Incognito

by Maria Jackson

  “I’m doing fine.”

  Nine

  Kylie backed the car into a parking spot, spinning the wheel with the palm of her hand. She and Starshine were on one of the busier streets in town, which was still pretty much dead at this hour on a Monday.

  The two of them got out of the Jeep and headed in together. The pizza place stayed open all night, every night. You could get a slice for a buck and some change any time you wanted. It wasn’t gourmet, but it was right up Kylie’s alley. With any luck, Starshine was going to love it.

  Kylie had hardly been able to stop herself from punching a fist in the air when Starshine had said she was single. She had a chance! She had to tread lightly, though. Despite all her eagerness to hit on Starshine, she and her girlfriend had been together for two years. Kylie could tell Starshine was hurting.

  That just meant she had to spend more time with Starshine before making a move. Hopefully she’d find more clues about whether she was a cop, too. Kylie’s little test had gotten her nowhere, and same with talking about drugs. Starshine’s mysteries were still just that.

  “You sit down and I’ll order,” Kylie said, pointing Starshine toward a booth. “My treat since I asked you to come. What kind of pizza do you like?”

  “Thanks, Kylie. You’re the one that likes this place, so I’ll let you pick.”

  Kylie nodded, wondering if Starshine would even be into her. She would keep it friendly for the moment, anyway. A new friend was better than nothing, and it wasn’t as if she was only interested in Starshine’s body. Maybe she’d be kind of frustrated, and maybe she would touch herself a little more than usual, but she would be fine with having Starshine as a friend.

  Kylie went up to the counter. “Let me have a large pepperoni, as cheesy as you can make it.”

  “Coming right up.”

  She went back to Starshine, who was looking around with evident interest. That girl was just curious about everything. Maybe there was nothing sketchy about her and that was just her personality. Kylie thought back to walking in on her with the phone. No, something was up.

  “Hope you like pepperoni.”

  “Who doesn’t?” Starshine said. “It’s the standard pizza topping. If you had gone up there and ordered, like, anchovies, we might have had a problem.”

  “Okay, anchovies next time,” Kylie joked.

  “Yeah, right.”

  The guy called them when the pizza was ready a few minutes later. Kylie picked up the box, at which Starshine gave her a funny look.

  “You didn’t think we were going to eat here, did you?” Kylie asked. “This place is kind of grimy. We have to take it somewhere.”

  “Like where? Your place?” Starshine asked.

  “Probably not. I don’t think my grandparents would like me bringing someone over at this hour.” Kylie paused, her eyebrow raising despite her best effort to make it stop. “How about yours?”

  Fuck, she hoped that hadn’t come out sounding dirty. Inviting herself to someone’s place was not how her mom had raised her. This wasn’t a normal situation, though. She was on the hunt for clues. That was all she’d be trying to get at Starshine’s place. Starshine just had to say yes.

  Luckily, she nodded. “I… I guess you can come over. I wasn’t expecting it, though. I didn’t clean up or anything.”

  “I’m sure it’s fine,” Kylie said.

  The conversation flowed easily as they got in the car. The earlier awkwardness was disappearing, and they took to good-naturedly ribbing each other about one thing after another.

  “Nice building,” Kylie said as they got out of the car. At this point, she knew Starshine would recognize the light-hearted sarcasm. The place looked like it was about to collapse at any moment.

  As Starshine pulled out her keys, she explained. “I know it’s a bit sketchy. I took over the first lease I could find. I was only planning to be here for a few months.”

  “Then you changed your mind?”

  “Well, I’m not sure.”

  They went up the elevator. The halls were almost as grimy as the pizza place, and Kylie wondered if a cop would live in a place like this. Surely the police department would pay for something nicer.

  Once Starshine opened the door to her unit, things looked brighter. Her place was small but sunny, with a table on which Kylie deposited the pizza.

  “You want a plate?” Starshine asked.

  “Naw, I’m not that fancy. Just give me a couple napkins. And do you have some pop?”

