"Hello, sweet thing," he said.
She felt her cheeks go red as she studied the man. He wore jeans and an open shirt. Dark, curly hairs were visible at the top of his shirt.
She wondered if he were that hairy all over.
"My name's Roger," he said. "I drive one of those big trucks parked outside."
Oh," she said.
She tried to sound disinterested. She kept thinking about what her husband might say about her being there. He wouldn't understand things at all.
She ordered lunch and tried not to think about Roger's eyes. He was doing a good job of exploring every inch of her body. She felt as if she were suddenly naked. She noticed that none of the other drivers had tried to muscle in on Roger. Evidently Roger was respected by the drivers.
"I've got a cab in the truck," Roger said. "It's big and comfortable."
"Do you?" Julia asked.
Julia's heart was hammering. She had been told what to do, but she hadn't been told how to go about it. She had never tried to proposition anyone before.
Carolyn had not had to do anything like this. All Carolyn's customers had come to her house, or at least she said they did. Why was Dan Jacobs making her do this? She thought she had a vague idea. Dan wanted to break down what little pride she had left.
The waistress brought her food and Julia began to eat. Roger had still not left the table.
"Real comfortable," Roger said. "It's just right for two people as long as they don't mind being close together."
Roger leered at her. She took another bite and sipped at her coke.
Roger moved his chair closer to her. She felt his knee pressing against hers.
"Come on,, honey," he said. "How much do you want? How much to go to the cab with me?"
She nearly choked on her next bite. She hadn't expected him to make such an obvious proposition. She realized she didn't know what to answer. She hadn't even thought about money, She started wondering what she was worth.
Roger solved her problem.
He slid over a little closer and she watched him slip some money into her purse.
"Now, baby," he said. "I don't usually pay that much but you look like you're worth it. Come on."
His voice left no room for argument. She left her food only half eaten and picked up her purse. He took her arm in a tight grasp.
"You're going to like this, honey," he said.
It was true that she was beginning to feel a tight excitement in her body. It was crazy. He was exactly the sort of man she'd never have looked twice at. A brutish animal. It was completely against everything she'd ever believed to dream of herself doing things with a man like this in the back of a truck cab.