Page 19 of To Love the Stars too Fondly

“Get in.” She pointed to the back seat, and the authority in her voice meant it was not up for debate.

The suffocating scent of new leather and old cigar smoke permeated the small space. I settled in with my purse and caught the woman’s eye through the rearview mirror. “Thank you,” I said. “What’s your name?”

The woman glowered through the mirror, though perhaps that was simply how her face was. “Chiara.”

The car drove so smoothly, I only knew we were moving when the outside shifted through the window. “Are you friends with Alex?”

“We work together.”

Not a woman of many words. She probably had much better things to do than chauffeur some ‘friend’ of her coworker. I settled in for a discomforting car ride, the engine so quiet I had to focus to hear it even in the quiet morning.

But Tortalgan Coffee Co did eventually appear. “Thanks again,” I said, vacating the moment the car was in park. The best thanks I could give was to leave quickly.

The tinkling bell greeted me, along with a bombardment of words from Liam. “Terra!” He jumped over the counter, inspecting me like some ghost. “Do you not have your phone?”

I glanced at the device, realizing I had seven unread messages and even more missed calls. “Sorry, just had a tense car ride. Why are you so worked up?”

“Your bike was here. You’re okay?”

Relief struck hard enough to leave me lightheaded. “Oh! Yes, I’m fine. I got a ride home last night because of the storm.”

The feeling seemed mutual, given Liam’s relaxing posture. “From your mom?”

“No, from—” Dammit. Once again, I’d lost the chance to lie, and the longer the suspicious silence went, the more ‘Uber’ sounded like bullshit. I braced myself for the truth. “…from Alex, actually.”

Liam visibly fought whatever stupid grin tried to break through. “Oh, really?”

“She stopped by to drop off her business card and offered me a ride home.”

Liam was rapidly failing his battle against his own ego, his cheeky smile breaking through. “Came by to drop off her phone number, eh?”

“Because of the stalking thing!” I scowled, marching to the back to drop off my things.

Liam followed, of course. “But you accepted the ride?”

“Ten minutes in a car with anyone is better than an hour in the rain.”

“I’m sure you hated every second of it.”

I glowered. “It wasn’t unpleasant. I—” I wasn’t about to admit we’d made out, but Liam was gonna know something was up. “I don’t know what to call this, so interrogating me isn’t going to help.”

“Hey, if nothing else, she’s rich. Have some fun. Maybe you’ll find you actually like having standards in your dating life.”

He could be such a bastard. But he left before I could come up with a spicy enough retort.

Soon enough, I was clocked in and apron’d up. The clock ticked slower and slower, the already sparse energy of 6 AM leaving me drained as I scrubbed the very-clean counter to give my hands something to do.

Liam interrupted my anxious actions. “So, the car that dropped you off—”

“Was not Alex,” I finished, lest his clever mind wander too close to the truth. “She just arranged for the ride.”

“Such a gentlewoman.”

He handed me the order of plain espresso, and I resisted tossing it on his apron.

By 8, I was positively restless, even as a line actually formed. But finally—finally—Alex walked in with her usual swagger and stupid slutty gym gear.

Be normal, be normal, be normal—