  Starshine opened the fridge. Kylie peered in, wondering what kind of things a cop would have to eat. Starshine had a variety of canned beverages, along with some leftover Chinese takeout and wrinkled fruit. A cop would probably eat healthier than that.

  “I’ll take a Coke,” Kylie said.

  When Starshine handed her the can, she cracked it open and took a long sip. Her throat was dry from being around the girl who made her so nervous. She wondered if Starshine was nervous, too. She seemed calm, but as reticent as always.

  Wondering what kind of girl Starshine went for, Kylie glanced around for evidence of her ex. Everything in the apartment pointed to only one person being there. Only one bowl and one mug were in the sink. The place was generally unfussy in a way that suggested Starshine wasn’t trying to impress anyone. No decorations even graced the walls of the apartment.

  Kylie cracked the box open. The pizza burned her fingers, and she immediately dropped it.

  “Too hot?” Starshine asked.

  “Yeah.”

  Kylie stopped her before she could make the same mistake and pressed a napkin into her hand. The contact with Starshine’s tanned skin made her jump. If only she could do more than that.

  The two of them sat down and bit into the pizza. The cheese was soft and gooey, just the way Kylie liked it.

  “This is good,” Starshine said. “I haven’t had a really good pizza in so long.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “I don’t know. I guess the Chinese place is just around the corner, so I usually go there. It’s convenient.”

  She made it sound like she usually ate by herself. Kylie supposed that was good. She and the girlfriend must have been drifting apart for a while. Starshine had mentioned Lindsay worked a lot—maybe they didn’t see each other often, especially with the distance.

  “You’re in a good area,” Kylie said. “Close to everything. My grandparents’ place is in the middle of nowhere, only other houses around. Definitely no Chinese or pizza.”

  “So you do your own cooking?”

  “Not really. Usually my grandmother does.”

  Starshine helped herself to a sip of Kylie’s Coke. “She must be a good cook.”

  “How would you know that?”

  “Grandmothers always are.”

  It was true, Gran was an excellent cook. She made the best black-eyed peas Kylie had ever had. She wondered how Starshine would respond if she threw the same question back at her. She wished she could be subtle like Starshine had tried to teach her. When she had a question, she never knew how to ask it other than straight out.

  “What about yours?” she said abruptly.

  As she had expected, Starshine got that same panicked look that she always got when Kylie asked her anything remotely personal. Kylie was getting used to it now. It seemed like Starshine always chose her words carefully, measuring them to make sure they were the right ones. She spoke much more freely when she talked about things other than herself.

  “Mine are, too,” Starshine finally said. “Both of them live in Haberdee, though, so I don’t get to have their cooking often.”

  “Your parents are back there, too?” Kylie asked.

  “Yeah. I go back when I can. It’s good to see them, but they don’t quite get everything about my life.”

  Kylie took a wild guess that Starshine was talking about her sexuality. “That sucks. Families who aren’t accepting are the worst.”

  “Oh, it’s not that,” Starshine said. “
They’re cool, actually. I get along pretty well with my parents, and my little sister’s awesome.”

  “What’s the issue, then?”

  “Never mind.” Starshine took a huge bite of her pizza and chewed for so long that Kylie couldn’t continue to pursue the question.

  She took a bite of her own, savoring the different flavors. She’d been waiting all day to get this close to Starshine, but she was running out of things to ask now that she was here. Being too direct wasn’t going to get her anywhere. And sitting so close to her had her forgetting her original mission. Starshine had her a little aroused.

  Starshine pulled off her bandana and tossed it onto the table. Running her fingers through her hair, she said, “That feels better. Gotta let my head breathe.”

  “Why do you wear that all the time, then?”

  Starshine shrugged. “Just because it looks cool.”

  That fit with Kylie’s feeling about Starshine trying to look tougher than she was. “You need to look cool?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. I’m a waitress at Jubblies. Shouldn’t I be cool?”

  “Just be yourself. From what I know about you, you’re cool enough already.”

