Chapter 2

Sugar?

Really? The words had echoed back in Jane's ears after she had said them, and could only assume that they must have come straight out of her bad Carol Channing wig. But she knew there was nothing she could do about it now, and she tried to take Kit's advice and "play it cool," leaning against the doctor's hotrod with her forearm at the top of the window frame.

Maura blinked twice, unsure how to reply to such an offer. The tall, olive-complected woman was leaning halfway into her father's car, and she was finding it increasingly difficult not to ogle her expertly toned abdominal muscles. She was tempted to ask her what workout regimen she used, but then she remembered that she was idling on a busy street where ladies of the night were currently working. It may not be best to linger.

"How nice of you to offer," Maura replied, "but actually I'm just looking for the Four Seasons hotel. Do you know if I'm in proximity?"

Shit. Jane was panicking. She isn't planning on staying at Laurel's. What do I do? The woman appeared to be growing impatient.

"Uhh…are you sure you don't want to come in for a drink? I can tell you all about the city from in there." Jane cocked an eyebrow and let her hands come down to grip the bottom of the window and prayed that she didn't look like a sleaze ball. Were you allowed to pray while dressed as a prostitute?

The new angle allowed Maura an eyeful of the young woman's cleavage, and this time she didn't worry too much about not staring. Clearly that's what she had intended her to do. But even so, Maura didn't want to be rude. Reaching for her purse in the passenger seat, she located her wallet and pulled out one of several twenty-dollar bills.

"That sounds lovely, but I'm exhausted and I would really like to find my hotel. Here's something for your trouble," Maura offered her the bill and started to fumble with the gearshift.

Stealing one glace back at Kit, Jane bit the bullet. Moving completely on autopilot, she swiped the bill from Doctor Isles and opened the passenger door, finding it surprisingly unlocked.

"For twenty, I'll show you personal," Jane proposed as she settled into the seat, but it seemed more of a declaration than an offer. Looking over to read her reaction, Jane noticed that the doctor seemed more intrigued than surprised. Hopefully her gut feeling to take a chance and get in the car had been the right choice.

Maura was undoubtedly thrown, but there was just something about this woman she liked. Her gumption and honest nature was refreshing. Maura tried to remind herself that there was a prostitute sitting in the front seat next to her, but then she realized that's exactly the kind of judgment her mother would make. That disturbing thought gave rise to the question that weighed on her mind above all others.

"What is your name?"

Jane hesitated. Somehow she didn't think that this intelligent woman would be fooled by a stage name like Tiffany. Channeling her inner Kit, she came back with, "What do you want it to be?"

Again – really?

Maura narrowed her eyes and gave the woman a suspicious look. She had hoped that the woman's inherently honest nature would overpower these sorts of ruses, but she could only assume by her demeanor that she was new to the job, and Maura did her best to not make her feel too uncomfortable.

Those eyes had an effect on Jane that she couldn't possibly explain. Before she could stop, she heard herself say, "Jane…my name is Jane."

Shit. There goes your cover, Rizzoli.

Maura smiled. Jane's voice had a rich, velvet quality that made her know she was telling her the truth. The doctor extended her hand and offered it to Jane as she replied, "Maura Isles. It's a pleasure to meet you, Jane."

The young officer noted the absence of the "Dr." title as well as the sincerity in Maura's tone. It was a wonder that someone like her would be so polite and welcoming to the hooker that practically just bummed a ride and twenty bucks right out from under her. But, remembering to salvage what might be left of her mission, Jane sealed the handshake and broke the silence.

"So, I believe someone is lost?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so. I was coming from my parents' new home in Sherborn, and according to the calculations of my Global Positioning System, it should have been 23.1 miles North/Northeast to the Four Seasons Hotel downtown, but unfortunately I ended up…where are we exactly?"

Now it was Jane's turn to smile. That had certainly been a mouthful. "You're on Berkeley Street right now. Not too far off from where you wanna be, actually. You should have taken Washington to Boylston and you would have been right there."

"Berkeley? Oh my God, that's Laurel's there just behind us! I can't believe I didn't recognize it before. I've been there a few times with…girlfriends."

