Page 87 of Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail

Jordan glanced at Astrid, who was still tapping on her chest while she coughed and cleared her throat a dozen times. She needed Astrid to take the lead here—this was Astrid’s baby, her name to either go down in infamy or rise in notoriety withtheNatasha Rojas, and Jordan wasn’t going to make any decisions for her.

“We’re not... doing any of that,” Astrid said when she got herself together. Jordan held her breath.

“Oh, really?” Natasha asked.

And then... Jordan saw it happen. The original Astrid, the one she’d met outside Wake Up that first day, took control. Astrid rolled her shoulders back, lifted her chin, a muscle tensing in her jaw.

“Really,” she said coolly. “But we have become friends.”

And goddammit, Jordan tried not to feel it, she really did. She tried to ignore that sinking feeling in her stomach, that vulnerable emotion of being cast aside, denied. But it wormed its way in there anyway, digging its claws into Jordan’s exposed underbelly.

“Friends,” Natasha said. Her gaze landed on the carpenter, and it took Jordan a few seconds to realize Natasha was waiting for her to give confirmation.

She cleared her throat, schooled her features.

“Absolutely,” she said. “Um, you know, I just moved back, so Astrid and her friends took pity on Simon and me. Invited us to a few things and, yeah. Friends.”

Smooth. Very smooth.

Fuck, she needed a minute. She needed Natasha out of this room now.

“Okay,” Natasha said, but she didn’t look convinced. Honestly, Jordan didn’t give two shits if she was convinced or not. Her heart felt like it was four times its normal size, making an awful racket in her ears.

“I guess I was wrong, then,” Natasha said.

“Maybe we could all hang out some time,” Astrid said brightly. Jordan felt the need to growl.

“Maybe,” Natasha said, then glanced at her phone. “Right now, I’ve got a Zoom meeting with my boss back in Portland, so I’ll see you two on Monday.”

Astrid nodded. “Have a great weekend.”

Natasha just smiled, eyed the two of them again like she was waiting for them to jump each other’s bones and prove her right, before she finally left out the back door.

There was a beat where neither woman moved, but finally, once they heard Natasha’s car start up, Astrid’s ice-queen demeanor melted, her shoulders dropping and a huge exhale flying from her mouth.

“Oh my god,” she said, clutching her chest and breathing heavily. “That was close.”

Jordan gritted her teeth. She knew she didn’t have any room to be upset. Natasha finding out about Astrid and Jordan’s romantic involvement could be a disaster for several professional reasons, jeopardizing everything they’d worked so hard to create here. She knew that. Herheadknew that.

But.

Her heart didn’t give a fuck.

“Yeah,” she said tightly, turning away from Astrid and toward her tool bag on the island. She tossed her measuring tape inside, her hammer. She pulled out the case for her drill, dismantling the bit and slipping it into its assigned spot.

“Hey,” Astrid said from behind her.

Jordan couldn’t answer. Not quite yet.

“Hey,” Astrid said again. Softer. Closer. She put a hand on Jordan’s arm and tugged gently.

Jordan let herself be turned around, steeling her expression into place.

“You okay?” Astrid asked.

Jordan nodded, waved a hand through the air, made a sound likepsh, which was perhaps two too many assurances, as Astrid’s frown only deepened. Finally, Jordan gave up the pretense.

“I just... I wasn’t expecting that,” she said.