  Kylie probably shouldn’t have said that. She was venturing dangerously close to flirting, and Starshine had just had a break-up. It was just so hard to stop herself when they were alone together. She had nowhere to look except at Starshine’s sharp features.

  “Well, thank you,” Starshine said.

  “So, anyway, how about a tour of this place?” Kylie asked, tilting her chair back.

  She could tell there wasn’t much to see, but any insight into the apartment might tell her more about what Starshine was up to. Plus it’d give her the chance to step a little away from Starshine.

  “It’s small, but I’ll take you around.”

  Starshine stood up and Kylie followed suit. She exhaled, trying to stop the anxious feeling in her stomach. Her plan had backfired. There was no room to step away in the cramped kitchen. They were suddenly too close.

  “That’s the stove,” Starshine said, gesturing. “And that’s the sink…”

  “I can see that.”

  “And this is where I sit and eat.” As Starshine pointed, her arm brushed against Kylie’s.

  Kylie’s breath caught in her throat. “Yeah, and what else?”

  “The bathroom is over there,” Starshine said, pulling her hand rapidly away. “And that’s the closet. Nothing but a couple coats and my winter boots in there. After that there’s, uh, my bedroom.”

  “Show me that.” Kylie was curious to see how Starshine was living. So what if the brief waft of Starshine’s perfume had her aching?

  Starshine glanced at her, and Kylie could have sworn she saw longing in her eyes. “I guess we can take a look.”

  She led Kylie through the hall. Kylie wished Starshine would dangle a hand behind her and that she could hold it. She could almost feel her warm fingers.

  The door to the bedroom was closed. “Go ahead,” Starshine said.

  Kylie stepped forward and put her hand on the doorknob. Starshine stood behind her, so close that she could feel the energy radiating from her body. Kylie licked her lips, her heart rate picking up. Starshine’s breath was hot on the back of her neck.

  She swung the door open, and froze.

  Ten

  There was far too little space between Starshine and Kylie. If Starshine just leaned forward, she could press her lips against Kylie’s neck. She’d been getting more and more aroused all night. The urge to kiss Kylie was hard to resist.

  Kylie was tempting enough when they were working at the restaurant with a reasonable distance between them. Here in Starshine’s apartment, it was impossible to keep from getting turned on. As the door swung open, wild and vivid possibilities ran through Starshine’s mind.

  She forced herself to pull back, hoping her voice wasn’t too hoarse. “Take a look. It shouldn’t be too big of a mess right now.”

  Starshine peeked in to see what Kylie saw. The furniture was cracked and peeling, but the bedspread was thick and the pillows were fluffy. A small window showed the sun starting to peek over the horizon.

  Kylie made a sound low in her throat as she surveyed the room. What did that sound mean? Starshine wished she could interpret anything this girl came out with. She was perplexed by Kylie. Despite her upfront nature, Kylie was still incomprehensible to her.

  It didn’t matter. Nothing could happen. She was on an assignment, and Kylie was one of her subjects. This could go no further than that… no matter what her treacherous libido thought.

  “Well, that’s my whole place,” she said hurriedly. “You can come back out to the kitchen.”

  Starshine rushed back into the other room and grabbed a bag of chips out of the cupboard. She had already sat down, popped it open, and shoved one in her mouth by the time Kylie came back. She crunched on the chip, barely tasting the salt and vinegar flavor. Kylie had her completely off-balance.

  “Nice place,” Kylie said, sliding into a chair across from her and taking a chip casually. Her face was inscrutable. Was she going to act like she didn’t feel anything? Worse, did she actually not feel anything? Starshine was nearly certain the attraction between them was mutual, but how could she be sure when Kylie looked like she did? That girl made men think she wanted them for a living. Maybe she just didn’t know how to turn off her seductiveness.

  Starshine wasn’t on Kylie’s level. Even if she had been employed as a Jubblies waitress, she didn’t approach the flawless glory of Kylie’s face and body.

  “Yes, it’s nice,” she babbled. “Like I said, it’s only six hundred a month. I couldn’t have found anything better if I tried. I’m very happy with it.”

