he felt by her, the more dangerous she became. He would not put his heart on the line again. He couldn’t do it. “Don’t feel like you need to do anything outside the normal course of our professional interactions. It’s not necessary.”
Astrid stopped at his doorway and turned back to him. She was wearing a simple black dress today, one that showed off her slender curves and made the deep brown of her eyes even more intense. He couldn’t see a single flaw in her, and he’d spent plenty of time looking for one, hoping he could assign a reason to not be so attracted to her. He’d failed.
“What’s not necessary?” Tara appeared at the entrance to Clay’s office.
“I brought Clay a doughnut this morning. He was just telling me why I didn’t need to do that.” Astrid shot him a look that was born of pure annoyance. It was so ridiculously hot that everything in his body went tight.
“So I take it neither of you had a chance to cool off this weekend?” Tara stepped inside and sat on the small sofa in his office. Astrid joined her, perching on the arm and crossing her legs.
Cool off? Clay needed an ice bath after even five minutes with Astrid, especially right now when she was distracting him by letting her black pump dangle from her foot. “All I said was that she shouldn’t go out of her way to be nice to me.”
Tara shook her head slowly. Now he had two women displeased with him. “Grant and I talked about it and we think the only way for you two to get past your troubles is to spend more time together.”
Clay’s stomach sank. “Wait. What?”
Tara held up her hand. “Hold on a minute. Hear me out. We think some time together outside the office would be a good idea. You both work incredibly hard and we think that the stress of the Seaport project has likely been the main reason you got off to a rocky start.”
“I think there’s more to it than that...” Clay wished there wasn’t such a distinct edge of panic in his voice. It wasn’t a good look.
Astrid let out a frustrated grumble. “Did you have something specific in mind, Tara?”
Clay was consumed by a flurry of silent wishes. Please no spa retreats or trust falls or anything involving a beach or Astrid in a bathing suit.
“I was specifically thinking the Architect of the Year Award ceremony in LA. You should go together. It will give Astrid a chance to meet more people in our industry, and it will give you two a chance to connect outside the office.”
“But that’s next weekend,” Astrid blurted.
Finally, someone else in the room was willing to help him put on the brakes. “Exactly,” Clay said.
“What’s your objection, Astrid?” Tara asked.
“I need to find a dress.”
Tara eyed Astrid. “You and I both know you will have zero problem finding a dress in time for you two to leave for LA. I’ll go shopping with you. We can invite Miranda and talk business at the same time.”
Astrid lips curled into a smile. “That sounds great.”
“This will be good for Sterling, too. Clay has an excellent chance of winning, and it would be nice if he wasn’t standing there by himself if he does.”
Clay drew in a resigned breath through his nose. He had planned on going alone, but that was only because he was filled with existential dread over the ceremony. He desperately wanted to win, but he didn’t want anyone to feel as though they needed to