Jane cracked a smile and replied, "No kidding," as Maura put the car in gear. With the first touch of the pedal, they jerked forward, causing Maura to frown and look down at the gearshift. Jane was pretty sure she had swallowed her own teeth.

"Whoa! I uh…I think you might have left your transmission back there, Maura. You're not shifting quite right."

Maura knew she certainly had no expertise when it came to manually operated vehicles, but she hesitated to relinquish control of her father's prized…Oh, what the hell. He could buy a new one tomorrow if he wanted to. Even though she likely already knew the answer, she asked Jane, "Have you ever driven an Aston Martin?" She made it a practice never to guess.

Jane scoffed at the thought. Only in her dreams…and then the Bond music came back. "No," was all she could manage.

"I see," Maura replied, pulling over to the curb again. "Well, you're about to start right now," she continued as she opened her door and made her way to the other side.

Jane's wig popped up on her as it hit the headrest behind her. This woman was apparently crazy enough to let a hooker drive her fancy car. With her eyes shut tight, Jane's mind was buzzing. Oh yeah. Definitely way over her head.

~LT~

"Wow, this car corners like it's on rails!"

"Excuse me?"

"I, uh…" Jane stammered, "…car lingo. I haven't been in a ride as smooth as this one…well, ever," she admitted. All of the cars she and Frankie helped Pop and his buddies with couldn't ever measure up to this one.

"So, how is it that you came to know so much about cars?" Maura ventured.

"Eh, you know…my brothers and I helped my Pop with some old clunkers over the years. He bought 'em cheap, fixed 'em up. I paid attention."

Maura bit the tip of her finger and looked out the window, wishing she had experienced family bonding like that. Perhaps things would have turned out differently. Jane sensed that her passenger was uncomfortable, and decided to continue the small talk. "So, how is it you know so little about cars?"

Maura turned to face Jane with a sad smile and replied, "My first car was a limousine."

Jane nodded and decided to let that one alone. She knew the doctor had been born into money, but good God. She couldn't imagine how cold and lonely it must have been growing up in an environment like that.

Thankfully, Jane was distracted from her reverie by how much she loved driving this car. It felt even better than it looked. She was even able to forget for a moment or two that she was technically on duty. Things hadn't really gone according to plan. She hadn't quite decided how it was all going to work out yet, but she had to get up to Maura's room and come out with the information for Cavanaugh. It was her only chance at making detective this year, and she wasn't about to miss it. Doctor Isles might be a little odd, but she didn't seem creepy. Not to mention, she wasn't anywhere near as snobby as her picture had come across. In fact, she seemed overly charming and friendly, despite the fact she could tell that Maura truly was exhausted. Stealing a glance over at the honey blonde with her head propped up delicately on her hand against the window, Jane found herself wishing she could make her feel better somehow.

Whoa, that was deep. Suddenly it was feeling a little too quiet.

"Did you know your foot's as long as your arm from your elbow to your wrist?"

Who was this person that kept talking with Jane's voice before she even had time to filter? Apparently now she was spouting the useless trivia her mother would read out loud to her from the Sunday paper.

"Actually yes, that's a common anthropometrical concept that originated from Da Vinci's famous drawing of the Vitruvian Man, which relates many correlating ratios in the human anatomy. For instance, the length of a man's arm span, measured from the tips of the middle fingers, is about equal to his height, and the length of the hand is about equal to the height of the face. See?"

Maura was attempting to demonstrate by spreading her right hand across her face while Jane was busy attempting not to crash the car into the lamppost at the corner of Boylston Street. Thank God the Four Seasons was just another mile or so off, because Jane didn't think she'd be able to handle driving anymore if Maura was going to keep up the Bill Nye the Science Guy routine.

"Right…" Jane's nerves were putting her at a loss for words. It was unlikely that Maura was going to invite her up, and she had to come up with something quick if she was going to be able to finish the job.

"Jane, if you don't mind me asking, how much do you make per hour? I've always been fascinated by your profession. Some women are able to make a very decent living as pr – um, call girls. Really, aside from the health risks, I imagine it could be a potentially rewarding career."

Jane could tell Maura's curiosity was causing her to ramble, and she remembered one of Kit's rules she had related to Jane in-depth as research for her cover.