  Saying words without saying anything was one of her biggest talents. She could get through this. Kylie would leave soon, and then everything would go back to normal.

  “I have a question,” Kylie said.

  Starshine froze with her hand halfway into the bag of chips. That didn’t sound good. What could it be?

  “I saw a notebook on your bed,” Kylie said.

  Starshine’s jaw dropped open, and she shoved a chip inside in the hope that it would look natural. The only notebook in her room was the one where she scribbled her thoughts and musings about the restaurant. But Kylie couldn’t have seen that much from the door.

  “What about it?”

  “I saw some names in it,” Kylie said. “Like, some of the girls from the restaurant.”

  “Well, this is embarrassing,” Starshine said, her heart pounding and her face hot. “I… I keep a journal.”

  “A journal?”

  Starshine nodded, chewing the chip until her teeth hurt. “Yeah. A way to organize my thoughts about the day. It’s fun to look back at it later. I know it might seem a little silly, but it helps me.”

  “What kind of grown woman keeps a diary?” Kylie looked more incredulous than anything else.

  “It’s a journal,” Starshine said again, her face flushing even more. She wished there was some way to get out of this besides embarrassing herself in front of the hottest woman she had ever seen. She had no other ideas, though. Kylie had seen something real, and Starshine couldn’t come up with lies that fast. It had been a mistake to bring Kylie over here in the first place

  “All right,” Kylie said, seeming thoroughly unconvinced. “You keep a diary. But I was also wondering about when I saw you in the change room earlier.”

  “I… I had to make a call,” Starshine said, her throat dry. She reached for the can of pop Kylie had been drinking earlier, but found it empty.

  “Who were you calling?”

  “Is it any of your business?”

  Starshine couldn’t think of anything better than that, but Kylie just shrugged it off. It hardly even gave her pause.

  “Fine, it’s not,” she said. “But I did have your phone for a day, and someone texted you a bunch of times. I was wondering if you co
uld tell me a little about that.”

  Starshine’s heart pounded. Kylie had seen right through her. She was caught, and her entire article was going to be ruined. Three months of work down the drain for nothing. Worse, Kylie was only interested in her because she’d figured out that she was a reporter. Kylie wasn’t interested in her as a person, and she wondered how she had ever tricked herself into thinking she would be.

  “I was texting a friend,” Starshine said, trying to keep her voice steady. “I was telling her about something, and she wanted to hear more.”

  Kylie’s eyes narrowed. “About what?”

  “Again, I have to say that it’s none of your business.”

  She couldn’t believe she had mistaken Kylie’s curiosity for being into her. What a fool she’d been to even hope. She should’ve known from the start that Kylie would only want to figure out who she was. As if Kylie could ever be interested in her on a personal level!

  “I don’t believe you,” Kylie said. “None of this is adding up.”

  Starshine stood up, her legs shaking. “Maybe you should leave now.”

  Kylie’s face twisted, but she got up as well. “Yeah, I guess I probably should.”

  Starshine walked silently to the entrance. She could barely see Kylie through her haze of emotions. The only thoughts in her head were about how stupid she was. Thinking Kylie was into her! What a fool she was.

  By the time Starshine opened the door, Kylie’s hostility seemed to have faded. “Hey, I don’t want to leave on bad terms,” Kylie said. “I’ve been a terrible guest. You let me invite myself into your home, and in return, I accused you of being a cop. I was out of line.”

  At first Starshine was appeased by the apology. Kylie was nice enough to apologize when she wasn’t even in the wrong. Starshine hated herself for lying to her.

  Wait… had Kylie said she’d accused her of being a cop?

  Starshine blinked. Maybe she wasn’t screwed after all. If her ears were working right, Kylie had no suspicions of her being a reporter. Now her little joke from the car made more sense. Well, Starshine could truthfully say that she wasn’t a cop.

  “That’s okay,” she said. “I can see how the things you’ve seen might seem a little odd. I can tell you I’m not a cop, though. Those things are all just… coincidence.”