"I can't take less than a hundred." Wow. She was even starting to convince herself that she was legit.

"A hundred dollars an hour?" Maura was amazed. That was certainly more than she made, though her hours were somewhat more regular. "You make a hundred dollars an hour and you have a safety pin holding your boot up?" Maura smirked. She was starting to really like this girl, and she wondered if Jane would pick up on her playful mood that continually fought against her exhaustion.

"Hey, don't knock the footwear, sister. Not all of us can afford…whatever those beauties are," Jane gestured down toward Maura's sleek black Chanel pumps. Maura chose not to share the designer. She didn't want to sound precocious and give credulity to the assumption that most people made about her. So instead, she thought she'd continue with the playful mode, utilizing a colloquialism she could only hope was appropriate.

"Wow, a hundred dollars an hour…that's pretty stiff."

Jane saw her opportunity to make a pass at the doctor. Was it perhaps the worst come-on line in the history of the world? Yes. But like Kit said, now or never.

Reaching over to lay a frozen hand on Maura's ample chest, she could just barely feel her left nipple against her palm. The doctor brought her gaze down to locate the source of the heat that had begun to course through her body, but before she had time to decide if she was outraged or intrigued, Jane quipped, "Well…no. But it's got potential."

Maura was very intrigued.

Jane was still sweating when they pulled into the circle drive in front of the Four Seasons. When they both got out of the car, Maura instructed Jane to hand the keys over to a young valet that couldn't seem to keep his jaw from hanging wide open. Jane nearly scolded him before she looked down and remembered what she was wearing. She cursed Cavanaugh under her breath and pulled her skin-tight mini skirt down an extra centimeter. Like that would do her much good. She felt a soft hand take purchase on the small of her back and coax her toward the sidewalk as she watched the car pull away. Maybe Maura was warming up to her after all.

Jane noted the immediate cold sensation sweep through her body when the doctor removed her hand and turned to face her.

"Well Jane, it was very nice to meet you, but I'm sure you have to, as they say, get back to your place of business." Maura was smiling, and it took Jane a little too long to realize that she was attempting to make a joke.

"Um, I think you mean 'get back to the office,' Maura." Jane was giggling, but Maura just looked confused. Why could she never seem to understand how people used those strange little sayings?

Jane had gotten so wrapped up in the adorable Doctor Isles that she failed to realize she had probably lost her chance. Cavanaugh was going to kill her. Her final strategy was to play defeated.

"Well, it was nice to meet you too, Maura Isles. I guess I'll just wait here for the bus." Jane sauntered over to the bus stop bench, making sure to swing her hips like Kit had taught her. Not only did Jane want Maura to take the bait, but she hoped she was simply enjoying the view.

Wait.

Cool it, Rizzoli. This is business. And since when are you into girls checking you out, anyway? Sheesh. She sighed and perched herself carefully atop the bench, crossing her legs in an unnecessary showy manner.

Maura was becoming acutely aware of just how gorgeous the woman before her was. While Susan had been an aerobics instructor and was certainly quite a catch, she could never measure up to the strength Jane carried within her. And not to mention that voice…no one could possibly compete with that. In fact, she was willing to bet that Jane would prove a better lover than anyone Maura had ever been with. But since she never guessed…

"You know, I was thinking…" Maura said as she cautiously approached the woman on the bench. "…did you really say a hundred dollars an hour?"

Jane nodded and saw it all in Maura's eyes. She was about to win her over.

"Right," Maura fought against her fatigue, her better judgment, and visions of her mother threatening to take hold, but she lost out to the longing she felt for this woman she barely even knew. Drawing even closer, Maura made her request.

"Would you mind accompanying me into the hotel?"

Jackpot.

Jane smiled, and noticed that Maura's eyes had only been reflecting the rich indigo of the tight dress she was wearing. Up close, they were a mysterious shade that could only be described as hazel. If she didn't speak now, she was afraid she'd be lost in those eyes forever.

"You got it," Jane replied confidently. Phase one of her mission was complete, and yet all Jane could think about were those eyes, and that above all else, she was happy that she found a way to give Maura something she wanted.